classes ::: Occultism, injunction, noun,
children :::
branches ::: Invocation

bookmarks: Instances - Definitions - Quotes - Chapters - Wordnet - Webgen


object:Invocation
object:the Invocation
subject class:Occultism
subject:Occultism
class:injunction
word class:noun

--- QUOTES
A prayer, a master act, a king idea
Can link man's strength to a transcendent Force.
  ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Book of Beginnings, The Issue

most important invocation ::: The magicians most important invocation is that of his Genius, Daemon, True Will, or Augoeides. This operation is traditionally known as attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. It is sometimes known as the Magnum Opus or Great Work.
~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null

object of ritual ::: There is a single main definition of the object of all magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel; or, in the language of Mysticism, Union with God. ~ Aleister Crowley

SLEIGHT OF MIND IN INVOCATION
Invocation is a three stage process. Firstly the magician consciously identifies with what is traditionally called a
god-form, secondly he enters gnosis and thirdly the magicians subconsciousness manifests the powers of the god-form.
A successful invocation means nothing less than full "possession" by the god-form. With practice the first stage of
conscious identification can be abbreviated greatly to the point where it may only be necessary to concentrate
momentarily on a well used god-form. ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Kaos


Crowley's method of identification (3-2-1-1) ::: Let us describe the magical method of identification. The symbolic form of the god is first studied with as much care as an artist would bestow upon his model, so that a perfectly clear and unshakeable mental picture of the god is presented to the mind. Similarly, the attributes of the god are enshrined in speech, and such speeches are committed perfectly to memory. The invocation will then begin with a prayer to the god, commemorating his physical attributes, always with profound understanding of their real meaning. In the second part of the invocation, the voice of the god is heard, and His characteristic utterance is recited. In the third portion of the invocation the Magician asserts the identity of himself with the god. In the fourth portion the god is again invoked, but as if by Himself, as if it were the utterance of the will of the god that He should manifest in the Magician. At the conclusion of this, the original object of the invocation is stated.
Augoeides ::: Directly on awakening, preferably at dawn, the initiate goes to the place of invocation. Figuring to himself as he goes that being born anew each day brings with it the chance of greater rebirth, first he banishes the temple of his mind by ritual or by some magical trance. Then he unveils some token or symbol or sigil which represents to him the Holy Guardian Angel. This symbol he will likely have to change during the great work as the inspiration begins to move him. Next he invokes an image of the Angel into his minds eye. It may be considered as a luminous duplicate of ones own form standing in front of or behind one, or simply as a ball of brilliant light above ones head. Then he formulates his aspirations in what manner he will, humbling himself in prayer or exalting himself in loud proclamation as his need be. The best form of this invocation is spoken spontaneously from the heart, and if halting at first, will prove itself in time. He is aiming to establish a set of ideas and images which correspond to the nature of his genius, and at the same time receive inspiration from that source. As the magician begins to manifest more of his true will, the Augoeides will reveal images, names, and spiritual principles by which it can be drawn into greater manifestation. Having communicated with the invoked form, the magician should draw it into himself and go forth to live in the way he hath willed.
the ideal invocation?:

--- The Mother
Sweet Mother there's a flower you have named "The Creative Word".
  Yes.

What does that mean?
  It is the word which creates.
  There are all kinds of old traditions, old Hindu traditions, old Chaldean traditions in which the Divine, in the form of the Creator, that is, in His aspect as Creator, pronounces a word which has the power to create. So it is this... And it is the origin of the mantra. The mantra is the spoken word which has a creative power. An invocation is made and there is an answer to the invocation; or one makes a prayer and the prayer is granted. This is the Word, the Word which, in its sound... it is not only the idea, it is in the sound that there's a power of creation. It is the origin, you see, of the mantra.
  In Indian mythology the creator God is Brahma, and I think that it was precisely his power which has been symbolised by this flower, "The Creative Word". And when one is in contact with it, the words spoken have a power of evocation or creation or formation or transformation; the words... sound always has a power; it has much more power than men think. It may be a good power and it may be a bad power. It creates vibrations which have an undeniable effect. It is not so much the idea as the sound; the idea too has its own power, but in its own domain - whereas the sound has a power in the material world.
  I think I have explained this to you once; I told you, for example, that words spoken casually, usually without any re- flection and without attaching any importance to them, can be used to do something very good. I think I spoke to you about "Bonjour", "Good Day", didn't I? When people meet and say "Bonjour", they do so mechanically and without thinking. But if you put a will into it, an aspiration to indeed wish someone a good day, well, there is a way of saying "Good Day" which is very effective, much more effective than if simply meeting someone you thought: "Ah! I hope he has a good day", without saying anything. If with this hope in your thought you say to him in a certain way, "Good Day", you make it more concrete and more effective.
  It's the same thing, by the way, with curses, or when one gets angry and says bad things to people. This can do them as much harm - more harm sometimes - than if you were to give them a slap. With very sensitive people it can put their stomach out of order or give them palpitation, because you put into it an evil force which has a power of destruction.
  It is not at all ineffective to speak. Naturally it depends a great deal on each one's inner power. People who have no strength and no consciousness can't do very much - unless they employ material means. But to the extent that you are strong, especially when you have a powerful vital, you must have a great control on what you say, otherwise you can do much harm. Without wanting to, without knowing it; through ignorance.
  Anything? No? Nothing?
  Another question?... Everything's over?
  ~ The Mother Questions And Answers 1955, 347-349


see also ::: the Great Work, attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, Prayer, drug use, Augoeides





see also ::: attaining_the_Knowledge_and_Conversation_of_the_Holy_Guardian_Angel, Augoeides, drug_use, Prayer, the_Great_Work

questions, comments, suggestions/feedback, take-down requests, contribute, etc
contact me @ integralyogin@gmail.com or
join the integral discord server (chatrooms)
if the page you visited was empty, it may be noted and I will try to fill it out. cheers



now begins generated list of local instances, definitions, quotes, instances in chapters, wordnet info if available and instances among weblinks


OBJECT INSTANCES [1] - TOPICS - AUTHORS - BOOKS - CHAPTERS - CLASSES - SEE ALSO - SIMILAR TITLES

TOPICS
Invoking_the_Deity
SEE ALSO

attaining_the_Knowledge_and_Conversation_of_the_Holy_Guardian_Angel
Augoeides
drug_use
Prayer
the_Great_Work

AUTH

BOOKS
Education_in_the_New_Age
Letters_on_Occult_Meditation
Liber_ABA
Liber_Null
Process_and_Reality
The_Externalization_of_the_Hierarchy
The_Seals_of_Wisdom
The_Study_and_Practice_of_Yoga

IN CHAPTERS TITLE
1.03_-_Invocation_of_Tara
1.bts_-_Invocation
1.fua_-_Invocation
1.pbs_-_Invocation
1.pbs_-_Invocation_To_Misery
1.whitman_-_That_Last_Invocation
1.whitman_-_The_Last_Invocation
1.ww_-_Invocation_To_The_Earth,_February_1816
3.15_-_Of_the_Invocation
LUX.03_-_INVOCATION

IN CHAPTERS CLASSNAME

IN CHAPTERS TEXT
00.03_-_Upanishadic_Symbolism
0_1958-05-11_-_the_ship_that_said_OM
0_1958-10-04
0_1961-02-04
0_1961-03-21
0_1961-04-18
0_1961-04-25
0_1961-07-07
0_1961-07-12
0_1961-10-15
0_1962-02-03
0_1962-02-24
0_1962-03-11
0_1963-02-15
0_1963-07-24
0_1964-11-21
0_1965-02-19
0_1967-04-15
0_1967-09-13
0_1971-07-24
0_1971-10-13
02.07_-_George_Seftris
02.11_-_Hymn_to_Darkness
04.01_-_The_March_of_Civilisation
07.25_-_Prayer_and_Aspiration
07.31_-_Images_of_Gods_and_Goddesses
09.01_-_Prayer_and_Aspiration
09.02_-_Meditation
10.12_-_Awake_Mother
1.01_-_Maitreya_inquires_of_his_teacher_(Parashara)
1.02.4.1_-_The_Worlds_-_Surya
1.02_-_The_Magic_Circle
1.02_-_THE_NATURE_OF_THE_GROUND
1.035_-_The_Recitation_of_Mantra
1.03_-_Invocation_of_Tara
1.03_-_THE_STUDY_(The_Exorcism)
1.04_-_The_Gods_of_the_Veda
1.05_-_Hymns_of_Bharadwaja
1.05_-_The_Magical_Control_of_the_Weather
1.06_-_Agni_and_the_Truth
1.06_-_Hymns_of_Parashara
1.08a_-_The_Ladder
1.08_-_Origin_of_Rudra:_his_becoming_eight_Rudras
1.08_-_The_Gods_of_the_Veda_-_The_Secret_of_the_Veda
1.09_-_Saraswati_and_Her_Consorts
1.09_-_The_Crown,_Cap,_Magus-Band
11.06_-_The_Mounting_Fire
1.10_-_Harmony
1.10_-_The_descendants_of_the_daughters_of_Daksa_married_to_the_Rsis
1.10_-_THE_MASTER_WITH_THE_BRAHMO_DEVOTEES_(II)
1.12_-_The_Herds_of_the_Dawn
1.14_-_INSTRUCTION_TO_VAISHNAVS_AND_BRHMOS
1.14_-_The_Structure_and_Dynamics_of_the_Self
1.16_-_Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Evocational_Magic
1.16_-_On_Concentration
1.17_-_Astral_Journey__Example,_How_to_do_it,_How_to_Verify_your_Experience
1.18_-_The_Human_Fathers
1.20_-_RULES_FOR_HOUSEHOLDERS_AND_MONKS
1.20_-_Talismans_-_The_Lamen_-_The_Pantacle
1.20_-_The_Hound_of_Heaven
1.23_-_Improvising_a_Temple
1.33_-_The_Gardens_of_Adonis
1.39_-_The_Ritual_of_Osiris
1.42_-_This_Self_Introversion
1.58_-_Do_Angels_Ever_Cut_Themselves_Shaving?
1.62_-_The_Fire-Festivals_of_Europe
1.63_-_Fear,_a_Bad_Astral_Vision
1.63_-_The_Interpretation_of_the_Fire-Festivals
1.67_-_The_External_Soul_in_Folk-Custom
1.68_-_The_God-Letters
1.71_-_Morality_2
1.83_-_Epistola_Ultima
1915_03_03p
1916_01_23p
1953-07-08
1954-08-11_-_Division_and_creation_-_The_gods_and_human_formations_-_People_carry_their_desires_around_them
1955-10-26_-_The_Divine_and_the_universal_Teacher_-_The_power_of_the_Word_-_The_Creative_Word,_the_mantra_-_Sound,_music_in_other_worlds_-_The_domains_of_pure_form,_colour_and_ideas
1956-08-08_-_How_to_light_the_psychic_fire,_will_for_progress_-_Helping_from_a_distance,_mental_formations_-_Prayer_and_the_divine_-_Grace_Grace_at_work_everywhere
1957-01-09_-_God_is_essentially_Delight_-_God_and_Nature_play_at_hide-and-seek_-__Why,_and_when,_are_you_grave?
1957-02-07_-_Individual_and_collective_meditation
1969_10_18
1.bts_-_Invocation
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Case_of_Charles_Dexter_Ward
1.fua_-_Invocation
1.jda_-_You_rest_on_the_circle_of_Sris_breast_(from_The_Gitagovinda)
1.kaa_-_I_Came
1.kaa_-_In_Each_Breath
1.kaa_-_The_Beauty_of_Oneness
1.kaa_-_The_Friend_Beside_Me
1.pbs_-_Invocation
1.pbs_-_Invocation_To_Misery
1.whitman_-_That_Last_Invocation
1.whitman_-_The_Last_Invocation
1.whitman_-_Thou_Orb_Aloft_Full-Dazzling
1.ww_-_Invocation_To_The_Earth,_February_1816
1.ww_-_The_Excursion-_II-_Book_First-_The_Wanderer
2.00_-_BIBLIOGRAPHY
2.01_-_Mandala_One
2.01_-_THE_ARCANE_SUBSTANCE_AND_THE_POINT
2.01_-_The_Mother
2.02_-_THE_SCINTILLA
2.06_-_The_Wand
2.07_-_The_Cup
2.08_-_The_Sword
2.3.07_-_The_Mother_in_Visions,_Dreams_and_Experiences
2.3.1.52_-_The_Ode
2_-_Other_Hymns_to_Agni
3.00.2_-_Introduction
30.17_-_Rabindranath,_Traveller_of_the_Infinite
3.01_-_The_Principles_of_Ritual
3.02_-_SOL
3.02_-_The_Formulae_of_the_Elemental_Weapons
3.03_-_The_Formula_of_Tetragrammaton
3.04_-_LUNA
3.04_-_The_Formula_of_ALHIM
3.05_-_SAL
3.07_-_The_Formula_of_the_Holy_Grail
3.09_-_Of_Silence_and_Secrecy
3.10_-_Of_the_Gestures
3.11_-_Spells
3.12_-_Of_the_Bloody_Sacrifice
3.13_-_Of_the_Banishings
3.14_-_Of_the_Consecrations
3.15_-_Of_the_Invocation
3.16.1_-_Of_the_Oath
3.16.2_-_Of_the_Charge_of_the_Spirit
3.17_-_Of_the_License_to_Depart
3.18_-_Of_Clairvoyance_and_the_Body_of_Light
3.19_-_Of_Dramatic_Rituals
31_Hymns_to_the_Star_Goddess
3.20_-_Of_the_Eucharist
3.21_-_Of_Black_Magic
36.08_-_A_Commentary_on_the_First_Six_Suktas_of_Rigveda
37.03_-_Satyakama_And_Upakoshala
37.07_-_Ushasti_Chakrayana_(Chhandogya_Upanishad)
3_-_Commentaries_and_Annotated_Translations
4.4.4.02_-_Peace,_Calm,_Quiet_as_a_Basis_for_the_Descent
6.06_-_SELF-KNOWLEDGE
6.07_-_THE_MONOCOLUS
6.0_-_Conscious,_Unconscious,_and_Individuation
7_-_Yoga_of_Sri_Aurobindo
Appendix_4_-_Priest_Spells
APPENDIX_I_-_Curriculum_of_A._A.
BOOK_II._--_PART_I._ANTHROPOGENESIS.
BOOK_II._--_PART_II._THE_ARCHAIC_SYMBOLISM_OF_THE_WORLD-RELIGIONS
BOOK_I._--_PART_I._COSMIC_EVOLUTION
BOOK_I._--_PART_III._SCIENCE_AND_THE_SECRET_DOCTRINE_CONTRASTED
BOOK_IV._-_That_empire_was_given_to_Rome_not_by_the_gods,_but_by_the_One_True_God
BOOK_X._-_Porphyrys_doctrine_of_redemption
ENNEAD_04.04_-_Questions_About_the_Soul.
Liber
Liber_111_-_The_Book_of_Wisdom_-_LIBER_ALEPH_VEL_CXI
Liber_46_-_The_Key_of_the_Mysteries
LUX.01_-_GNOSIS
LUX.03_-_INVOCATION
LUX.05_-_AUGOEIDES
Sayings_of_Sri_Ramakrishna_(text)
Tablets_of_Baha_u_llah_text
The_Divine_Names_Text_(Dionysis)
The_Dwellings_of_the_Philosophers
Timaeus

PRIMARY CLASS

injunction
SIMILAR TITLES
Invocation

DEFINITIONS


TERMS STARTING WITH

Invocation for Exciting Love in the Heart of the Person Who is the Object of Our Desire 359

Invocation: In the terminology of magic, the act or the formula of calling for the presence of a superhuman entity.

Invocation of the Mystery of the Third Seal 358

Invocation ::: The calling forth of an entity, current, or archetype within oneself. Usually contrasted with evocation which is viewed as a calling forth outside of oneself ike in a temple or at an altar. But an invocation can also be thought of as a calling forth of a more cosmic deity or power such as an archangel regardless of whether it actually inhabits the body of the summoner. It's a matter of context and the system used.

invocation at fumigation. [Rf. Grimorium Verum;

invocation ::: Invocation Invocation is the bringing in or identifying with a particular deity or spirit. Crowley wrote of two main keys to success in this arena: to enflame thyself in praying and to invoke often. Bear in mind that for Crowley, the single most important invocation, or any act of magick for that matter, was the invocation of one's Holy Guardian Angel, or Secret Self, thus allowing the adept to know his True Will. See also Crowley's experience of invocation.

INVOCATION FOR EXCITING LOVE IN THE HEART OF THE PERSON

invocation ::: n. --> The act or form of calling for the assistance or presence of some superior being; earnest and solemn entreaty; esp., prayer offered to a divine being.
A call or summons; especially, a judicial call, demand, or order; as, the invocation of papers or evidence into court.


invocation of the Muse: A call or request for inspiration from the nine Muses, usually at the beginning of works from the Greek or Roman tradition.

INVOCATION OF THE MYSTERY OF THE THIRD SEAL

invocation “of the water and of the hyssop.” The

invocation. [Rf Schwab, Vocabulaire de I'Angelo-

invocation spirits in special conjuring rites.

invocation spirits.


TERMS ANYWHERE

35. His d for invocation, is Tuesday. According

Abba (Aramaic) ’Abbā. Father, origin, source, transliterated in the Greek text (Mark 14:36) as ’Abba. The phrase “Abba Father” has become a title of invocation to the first person of the Trinity; in Coptic and Syriac churches, Abba (father or master) is a title of the patriarch of bishops. In the Qabbalah, ’Abba is the original principle symbolized by Kether (the Crown).

AbhidhAnottaratantra. [alt. AvadAnastotratantra] (T. Mngon par brjod pa'i rgyud bla ma). In Sanskrit, "Continuation of the Explanation [of the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA]"; an Indian text describing the invocation of numerous tantric deities together with their seed syllables (BĪJA) and ritual meditations. The work was originally translated into Tibetan and edited by ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNANA and RIN CHEN BZANG PO in the eleventh century.

Al-Mujib ::: The One who unequivocally responds to all who turn towards Him (in prayer and invocation) and provides their needs.

also Invocations, Conjurations, Spells, Charms, and Exorcisms

and the invocation or exorcism of the Salt. [Rf.

appealed to at the end of invocations for the

Aputel—an invocation angel mentioned in

Ashael X—an invocation angel, mentioned in

Avahana: The invocation by Mantras of the deity of the purpose of manifestation during the time of worship.

Azliel X—an invocation angel, one of 14; also

Baresma(n) (Avestan), Barsum (Pahlavi), Barsam (Persian) [from the verbal root bares to grow upright] A wand of the Magi, who were instructed in the Vendidad to go to the tree “that is beautiful, high-growing, and mighty amongst the high-growing trees,” and after an invocation, to cut off a twig, “long as a plowshare, thick as a barley-corn. The faithful one, holding it in his left hand, shall not leave off keeping his eyes upon it, whilst he is offering up the sacrifice to Ahura-Mazda and to the Amesha-Spentas.” To this day the Parsis use the baresman, but have replaced the twigs of the scared tree with brass wires.

B’duh (Beduh, Baduh): In Arabic mythology, a spirit who helps messages to be speedily transmitted to their destinations. His help is ensured by writing the numbers 2-4-6-8 (which represent the letters of the Arabic alphabet, B-D-U-H, spelling his name) as a written invocation.

beidou qixing. (J. hokuto shichisho; K. puktu ch'ilsong 北斗七星). In Chinese, "seven stars of the Northern Dipper" (viz., the Big Dipper, or Ursa Major); Daoist divinities that are also prominent in Korean Buddhism, where they are typically known as the ch'ilsong. The cult of the seven stars of the Big Dipper developed within Chinese Buddhist circles through influence from indigenous Daoist schools, who worshipped these seven deities to guard against plague and other misfortunes. The apocryphal Beidou qixing yanming jing ("Book of the Prolongation of Life through Worshipping the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper"), suggests a correlation between the healing buddha BHAIsAJYAGURU and the Big Dipper cult by addressing the seven-star TATHAGATAs (qixing rulai) with names that are very similar to Bhaisajyaguru's seven emanations. This indigenous Chinese scripture (see APOCRYPHA), which derives from an early Daoist text on Big Dipper worship, is certainly dated no later than the late thirteenth or early fourteenth centuries but may have been composed as early as the middle of the eighth century; it later was translated into Uighur, Mongolian, and Tibetan, as part of the Mongol Yuan dynasty's extension of power throughout the Central Asian region. Thanks to this scripture, the seven-star cult became associated in Buddhism with the prolongation of life. We know that seven-star worship had already been introduced into esoteric Buddhist ritual by at least the eighth century because of two contemporary manuals that discuss HOMA fire offerings to the seven stars: VAJRABODHI's (671-741) Beidou qixing niansong yigui ("Ritual Procedures for Invoking the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper") and his disciple AMOGHAVAJRA's (705-774) Beidou qixing humo miyao yigui ("Esoteric Ritual Procedure for the Homa Offering to the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper"). Renderings of DHARAnĪ sutras dedicated to the tathAgata TEJAPRABHA (Qixingguang Rulai), who is said to be master of the planets and the twenty-eight asterisms, are also attributed to Amoghavajra's translation bureau. Worship of the seven stars within esoteric Buddhist circles was therefore certainly well established in China by the eighth century during the Tang dynasty and probably soon afterward in Korean Buddhism. ¶ The worship of the Big Dipper in Korea may date as far back as the Megalithic period, as evidenced by the engraving of the Big Dipper and other asterisms on dolmens or menhirs. In the fourth-century Ji'an tombs of the Koguryo kingdom (37 BCE-668 CE), one of the traditional Three Kingdoms of early Korea, a mural of the Big Dipper is found on the north wall of tomb no. 1, along with an accompanying asterism of the six stars of Sagittarius (sometimes called the Southern Dipper) on the south wall; this juxtaposition is presumed to reflect the influence of the Shangqing school of contemporary Chinese Daoism. Court rituals to the seven stars and the tathAgata Tejaprabha date from the twelfth century during the Koryo dynasty. By at least the thirteen century, the full range of texts and ritual practices associated with the seven-star deities were circulating in Korea. At the popular level in Korea, the divinities of the Big Dipper were thought to control longevity, especially for children, and the ch'ilsong cult gained widespread popularity during the Choson dynasty (1392-1910). This popularization is in turn reflected in the ubiquity in Korean monasteries of "seven-stars shrines" (ch'ilsonggak), which were typically located in less-conspicuous locations along the outer perimeter of the monasteries and were worshipped primarily by the nonelite. Inside these shrines were hung seven-star paintings (T'AENGHWA), which typically depict the tathAgatas of the seven stars, with the tathAgata Tejaprabha presiding at the center. There are also several comprehensive ritual and liturgical manuals compiled during the Choson dynasty and Japanese colonial period in Korea that include rituals and invocations to the seven stars and Tejaprabha, most dedicated to the prolongation of life. Along with the mountain god (sansin), who also often has his own shrine in the monasteries of Korea, the role of the ch'ilsong in Korean Buddhism is often raised in the scholarship as an example of Buddhism's penchant to adapt beliefs and practices from rival religions. Although ch'ilsong worship has declined markedly in contemporary Korea, the ch'ilsokche, a worship ceremony dedicated to the tathAgata Tejaprabha, is occasionally held at some Buddhist monasteries on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, with lay believers praying for good fortune and the prevention of calamity.

benediction ::: n. --> The act of blessing.
A blessing; an expression of blessing, prayer, or kind wishes in favor of any person or thing; a solemn or affectionate invocation of happiness.
The short prayer which closes public worship; as, to give the benediction.
The form of instituting an abbot, answering to the consecration of a bishop.


Invocation for Exciting Love in the Heart of the Person Who is the Object of Our Desire 359

Invocation: In the terminology of magic, the act or the formula of calling for the presence of a superhuman entity.

Invocation of the Mystery of the Third Seal 358

Invocation ::: The calling forth of an entity, current, or archetype within oneself. Usually contrasted with evocation which is viewed as a calling forth outside of oneself ike in a temple or at an altar. But an invocation can also be thought of as a calling forth of a more cosmic deity or power such as an archangel regardless of whether it actually inhabits the body of the summoner. It's a matter of context and the system used.

Bka' brgyud mgur mtsho. (Kagyü Gurtso). In Tibetan, "An Ocean of Songs of the Bka' brgyud"; a collection of spiritual songs and poetry composed by eminent masters of the BKA' BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It was compiled by the eighth KARMA PA MI BSKYOD RDO RJE in about 1542, originally intended as a liturgical text to be recited as an invocation of the entire Bka' brgyud lineage. The text is also part biographical recollection and doctrinal catalogue and is still much loved and widely read by adherents of the tradition. Its complete title is: Mchog gi dngos grub mngon du byed pa'i myur lam bka' brgyud bla ma rnams kyi rdo rje'i mgur dbyangs ye shes char 'bebs rang grol lhun grub bde chen rab 'bar nges don rgya mtsho'i snying po.

blessing ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Bless ::: v. t. --> The act of one who blesses.
A declaration of divine favor, or an invocation imploring divine favor on some or something; a benediction; a wish of happiness pronounces.


Brahma-Vaivarta Purana (Sanskrit) Brahma-Vaivarta Purāṇa The metamorphosis of Brahma; one of the 18 principal Hindu Puranas, dealing with Brahma in the form of the avatara Krishna and containing prayers and invocations addressed to Krishna, with narratives about his love for Radha, the gopis, etc.

Brihaspati (Sanskrit) Bṛhaspati [from bṛh prayer + pati lord] Sometimes Vrihaspati. A Vedic deity, corresponding to the planet Jupiter, commonly translated lord of prayer, the personification of exoteric piety and religion, but mystically the name signifies lord of increase, of expansion, growth. He is frequently called Brahmanaspati, both names having a direct significance with the power of sound as uttered in mantras or prayer united with positive will. He is regarded in Hindu mythology as the chief offerer of prayers and sacrifices, thus representing the Brahmin or priestly caste, being the Purohita (family priest) of the gods, among other things interceding with them for mankind. He has many titles and attributes, being frequently designated as Jiva (the living), Didivis (the bright or golden-colored). In later times he became the god of exoteric knowledge and eloquence — Dhishana (the intelligent), Gish-pati (lord of invocations). In this aspect he is regarded as the son of the rishi Angiras, and hence bears the patronymic Angirasa, and the husband of Tara, who was carried off by Soma (the moon). Tara is

canonization ::: n. --> The final process or decree (following beatifacation) by which the name of a deceased person is placed in the catalogue (canon) of saints and commended to perpetual veneration and invocation.
The state of being canonized or sainted.


Ceremonial magic: Magic based on the invocation of powers above man’s level on the scale of being, and giving man command over elementals (q.v.) by the use of certain rites and rituals.

Channeling ::: The process of intentionally drawing a spirit or entity into oneself in order to obtain or discern information. Contrast with Invocation and Possession. Can also refer to the mediation of currents in various ritualistic and meditative contexts.

Co7 ::: Shorthand for the preliminary rite, "The Calling of the Sevenths to Induce Equilibrium". This is a rite initially found in the P.G.M. that balances the planetary energies within the psyche, centers the mind, and establishes the beginning of the authority to start on a more intricate ritual or working (e.g. a planetary invocation).

Common Gateway Interface "web" (CGI) A {standard} for running external {programs} from a {web} {HTTP} {server}. CGI specifies how to pass {arguments} to the program as part of the HTTP request. It also defines a set of {environment variables} that are made available to the program. The program generates output, typically {HTML}, which the web server processes and passes back to the {browser}. Alternatively, the program can request {URL redirection}. CGI allows the returned output to depend in any arbitrary way on the request. The CGI program can, for example, access information in a {database} and format the results as HTML. The program can access any data that a normal application program can, however the facilities available to CGI programs are usually limited for security reasons. Although CGI programs can be compiled programs, they are more often written in a (semi) {interpreted language} such as {Perl}, or as {Unix} {shell scripts}, hence the common name "CGI script". Here is a trivial CGI script written in Perl. (It requires the "CGI" module available from {CPAN}).

Common Gateway Interface ::: (World-Wide Web) (CGI) A standard for running external programs from a World-Wide Web HTTP server. CGI specifies how to pass arguments to the program the program can request URL redirection. CGI allows the returned output to depend in any arbitrary way on the request.The CGI program can, for example, access information in a database and format the results as HTML. The program can access any data that a normal application program can, however the facilities available to CGI programs are usually limited for security reasons.Although CGI programs can be compiled programs, they are more often written in a (semi) interpreted language such as Perl, or as Unix shell scripts, hence the common name CGI script.Here is a trivial CGI script written in Perl. (It requires the CGI module available from CPAN).

Common Object Request Broker Architecture "standard, programming" (CORBA) An {Object Management Group} specification which provides a standard messaging interface between distributed {objects}. The original CORBA specification (1.1) has been revised through version 2 (CORBA 2) with the latest specification being version 3 (CORBA 3). In its most basic form CORBA consists of the {Interface Definition Language} (IDL) and the Dynamic Invocation Interface (DII). The IDL definition is complied into a Stub (client) and Skeleton (server) component that communicate through an {Object Request Broker} (ORB). When an ORB determines that a request is to a remote object, it may execute the request by communicating with the remote ORB. The Corba IDL can be mapped to a number of languages including {C}, {C++}, {Java}, {COBOL}, {Smalltalk}, {Ada}, {Lisp}, {Python}, and {IDLscript}. CORBA ORBs are widely available for a number of platforms. The OMG standard for inter-ORB communication is {IIOP}, this ensures that all CORBA 2 compliant ORBS are able to interoperate. See also {COSS}, {Component Object Model}, {RMI}. {OMG CORBA specs (http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/corba_spec_catalog.htm)}. (2007-09-04)

Common Object Request Broker Architecture ::: (standard, programming) (CORBA) An Object Management Group specification which provides a standard messaging interface between distributed objects.The original CORBA specification (1.1) has been revised through version 2 (CORBA 2) with the latest specification being version 3 (CORBA 3). In its most basic form CORBA consists of the Interface Definition Language (IDL) and the Dynamic Invocation Interface (DII).The IDL definition is complied into a Stub (client) and Skeleton (server) component that communicate through an Object Request Broker (ORB). When an ORB determines that a request is to a remote object, it may execute the request by communicating with the remote ORB.The Corba IDL can be mapped to a number of languages including C, C++, Java, COBOL, Smalltalk, Ada, Lisp, Python, and IDLscript. CORBA ORBs are widely communication is IIOP, this ensures that all CORBA 2 compliant ORBS are able to interoperate.See also COSS, Component Object Model, RMI. .(2003-11-21)

CONCUR "language" A proposal for a language for programming with {concurrent} processes. CONCUR was inspired by {Modula} but removes Modula's restrictions on the placement of process declarations and invocations in order to study the implications of process support more fully. Anderson presents a {compiler} which translates CONCUR into the {object language} for a hypothetical machine. ["CONCUR, A Language for Continuous Concurrent Processes", R.M. Salter et al, Comp Langs 5(3):163-189, 1981]. {["Concur: a High-Level Language for Concurrent Programming", Karen Anderson Thesis, B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, 1979] (https://ritdml.rit.edu/handle/1850/15968?show=full)} (2013-06-05)

Curse: Any act or word designed to produce harm or injury by supernatural powers; an invocation of supernatural powers to wreak harm or injury upon a person, place or object. A qualified person can destroy the effect of a curse, by a blessing or a counter-curse.

Daguan Zhenke. (J. Takkan Shinka; K. Talgwan Chin'ga 達觀眞可) (1543-1603). Chinese CHAN master of the Ming dynasty, also known as ZIBO. Daguan was a native of Jugu prefecture in Jiangsu province. He was ordained at age sixteen and is said to have attained awakening after reading the following verse by the layman Zhang Zhuo (d.u.), a disciple of the Chan master SHISHUANG QINGZHU: "Cutting off deluded thoughts increases maladies ever more,/ Heading out toward true suchness is also heresy" (duanji wangxiang zhongzeng bing,/ quxiang zhenru yishi xie). Like his influential contemporaries HANSHAN DEQING and YUNQI ZHUHONG, he was renowned for his advocacy of NIANFO Chan, in which Chan meditative practice was combined with the invocation or recitation of the name of the buddha AMITABHA. Daguan was known as one of the four great monks of the Ming dynasty along with Hanshan Deqing (1546-1623), Yunqi Zhuhong (1535-1615), and OUYI ZHIXU (1599-1655). Daguan's teachings are recorded in the Zibo zunzhe quanji and Zibo laoren shiji.

Daochuo. (J. Doshaku; K. Tojak 道綽) (562-645). Chinese monk and putative second patriarch of the JINGTU (pure land) tradition; also known as Chan Master Xihe (West River). Daochuo was a native of Bingzhou in present-day Shanxi province. He left home at an early age and studied the MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA. According to legend, in 609, Daochuo is said to have been inspired by TANLUAN's epitaph to continue the latter's efforts to further PURE LAND thought and practice. Daochuo is then said to have devoted himself to the practice of NIANFO, the invocation of the name of the buddha AMITABHA, and the daily recitation of the SUKHAVATĪVYuHASuTRA. Daochuo is perhaps more famous than even Tanluan for advocating the practice of recitation of the Buddha's name (NIANFO) over all other practices. He is also known for using small beans (xiaodou) to keep count of the number of recitations; some believe his habit of using counting beans is the origin of rosaries (JAPAMALA) in China. The influential pure land treatise ANLE JI is attributed to Daochuo.

deesis ::: n. --> An invocation of, or address to, the Supreme Being.

dhikr, Farsi zikr ::: recollection, remembrance, reminiscence, commemoration; mentioning, speaking of; mention of the Lord's name; invocation of Allah. Inayat Khan used this term to describe spoken repetition, such as a wazifa. (in contrast to fikr, which he used to describe silent repetition) (zikr is the typical Farsi/Urdu pronunciation of the Arabic dhikr, while thikr is the classical Arabic pronunciation ).

Dionysos (Greek) [from dio from dis old form of Zeus + Nysa] Also Dionysius. Zeus of Nysa, a mountain variously placed in Thrace, Boeotia, Arabia, India, Asia Minor, and Libya; another name is Bacchos, a form of Iacchos [from ’iachein to shout] in allusion to the Bacchic invocation. Among the Romans he is called Liber, which some connect with liber (free), calling him the liberator (cf labarum, the later mystic emblem of the Christ). He was worshiped in Athens at the Dionysia, held a position at Delphi almost equal to Apollo, and appears in the Eleusinian Mysteries.

du'ā' ::: prayer, request, plea; supplication (to God); an invocation of good, a blessing, benediction; wish; congratulation, salutation. (in some texts as do'a)

dua :::   prayer; supplication; invocation of Allah’s favors

Eis Zeus Sarapi An invocation to Sarapis (or Serapis) frequently found on Gnostic gems, meaning “the One Zeus, Sarapis,” a recognition of Sarapis as the supreme deity. Similar in meaning to the Gnostic phrase Abrasax Iao (Abrasax is the One Iao) also inscribed on gems.

evocation ::: Evocation Unlike what happens with invocation, involving a calling in, evocation involves a calling forth, most commonly into what is called the Triangle of Art. Aleister Crowley explains the distinct difference between invocation and evocation as such: "To 'invoke' is to call in, just as to evoke is to call forth. This is the essential difference between the two branches of magick. In invocation, the macrocosm floods the consciousness. In evocation, the magician, having become the macrocosm, creates a microcosm. You invoke a God into the Circle. You evoke a Spirit into the Triangle of Art."

Evocation ::: The calling forth of an entity to a more perceptible and cohesive appearance before the evoker. Usually invocation is viewed as a calling within one's self of a power or entity whereas an evocation is a calling forth outside of oneself, like in a temple or at an altar. But an evocation can also be thought of as a calling forth of a sub-lunar spirit while an invocation can be a calling forth of a more cosmic deity or power such as an archangel, regardless of whether it actually inhabits the body of the summoner. It's a matter of context and the system used.

following invocation: “I conjure you, Armisael,

ganying. (J. kanno; K. kamŭng 感應). In Chinese, "sympathetic resonance," or "stimulus and response," a seminal concept in traditional Chinese philosophy, which is appropriated in early Chinese Buddhism to explain the Buddhist concepts of action (KARMAN) and grace (i.e., the "response" of a buddha or BODHISATTVA to a supplicant's invocation, or "stimulus"). Ganying is a mode of seemingly spontaneous (although not "uncaused") response that occurs naturally in a universe conceived holistically in terms of pattern or "principle" (LI) and interdependent order. The notion itself is deceptively simple: objects belonging to the same category or class are conceived as resonating spontaneously with each other, just as would two identically tuned strings on a pair of zithers. The notion of resonance was used in traditional Chinese philosophy to explain or rationalize the mechanism behind the elaborate system of correlated categories generally known as five-phase (wuxing) thought-viz., the primary elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and soil. According to early Chinese cosmology, the underlying principles and patterns of the universe seemingly give rise to, or resonate spontaneously with, correlative manifestations in the physical world. The Chinese conception of the universe as an interconnected harmonious whole finds expression in theories concerning the cyclic progression of the five phases and yin (dark) and yang (light), as well as in elaborate prescriptions pertaining to the ritual life of the court. The universe, according to this view, is in a state of continual motion and flux. The patterns of change are the result of the cyclic interactions between the five phases and the forces (or vital energies, C. qi) of yin and yang, which tend naturally in the direction of rhythmic balance and harmony. Humans do not stand apart from the natural universe but rather constitute a fundamental and integral part of this whole. Early Buddhist thinkers in China adapted the mechanism of sympathetic resonance to explain in Chinese terms how an action (karman) performed in one time period could evoke a corresponding response, or fruition (VIPĀKA), in another. In addition, sympathetic resonance was used by early Chinese Buddhist thinkers to make sense of the notion of grace. In this later sense, sentient beings' faith (sRADDHĀ) and/or roots of virtue (KUsALAMuLA) would invoke a "sympathetic response" in the minds of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, which prompts them to respond accordingly with salvific grace. In the PURE LAND traditions, sentient beings' recitation of the name of AMITĀBHA (see NIANFO) creates a sympathetic response in the mind of that buddha, which prompts him in turn to bring them to his pure land, where they may become enlightened. The rubric of ganying is just as prevalent in popular religious tracts in China, where it refers to the principle of moral retribution-the belief that one's good and evil deeds will result in corresponding rewards and punishments. While the Chinese notion of moral retribution (bao) meted out in this life or the next was indebted to Buddhist notions of karman and rebirth, in the premodern period, such retribution emerged as a fundamental principle of Chinese popular religious belief and practice, irrespective of one's specific religious affiliation. This doctrine was propagated through innumerable tales of miraculous retribution-such as "numinous attestation" (lingyan), "responsive attestation" (yingyan), or "numinous response" (lingying), and so on-that "attested" (yan) to the reality of the "numinous" or "supernatural" (ling) and the inevitability of divine justice.

Gnas chung. (Nechung). In Tibetan, lit. "Small Place," a monastery serving as the seat of the GNAS CHUNG ORACLE, Tibet's state oracle, located near 'BRAS SPUNGS monastery outside LHA SA. According to tradition, on the advice of sĀNTARAKsITA, KHRI SRONG SDE BTSAN invited the tantric thaumaturge PADMASAMBHAVA to Tibet to subdue spirits hostile to the introduction of Buddhism. Padmasambhava appointed a powerful spirit PE HAR as the protector of Buddhism of Tibet in general and of BSAM YAS monastery in particular. The main place (T. gnas chen) of Pe har is in Bsam yas, and a smaller shrine dedicated to his worship (and to the worship of RDO RJE GRAGS LDAN, the chief form in which Pe har carries out his work in Tibet) was located on the site of the present Gnas chung monastery. The monastery became important during the time of the fifth DALAI LAMA (1617-1682) and his regent SDE SRID SANGS RGYAS RGYA MTSHO, who completed an extensive expansion of the monastery in 1683 as part of a strategy to legitimatize the new government of Tibet (the DGA' LDAN PHO BRANG). They expanded the role of Pe har and made Nechung monastery the seat of Tibet's state oracle, introducing new invocations and rituals as an integral part of the monastery's practices. In the late nineteenth century, O rgyan Phrin las chos 'phel, a lama from SMIN GROL GLING monastery, introduced a number of RNYING MA tantric practices to the monastery; his incarnations are called the Gnas chung sprul skus.

Gnostic amulets known as Abraxas gems depicted the god as a pantheos (all-god), with the head of a cock, herald of the sun, representing foresight and vigilance; a human body clothed in armor, suggestive of guardian power; legs in the form of sacred asps. In his right hand is a scourge, emblem of authority; on his left arm a shield emblazoned with a word of power. This pantheos is invariably inscribed with his proper name IAO and his epithets Abraxas and Sabaoth, and often accompanied with invocations such as SEMES EILAM, the eternal sun (Gnostics and Their Remains 246), which Blavatsky equates with “the central spiritual sun” of the Qabbalists (SD 2:214). Though written in Greek characters, the words SEMES EILAM ABRASAX are probably Semitic in origin: shemesh sun; ‘olam secret, occult, hid, eternity, world; Abrasax Abraxas. Hence in combination the phrase may be rendered “the eternal sun Abrasax.”

goetia ::: Goetia Goetia is the first part of the Lemegeton, or Lesser Key of Solomon, a 5-part seventeenth century manual on demonic invocation popular with nineteenth/twentieth century occultists, most notably Aleister Crowley and Arthur Edward Waite. The word Goetia stems from the Greek, meaning sorcery. The Lemegeton purports to be the magical manual of King Solomon, whose legend includes tales of servant demons conjured by him to do his bidding.

goety ::: n. --> Invocation of evil spirits; witchcraft.

Greatest Hermes, an invocation to Hermes is

Grimoire ::: Latin for "grammar". Refers to a book of magic. Usually it's a self-contained system and can deal with the evocation or invocation of spirits and the rituals for doing so.

hagiolatry ::: n. --> The invocation or worship of saints.

hechaloth lore, Asriel X is an invocation angel.

hello, world "programming" The canonical, minimal, first program that a programmer writes in a new {programming language} or {development environment}. The program just prints "hello, world" to {standard output} in order to verify that the programmer can successfully edit, compile and run a simple program before embarking on anything more challenging. Hello, world is the first example program in the {C} programming book, {K&R}, and the tradition has spread from there to pretty much every other language and many of their textbooks. Environments that generate an unreasonably large executable for this trivial test or which require a {hairy} compiler-linker invocation to generate it are considered bad. {Hello, World in over 400 programming languages (http://www.roesler-ac.de/wolfram/hello.htm)}. (2013-10-27)

hello, world ::: The canonical minimal test message in the C/Unix universe or any of the minimal programs that emit this message. Traditionally, the first program a C coder generate an unreasonably large executable for this trivial test or which require a hairy compiler-linker invocation to generate it are considered bad (see X).

hosanna ::: n. --> A Hebrew exclamation of praise to the Lord, or an invocation of blessings.

Hu :::   third-person pronoun (without gender) used in reference to Allah and in invocation to Allah during zikr

Iacchos (Greek) [from iacho or iakcheo to shout] A sacred name of Bacchus (Dionysos) in the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which he is son of Zeus and Demeter, not of Zeus and Semele as was the Theban Bacchus. The name, an allusion to the invocations accompanying the rites, is mystically connected with Iao and Jehovah.

ichinengi. (一念義). In Japanese, "the doctrine of a single recitation," in the Japanese PURE LAND traditions, the practice of a single verbal recitation of the buddha AMITĀBHA's name (J. nenbutsu; C. NIANFO). This doctrine refers to a position held by some of HoNEN's (1133-1212) major disciples in the early JoDOSHu, especially Jokakubo Kosai (1163-1247), and to a lesser extent SHINRAN (1163-1273). After Honen passed away, a debate emerged among his followers over whether salvation in Amitābha's pure land of SUKHĀVATĪ was attained through a "single recitation" of the Buddha's name, or "multiple recitations" (see TANENGI). The single-recitation position advocates that a single moment of faith would be sufficient to ensure rebirth in that pure land, because the person would then be receptive to Amitābha's grace. Due to this near-exclusive emphasis on the role of grace in effecting salvation, some of the proponents of single-recitation practice apparently engaged in antinomian behavior, such that the doctrine of ichinengi came to be associated with subversive political activities. The degree to which this single moment of faith arises from the "self-power" (JIRIKI) of the aspirant or the "other-power" (TARIKI) of Amitābha was also debated. Although Shinran seems to have favored the single-recitation position, he also argued that neither the single- nor multiple-recitation position provided a comprehensive perspective on the prospect of salvation. (For the JISHU practice of ippen nenbutsu, the one-time invocation of the Buddha's name as if it were the time of one's death, see IPPEN.)

in magical operations. For details of invocation,

interrupt handler "software" A routine which is executed when an {interrupt} occurs. Interrupt handlers typically deal with low-level events in the hardware of a computer system such as a character arriving at a {serial port} or a tick of a {real-time clock}. Special care is required when writing an interrupt handler to ensure that either the interrupt which triggered the handler's execution is masked out (inhibitted) until the handler exits, or the handler is {re-entrant} so that multiple concurrent invocations will not interfere with each other. If interrupts are masked then the handler must execute as quickly as possible so that important events are not missed. This is often arranged by splitting the processing associated with the event into "upper" and "lower" halves. The lower part is the interrupt handler which masks out further interrupts as required, checks that the appropriate event has occurred (this may be necessary if several events share the same interrupt), services the interrupt, e.g. by reading a character from a {UART} and writing it to a {queue}, and re-enabling interrupts. The upper half executes as part of a user process. It waits until the interrupt handler has run. Normally the {operating system} is responsible for reactivating a process which is waiting for some low-level event. It detects this by a shared {flag} or by inspecting a shared queue or by some other synchronisation mechanism. It is important that the upper and lower halves do not interfere if an interrupt occurs during the execution of upper half code. This is usually ensured by disabling interrupts during {critical sections} of code such as removing a character from a queue. (2002-07-24)

interrupt handler ::: (software) A routine which is executed when an interrupt occurs. Interrupt handlers typically deal with low-level events in the hardware of a masked out (inhibitted) until the handler exits, or the handler is re-entrant so that multiple concurrent invocations will not interfere with each other.If interrupts are masked then the handler must execute as quickly as possible so that important events are not missed. This is often arranged by splitting the events share the same interrupt), services the interrupt, e.g. by reading a character from a UART and writing it to a queue, and re-enabling interrupts.The upper half executes as part of a user process. It waits until the interrupt handler has run. Normally the operating system is responsible for reactivating a disabling interrupts during critical sections of code such as removing a character from a queue.(2002-07-24)

In them, invocations, adjurations, and exorcisms were spelt out in full, often grossest detail, and

invocation at fumigation. [Rf. Grimorium Verum;

invocation ::: Invocation Invocation is the bringing in or identifying with a particular deity or spirit. Crowley wrote of two main keys to success in this arena: to enflame thyself in praying and to invoke often. Bear in mind that for Crowley, the single most important invocation, or any act of magick for that matter, was the invocation of one's Holy Guardian Angel, or Secret Self, thus allowing the adept to know his True Will. See also Crowley's experience of invocation.

INVOCATION FOR EXCITING LOVE IN THE HEART OF THE PERSON

invocation ::: n. --> The act or form of calling for the assistance or presence of some superior being; earnest and solemn entreaty; esp., prayer offered to a divine being.
A call or summons; especially, a judicial call, demand, or order; as, the invocation of papers or evidence into court.


invocation of the Muse: A call or request for inspiration from the nine Muses, usually at the beginning of works from the Greek or Roman tradition.

INVOCATION OF THE MYSTERY OF THE THIRD SEAL

invocation “of the water and of the hyssop.” The

invocation. [Rf Schwab, Vocabulaire de I'Angelo-

invocation spirits in special conjuring rites.

invocation spirits.

invocatory ::: a. --> Making or containing invocation; invoking.

invoke ::: v. t. --> To call on for aid or protection; to invite earnestly or solemnly; to summon; to address in prayer; to solicit or demand by invocation; to implore; as, to invoke the Supreme Being, or to invoke His and blessing.

invoking a method {method invocation}

Ippen. (一遍) (1239-1289). Japanese itinerant holy man (HIJIRI) and reputed founder of the JISHU school of the Japanese PURE LAND tradition. Due perhaps to his own antinomian proclivities, Ippen's life remains a mixture of history and legend. Ippen was a native of Iyo in Shikoku. In 1249, after his mother's death, Ippen became a monk at the urging of his father, a Buddhist monk, and was given the name Zuien. In 1251, Ippen traveled to Dazaifu in northern Kyushu, where he studied under the monk Shodatsu (d.u.). In 1263, having learned of his father's death, Ippen returned to Iyo and briefly married. In 1271, Ippen visited Shodatsu once more and made a pilgrimage to the monastery of ZENKoJI in Shinano to see its famous Amida (AMITĀBHA) triad. His visit to Zenkoji is said to have inspired Ippen to go on retreat, spending half a year in a hut that he built in his hometown of Iyo. The site of his retreat, Sugo, was widely known as a sacred place of practice for mountain ascetics (YAMABUSHI). In 1272, Ippen set out for the monastery of SHITENNoJI in osaka, where he is said to have received the ten precepts. At this time, Ippen also developed the eponymous practice known as ippen nenbutsu (one-time invocation of the name [see NIANFO] of the buddha Amitābha), which largely consists of the uttering the phrase NAMU AMIDABUTSU as if this one moment were the time of one's death. Ippen widely propagated this teaching wherever he went, and, to those who complied, he offered an amulet (fusan), which he said would assure rebirth in Amitābha's pure land. From Shitennoji, Ippen made a pilgrimage to KoYASAN and a shrine at KUMANO, where he is said to have had a revelation from a local manifestation of Amitābha. Ippen then began the life of an itinerant preacher, in the process acquiring a large following now known as the Jishu. In 1279, Ippen began performing nenbutsu while dancing with drums and bells, a practice known as odori nenbutsu and developed first by the monk KuYA. Ippen continued to wander through the country, spreading his teaching until his death. A famous set of twelve narrative hand scrolls known as the Ippen hijiri e ("The Illustrated Biography of the Holy Man Ippen") is an important source for the study of Ippen's life. Currently designated a Japanese national treasure (kokuho), the Ippen hijiri e was completed in 1299 on the tenth anniversary of Ippen's death. See also ICHINENGI.

Japa: Sanskrit for invocation.

japa. (T. bzlas brjod; C. niansong; J. nenju; K. yomsong 念誦). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "recitation"; usually oral recitations of invocations or MANTRAs, often counted by fingering a rosary (JAPAMĀLĀ). The various merits forthcoming from specific numbers of such recitations are related in different scriptures. The number of such recitations to be performed in a single sitting is often related to specific numerical lists, such as varying rosters of stages on the BODHISATTVA path. The recitation would then constitute a reenactment of the path, or a process of purification. Perhaps the most common number across traditions is 108, but these numbers range from as few as seven, to fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-seven, thirty-six, forty-two, or fifty-four, up to as many as 1,080. The common figure of 108 is typically said to correspond to a list of 108 proclivities or afflictions (see KLEsA), although other texts say it refers instead to lists of 108 enlightened ones or 108 SAMĀDHIs; 1,080 would then constitute these 108 across all the ten directions (DAsADIs). (See also other explanations in JAPAMĀLĀ, s.v.)

Java Virtual Machine "language, architecture" (JVM) A specification for software which interprets {Java} programs that have been compiled into {byte-codes}, and usually stored in a ".class" file. The JVM {instruction set} is {stack}-oriented, with variable instruction length. Unlike some other instruction sets, the JVM's supports {object-oriented} programming directly by including instructions for object {method} invocation (similar to {subroutine} call in other instruction sets). The JVM itself is written in {C} and so can be {ported} to run on most {platforms}. It needs {thread} support and {I/O} (for {dynamic class loading}). The Java byte-code is independent of the platform. There are also some hardware implementations of the JVM. {Specification (http://javasoft.com/docs/books/vmspec/html/VMSpecTOC.doc.html)}. {Sun's Java chip (http://news.com/News/Item/0,4,9328,00.html)}. [Documentation? Versions?] (2000-01-03)

Java Virtual Machine ::: (language, architecture) (JVM) A specification for software which interprets Java programs that have been compiled into byte-codes, and usually supports object-oriented programming directly by including instructions for object method invocation (similar to subroutine call in other instruction sets).The JVM itself is written in C and so can be ported to run on most platforms. It needs thread support and I/O (for dynamic class loading). The Java byte-code is independent of the platform.There are also some hardware implementations of the JVM. . .[Documentation? Versions?](2000-01-03)

Jishu. [alt. Jishu] (時衆/時宗). In Japanese, "Time Assembly" or "Time school"; referring to followers of the Japanese itinerant holy man (HIJIRI) IPPEN (1239-1289). The name comes from this community's practice of rotating leadership in invoking the name of the buddha AMITĀBHA (J. nenbutsu; see NIANFO) at different time intervals. Ippen developed a practice known as ippen nenbutsu (single-time invocation of the name [see NIANFO] of the Amitābha), which largely consists of the uttering the phrase NAMU AMIDABUTSU as if that one time were the moment of one's death. Ippen widely propagated this teaching wherever he went, and to those who complied, he offered an amulet (fusan), which he claimed assured them rebirth in Amitābha's pure land of SUKHĀVATĪ. In 1279, Ippen also began performing nenbutsu while dancing with drums and bells, a practice known as odori nenbutsu (dancing recitation) and first developed by the monk KuYA. During the course of his life as an itinerant preacher, Ippen acquired a large following that eventually became known as the Jishu. The number of Jishu followers grew greatly during the Kamakura period. The Jishu community was guided by a set of eighteen vows devised by Ippen and was distinguished from monks of other traditions by their unique robes. An intense rivalry seems to have existed between the leaders of the Jishu and the JoDO SHINSHu tradition of Japanese pure land Buddhism. A large portion of the Jishu community was later absorbed into the Jodo Shinshu community, largely through the efforts of RENNYO. The current head temple of Jishu is Shojokoji in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Jodo Shinshu. (浄土眞宗). In Japanese, the "True Pure Land school"; referring to the followers of the Japanese PURE LAND monk SHINRAN (1173-1262) and often called simply the Shinshu ("True School"). The central scriptures of the Jodo Shinshu are the so-called three pure land SuTRAs (J. jodo sanbukyo, see JINGTU SANBUJING): the longer SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA, the shorter Sukhāvatīvyuhasutra (also known as the AMITĀBHASuTRA) and the GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING, as well as the writings of Shinran, such as his magnum opus, KYoGYo SHINSHo. Following the example of Shinran's own vocation, the school is distinguished from the earlier JoDOSHu by its more liberal attitude toward the Buddhist VINAYA rules of conduct, permitting its clergy to marry, have families, and eat meat, and its faith-oriented approach to practice, which placed relatively less emphasis on the efficacy of nenbutsu (C. NIANFO), the invocation of the name of the buddha AMITĀBHA, and greater stress on the power and grace of Amitābha. Because Shinran believed that people in this degenerate age of the dharma (J. mappo; C. MOFA) had little hope of gaining salvation through through own power (JIRIKI), he taught instead the complete reliance on Amitābha's salvific power (TARIKI). And because there was no possibility of effecting salvation on one's own, Shinran advocated that just a single sincere recitation of his name (ICHINENGI) would be sufficient to earn Amitābha's grace, in distinction to other of Honen's successors, who advocated multiple or even continuous recitations of Amitābha's name (TANENGI). Shinran's teachings spread from the capital of Kyoto to the countryside, largely through the proselytizing efforts of his disciples. The followers of Shinran eventually formed regional centers known as dojo (cultivation sites), which later came under control of the monastery HONGANJI, thus developing a unified sectarian identity. This process largely began with the development of a memorial cult surrounding Shinran. KAKUNYO (1270-1351), Shinran's great-grandson, formalized the memorial services (hoonko) for Shinran and transformed his mausoleum in otani into a temple, which he later named Honganji. The regional centers also developed into contending factions (e.g., the Bukkoji, Senjuji, and Kinshokuji branches), but they were eventually unified under the strong leadership of RENNYO (1415-1499), the eighth abbot of Honganji. In 1465, warrior monks from HIEIZAN razed Honganji and turned the site into one of their own branch temples (matsuji). In 1478, having gained enough support to counter any threat from Mt. Hiei, Rennyo moved Honganji to the Yamashina area of Kyoto. The move was completed in 1483 with the completion of the Amida hall. Under Rennyo's leadership, Honganji became the central monastery of the Jodo Shinshu tradition. Rennyo built a broad network of temples that was consolidated under the sole administration of Honganji. After a brief move to osaka, Honganji was relocated to its current site in Kyoto on the order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598). A split occurred between two factions shortly thereafter, and ever since the early seventeenth century the Nishi (West) and Higashi (East) Honganji complexes have served as the religious centers of these two major branches of Jodo Shinshu, the NISHI HONGANJIHA and the HIGASHI HONGANJIHA (also known as the oTANIHA). See also JoDOSHu.

Jodoshu. (浄土宗). In Japanese, the "PURE LAND school"; referring to the followers of HoNEN (1133-1212), who formed the first indigenous school of Japanese Buddhism outside the aegis of the imperial court. The central scriptures of the school are the so-called three pure land SuTRAs (jodo sanbukyo; see JINGTU SANBUJING): the longer SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA, the shorter Sukhāvatīvyuhasutra (also known as the AMITĀBHASuTRA), and the GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING; as well as the *Aparimitāyussutropadesa ("Exegesis of the Wuliangshou jing"), commonly known as the Jingtu lun (J. Jodoron) ("Treatise on the Pure Land") and attributed by tradition to VASUBANDHU (see WULIANGSHOU JING YOUPOTISHE YUANSHENG JI). Honen's teachings focused on the "easy path" to NIRVĀnA and the prospect of achieving enlightenment exclusively through recitation of the nenbutsu (C. NIANFO), which would lead to rebirth in the buddha AMITĀBHA's pure land. Honen's teachings quickly spread throughout Japan largely through the efforts of his disciples SHINRAN (1173-1262), Ryukan (1148-1228), Shokobo Bencho (1162-1238), Zen'ebo Shoku (1177-1247), Jokakubo Kosai (1163-1247), and Kakumyobo Chosai (1184-1366). While his disciples all agreed on the efficacy of the recitation of the nenbutsu as advocated by Honen, they developed different interpretations of this practice. These divisions eventually led to the formation of disparate factions within the school. Those who followed Bencho came to be known as the Chinzei branch; their spirit of tolerance for other practices allowed the Chinzei branch to thrive. Shoku's followers, now known as the Seizan branch, held the position that rebirth in the pure land is possible only through continuous repetition of the nenbutsu (TANENGI); indeed, Shoku himself was said to recite the nenbutsu as many as sixty thousand times a day. Kosai, and to a lesser extent Shinran, held the more radical position that a single invocation of the name of Amitābha (ICHINENGI) would suffice. In 1207, in an effort to suppress the spread of Honen's teaching of exclusive nenbutsu, Honen, Kosai, and Shinran, were exiled to different regions of the country. In 1227, the Jodo movement was further suppressed when Honen's grave was desecrated by HIEIZAN monks and Kosai was again sent into exile. In 1450, the Chinzei branch came to dominate the other branches when the Chinzei adherent Keijiku (1403-1459) assumed the position of abbot of the monastery CHION'IN (built at Honen's grave site) in Kyoto. The Chinzei branch firmly established itself as the leading branch with the support of the Tokugawa bakufu. The teachings of Bencho's disciple Ryochu (1199-1287), who advocated the active use of the nenbutsu for purifying bad KARMAN in order to attain rebirth in pure land, came to be the official position of the Chinzei branch and thus of the wider Jodoshu tradition. See also JoDO SHINSHu.

Kakuban. (覺鑁) (1095-1143). Japanese monk and putative founder of the Shingi branch of the SHINGONSHu, also known as Mitsugon Sonja (Venerable Secret Adornment). Kakuban was a native of Fujitsu no sho in Hizen (present-day Saga). In 1107, Kakuban became a monk at the monastery NINNAJI in Kyoto and studied the fundamentals of esoteric teachings (MIKKYo) under the eminent master Kanjo (1052-1125). Kakuban spent the next year in Nara, where he is said to have immersed himself in doctrinal studies at the monasteries of KoFUKUJI and ToDAIJI. In 1110, he returned to Ninnaji and was tonsured by Kanjo. In 1112, Kakuban began studying the eighteen ritual procedures according to KuKAI's Juhachi geiin, and the next year he received the KONGoKAI and TAIZoKAI MAndALAs. In 1114, Kakuban received the full monastic precepts at Todaiji, and later that year he climbed KoYASAN where he met the monk Shoren (d.u.). The next year, Kakuban studied a ritual known as the kumonjiho dedicated to ĀKĀsAGARBHA under the monk Myojaku (d.u.), and, during his stay on Mt. Koya, Kakuban is said to have also received the consecration (ABHIsEKA) of DHARMA transmission (J. denbo kanjo) eight times. In 1121, Kakuban received the three SAMAYA precepts and consecration of the two mandalas from Kanjo at the sanctuary (dojo) located in Ninnaji. In 1130, Kakuban established the temple Denboin on Mt. Koya with the support of retired Emperor Toba (1107-1123). There he attempted to reinstate a ritual of esoteric transmission known as the denboe. When the temple proved to be too small to hold a great assembly, Kakuban again established the larger temples Daidenboin and Mitsugon'in on Koyasan in 1132. Kakuban subsequently devoted himself to developing a new esoteric ritual tradition that could incorporate the disparate ritual traditions that had developed in Kyoto, Nara, HIEIZAN, and other monastic centers. This new ritual tradition came to be known as the Denboinryu. In 1134, Kakuban was appointed the head (zasu) of the monasteries of Daidenboin and Kongobuji on Mt. Koya, but Kakuban's rise to power was soon contested by the conservative factions of Kongobuji monks with ties to the monasteries of ToJI and Daigoji. As a result, Kakuban retired to his monastery of Mitsugon'in. In 1140, the monks of Kongobuji launched a violent attack on Daidenboin and Mitsugon'in, which forced Kakuban to flee to Mt. Negoro in Wakayama. In 1288, the split between Kakuban's new ritual tradition (later known as Shingi or "new meaning") and the old traditions of Toji and Kongobuji was formalized by the monk Raiyu's (1226-1304) move of Daidenboin and Mitsugon'in to Mt. Negoro. Kakuban is particularly well known for his efforts towards reestablishing the study of Kukai's writings as the central organizing principle for the study of mikkyo ritual traditions. Kakuban is commonly regarded as having developed a new approach to nenbutsu (see NIANFO), or invocation of the name of the buddha AMITĀBHA, known as the "esoteric recitation," or himitsu nenbutsu. However, by Kakuban's time nenbutsu practice in esoteric Buddhist contexts had already become a nearly ubiquitous feature of monastic and lay practice in Japan, and it would therefore be more accurate to regard Kakuban's writings on this topic as an attempt to propose a unified nenbutsu perspective for the diverse factions of monks and ascetics (HIJIRI) who had come to Mt. Koya in search of rebirth in the pure lands and abodes of MAITREYA, Amitābha, MANJUsRĪ, AVALOKITEsVARA, etc. Long after his death, Emperor Higashiyama (r. 1687-1709) in 1690 gave Kakuban the title Kogyo Daishi.

Kuya. (空也) (903-972). Japanese monk and itinerant holy man (HIJIRI) renowned for his efforts to spread the practice of nenbutsu (C. NIANFO) or invocation of the name of the buddha AMITĀBHA among the common people. Little is known of his early life, but legends of his building bridges and roads and producing images of buddhas and BODHISATTVAs abound. He is also famous for preaching at the marketplace, for which he came to be known as the "holy man (hijiri) of the marketplace." Kuya is said to have received full ordination from the TENDAISHu monk Ensho (880-964) on HIEIZAN in 948. A famous statue of Kuya practicing nenbutsu is now housed at his temple Rokuharamitsuji. It shows the syllables of the nenbutsu emerging from this mouth in the form of buddhas.

Kyogyo shinsho. (教行信証). In Japanese, "Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Realization," composed by the Japanese JoDO SHINSHu teacher SHINRAN (1173-1263), also known as the Ken jodo shinjitsu kyogyosho monrui. The Kyogyo shinsho is considered one of the most important texts of the Jodo Shinshu tradition. The exact dates of its compilation are unknown, but it seems to have gradually developed into its current shape over the first half of the thirteenth century. Several other similar works were also composed during this period by disciples of HoNEN, largely in response to the monk MYoE KoBEN's criticism of exclusive nenbutsu (C. NIANFO), the hallmark of the Jodo traditions. The Kyogyo shinsho largely consists of citations of scriptural passages on the practice of nenbutsu or invocation of the name of the buddha AMITĀBHA. Perhaps the most important section of the Kyogyo shinsho is that on faith (shinjin; C. XINXIN), where Shinran attempted to demonstrate that faith is based on the practice of nenbutsu and comes not from the effort made by the practitioner but from Amitābha himself (see TARIKI). Citing the SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA's teachings on the original vows (hongan) of the BODHISATTVA DHARMĀKARA (the future Amitābha), Shinran also emphasized the importance of the "single nenbutsu" (ĪCHINENGI) in attaining rebirth in the PURE LAND. He also sought to legitimize the practice of nenbutsu through recourse to the notion of the "final age of the DHARMA" (J. mappo, C. MOFA) when other types of Buddhist practice were ineffective.

Kyriel kyrielle (French) [from Greek kyrie eleeson Lord have mercy, opening invocation used in the Christian churches] A litany, a long list of words or names.

Lamen ::: A ritual implement worn around the neck in ceremonial magic. Typically these have the names of deity, geometric figures of power, and the name and sigil of the entity called upon written on them. They are designed to be worn when an invocation or evocation is ready to be formally carried out.

litany ::: a form of prayer consisting of a series of invocations, each followed by an unvarying response.

mantra ::: n. --> A prayer; an invocation; a religious formula; a charm.

maton)—in Solomonic invocations, a name for

Mediumship ::: The practice of using one's own body to mediate communication between spirits of the deceased and the living. There is a subtle distinction between mediumship and outright possession that depends upon the entity being mediated and the Will of the medium. Invocation, on the other hand, usually is not utilized for spirits of the deceased (godforms or higher entities are often the invoked), is not about mediating between the entity and another human being (often just oneself), and is a ritualistic or shamanic means to better understand the invoked entity or a means to inculcate certain archetypes or currents.

method invocation "programming" In {object-oriented programming}, the way the program looks up the right {code} to run when a {method} with a given name is called ("invoked") on an {object}. The method is first looked for in the object's {class}, then that class's {superclass} and so on up the {class hierarchy} until a method with the given name is found (the name is "resolved"). Generally, method lookup cannot be performed at {compile time} because the object's class is not known until {run time}. This is the case for an {object method} whereas a {class method} is just an ordinary function (that is bundled with a given class) and can be resolved at compile time (or load time in the case of a {dynamically loaded library}). (2014-09-06)

method "programming" In {object-oriented programming}, a {function} that can be called on an {object} of a given {class}. When a method is called (or {invoked (method invocation)}) on an object, the object is passed as an implicit {argument} to the method, usually referred to by the special variable "this". If the method is not defined in the object's class, it is looked for in that class's {superclass}, and so on up the {class hierarchy} until it is found. A {subclass} thus {inherits {inheritance}} all the methods of its superclasses. Different classes may define methods with the same name (i.e. methods may be {polymorphic}). Methods are sometimes called "object methods" or "instance methods". "{Class methods}" are methods that operate on objects of class "class". "Static methods" are not methods but normal {functions} packaged with the class. (2000-03-22)

microPLANNER ::: A subset of PLANNER, implemented in Lisp by Gerald Sussman et al at MIT. Its important features were goal-oriented, pattern-directed procedure invocation, an embedded knowledge base, and automatic backtracking. microPLANNER was superseded by Conniver.[microPLANNER Reference Manual, G.J. Sussman et al, AI Memo 203, MIT AI Lab, 1970]. (1995-01-10)

microPLANNER ::: A subset of PLANNER, implemented in Lisp by Gerald Sussman et al at MIT. Its important features were goal-oriented, pattern-directed procedure invocation, an embedded knowledge base, and automatic backtracking.microPLANNER was superseded by Conniver.[microPLANNER Reference Manual, G.J. Sussman et al, AI Memo 203, MIT AI Lab, 1970]. (1995-01-10)

microPLANNER A subset of {PLANNER}, implemented in {Lisp} by {Gerald Sussman} et al at {MIT}. Its important features were goal-oriented, pattern-directed procedure invocation, an embedded knowledge base, and automatic {backtracking}. microPLANNER was superseded by {Conniver}. ["microPLANNER Reference Manual", G.J. Sussman et al, AI Memo 203, MIT AI Lab, 1970]. (1995-01-10)

mofa. (J. mappo; K. malpop 末法). In Chinese, "final dharma" period. The dispensation of Buddhism, like all compounded things, is presumed to be impermanent and subject to decay and eventually dissolution. This process of eschatological decline was believed to occur in stages, often calculated at either five hundred or one thousand years at each stage (although there were many variations), and began with the passage of the Buddha into PARINIRVĀnA. In East Asia, the notion of decline was formalized into an influential doctrinal system, consisting of three stages or periods named "true dharma" (zhengfa; see SADDHARMA), "semblance dharma" (XIANGFA), and "final dharma" (mofa). This tripartite system was not inherited from Indian Buddhism. The term mofa is not the translation of the Sanskrit SADDHARMAVIPRALOPA ("destruction of the dharma"), but is instead a neologism derived from moshi, the Chinese translation of term PAsCIMAKĀLA ("latter time"). The notion of the period of the final dharma spawned a large and influential exegetical tradition in East Asia. The date of the onset of the final period was variously calculated (and was generally assumed to have already begun soon after Buddhism's introduction into East Asia). This assumption was widely employed as doctrinal justification for certain practices, such as the invocation of the name of the buddha AMITĀBHA (NIANFO) or the cult of the future buddha MAITREYA. In such contexts, it was claimed that during the period of the final dharma, beings lacked the capacity to successfully follow the standard path to liberation set forth by the Buddha and instead should rely on the efficacious powers of Amitābha or the prospect of an easier practice regimen after the advent of sĀKYAMUNI Buddha's successor, Maitreya. The notion of the age of the final dharma was espoused in many indigenous scriptures (see APOCRYPHA) written in East Asia. It also played an important role in the formation of such traditions as PURE LAND, JoDOSHu, JoDO SHINSHu, NICHIRENSHu, NICHIREN SHOSHu, and others. See also SADDHARMAVIPRALOPA.

Mrgioial —an invocation angel (one of the

Namas (Sanskrit) Namas [from nam to bow, make reverence; cf Pali namo] A reverence, consisting of an inclination of the body; both in act and in writing a reverential salutation. “The first word of a daily invocation among Buddhists, meaning ‘I humbly trust, or adore, or acknowledge’ the Lord, as: ‘Namo tasso Bhagavato Arahato’ etc., addressed to Lord Buddha. The priests are called ‘Masters of Namah’ [Namas] — both Buddhist and Taoist, because this word is used in liturgy and prayers, in the invocation of the Triratna, and with a slight change in the occult incantations to the Bodhisattvas and Nirmanakayas” (TG 224).

nianfo. (J. nenbutsu; K. yombul 念佛). In Chinese, "recollection, invocation, or chanting of [the name of] the Buddha." The term nianfo has a long history of usage across the Buddhist tradition and has been used to refer to a variety of practices. The Chinese term nianfo is a translation of the Sanskrit term BUDDHĀNUSMṚTI (recollection of [the qualities of] the Buddha), one of the common practices designed to help develop meditative absorption (DHYĀNA) in the mainstream traditions. Buddhānusmṛti is listed as the first of six fundamental contemplative practices, along with recollection of the DHARMA, SAMGHA, giving (DĀNA), morality (sĪLA), and the divinities (DEVA). Buddhānusmṛti (P. buddhānussati) is also the first in the Pāli list of ten "recollections" (P. anussati; S. ANUSMṚTI), which are included among the forty meditative exercises (see KAMMAttHĀNA) discussed in the VISUDDHIMAGGA. The meditator is instructed to reflect on the good qualities of the Buddha, often through contemplating a series of his epithets, contemplation that is said to lead specifically to "access concentration" (UPACĀRASAMĀDHI). In early Mahāyāna texts, the term seems to refer to the meditative practice of recollecting, invoking, or visualizing an image of a buddha or advanced BODHISATTVA, such as sĀKYAMUNI, MAITREYA, or AMITĀBHA. In East Asia, the term nianfo came to be used primarily in the sense of reciting the name of the Buddha, referring especially to recitation of the Chinese phrase namo Amituo fo (K. namu Amit'abul; J. NAMU AMIDABUTSU; Homage to the buddha Amitābha). This recitation was often performed in a ritual setting and accompanied by the performance of prostrations, the burning of incense, and the intonation of scriptures, all directed toward gaining a vision of Amitābha's PURE LAND of SUKHĀVATĪ, a vision that was considered proof that one would be reborn there in the next lifetime. New forms of chanting Amitābha's name developed in China, such as WUHUI NIANFO (five-tempo intonation of [the name of] the Buddha), which used leisurely and increasingly rapid tempos, and YINSHENG NIANFO (intoning [the name of] the Buddha by drawing out the sound). Nianfo practice was often portrayed as a relatively easy means of guaranteeing rebirth in Amitābha's pure land. Many exegetes referred to the vows of the bodhisattva DHARMĀKARA (the bodhisattva who became Amitābha) as set forth in the SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA, as evidence of the efficacy of nianfo practice in the degenerate age of the dharma (MOFA). In China, these various forms of nianfo were advocated by such famous monks as TANLUAN, DAOCHUO, and SHANDAO; these monks later came to be retroactively regarded as patriarchs of a so-called pure land school (JINGTU ZONG). In fact, however, nianfo was widely practiced across schools and social strata in both China and Korea and was not exclusively associated with a putative pure land tradition. In Japan, nenbutsu, or repetition of the phrase "namu Amidabutsu" (homage to Amitābha Buddha) became a central practice of the Japanese PURE LAND schools of Buddhism, such as JoDOSHu, JoDO SHINSHu, and JISHu. The practice spread rapidly among common people largely through the efforts of such itinerant holy men (HIJIRI) as KuYA and IPPEN. Influential pure land teachers, such as HoNEN and his disciple SHINRAN, also promoted the exclusive practice of chanting the phrase NAMU AMIDABUTSU and debated whether multiple recitations of the Buddha's name (TANENGI) were expected of pure land adherents or whether a single recitation (ICHINENGI) would be enough to ensure rebirth. Despite periodic suppressions of this movement, Honen and Shinran's schools, known as the Jodoshu and Jodo Shinshu, became the largest Buddhist communities in Japan.

Object Request Broker "programming" (ORB) Part of the {OMG} {CORBA} specification, an ORB's basic function is to pass {method} invocation requests to the correct {objects} and return the results to the caller. To achieve this the ORB must be able must be able to identify and locate objects, handle connections from invoker and the data returned from methods. Communication between the ORB and applications are achieved through {IDL} stubs and skeletons whilst the OMG has specified {IIOP} as the protocol through which ORBs may communicate with each other. Using IIOP, an ORB may request method invocations from a remote object. (2003-11-21)

Object Request Broker ::: (programming) (ORB) Part of the OMG CORBA specification, an ORB's basic function is to pass method invocation requests to the correct objects and return the results to the caller.To achieve this the ORB must be able must be able to identify and locate objects, handle connections from invoker and the data returned from methods. ORBs may communicate with each other. Using IIOP, an ORB may request method invocations from a remote object.(2003-11-21)

of God,” whose name appears in an invocation

OM Agnih. ::: an invocation to Agni2.OM anandamayi anandamayi caitanyamayi satyamayi parame (OM anandamayi

Om ::: A word considered very holy in the Brahmanical literature. It is a syllable of invocation, as well as ofbenediction and of affirmation, and its general usage (as elucidated in the literature treating of it, which israther voluminous, for this word Om has attained almost divine reverence on the part of vast numbers ofHindus) is that it should never be uttered aloud, or in the presence of an outsider, a foreigner, or anon-initiate, and it should be uttered in the silence of one's mind, in peace of heart, and in the intimacy ofone's "inner closet." There is strong reason to believe, however, that this syllable of invocation wasuttered, and uttered aloud in a monotone, by the disciples in the presence of their teacher. This word isalways placed at the beginning of any scripture or prayer that is considered of unusual sanctity.It is said that by prolonging the uttering of this word, both of the o and the m, with the mouth closed, thesound re-echoes in and arouses vibration in the skull, and affects, if the aspirations be pure, the differentnervous centers of the body for good.The Brahmanas say that it is an unholy thing to utter this word in any place which is unholy. It issometimes written Aum.

Om Mani Padme Hum Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ (Sanskrit) Om! the jewel in the lotus, hum! One of the most sacred Buddhist mantras or verbal formulas; used very frequently in Tibet and in surrounding countries of the Far East. Not only is every syllable said to have a secret power of producing a definite result, but the whole invocation has a number of meanings. When properly pronounced or changed, it produces different results, differing from the others according to the intonation and will given to the formula and its syllables. This mystic sentence above all refers to the indissoluble union between man and the universe, and thus conveys “I am in thee and thou art in me.” Each of us has within himself the jewel in the lotus or the divine self within. When understood in a kosmic sense, it signifies the divine kosmic self within, inspiring all beings within the range of that kosmic divinity.

Om (Sanskrit) Om In Brahmanical literature, a syllable of invocation, considered very holy: “Om is the bow, the Self is the arrow, Brahman is called its aim” (Mandukya Upanishad 2:2). It is placed at the beginning of scriptures considered of unusual sanctity. “Prolonging the uttering of this word, both of the O and the M, with the mouth closed, it reechoes in and arouses vibration in the skull, and affects, if the aspirations be pure, the different nervous centers of the body for great good” (Fund 28). The virtue or spiritual and magical properties attributed to this word, however, arise out of the purity and devotion of the one uttering it. See also AUM

Omtatsat: A designation of Brahman; used as a benediction, a solemn invocation of the divine blessing.

On special invocations he is accompanied by 2

purposes of invocation) is Stochene. For Veua-

Qabalah .] In a Syriac charm invocation (as re¬

Qianshou jing. (S. Nīlakanthakasutra; T. Mgrin pa sngon po can [gyi mdo]; J. Senjukyo; K. Ch'onsu kyong 千手經). In Chinese, "Thousand Hands Sutra"; in Sanskrit, "Blue-Throated [Avalokitesvara] Sutra"; an abbreviated title commonly used for the text that provides the scriptural foundation for the popular cult of Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed AVALOKITEsVARA (SĀHASRABHUJASĀHASRANETRĀVALOKITEsVARA). There are several Chinese translations of the scripture, including Bhagavaddharma's (fl. c. seventh century) Qianshou Qianyan Guanshiyin pusa guangda yuanman wu'ai dabeixin tuoluoni jing ("Dhāranī-Sutra of Thousand-Eyed and Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva Who Regards the World's Sounds and Feels Vast, Complete, Unimpeded Great Compassion"), translated between 650 and 661, and Zhitong's (fl. c. seventh century) Qianyan Qianbi Guanshiyin pusa tuoluoni shenzhou jing ("Dhāranī-Sutra of Thousand-Eyed and Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva Who Regards the World's Sounds"), translated between 627 and 649. (There are additional translations by BODHIRUCI, made in 709; VAJRABODHI, made between 731 and 736; and AMOGHAVAJRA, made during the eighth century.) Each version differs in its content and structure, but most include a spell dedicated to Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara (C. GUANYIN), which is commonly called the Qianshou (Thousand-Handed/Armed) or Dabei (Great Compassion) DHĀRAnĪ. There are at least eight different Chinese transcriptions of this dhāranī and two Tibetan transcriptions, suggesting that different Sanskrit recensions of the spell were in circulation. Bhagavaddharma's translation of the sutra has been the most popular in the East Asia and the title Qianshou jing typically refers to his recension. According to Bhagavaddharma's translation of the text, innumerable eons ago, Avalokitesvara received this dhāranī from a buddha named Qianguang Wangjing Zhu Rulai (Tathāgata Tranquil Abode who is King of the Thousandfold Radiance), and, after making ten vows to benefit all sentient beings, the bodhisattva came to be endowed with a thousand arms and a thousand eyes. The sutra then explains the various benefits of keeping and reciting the dhāranī. Keeping the dhāranī ensures, for example, fifteen kinds of salutary rebirths, such as being born in a good country, living during a peaceful time, meeting good friends, having sufficient money and food, and being protected by the divinities; it also ensures that the adept will avoid fifteen kinds of painful deaths, such as from hunger, madness, drowning, conflagration, poison, and suicide. These various sets of benefits are only included in Bhagavadharma's version, which may partly account for the greater popularity of his translation. His version also forgoes the complex instructions on ritual matters found in Zhitong's version, such as the detailed rules of creating an image of Guanyin, which were probably intended for ritual specialists. Bhagavaddharma's text introduced the dhāranī and the names of forty gestures (MUDRĀ) and their particular benefits; Amoghavajra's (705-774) later recension includes illustrations of these mudrā. Due to the great popularity of Bhagavaddharma's early translation, Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara became identified specifically with Avalokitesvara's manifestation as Great Compassion (C. Dabei; S. MAHĀKARUnIKA). Based on the same version, the Song TIANTAI master SIMING ZHILI (960-1028) composed a manual for a repentance ritual using this scripture: the Qianshou Qianyan Dabeixinzhou xingfa ("Rules for Performing the Great Compassion Heart Dhāranī of the Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed One"). A late-ninth-century abridgment of Bhagavaddharma's translation, the Dabei qiqing ("Great Compassion Invocation"), was also created, probably for use as a ritual manual. Bhagavaddharma's translation of the sutra also became popular in Japan and Korea as well. In Korea, where the text is known as the Ch'onsu kyong, another abridgment was made that included only the Thousand-Hands dhāranī and Avalokitesvara's vows; it was probably intended as a type of ritual procedure. This version also cites materials that derive from a variety of different traditions, including HWAoM (C. HUAYAN), SoN (C. CHAN), CH'oNT'AE (C. TIANTAI), and PURE LAND. Starting in the eighteenth century, several manuals were written with procedures for the ritual dedicated to Thousand-Armed Kwanŭm (Guanyin), all based on the dhāranī and vows. The current form of the rite is recited in the daily ritual of many Chinese and Korean monasteries. See also OM MAnI PADME HuM.

raksā. [alt. rāksā] (P. rakkhā; T. srung ba; C. yonghu; J. ogo; K. ongho 擁護). In Sanskirt, "protection," "safeguard," referring to ritual actions or practices that are intended to ward off baleful and impure influences. These protective acts are often performed as a preliminary step in constructing a MAndALA, performing an initiation ritual (ABHIsEKA), or cultivating meditative practices. The ritual is performed by inviting or imagining deities who purify the body, speech, and mind of the practitioner, and remove all inner and outer obstacles and evils; a common form of the Tibetan ritual utilizes a distinctive form of propitiatory offering (S. bali) called a GTOR MA (torma), small conical cakes. The officiating tantric master (VAJRĀCĀRYA) attracts the negative forces (T. gegs) to the offering, where they are propitiated or bound and led away from the assembly. Setting up a "wheel of protection" is an integral part of many ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA ritual practices (SĀDHANA) (see RAKsĀCAKRA). A "protection cord" (raksāsutra; T. srung skud) is ritually embued with protective power by a tantric master and given to each supplicant at the start of an initiation ritual; this is a piece of string or a narrow strip of cloth, usually red, that is tied around the neck, arm, or the wrist to protect the wearer. Tibetan religious figures often give visitors a "protection cord" as a gift. Small amulets (T. ga'u) housing protective buddhas, relics, or tightly rolled copies of ritual invocations or mantras believed to be particularly efficacious against harm are also carried on a belt or around the neck. See also PARITTA; RATANASUTTA.

Records of ancient medicine in Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, etc., tell of the temples being used as hospitals, with priest-physicians supported by the state giving every care to the sick who came, both rich and poor. In addition to material means of treatment — many of which we have rediscovered — these devotees of the gods of healing used special incense, prayers, the “temple sleep,” invocations, music, astrology, etc., which we regard as harmless superstition of an earlier day. However, such conditions, intelligently adapted to each case, in making a pure, serene, uplifting atmosphere around the sick person, would invoke the influences of wholeness within and without him. By putting the inner man in tune with his body, his disordered nature-forces manifesting as disease would tend to flow freely in the currents of health. Natural magic is as practical as the unknown alchemy which transmutes our digested daily bread into molecules of our living body.

re-entrant "programming" Used to describe code which can have multiple simultaneous, interleaved, or nested invocations which will not interfere with each other. This is important for {parallel processing}, {recursive} functions or subroutines, and {interrupt handling}. It is usually easy to arrange for multiple invocations (e.g. calls to a subroutine) to share one copy of the code and any read-only data but, for the code to be re-entrant, each invocation must use its own copy of any modifiable data (or synchronised access to shared data). This is most often achieved using a {stack} and allocating local variables in a new {stack frame} for each invocation. Alternatively, the caller may pass in a pointer to a block of memory which that invocation can use (usually for outputting the result) or the code may allocate some memory on a {heap}, especially if the data must survive after the routine returns. Re-entrant code is often found in system software, such as {operating systems} and {teleprocessing monitors}. It is also a crucial component of {multithreaded} programs where the term "thread-safe" is often used instead of "re-entrant". (1996-12-21)

re-entrant ::: (programming) Used to describe code which can have multiple simultaneous, interleaved, or nested invocations which will not interfere with each other. This is important for parallel processing, recursive functions or subroutines, and interrupt handling.It is usually easy to arrange for multiple invocations (e.g. calls to a subroutine) to share one copy of the code and any read-only data but, for the some memory on a heap, especially if the data must survive after the routine returns.Re-entrant code is often found in system software, such as operating systems and teleprocessing monitors. It is also a crucial component of multithreaded programs where the term thread-safe is often used instead of re-entrant. (1996-12-21)

Remote Method Invocation ::: (programming) (RMI) Part of the Java programming language library which enables a Java program running on one computer to access the objects and methods of another Java program running on a different computer. . (1997-09-04)

Remote Method Invocation "programming" (RMI) Part of the {Java} {programming language} {library} which enables a Java program running on one computer to access the {objects} and {methods} of another Java program running on a different computer. {Home (http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.1/docs/guide/rmi/index.html)}. (1997-09-04)

Remote Reference Layer "protocol" (RRL) Part of {Java}'s {Remote Method Invocation} protocol. RRL exists in both the RMI {client} and {server}. It is used by the {stub} or {skeleton} {protocol layer} and uses the {transport layer}. RRL is reponsible for transport-independent functioning of RMI, such as {connection management} or {unicast}/{multicast} {object invocation}. [Specification URL?] (1997-12-03)

Remote Reference Layer ::: (protocol) (RRL) Part of Java's Remote Method Invocation protocol. RRL exists in both the RMI client and server. It is used by the stub or skeleton transport-independent functioning of RMI, such as connection management or unicast/multicast object invocation.[Specification URL?] (1997-12-03)

Rite of the Headless One ::: A procedure and invocation for making contact with one's HGA.

RMI ::: Remote Method Invocation

RMI {Remote Method Invocation}

Sabean Rites ::: Also "Sabian" and "Sabaen". A collection of planetary invocations derived from ancient Sabean rituals that are used as a means to invoke the currents of the planets and of specific entities into one's reality. See also Orphic Hymns.

Sacrifice The performance of sacred rites, but with the more restricted sense of ceremonies of invocation, communion, or propitiation between man and gods. Scholars, in studying these universal rites, are at a loss to find an essential significance by which to gather them all into one class, and as to which to include and which to exclude from such a class. Sacrifices may take the form of a meal offered to the gods or shared with them, an oblation of first fruits of the harvest or flocks, or a propitiation or act of atonement. The Romans dedicated a portion of food or a libation to the lares or other deities; the Hebrews offered the first fruits of the harvest or the yearlings of the flock. The word also has the meaning of an act of self-dedication for a noble cause.

salawat :::   invocation of peace and blessings upon Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

Senchakushu. (選擇集). In Japanese, "Collection of Selections," composed by the Japanese PURE LAND monk HoNEN in 1198; also known as Senjakushu or Senchaku hongan nenbutsushu ("Collection of Selections on Nenbutsu and the Original Vow"). Honen's Senchakushu is one of the most influential texts in Japan on the practice of nenbutsu (see NIANFO), i.e., the invocation of the name of the buddha AMITĀBHA; it is also traditionally regarded as the founding scripture of the JoDOSHu tradition of Japanese pure land. Relying on the three pure land sutras (JINGTU SANBUJING, viz., the longer and shorter SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA and the GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING) and a number of important commentaries by SHANDAO and TANLUAN, Honen attempted to elucidate the importance of the practice of nenbutsu in the context of Amitābha's original vows as described in the Sukhāvatīvyuhasutra. He first cites DAOCHUO's division of Buddhist practice into that of the sacred path (that is, the traditional Buddhist path) and the pure land path, and then cites SHANDAO's division into proper and miscellaneous. These divisions are used as an argument for the practice of exclusive nenbutsu. Honen then demonstrates that exclusive nenbutsu is the practice advocated by Amitābha in his original vows. In the next few sections of his text, Honen also mentions the benefits of exclusive nenbutsu and explains why this practice is most appropriate for those in the age of the final dharma (J. mappo; see MOFA). The other sections of the Senchakushu provide further scriptural evidence for the importance of nenbutsu and discuss the proper method for practicing it. At Honen's request, the work was not widely circulated until after his death. Numerous commentaries on this text exist in Japanese.

serving on Monday and responsive to invocations

specifically in the invocation at fumigation, as

specifically in the invocation at fumigation. He is

Sravah (Avestan) In the Vendidad (19:42) Zoroaster in his invocation against Angra-Mainyu says: “Invoke the seven bright Sravah with their sons and their flocks.” Orientalists have been unable to give a meaning to the word; however Blavatsky equates them with the Amesha Spentas “in their highest occult meaning. The ‘Sravah’ are the noumenoi of the phenomenal Amshaspends, the souls of spirits of those manifested Powers: and ‘their sons and their flock’ refers to the planetary angels and their sidereal flock of stars and constellations. ‘Amshaspend’ is the exoteric term used in terrestrial combinations and affairs only” (SD 2:385).

Susniel —an angel invoked in Syriac invocation

tail recursion optimisation "programming" (TRO) Discarding the calling environment ({call stack} {frame}) when the last thing a function or procedure does is to call itself. This is important when a procedure calls itself {recursive}ly many times since, without tail recursion optimisation, the environments of earlier invocations would fill up the memory only to be discarded when (if) the last call terminated. Tail recursion optimisation is a special case of {last call optimisation} but it allows the further optimisation that some arguments may be passed in situ, possibly in {registers}. It allows recursive functions to be compiled into {iterative} loops. See also {conversion to iteration}, {tail recursion modulo cons}. (2006-04-16)

tail recursion optimisation ::: (programming) (TRO) When the last thing a function or procedure does is to call itself, it is not necessary to retain the calling environment. This is tail recursion optimisation, the environments of earlier invocations would fill up the memory only to be discarded when (if) the last call terminated.Tail recursion optimisation is a special case of last call optimisation but it allows the further optimisation that some arguments may be passed in situ, possibly in registers. It allows recursive functions to be compiled into iterative loops.See also conversion to iteration, tail recursion modulo cons.(2006-04-16)

Tejaprabha. (C. Chishengguang rulai; J. Shijoko nyorai; K. Ch'isonggwang yorae 熾盛光如來). In Sanskrit, "Effulgence"; proper name for a buddha who personifies the Pole Star as master of all asterisms, and especially the seven stars of the Big Dipper, viz., Ursa Major (see BEIDOU QIXING); this buddha is so named because light is said to stream out from every pore of his body. Tejaprabha was a popular figure within Chinese esoteric Buddhist circles after the eighth century, when the worship of the seven stars became well established during the Tang dynasty. While the cult of Tejaprabha Buddha gradually disappeared in China after the thirteenth century, the worship of the seven stars (K. ch'ilsong) was transmitted to Korea, where it continues even today. Starting in the twelfth century, during the Koryo dynasty, court rituals to the seven stars and Tejaprabha TATHĀGATA were frequently performed, and worship of the seven stars spread widely during the following Choson dynasty (1392-1910). Choson-period monasteries commonly included "seven-stars shrines" (ch'ilsonggak), inside of which were hung seven-stars paintings (T'AENGHWA), which typically depicted the seven-star tathāgatas, with Tejaprabha presiding at the center. There were also several comprehensive ritual and liturgical manuals compiled during the Choson dynasty and Japanese colonial period in Korea, which include rituals and invocations to the seven stars and Tejaprabha Tathāgata, most dedicated to the prolongation of life.

The absurdity of warring nations praying to the same God for victory over each other is often commented on; and the practice of many people combining together to pray for the conversion of people of another sect, or even for worse objects, is equally open to reprobation. This kind of prayer is merely a survival of one of the lower magic arts, where religious practice consists mainly in the invocation of tribal and local deities.

The antithesis of these lofty ideas underlies the widespread prevalence of blood rites. In fact, the many blood ceremonials which mark and mar the records of so many peoples are often gross, cruel, and perverted, violating the sacredness of life by offering animal and human sacrifices. Several groups regard blood as one of the essential elements used in their numerous forms of initiations, oblations, invocations to ancestors and to spirits of various kinds. Their fixed belief that the demons or spirits invoked by these ceremonies are harmful if not propitiated, but will be gratified and nourished by the immaterial essence, savor, or fumes of the foods, alcohols, and blood offerings is not without some basis of fact; for the earth-bound kama-rupic entities and astral elementaries are attracted by, and do abstract the impalpable kama-pranic life-force from, the fumes and emanations of such offerings. These beliefs are consistent with much in the tribal customs and rites which attracts and revivifies evil entities in their own astral atmosphere. Customs like poison ordeals for so-called witches, and evil use of nature forces for injuring or destroying personal enemies, added to frequent evocations, make a vicious circle of cause and effect.

the archons.” See Invocation to Horaios repro¬

The invocation to the Yezidic archangels runs

the secret names of God, used in invocation rites.

The Sword of Moses, one of the 14 invocation

They are responsive to invocations when such invocations are properly formulated and the

trigger ::: (database) An action causing the automatic invocation of a procedure, for instance to preserve referential integrity. A triggers goes into effect when a change is attempted. By preventing incorrect, unauthorized, or inconsistent changes to data, triggers help maintain the integrity of the database.[Sybase SQL Server Release 10.0 Transact-SQL User's Guide]. (1995-02-22)

trigger "database" An action causing the automatic invocation of a procedure, for instance to preserve {referential integrity}. A triggers goes into effect when a user attempts to modify data with an insert, delete, or update command. A trigger can instruct the system to take any number of actions when a specified change is attempted. By preventing incorrect, unauthorized, or inconsistent changes to data, triggers help maintain the integrity of the database. [Sybase SQL Server Release 10.0 Transact-SQL User's Guide]. (1995-02-22)

Trotrosi X (Totrisi)—an invocation spirit who

versal Mansions, called on in Monday invocations.

Voodoo or Voodooism [from Fongbe dialect vodunu from vodu moral and religious life of the Fons of Dahomey] A definite system of African black magic or sorcery, including various types of necromantic practice. It reached the Americas with the African slaves brought from the West Coast, and in and around the Caribbean various degrees of the cult persist and constitute a recognized if little understood social feature in the history and life of the people. Especially significant in the original Fon religion are the principal temples in the sacred forests, with symbolic hieroglyphics on the walls, depicting the exploits of their kings, voodoo legends, etc., and explaining their belief in the unknowable god Meru (Great Master); this unmanifest god, too far removed from men for them to give to him any form, dealt with them through lesser gods and nature spirit, i.e., voodoo; the priestesses serving the temple in a secret cult with four degrees of initiation, and having passwords unknown to laymen; the cult of the snake or adder as the most primitive form of the religion. Such findings in voodoo history, however degraded in course of time and overlaid by beliefs and customs of cruder native tribes, have the basic elements of a hierarchic religion so enveloped in mystery as to indicate an origin far beyond the creative imagination of any people. Rather, here in strange temples of dark mystery, were the lingering echoes of some ancient wisdom teaching of those who were truly “as wise as serpents.” The least altered of the original system is probably the voodoo music with its solemn, insistent rhythm in the mood of prayer or an invocation. This rhythm persists, even when the ritual songs in Haiti are composed entirely of Creole words, or of a series of unintelligible sounds.

xterm "operating system" A {terminal emulator} program for the {X Window System}. A user can have many different invocations of xterm running at once on the same display, each of which provides independent input and output for the process running in it (normally a {shell}). (1996-08-23)

xterm ::: (operating system) A terminal emulator program for the X Window System. A user can have many different invocations of xterm running at once on the same display, each of which provides independent input and output for the process running in it (normally a shell). (1996-08-23)

Xuanxue. (J. Gengaku; K. Hyonhak 玄學). In Chinese, "Dark Learning," or "Profound Learning"; a Chinese philosophical movement of the third through sixth centuries CE, which provided a fertile intellectual ground for the emergence of early Chinese forms of Buddhism. It is sometimes known as "Neo-Daoism," although the target audience of Xuanxue literati was fellow elite rather than adherents of the new schools of religious Daoism that were then developing in China. The social and political upheaval that accompanied the fall of the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) prompted many Chinese intellectuals to question the traditional foundations of Chinese thought and society and opened them to alternative worldviews. Buddhism, which was just then beginning to filter into Chinese territories, found a receptive audience among these groups of thinkers. Xuanxue scholars critiqued and reinterpreted the normative Chinese teachings of Confucianism by drawing on the so-called "three dark [treatises]" (sanxuan), i.e., the Yijing ("Book of Changes"), Daode jing ("The Way and Its Power"), and the Zhuangzi. Xuanxue designates a broad intellectual trend that sought a new way of understanding the "way" (DAO). Xuanxue philosophers explored the ontological grounding of the changing and diverse world of "being" (C. you) on a permanent and indivisible substratum called "nothingness" or "non-being" (C. WU). Xuanxue thinkers such as Wang Bi (226-249), who is regarded as the founder of the movement, and Guo Xiang (d. 312), who is often considered to represent its apex, explored how this ontological stratum of nothingness still was able to produce the world of being in all its diversity. This process was clarified by adopting the mainstream Chinese philosophical bifurcations between (1) the ineffable "substance" or "essence" (TI) of things and the ways in which that substance "functions" (YONG) in the phenomenal world; and (2) the "patterns" or "principles" (LI) that underlie all things and their phenomenal manifestations (SHI). These distinctions between ti/yong and li/shi proved to be extremely influential in subsequent Chinese Buddhist exegesis. Also according to Xuanxue interpretation, the sage (shengren) is one who understands this association between being and nothingness but realizes that their relationship is fundamentally inexpressible; nevertheless, in order to make it intelligible to others, he feels "compelled" to describe it verbally. This emphasis on the inadequacy of language resonated with Buddhist treatments of the ineffability of spiritual experience and the necessity to deploy verbal stratagems (UPĀYA) in order to make that experience intelligible to others. The sage was able to manifest his understanding in the phenomenal world not by conscious intent but as an automatic "response" (ying) to "stimuli" (gan); early Chinese Buddhist thinkers deploy the compound "stimulus and response" (GANYING) to explain the Buddhist concepts of action (KARMAN) and of grace (i.e., the "response" of a buddha or BODHISATTVA to a supplicant's invocation, or "stimulus"). Xuanxue thinkers also began to explore parallels between their ideas of "nonbeing" (wu) and the notion of emptiness (suNYATĀ) in the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ corpus, which was just then being translated into Chinese. Xuanxue exegesis has often been described in the scholarly literature as a "matching concepts" (GEYI) style of interpretation, where Buddhist concepts were elucidated by drawing on indigenous Chinese philosophical terminology, though this interpretation of geyi has recently been called into question. Although Xuanxue vanished as a philosophical movement by the early sixth century, its influence was profound on several pioneering Chinese Buddhist thinkers, including ZHI DUN (314-366) and SENGZHAO (374-414), and on such early philosophical schools of Chinese Buddhism as the SAN LUN ZONG and DI LUN ZONG, and eventually on the TIANTAI ZONG and HUAYAN ZONG of the mature Chinese tradition.

Yasna: Zoroastrian liturgies in the Avesta, including invocations to Ahura-Mazda and other gods.



QUOTES [30 / 30 - 133 / 133]


KEYS (10k)

   9 Peter J Carroll
   6 Aleister Crowley
   2 The Mother
   1 Thich Nhat Hanh
   1 Saint Irenaeus
   1 Neville Goddard
   1 Manly P Hall
   1 Lewis Hyde
   1 John Steinbeck
   1 J Michael Straczynski
   1 Chatral Rinpoche
   1 Alice Duer Miller
   1 Walt Whitman
   1 Sri Ramana Maharshi
   1 Sri Aurobindo
   1 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

NEW FULL DB (2.4M)

   7 Peter J Carroll
   7 Aleister Crowley
   4 Khwaja Abdullah Ansari
   3 Philip Roth
   3 Manly P Hall
   3 Lewis Hyde
   3 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
   2 Walt Whitman
   2 Ta Nehisi Coates
   2 Steven Weinberg
   2 Robert Graves
   2 Neville Goddard
   2 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
   2 John Steinbeck
   2 J Michael Straczynski
   2 Glenn Greenwald
   2 George Eliot
   2 Edith Nesbit
   2 Alice Duer Miller

1:Through the practice of meditation or invocation, the mind becomes one-pointed. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
2:As the bread, which is earthly, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, which is earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection. ~ Saint Irenaeus,
3:The magicians most important invocation is that of his Genius, Daemon, True Will, or Augoeides. This operation is traditionally known as attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. It is sometimes known as the Magnum Opus or Great Work.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,
4:An essential portion of any artist's labor is not creation so much as invocation. Part of the work cannot be made, it must be received; and we cannot have this gift except, perhaps, by supplication, by courting, by creating within ourselves that 'begging bowl' to which the gift is drawn. ~ Lewis Hyde,
5:There is a single main definition of the object of all magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel; or, in the language of Mysticism, Union with God. ~ Aleister Crowley,
6:To "invoke" is to "call in", just as to "evoke" is to "call forth". This is the essential difference between the two branches of Magick. In invocation, the macrocosm floods the consciousness. In evocation, the magician, having become the macrocosm, creates a microcosm. ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,
7:When the imagination is not controlled and the attention not steadied on the feeling of the wish fulfilled, then no amount of prayer or piety or invocation will produce the desired effect. When you can call up at will whatsoever image you please, when the forms of your imagination are as vivid to you as the forms of nature, you are master of your fate. ~ Neville Goddard,
8:...the conception of a Truth-consciousness supramental and divine, the invocation of the gods as powers of the Truth to raise man out of the falsehoods of the mortal mind, the attainment in and by this Truth of an immortal state of perfect good and felicity and the inner sacrifice and offering of what one has and is by the mortal to the Immortal as the means of the divine consummation.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Secret Of The Veda, [68],
9:The Last Invocation

At the last, tenderly,
From the walls of the powerful, fortress'd house,
From the clasp of the knitted locks-from the keep of the well-closed doors,
Let me be wafted.

Let me glide noiselessly forth;
With the key of softness unlock the locks-with a whisper,
Set ope the doors, O Soul!

Tenderly! be not impatient!
(Strong is your hold, O mortal flesh!
Strong is your hold, O love.) ~ Walt Whitman,
10:SLEIGHT OF MIND IN INVOCATION
Invocation is a three stage process. Firstly the magician consciously identifies with what is traditionally called a god-form, secondly he enters gnosis and thirdly the magicians subconsciousness manifests the powers of the god-form. A successful invocation means nothing less than full "possession" by the god-form. With practice the first stage of conscious identification can be abbreviated greatly to the point where it may only be necessary to concentrate momentarily on a well used god-form. ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Kaos,
11:Invocation
NIGHT after night within the grove
The night wind spares the sacred fire -­
The breath made visible of love,
Of worship and desire.
I set the tripod at thy shrine;
The silver bowl, the amber flame,
And in the dark where no stars shine
I speak thy name.
By the high name I call on thee
Which only I, thy priestess, know.
I tread thy dance in ecstasy,
Sweet steps and slow.
O God, the hour has come. Appear!
I have performed the appointed rite -­
The dance, the fire; I long to hear
Wings in the night.
~ Alice Duer Miller,
12:There are two kinds of black magicians: (1) those who use the demons of the astral plane for their villainy, which they invoke through necromancy and invocation; and (2) those who create their own demons and launch them against the world. The first group does the greatest harm to the world, but the second injure themselves more. The first group is composed mostly of conscious black magicians, while there are many in the second group who are totally ignorant of what they are doing. Some never learn their mistake until the demons they have created come back to the persons who sent them forth. ~ Manly P Hall, Magic: A Treatise on Esoteric Ethics,
13:ASTROLOGER. Greet reverentially this star-blest hour!
Let magic loose the tyranny of Reason
And Fantasy, fetched from afar, display her power, 6620 For it belongs to her, this great occasion.
What all here boldly asked to see, now see it!
A thing impossible-therefore believe it.
[Faust mounts the proscenium from the other side.]
In priestly robes, head wreathed, the wonder-working man
Now confidently consummates what he began.
A tripod from the depths accompanied his ascent,
Incense is burning in the bowl, I smell the scent,
Next comes the invocation, all's prepared; ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust,
14:To do this is to enter the magical world view in its totality. He takes complete responsibility for his present incarnation and must consider every experience, thing, or piece of information which assails him from any source, as a reflection of the way he is conducting his existence. The idea that things happen to one that may or may not be related to the way one acts is an illusion created by our shallow awareness. Keeping a close eye on the walls of the labyrinth, the conditions of his existence, the magician may then begin his invocation. The genius is not something added to oneself. Rather it is a stripping away of excess to reveal the god within.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,
15:Now as always-humility and terror. Fear that the working of my pen cannot capture the grinding of my brain. It is so easy to understand why the ancients prayed for the help of a Muse. And the Muse came and stood beside them, and we, heaven help us, do not believe in Muses. We have nothing to fall back on but our craftsmanship and it, as modern literature attests, is inadequate. May I be honest; may I be decent; may I be unaffected by the technique of hucksters. If invocation is required, let this be my invocation-may I be strong and yet gentle, tender and yet wise, wise and yet tolerant. May I for a little while, only for a little while, see with the inflamed eyes of a God. ~ John Steinbeck,
16:During this degenerate age in the outer world, there are many natural disasters due to the upsetting of the four elements. Also, demonic forces come with their many weapons to incite the fighting of wars. All of those forces have caused the world to come to ruin and led all to tremble - so terrified that their hair stands up on end. Still, the demonic forces find it necessary to come up with new types of weapons. If we were called on to confront them, there is no way we Dharma practitioners could defeat them. That is why we make supplication prayers to the three jewels, do the aspiration prayers, the offering prayers and the prayers of invocation. We are responsible for those activities. This is what I urge you to do. ~ Chatral Rinpoche,
17:At the end of the day, there should be an accounting and fresh resolution made. Though every day be a catalog of failure, there should be no sense of sin or guilt. Magic is the raising of the whole individual in perfect balance to the power of Infinity, and such feelings are symptomatic of imbalance.
   If any unnecessary or imbalanced scraps of ego become identified with the genius by mistake, then disaster awaits. The life force flows directly into these complexes and bloats them into grotesque monsters variously known as the demon Choronzon. Some magicians attempting to go too fast with this invocation have failed to banish this demon, and have gone spectacularly insane as a result.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null, Liber LUX, Augeoides [50-51],
18:Elric: We are dreamers, shapers, singers, and makers. We study the mysteries of laser and circuit, crystal and scanner, holographic demons and invocation of equations. These are the tools we employ, and we know many things.

John Sheridan: Such as?

Elric: The true secrets, the important things. Fourteen words to make someone fall in love with you forever. Seven words to make them go without pain. How to say good-bye to a friend who is dying. How to be poor. How to be rich. How to rediscover dreams when the world has stolen them. That is why we are going away-to preserve that knowledge.

Sheridan: From what?

Elric: There is a storm coming, a black and terrible storm. We would not have our knowledge lost or used to ill purpose. From this place we will launch ourselves into the stars. With luck, you will never see our kind again in your lifetime. I know you have your orders, Captain. Detain us if you wish. But I cannot tell you where we are going. I can only ask you to trust us. ~ J Michael Straczynski,
19:A person doing his true will is assisted by the momentum of the universe and seems possessed of amazing good luck. In beginning the great work of obtaining the knowledge and conversation, the magician vows 'to interpret every manifestation of existence as a direct message from the infinite Chaos to himself personally'
   To do this is to enter the magical world view in its totality. He takes complete responsibility for his present incarnation and must consider every experience, thing, or piece of information which assails him from any source, as a reflection of the way he is conducting his existence. The idea that things happen to one that may or may not be related to the way one acts is an illusion created by our shallow awareness.
   Keeping a close eye on the walls of the labyrinth, the conditions of his existence, the magician may then begin his invocation. The genius is not something added to oneself. Rather it is a stripping away of excess to reveal the god within.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null, Liber LUX, Augoeides [49-50],
20:[invocation] Let us describe the magical method of identification. The symbolic form of the god is first studied with as much care as an artist would bestow upon his model, so that a perfectly clear and unshakeable mental picture of the god is presented to the mind. Similarly, the attributes of the god are enshrined in speech, and such speeches are committed perfectly to memory. The invocation will then begin with a prayer to the god, commemorating his physical attributes, always with profound understanding of their real meaning. In the second part of the invocation, the voice of the god is heard, and His characteristic utterance is recited. In the third portion of the invocation the Magician asserts the identity of himself with the god. In the fourth portion the god is again invoked, but as if by Himself, as if it were the utterance of the will of the god that He should manifest in the Magician. At the conclusion of this, the original object of the invocation is stated.
   ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA, Book 4, Magick, Part 3, The Formuale of the Elemental Weapons [149] [T4],
21:Directly on awakening, preferably at dawn, the initiate goes to the place of invocation. Figuring to himself as he goes that being born anew each day brings with it the chance of greater rebirth, first he banishes the temple of his mind by ritual or by some magical trance. Then he unveils some token or symbol or sigil which represents to him the Holy Guardian Angel. This symbol he will likely have to change during the great work as the inspiration begins to move him. Next he invokes an image of the Angel into his minds eye. It may be considered as a luminous duplicate of ones own form standing in front of or behind one, or simply as a ball of brilliant light above ones head. Then he formulates his aspirations in what manner he will, humbling himself in prayer or exalting himself in loud proclamation as his need be. The best form of this invocation is spoken spontaneously from the heart, and if halting at first, will prove itself in time. He is aiming to establish a set of ideas and images which correspond to the nature of his genius, and at the same time receive inspiration from that source. As the magician begins to manifest more of his true will, the Augoeides will reveal images, names, and spiritual principles by which it can be drawn into greater manifestation.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,
22:To prepare for Astral Magic a temple or series of temples needs to be erected on the plane of visualized imagination. Such temples can take any convenient form although some magicians prefer to work with an exact simulacrum of their physical temple. The astral temple is visualized in fine detail and should contain all the equipment required for ritual or at least cupboards where any required instruments can be found.
   Any objects visualized into the temple should always remain there for subsequent inspection unless specifically dissolved or removed. The most important object in the temple is the magician's image of himself working in it. At first it may seem that he is merely manipulating a puppet of himself in the temple but with persistence this should give way to a feeling of actually being there. Before beginning Astral Magic proper, the required temple and instruments together with an image of the magician moving about in it should be built up by a repeated series of visualizations until all the details are perfect. Only when this is complete should the magician begin to use the temple. Each conjuration that is performed should be planned in advance with the same attention to detail as in Ritual Magic. The various acts of astral evocation, divination, enchantment, invocation and illumination take on a similar general form to the acts of Ritual Magic which the magician adapts for astral work. ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Kaos [T2],
23:There is a story I would like to tell you about a woman who practices the invocation of the Buddha Amitabha's name. She is very tough, and she practices the invocation three times daily, using a wooden drum and a bell, reciting, "Namo Amitabha Buddha" for one hour each time. When she arrives at one thousand times, she invites the bell to sound. (In Vietnamese, we don't say "strike" or "hit" a bell.) Although she has been doing this for ten years, her personality has not changed. She is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time.

A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, so one afternoon when she had just lit the incense, invited the bell to sound three times, and was beginning to recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha," he came to her door, and said, "Mrs. Nguyen, Mrs. Nguyen!" She found it very annoying because this was her time of practice, but he just stood at the front gate shouting her name. She said to herself, "I have to struggle against my anger, so I will ignore that," and she went on, "Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha."

The gentleman continued to shout her name, and her anger became more and more oppressive. She struggled against it, wondering, "Should I stop my recitation and go and give him a piece of my mind?" But she continued chanting, and she struggled very hard. Fire mounted in her, but she still tried to chant "Namo Amitabha Buddha." The gentleman knew it, and he continued to shout, "Mrs. Nguyen! Mrs. Nguyen!"

She could not bear it any longer. She threw away the bell and the drum. She slammed the door, went out to the gate and said, "Why, why do you behave like that? Why do you call my name hundreds of times like that?" The gentleman smiled at her and said, "I just called your name for ten minutes, and you are so angry. You have been calling the Buddha's name for ten years. Think how angry he must be! ~ Thich Nhat Hanh,
24:
   "Without conscious occult powers, is it possible to help or protect from a distance somebody in difficulty or danger? If so, what is the practical procedure?"

Then a sub-question:

   "What can thought do?"

We are not going to speak of occult processes at all; although, to tell the truth, everything that happens in the invisible world is occult, by definition. But still, practically, there are two processes which do not exclude but complete each other, but which may be used separately according to one's preference.

   It is obvious that thought forms a part of one of the methods, quite an important part. I have already told you several times that if one thinks clearly and powerfully, one makes a mental formation, and that every mental formation is an entity independent of its fashioner, having its own life and tending to realise itself in the mental world - I don't mean that you see your formation with your physical eyes, but it exists in the mental world, it has its own particular independent existence. If you have made a formation with a definite aim, its whole life will tend to the realisation of this aim. Therefore, if you want to help someone at a distance, you have only to formulate very clearly, very precisely and strongly the kind of help you want to give and the result you wish to obtain. That will have its effect. I cannot say that it will be all-powerful, for the mental world is full of innumerable formations of this kind and naturally they clash and contradict one another; hence the strongest and the most persistent will have the best of it.

   Now, what is it that gives strength and persistence to mental formations? - It is emotion and will. If you know how to add to your mental formation an emotion, affection, tenderness, love, and an intensity of will, a dynamism, it will have a much greater chance of success. That is the first method. It is within the scope of all those who know how to think, and even more of those who know how to love. But as I said, the power is limited and there is great competition in that world.

   Therefore, even if one has no knowledge at all but has trust in the divine Grace, if one has the faith that there is something in the world like the divine Grace, and that this something can answer a prayer, an aspiration, an invocation, then, after making one's mental formation, if one offers it to the Grace and puts one's trust in it, asks it to intervene and has the faith that it will intervene, then indeed one has a chance of success.

   Try, and you will surely see the result.

   ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1956, 253,
25:INVOCATION
   The ultimate invocation, that of Kia, cannot be performed. The paradox is that as Kia has no dualized qualities, there are no attributes by which to invoke it. To give it one quality is merely to deny it another. As an observant dualistic being once said:
   I am that I am not.
   Nevertheless, the magician may need to make some rearrangements or additions to what he is. Metamorphosis may be pursued by seeking that which one is not, and transcending both in mutual annihilation. Alternatively, the process of invocation may be seen as adding to the magician's psyche any elements which are missing. It is true that the mind must be finally surrendered as one enters fully into Chaos, but a complete and balanced psychocosm is more easily surrendered.
   The magical process of shuffling beliefs and desires attendant upon the process of invocation also demonstrates that one's dominant obsessions or personality are quite arbitrary, and hence more easily banished.
   There are many maps of the mind (psychocosms), most of which are inconsistent, contradictory, and based on highly fanciful theories. Many use the symbology of god forms, for all mythology embodies a psychology. A complete mythic pantheon resumes all of man's mental characteristics. Magicians will often use a pagan pantheon of gods as the basis for invoking some particular insight or ability, as these myths provide the most explicit and developed formulation of the particular idea's extant. However it is possible to use almost anything from the archetypes of the collective unconscious to the elemental qualities of alchemy.
   If the magician taps a deep enough level of power, these forms may manifest with sufficient force to convince the mind of the objective existence of the god. Yet the aim of invocation is temporary possession by the god, communication from the god, and manifestation of the god's magical powers, rather than the formation of religious cults.
   The actual method of invocation may be described as a total immersion in the qualities pertaining to the desired form. One invokes in every conceivable way. The magician first programs himself into identity with the god by arranging all his experiences to coincide with its nature. In the most elaborate form of ritual he may surround himself with the sounds, smells, colors, instruments, memories, numbers, symbols, music, and poetry suggestive of the god or quality. Secondly he unites his life force to the god image with which he has united his mind. This is accomplished with techniques from the gnosis. Figure 5 shows some examples of maps of the mind. Following are some suggestions for practical ritual invocation.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,
26:Sweet Mother, there's a flower you have named "The Creative Word".

Yes.

What does that mean?

It is the word which creates.

There are all kinds of old traditions, old Hindu traditions, old Chaldean traditions in which the Divine, in the form of the Creator, that is, in His aspect as Creator, pronounces a word which has the power to create. So it is this... And it is the origin of the mantra. The mantra is the spoken word which has a creative power. An invocation is made and there is an answer to the invocation; or one makes a prayer and the prayer is granted. This is the Word, the Word which, in its sound... it is not only the idea, it is in the sound that there's a power of creation. It is the origin, you see, of the mantra.

In Indian mythology the creator God is Brahma, and I think that it was precisely his power which has been symbolised by this flower, "The Creative Word". And when one is in contact with it, the words spoken have a power of evocation or creation or formation or transformation; the words... sound always has a power; it has much more power than men think. It may be a good power and it may be a bad power. It creates vibrations which have an undeniable effect. It is not so much the idea as the sound; the idea too has its own power, but in its own domain - whereas the sound has a power in the material world.

I think I have explained this to you once; I told you, for example, that words spoken casually, usually without any re- flection and without attaching any importance to them, can be used to do something very good. I think I spoke to you about "Bonjour", "Good Day", didn't I? When people meet and say "Bonjour", they do so mechanically and without thinking. But if you put a will into it, an aspiration to indeed wish someone a good day, well, there is a way of saying "Good Day" which is very effective, much more effective than if simply meeting someone you thought: "Ah! I hope he has a good day", without saying anything. If with this hope in your thought you say to him in a certain way, "Good Day", you make it more concrete and more effective.

It's the same thing, by the way, with curses, or when one gets angry and says bad things to people. This can do them as much harm - more harm sometimes - than if you were to give them a slap. With very sensitive people it can put their stomach out of order or give them palpitation, because you put into it an evil force which has a power of destruction.

It is not at all ineffective to speak. Naturally it depends a great deal on each one's inner power. People who have no strength and no consciousness can't do very much - unless they employ material means. But to the extent that you are strong, especially when you have a powerful vital, you must have a great control on what you say, otherwise you can do much harm. Without wanting to, without knowing it; through ignorance.

Anything? No? Nothing?

Another question?... Everything's over? ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1955, 347-349,
27:SLEIGHT OF MIND IN ILLUMINATION
Only those forms of illumination which lead to useful behaviour changes deserve to be known as such. When I hear the word "spirituality", I tend to reach for a loaded wand. Most professionally spiritual people are vile and untrustworthy when off duty, simply because their beliefs conflict with basic drives and only manage to distort their natural behaviour temporarily. The demons then come screaming up out of the cellar at unexpected moments.

When selecting objectives for illumination, the magician should choose forms of self improvement which can be precisely specified and measured and which effect changes of behaviour in his entire existence. Invocation is the main tool in illumination, although enchantment where spells are cast upon oneselves and divination to seek objectives for illumination may also find some application.

Evocation can sometimes be used with care, but there is no point in simply creating an entity that is the repository of what one wishes were true for oneself in general. This is a frequent mistake in religion. Forms of worship which create only entities in the subconscious are inferior to more wholehearted worship, which, at its best, is pure invocation. The Jesuits "Imitation of Christ" is more effective than merely praying to Jesus for example.

Illumination proceeds in the same general manner as invocation, except that the magician is striving to effect specific changes to his everyday behaviour, rather than to create enhanced facilities that can be drawn upon for particular purposes. The basic technique remains the same, the required beliefs are identified and then implanted in the subconscious by ritual or other acts. Such acts force the subconscious acquisition of the beliefs they imply.

Modest and realistic objectives are preferable to grandiose schemes in illumination.

One modifies the behaviour and beliefs of others by beginning with only the most trivial demands. The same applies to oneselves. The magician should beware of implanting beliefs whose expression cannot be sustained by the human body or the environment. For example it is possible to implant the belief that flight can be achieved without an aircraft. However it has rarely proved possible to implant this belief deeply enough to ensure that such flights were not of exceedingly short duration. Nevertheless such feats as fire-walking and obliviousness to extreme pain are sometimes achieved by this mechanism.

The sleight of mind which implants belief through ritual action is more powerful than any other weapon that humanity possesses, yet its influence is so pervasive that we seldom notice it. It makes religions, wars, cults and cultures possible. It has killed countless millions and created our personal and social realities. Those who understand how to use it on others can be messiahs or dictators, depending on their degree of personal myopia. Those who understand how to apply it to themselves have a jewel beyond price if they use it wisely; otherwise they tend to rapidly invoke their own Nemesis with it. ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Kaos,
28:AUGOEIDES:
   The magicians most important invocation is that of his Genius, Daemon, True Will, or Augoeides. This operation is traditionally known as attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. It is sometimes known as the Magnum Opus or Great Work.
   The Augoeides may be defined as the most perfect vehicle of Kia on the plane of duality. As the avatar of Kia on earth, the Augoeides represents the true will, the raison detre of the magician, his purpose in existing. The discovery of ones true will or real nature may be difficult and fraught with danger, since a false identification leads to obsession and madness. The operation of obtaining the knowledge and conversation is usually a lengthy one. The magician is attempting a progressive metamorphosis, a complete overhaul of his entire existence. Yet he has to seek the blueprint for his reborn self as he goes along. Life is less the meaningless accident it seems. Kia has incarnated in these particular conditions of duality for some purpose. The inertia of previous existences propels Kia into new forms of manifestation. Each incarnation represents a task, or a puzzle to be solved, on the way to some greater form of completion.
   The key to this puzzle is in the phenomena of the plane of duality in which we find ourselves. We are, as it were, trapped in a labyrinth or maze. The only thing to do is move about and keep a close watch on the way the walls turn. In a completely chaotic universe such as this one, there are no accidents. Everything is signifcant. Move a single grain of sand on a distant shore and the entire future history of the world will eventually be changed. A person doing his true will is assisted by the momentum of the universe and seems possessed of amazing good luck. In beginning the great work of obtaining the knowledge and conversation, the magician vows to interpret every manifestation of existence as a direct message from the infinite Chaos to himself personally.
   To do this is to enter the magical world view in its totality. He takes complete responsibility for his present incarnation and must consider every experience, thing, or piece of information which assails him from any source, as a reflection of the way he is conducting his existence. The idea that things happen to one that may or may not be related to the way one acts is an illusion created by our shallow awareness.
   Keeping a close eye on the walls of the labyrinth, the conditions of his existence, the magician may then begin his invocation. The genius is not something added to oneself. Rather it is a stripping away of excess to reveal the god within.
   Directly on awakening, preferably at dawn, the initiate goes to the place of invocation. Figuring to himself as he goes that being born anew each day brings with it the chance of greater rebirth, first he banishes the temple of his mind by ritual or by some magical trance. Then he unveils some token or symbol or sigil which represents to him the Holy Guardian Angel. This symbol he will likely have to change during the great work as the inspiration begins to move him. Next he invokes an image of the Angel into his minds eye. It may be considered as a luminous duplicate of ones own form standing in front of or behind one, or simply as a ball of brilliant light above ones head. Then he formulates his aspirations in what manner he will, humbling himself in prayer or exalting himself in loud proclamation as his need be. The best form of this invocation is spoken spontaneously from the heart, and if halting at first, will prove itself in time. He is aiming to establish a set of ideas and images which correspond to the nature of his genius, and at the same time receive inspiration from that source. As the magician begins to manifest more of his true will, the Augoeides will reveal images, names, and spiritual principles by which it can be drawn into greater manifestation. Having communicated with the invoked form, the magician should draw it into himself and go forth to live in the way he hath willed.
   The ritual may be concluded with an aspiration to the wisdom of silence by a brief concentration on the sigil of the Augoeides, but never by banishing. Periodically more elaborate forms of ritual, using more powerful forms of gnosis, may be employed. At the end of the day, there should be an accounting and fresh resolution made. Though every day be a catalog of failure, there should be no sense of sin or guilt. Magic is the raising of the whole individual in perfect balance to the power of Infinity, and such feelings are symptomatic of imbalance. If any unnecessary or imbalanced scraps of ego become identified with the genius by mistake, then disaster awaits. The life force flows directly into these complexes and bloats them into grotesque monsters variously known as the demon Choronzon. Some magicians attempting to go too fast with this invocation have failed to banish this demon, and have gone spectacularly insane as a result.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,
29:CHAPTER XIII
OF THE BANISHINGS: AND OF THE PURIFICATIONS.
Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and had better come first. Purity means singleness. God is one. The wand is not a wand if it has something sticking to it which is not an essential part of itself. If you wish to invoke Venus, you do not succeed if there are traces of Saturn mixed up with it.

That is a mere logical commonplace: in magick one must go much farther than this. One finds one's analogy in electricity. If insulation is imperfect, the whole current goes back to earth. It is useless to plead that in all those miles of wire there is only one-hundredth of an inch unprotected. It is no good building a ship if the water can enter, through however small a hole.

That first task of the Magician in every ceremony is therefore to render his Circle absolutely impregnable.
If one littlest thought intrude upon the mind of the Mystic, his concentration is absolutely destroyed; and his consciousness remains on exactly the same level as the Stockbroker's. Even the smallest baby is incompatible with the virginity of its mother. If you leave even a single spirit within the circle, the effect of the conjuration will be entirely absorbed by it.> {101}

The Magician must therefore take the utmost care in the matter of purification, "firstly", of himself, "secondly", of his instruments, "thirdly", of the place of working. Ancient Magicians recommended a preliminary purification of from three days to many months. During this period of training they took the utmost pains with diet. They avoided animal food, lest the elemental spirit of the animal should get into their atmosphere. They practised sexual abstinence, lest they should be influenced in any way by the spirit of the wife. Even in regard to the excrements of the body they were equally careful; in trimming the hair and nails, they ceremonially destroyed> the severed portion. They fasted, so that the body itself might destroy anything extraneous to the bare necessity of its existence. They purified the mind by special prayers and conservations. They avoided the contamination of social intercourse, especially the conjugal kind; and their servitors were disciples specially chosen and consecrated for the work.

In modern times our superior understanding of the essentials of this process enables us to dispense to some extent with its external rigours; but the internal purification must be even more carefully performed. We may eat meat, provided that in doing so we affirm that we eat it in order to strengthen us for the special purpose of our proposed invocation.> {102}

By thus avoiding those actions which might excite the comment of our neighbours we avoid the graver dangers of falling into spiritual pride.

We have understood the saying: "To the pure all things are pure", and we have learnt how to act up to it. We can analyse the mind far more acutely than could the ancients, and we can therefore distinguish the real and right feeling from its imitations. A man may eat meat from self-indulgence, or in order to avoid the dangers of asceticism. We must constantly examine ourselves, and assure ourselves that every action is really subservient to the One Purpose.

It is ceremonially desirable to seal and affirm this mental purity by Ritual, and accordingly the first operation in any actual ceremony is bathing and robing, with appropriate words. The bath signifies the removal of all things extraneous to antagonistic to the one thought. The putting on of the robe is the positive side of the same operation. It is the assumption of the fame of mind suitable to that one thought.

A similar operation takes place in the preparation of every instrument, as has been seen in the Chapter devoted to that subject. In the preparation of theplace of working, the same considerations apply. We first remove from that place all objects; and we then put into it those objects, and only those {103} objects, which are necessary. During many days we occupy ourselves in this process of cleansing and consecration; and this again is confirmed in the actual ceremony.

The cleansed and consecrated Magician takes his cleansed and consecrated instruments into that cleansed and consecrated place, and there proceeds to repeat that double ceremony in the ceremony itself, which has these same two main parts. The first part of every ceremony is the banishing; the second, the invoking. The same formula is repeated even in the ceremony of banishing itself, for in the banishing ritual of the pentagram we not only command the demons to depart, but invoke the Archangels and their hosts to act as guardians of the Circle during our pre-occupation with the ceremony proper.

In more elaborate ceremonies it is usual to banish everything by name. Each element, each planet, and each sign, perhaps even the Sephiroth themselves; all are removed, including the very one which we wished to invoke, for that force ... ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,
30:SECTION 1. Books for Serious Study
   Liber CCXX. (Liber AL vel Legis.) The Book of the Law. This book is the foundation of the New Æon, and thus of the whole of our work.
   The Equinox. The standard Work of Reference in all occult matters. The Encyclopaedia of Initiation.
   Liber ABA (Book 4). A general account in elementary terms of magical and mystical powers. In four parts: (1) Mysticism (2) Magical (Elementary Theory) (3) Magick in Theory and Practice (this book) (4) The Law.
   Liber II. The Message of the Master Therion. Explains the essence of the new Law in a very simple manner.
   Liber DCCCXXXVIII. The Law of Liberty. A further explanation of The Book of the Law in reference to certain ethical problems.
   Collected Works of A. Crowley. These works contain many mystical and magical secrets, both stated clearly in prose, and woven into the Robe of sublimest poesy.
   The Yi King. (S. B. E. Series [vol. XVI], Oxford University Press.) The "Classic of Changes"; give the initiated Chinese system of Magick.
   The Tao Teh King. (S. B. E. Series [vol. XXXIX].) Gives the initiated Chinese system of Mysticism.
   Tannhäuser, by A. Crowley. An allegorical drama concerning the Progress of the Soul; the Tannhäuser story slightly remodelled.
   The Upanishads. (S. B. E. Series [vols. I & XV.) The Classical Basis of Vedantism, the best-known form of Hindu Mysticism.
   The Bhagavad-gita. A dialogue in which Krishna, the Hindu "Christ", expounds a system of Attainment.
   The Voice of the Silence, by H.P. Blavatsky, with an elaborate commentary by Frater O.M. Frater O.M., 7°=48, is the most learned of all the Brethren of the Order; he has given eighteen years to the study of this masterpiece.
   Raja-Yoga, by Swami Vivekananda. An excellent elementary study of Hindu mysticism. His Bhakti-Yoga is also good.
   The Shiva Samhita. An account of various physical means of assisting the discipline of initiation. A famous Hindu treatise on certain physical practices.
   The Hathayoga Pradipika. Similar to the Shiva Samhita.
   The Aphorisms of Patanjali. A valuable collection of precepts pertaining to mystical attainment.
   The Sword of Song. A study of Christian theology and ethics, with a statement and solution of the deepest philosophical problems. Also contains the best account extant of Buddhism, compared with modern science.
   The Book of the Dead. A collection of Egyptian magical rituals.
   Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, by Eliphas Levi. The best general textbook of magical theory and practice for beginners. Written in an easy popular style.
   The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. The best exoteric account of the Great Work, with careful instructions in procedure. This Book influenced and helped the Master Therion more than any other.
   The Goetia. The most intelligible of all the mediæval rituals of Evocation. Contains also the favourite Invocation of the Master Therion.
   Erdmann's History of Philosophy. A compendious account of philosophy from the earliest times. Most valuable as a general education of the mind.
   The Spiritual Guide of [Miguel de] Molinos. A simple manual of Christian Mysticism.
   The Star in the West. (Captain Fuller). An introduction to the study of the Works of Aleister Crowley.
   The Dhammapada. (S. B. E. Series [vol. X], Oxford University Press). The best of the Buddhist classics.
   The Questions of King Milinda. (S. B. E. Series [vols. XXXV & XXXVI].) Technical points of Buddhist dogma, illustrated bydialogues.
   Liber 777 vel Prolegomena Symbolica Ad Systemam Sceptico-Mysticæ Viæ Explicandæ, Fundamentum Hieroglyphicam Sanctissimorum Scientiæ Summæ. A complete Dictionary of the Correspondences of all magical elements, reprinted with extensive additions, making it the only standard comprehensive book of reference ever published. It is to the language of Occultism what Webster or Murray is to the English language.
   Varieties of Religious Experience (William James). Valuable as showing the uniformity of mystical attainment.
   Kabbala Denudata, von Rosenroth: also The Kabbalah Unveiled, by S.L. Mathers. The text of the Qabalah, with commentary. A good elementary introduction to the subject.
   Konx Om Pax [by Aleister Crowley]. Four invaluable treatises and a preface on Mysticism and Magick.
   The Pistis Sophia [translated by G.R.S. Mead or Violet McDermot]. An admirable introduction to the study of Gnosticism.
   The Oracles of Zoroaster [Chaldæan Oracles]. An invaluable collection of precepts mystical and magical.
   The Dream of Scipio, by Cicero. Excellent for its Vision and its Philosophy.
   The Golden Verses of Pythagoras, by Fabre d'Olivet. An interesting study of the exoteric doctrines of this Master.
   The Divine Pymander, by Hermes Trismegistus. Invaluable as bearing on the Gnostic Philosophy.
   The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians, reprint of Franz Hartmann. An invaluable compendium.
   Scrutinium Chymicum [Atalanta Fugiens]¸ by Michael Maier. One of the best treatises on alchemy.
   Science and the Infinite, by Sidney Klein. One of the best essays written in recent years.
   Two Essays on the Worship of Priapus [A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus &c. &c. &c.], by Richard Payne Knight [and Thomas Wright]. Invaluable to all students.
   The Golden Bough, by J.G. Frazer. The textbook of Folk Lore. Invaluable to all students.
   The Age of Reason, by Thomas Paine. Excellent, though elementary, as a corrective to superstition.
   Rivers of Life, by General Forlong. An invaluable textbook of old systems of initiation.
   Three Dialogues, by Bishop Berkeley. The Classic of Subjective Idealism.
   Essays of David Hume. The Classic of Academic Scepticism.
   First Principles by Herbert Spencer. The Classic of Agnosticism.
   Prolegomena [to any future Metaphysics], by Immanuel Kant. The best introduction to Metaphysics.
   The Canon [by William Stirling]. The best textbook of Applied Qabalah.
   The Fourth Dimension, by [Charles] H. Hinton. The best essay on the subject.
   The Essays of Thomas Henry Huxley. Masterpieces of philosophy, as of prose.
   ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA, Appendix I: Literature Recommended to Aspirants

*** WISDOM TROVE ***

1:Magic and art tend to share a lot of the same language. They both talk about evocation, invocation, and conjuring. ~ alan-moore, @wisdomtrove
2:Let us not lose the Bible, but with diligence, in fear and invocation of God, read and preach it. While that remains and flourishes, all prospers with the state; 'tis head and empress of all arts and faculties. Let but divinity fall, and I would not give a straw for the rest. ~ martin-luther, @wisdomtrove

*** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***

1:I enjoy being at a meeting that doesn't start with an invocation! ~ Steven Weinberg,
2:An essential portion of any artist’s labor is not creation so much as invocation. ~ Lewis Hyde,
3:the Invocation of the Muse from Homer’s Odyssey, the T. E. Lawrence translation. ~ Steven Pressfield,
4:Through the practice of meditation or invocation, the mind becomes one-pointed. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
5:Blessing is giving yourself and what is good to another person under the invocation of God. ~ Dallas Willard,
6:Soot and sorrow: the Night Market's invocation of desperate seriousness, of doom and disaster. ~ Nick Harkaway,
7:I use no lengthened invocation: Here rustles one that soon will work my liberation. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
8:You have to be careful when you use that word,” I warn her. “It’s like an invocation. You’ll summon it. ~ Karina Halle,
9:In the Kural there is a chapter on invocation to God. But there is no place in it for principle of idol worship. ~ Periyar,
10:Magic and art tend to share a lot of the same language. They both talk about evocation, invocation, and conjuring. ~ Alan Moore,
11:In fact, in the Rig Veda there is one hymn that is an invocation of Vāc, speech itself. Here are two of its verses: ~ Nicholas Ostler,
12:A poem is an invocation, rebellious return to the blessedness of beginning again, wandering free in pure process of forgetting and finding. ~ Susan Howe,
13:You don't need a formal prayer or invocation to call the angels to your side. Simply think, 'Angels, please surround me,' and they are there. ~ Doreen Virtue,
14:The function of poetry is religious invocation of the muse; its use is the experience of mixed exaltation and horror that her presence excites. ~ Robert Graves,
15:...Nixon's subversion [of the consititution] consisted of: One presidental lie; one invocation of presidental privilege, and zero criminal offences. ~ William J Clinton,
16:The invocation of social necessity should alert us. It contains the seeds for Marx's critique of political economy as well as for his dissection of capitalism. ~ David Harvey,
17:The function of poetry is religious invocation of the Muse; its use is the experience of mixed exaltation and horror that her presence excites. ~ Robert Graves,The White Goddess,
18:Today secular philosophers call that kind of divine invocation God of the gaps-which comes in handy, because there has never been a shortage of gaps in people's knowledge. ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson,
19:The chanting droned loudly and was not constant, shifting from an almost Gregorian invocation to a twisted yodel, as if someone were driving a steamroller over a crowd of Swiss musicians. ~ Daniel O Malley,
20:ho'oponopono (Hawaiian):
Solving a problem by talking it out. After an invocation of the gods, the aggrieved parties sit down and discuss the issue until it is set right (pono means righteousness). ~ Howard Rheingold,
21:The fact that war is the word we use for almost everything—on terrorism, drugs, even poverty—has certainly helped to desensitize us to its invocation; if we wage wars on everything, how bad can they be? ~ Glenn Greenwald,
22:O that my tongue were in the thunder's mouth! Then with passion would I shake the world, And rouse from sleep that fell anatomy Which cannot hear a lady's feeble voice, Which scorns a modern invocation. ~ William Shakespeare,
23:The fact that war is the word we use for almost everything—on terrorism, drugs, even poverty—has certainly helped to desensitize us to its invocation; if we wage wars on everything, how bad can they be? ~ Glenn Greenwald,
24:There are in every man, always, two simultaneous allegiances, one to God, the other to Satan. Invocation of God, or Spirituality, is a desire to climb higher; that of Satan, or animality, is delight in descent. ~ Charles Baudelaire,
25:The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from the limitations of our own weakness and an invocation of all Good to enter and abide with us. ~ George Eliot,
26:Though either choice was good, one was truer to myself... Ultimately, I reflected on Geothe's invocation to 'make a commitment and the forces of the universe will conspire to make it happen' and chose the uncharted path. ~ Jacqueline Novogratz,
27:Those people who leap from personal bafflement at a natural phenomenon straight to a hasty invocation of the supernatural are no better than the fools who see a conjuror bending a spoon and leap to the conclusion that it is 'paranormal'. ~ Richard Dawkins,
28:the song consisted of an invocation to Neptune, chanted by a single leader and repeated in chorus, with a rhythm so sweet and well balanced that it imitated the regular movement of the sailors bending to their oars and the oars beating the water. ~ Alexandre Dumas,
29:Selon une belle expression du Sheikh Ahmed Ben Allioua, « l’invocation de Dieu est comme le va-et-vient qui affirme la communication de plus en plus complète jusqu’à l’identité entre les lueurs de la conscience et les éblouissantes fulgurations de l’Infini ». ~ Frithjof Schuon,
30:What harm is done by that commonplace word? What distinctions will not, cannot be drawn where enemy holds sway? Is the concept “enemy” the enemy of clear thought, therefore of justice? What is gained by its invocation? Perhaps as important, what is lost? ~ John Jeremiah Sullivan,
31:There is a single main definition of the object of all magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel; or, in the language of Mysticism, Union with God. ~ Aleister Crowley,
32:There is a single main definition of the object of all magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel; or, in the language of Mysticism, Union with God. ~ Aleister Crowley,
33:Let us not lose the Bible, but with diligence, in fear and invocation of God, read and preach it. While that remains and flourishes, all prospers with the state; 'tis head and empress of all arts and faculties. Let but divinity fall, and I would not give a straw for the rest. ~ Martin Luther,
34:The magicians most important invocation is that of his Genius, Daemon, True Will, or Augoeides. This operation is traditionally known as attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. It is sometimes known as the Magnum Opus or Great Work.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,
35:Healing does not come through intense affirmation of divinity, or by simply pouring out love and the expression of a vague mysticism.It comes through mastering an exact science of contact, impression, of invocation plus an understanding of the subtle apparatus of the etheric vehicle. ~ Alice Bailey,
36:The ceremony, likely aided by narcotics and hallucinogens, required Hubbard to channel the female deity of Babalon as Parsons performed the “invocation of wand with material basis on talisman”—in other words, masturbating on a piece of parchment. He typically invoked twice a night. ~ Lawrence Wright,
37:To "invoke" is to "call in", just as to "evoke" is to "call forth". This is the essential difference between the two branches of Magick. In invocation, the macrocosm floods the consciousness. In evocation, the magician, having become the macrocosm, creates a microcosm. ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,
38:An essential portion of any artist’s labor is not creation so much as invocation. Part of the work cannot be made, it must be received; and we cannot have this gift except, perhaps, by supplication, by courting, by creating within ourselves that ‘begging bowl’ to which the gift is drawn. ~ Lewis Hyde,
39:An essential portion of any artist's labor is not creation so much as invocation. Part of the work cannot be made, it must be received; and we cannot have this gift except, perhaps, by supplication, by courting, by creating within ourselves that 'begging bowl' to which the gift is drawn. ~ Lewis Hyde,
40:For a man solemnly to undertake the interpretation of any portion of Scripture without invocation of God, to be taught and instructed by His Spirit, is a high provocation of him; nor shall I expect the discovery of truth from any one who thus proudly engages in a work so much beyond his ability. ~ John Owen,
41:JS, constructors are just functions that happen to be called with the new operator in front of them. They are not attached to classes, nor are they instantiating a class. They are not even special types of functions. They’re just regular functions that are, in essence, hijacked by the use of new in their invocation. ~ Kyle Simpson,
42:If you want to make a decision in life on what to do, but if you're trying systematically, through spiritual practice, through meditation, through the invocation of the name of God, to walk closer and closer in this life to Him, you need someone to guide you. And God has made it possible in Islam for this guidance to exist. ~ Seyyed Hossein Nasr,
43:When the imagination is not controlled and the attention not steadied on the feeling of the wish fulfilled, then no amount of prayer or piety or invocation will produce the desired effect. When you can call up at will whatsoever image you please, when the forms of your imagination are as vivid to you as the forms of nature, you are master of your fate. ~ Neville Goddard,
44:When the imagination is not controlled and the attention not steadied on the feeling of the wish fulfilled, then no amount of prayer or piety or invocation will produce the desired effect. When you can call up at will whatsoever image you please, when the forms of your imagination are as vivid to you as the forms of nature, you are master of your fate. ~ Neville Goddard,
45:Barbara said to herself: Oh, please, please, please! Please let nothing go wrong with this—this wildly improbable, impossible, but gorgeous thing. She was not sure to whom to address this invocation. To Venus, perhaps? If the goddess of love were listening, she would surely cherish such an invocation and understand the urgency, the yearning, that lay behind it. ~ Alexander McCall Smith,
46:The Power of the Sign of the Cross The Cross has great power against the enemy for two reasons: the one is that it represents the death of the Savior, who abased and subjugated him, which this proud being hates and fears in the extreme; the other is that the Cross is a brief and powerful invocation of the Redeemer that can be employed on every occasion suitable for prayer. ~ Francis de Sales,
47:The Power of the Sign of the Cross The Cross has great power against the enemy for two reasons: the one is that it represents the death of the Savior, who abased and subjugated him, which this proud being hates and fears in the extreme; the other is that the Cross is a brief and powerful invocation of the Redeemer that can be employed on every occasion suitable for prayer. ~ Saint Francis de Sales,
48:I'm offended by the kind of smarmy religiosity that's all around us, perhaps more in America than in Europe, and not really that harmful because it's not really that intense or even that serious, but just... you know after a while you get tired of hearing clergymen giving the invocation at various public celebrations and you feel, haven't we outgrown all this? Do we have to listen to this? ~ Steven Weinberg,
49:That took all of three minutes," he pointed out, sprinkling red pepper across his noodles.

"And was kind of anticlimactic," Mal said, "since you just stared at the microwave the entire time. I figured you'd at least give some kind of invocation, maybe some gnawing the plastic. Growling." She ate another forkful of spaghetti, then offered, "Clawing the ground. Barking."

"I'm a vampire, not a corgie. ~ Chloe Neill,
50:The invocation of science, of its ground rules, of the exclusive validity of the methods that science has now completely become, now constitutes a surveillance authority punishing free, uncoddled, undisciplined thought and tolerating nothing of mental activity other than what has been methodologically sanctioned. Science and scholarship, the medium of autonomy, has degenerated into an instrument of heteronomy. ~ Theodor Adorno,
51:...the conception of a Truth-consciousness supramental and divine, the invocation of the gods as powers of the Truth to raise man out of the falsehoods of the mortal mind, the attainment in and by this Truth of an immortal state of perfect good and felicity and the inner sacrifice and offering of what one has and is by the mortal to the Immortal as the means of the divine consummation.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Secret Of The Veda, [68],
52:The failure to remember is not a lie, although liars will often try to excuse their lies, once discovered, by claiming a memory failure. It is not uncommon to forget actions that one regrets, but if the forgetting truly has occurred, we should not consider that a lie. for there was no choice involved. Often it will not be possible to determine whether a memory failure has occurred or whether its invocation is itself a lie. ~ Paul Ekman,
53:Let your thoughts move to and fro like an accelerating pendulum, taking ever wider swings. “He’s my Father—and he’s God in heaven; he’s God in heaven—and he’s my Father! It’s beyond belief—but it’s true!” Grasp this, or rather, let it grasp you; then tell God what you feel about it; and that will be the worship which our Lord wanted to evoke when he gave us this thought-pattern for the invocation of the One who is both his Father and ours. ~ J I Packer,
54:The Last Invocation

At the last, tenderly,
From the walls of the powerful, fortress’d house,
From the clasp of the knitted locks—from the keep of the well-closed doors,
Let me be wafted.

Let me glide noiselessly forth;
With the key of softness unlock the locks—with a whisper,
Set ope the doors, O Soul!

Tenderly! be not impatient!
(Strong is your hold, O mortal flesh!
Strong is your hold, O love.) ~ Walt Whitman,
55:The Last Invocation

At the last, tenderly,
From the walls of the powerful, fortress'd house,
From the clasp of the knitted locks-from the keep of the well-closed doors,
Let me be wafted.

Let me glide noiselessly forth;
With the key of softness unlock the locks-with a whisper,
Set ope the doors, O Soul!

Tenderly! be not impatient!
(Strong is your hold, O mortal flesh!
Strong is your hold, O love.) ~ Walt Whitman,
56:Most of us have complicated backstories, messy histories, multiple narratives. It was a high-wire strategy, for Obama, this invocation of our collective human messiness. His enemies latched on to its imprecision, emphasizing the exotic, un-American nature of Dream City, this ill-defined place where you could be from Hawaii and Kenya, Kansas and Indonesia all at the same time, where you could jive talk like a street hustler and orate like a senator. ~ Zadie Smith,
57:Everyone knows' is the invocation of the cliché and the beginning of the banalization of experience, and it's the solemnity and the sense of authority that people have in voicing the cliché that's so insufferable. What we know is that, in an unclichéd way, nobody knows anything. You can't know anything. The things you know you don't know. Intention? Motive? Consequence? Meaning? All the we don't know is astonishing. Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing. ~ Philip Roth,
58:That night, fifty thousand residents attended a massive rally at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Organized under the theme “Freedom Under God Needs You,” the night featured eight circus acts, a jet plane demonstration, and a fireworks display that the local chapter of the American Legion promised would be the largest in the entire country. Reverend Fifield had the honor of offering the invocation for the evening ceremonies, while actor Gregory Peck delivered a dramatic reading of the Declaration’s preamble. ~ Kevin M Kruse,
59:For in his later books, if he had hit upon some great truth, or upon the name of an historic cathedral, he would break off his narrative, and in an invocation, an apostrophe, a long prayer, would give free rein to those exhalations which, in the earlier volumes, had been immanent in his prose, discernible only in a rippling of its surface, and perhaps even more delightful, more harmonious when they were thus veiled, when the reader could give no precise indication of where their murmuring began or where it died away. ~ Marcel Proust,
60:[Naaman] dipped himself," it says, "seven times in Jordan." It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord from our old transgressions, being spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: "Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. ~ Irenaeus of Lyons,
61:SLEIGHT OF MIND IN INVOCATION
Invocation is a three stage process. Firstly the magician consciously identifies with what is traditionally called a god-form, secondly he enters gnosis and thirdly the magicians subconsciousness manifests the powers of the god-form. A successful invocation means nothing less than full "possession" by the god-form. With practice the first stage of conscious identification can be abbreviated greatly to the point where it may only be necessary to concentrate momentarily on a well used god-form. ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Kaos,
62:Let them like the Tibetans, chew the cud of their "om mane padme hum" innumerable times, or, as in Benares, count the name of the God Ram-Ram-Ram (etc. with or without charm) on their fingers; or honour Vishnu with his thousand names of invocation, Allah with his ninety-nine; or they may make use of the prayer-wheels and the rosary: the main thing is that they are settled down for a time at this work and are tolerable to look at. This kind of prayer has been invented for the benefit of the pious who have thought and elevations of their own. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche,
63:One who uses the morning prayer from A Manual of Eastern Orthodox Prayers will not only begin each day with the sign of the cross and an invocation of the Trinity, but will next say this: God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And then there follows a prayer to the Holy Spirit: O Heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of truth, who are everywhere and fillest all things, the treasure of blessings, and giver of life, come and abide in us. In truth Orthodox fashion, the next sentence brings back the matter of sin: Cleanse us from all impurity, and of thy goodness save our souls. ~ Scot McKnight,
64:Invocation
NIGHT after night within the grove
The night wind spares the sacred fire -­
The breath made visible of love,
Of worship and desire.
I set the tripod at thy shrine;
The silver bowl, the amber flame,
And in the dark where no stars shine
I speak thy name.
By the high name I call on thee
Which only I, thy priestess, know.
I tread thy dance in ecstasy,
Sweet steps and slow.
O God, the hour has come. Appear!
I have performed the appointed rite -­
The dance, the fire; I long to hear
Wings in the night.
~ Alice Duer Miller,
65:Invocation
NIGHT after night within the grove
The night wind spares the sacred fire -­
The breath made visible of love,
Of worship and desire.
I set the tripod at thy shrine;
The silver bowl, the amber flame,
And in the dark where no stars shine
I speak thy name.
By the high name I call on thee
Which only I, thy priestess, know.
I tread thy dance in ecstasy,
Sweet steps and slow.
O God, the hour has come. Appear!
I have performed the appointed rite -­
The dance, the fire; I long to hear
Wings in the night.
~ Alice Duer Miller,
66:ASTROLOGER. Greet reverentially this star-blest hour!   Let magic loose the tyranny of Reason   And Fantasy, fetched from afar, display her power, 6620 For it belongs to her, this great occasion.   What all here boldly asked to see, now see it!   A thing impossible—therefore believe it.   [Faust mounts the proscenium from the other side.]   In priestly robes, head wreathed, the wonder-working man   Now confidently consummates what he began.   A tripod from the depths accompanied his ascent,   Incense is burning in the bowl, I smell the scent,   Next comes the invocation, all’s prepared; ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
67:So crosses don't do anything against your kind?" Sean asked.

"No," Arland said. "There is no mystical force repelling us."

"Then why?"

"We're forbidden to kill a creature in a moment of prayer or invocation of their deity. Well, we can, technically, but you have to do penance and purify yourself and nobody wants to spend weeks praying and bathing themselves in the sacred cave springs. The water's only a fraction warmer than ice. When one of you holds up a cross, it's difficult to determine whether you're praying, invoking, or just waving it around. So the sane strategy is to back away. ~ Ilona Andrews,
68:Invocation Ii
COME to-night in a dream to-night,
Come as you used to do,
Come in the gown, in the gown of white,
Come in the ribbon of blue;
Come in the virgin's colours you wear,
Come through the dark and the dew,
Come with the scent of the night in your hair,
Come as you used to do.
Blue and white of your eyes and your face,
White of your gown and blue,
Will you not come from the happy place,
Come as you used to do?
Tears so many, so many tears
Where there were once so few-Can they not wash the gray of the years
From the white of your gown and blue?
~ Edith Nesbit,
69:ASTROLOGER. Greet reverentially this star-blest hour!
Let magic loose the tyranny of Reason
And Fantasy, fetched from afar, display her power, 6620 For it belongs to her, this great occasion.
What all here boldly asked to see, now see it!
A thing impossible-therefore believe it.
[Faust mounts the proscenium from the other side.]
In priestly robes, head wreathed, the wonder-working man
Now confidently consummates what he began.
A tripod from the depths accompanied his ascent,
Incense is burning in the bowl, I smell the scent,
Next comes the invocation, all's prepared; ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust,
70:In all fundamentalisms, and they are usually religious or political, there is the sense of profound threat to what are considered fundamental beliefs and symbols, and a compensatory invocation of a sacred text (the Bible, the Koran, Mein Kampf) as a literal guide to every form of action. History stops so that murderous therapy can be applied. While medicine does not provide the sacred text, one can revert to ancient practices of shamans, witch doctors, and tricksters who could be expected to kill in order to heal. For physicians as well as charismatic spiritual physicians, there is a release from Hippocratic restraint. ~ Robert Jay Lifton,
71:Many Are Called
The Lord Apollo, who has never died,
Still holds alone his immemorial reign,
Supreme in an impregnable domain
That with his magic he has fortified;
And though melodious multitudes have tried
In ecstasy, in anguish, and in vain,
With invocation sacred and profane
To lure him, even the loudest are outside.
Only at unconjectured intervals,
By will of him on whom no man may gaze,
By word of him whose law no man has read,
A questing light may rift the sullen walls,
To cling where mostly its infrequent rays
Fall golden on the patience of the dead.
~ Edwin Arlington Robinson,
72:There are two kinds of black magicians: (1) those who use the demons of the astral plane for their villainy, which they invoke through necromancy and invocation; and (2) those who create their own demons and launch them against the world. The first group does the greatest harm to the world, but the second injure themselves more. The first group is composed mostly of conscious black magicians, while there are many in the second group who are totally ignorant of what they are doing. Some never learn their mistake until the demons they have created come back to the persons who sent them forth. ~ Manly P Hall, Magic: A Treatise on Esoteric Ethics,
73:There are two kinds of black magicians: (1) those who use the demons of the astral plane for their villainy, which they invoke through necromancy and invocation; and (2) those who create their own demons and launch them against the world. The first group does the greatest harm to the world, but the second injure themselves more. The first group is composed mostly of conscious black magicians, while there are many in the second group who are totally ignorant of what they are doing. Some never learn their mistake until the demons they have created come back to the persons who sent them forth. ~ Manly P Hall, Magic: A Treatise on Esoteric Ethics,
74:Deronda . . . gave himself up to that strongest effect of chanted liturgies which is independent of detailed verbal meaning . . . . The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from the limitations of our own weakness and an invocation of all Good to enter and abide with us; or else a self-oblivious lifting up of gladness, a Gloria in excelsis that such Good exists; both the yearning and the exultation gathering their utmost force from the sense of communion in a form which has expressed them both, for long generations of struggling fellow-men. ~ George Eliot,
75:We forgot that there were those who loved that old country as it was, who did not lament the divisions, but drew power from them. And so, we saw postcards with watermelons on the white house lawn. We saw simian caricatures of the first family, the invocation of a food stamp president, and his anti-colonialist Islamist agenda. These were the fetishes that gathered the tribe of white supremacy, that rallied them to the age-old banner. And if there was one mistake, one reason why I did not see the coming tragedy, why I did not account for it's possibilities, it was because I had not yet truly considered that banners fearsome power. ~ Ta Nehisi Coates,
76:Love
We cannot live, except thus mutually
We alternate, aware or unaware,
The reflex act of life: and when we bear
Our virtue onward most impulsively,
Most full of invocation, and to be
Most instantly compellant, certes, there
We live most life, whoever breathes most air
And counts his dying years by sun and sea.
But when a soul, by choice and conscience, doth
Throw out her full force on another soul,
The conscience and the concentration both make
mere life, Love. For Life in perfect whole
And aim consummated, is Love in sooth,
As nature's magnet-heat rounds pole with pole.
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
77:To do this is to enter the magical world view in its totality. He takes complete responsibility for his present incarnation and must consider every experience, thing, or piece of information which assails him from any source, as a reflection of the way he is conducting his existence. The idea that things happen to one that may or may not be related to the way one acts is an illusion created by our shallow awareness. Keeping a close eye on the walls of the labyrinth, the conditions of his existence, the magician may then begin his invocation. The genius is not something added to oneself. Rather it is a stripping away of excess to reveal the god within.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,
78:Now as always—humility and terror. Fear that the working of my pen cannot capture the grinding of my brain. It is so easy to understand why the ancients prayed for the help of a Muse. And the Muse came and stood beside them, and we, heaven help us, do not believe in Muses. We have nothing to fall back on but our craftsmanship and it, as modern literature attests, is inadequate. May I be honest; may I be decent; may I be unaffected by the technique of hucksters. If invocation is required, let this be my invocation—may I be strong and yet gentle, tender and yet wise, wise and yet tolerant. May I for a little while, only for a little while, see with the inflamed eyes of a God. ~ John Steinbeck,
79:Now as always-humility and terror. Fear that the working of my pen cannot capture the grinding of my brain. It is so easy to understand why the ancients prayed for the help of a Muse. And the Muse came and stood beside them, and we, heaven help us, do not believe in Muses. We have nothing to fall back on but our craftsmanship and it, as modern literature attests, is inadequate. May I be honest; may I be decent; may I be unaffected by the technique of hucksters. If invocation is required, let this be my invocation-may I be strong and yet gentle, tender and yet wise, wise and yet tolerant. May I for a little while, only for a little while, see with the inflamed eyes of a God. ~ John Steinbeck,
80:The next step is to create a three- to four-word mantra that explains the meaning that your startup is seeking to make. For startups, the definition of “mantra” from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language is perfect: A sacred verbal formula repeated in prayer, meditation, or incantation, such as an invocation of a god, a magic spell, or a syllable or portion of scripture containing mystical potentialities. Here are five examples (some hypothetical) that illustrate the power of a good mantra to communicate the meaning of organizations: Authentic athletic performance (Nike)* Fun family entertainment (Disney)* Rewarding everyday moments (Starbucks)* Democratize commerce (eBay) ~ Guy Kawasaki,
81:Because we don't know, do we? Everyone knows… How what happens the way it does? What underlies the anarchy of the train of events, the uncertainties, the mishaps, the disunity, the shocking irregularities that define human affairs? Nobody knows. 'Everyone knows' is the invocation of the cliché and the beginning of the banalization of experience, and it's the solemnity and the sense of authority that people have in voicing the cliché that's so insufferable. What we know is that, in an unclichéd way, nobody knows anything. You can't know anything. The things you know you don't know. Intention? Motive? Consequence? Meaning? All the we don't know is astonishing. Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing. ~ Philip Roth,
82:During this degenerate age in the outer world, there are many natural disasters due to the upsetting of the four elements. Also, demonic forces come with their many weapons to incite the fighting of wars. All of those forces have caused the world to come to ruin and led all to tremble - so terrified that their hair stands up on end. Still, the demonic forces find it necessary to come up with new types of weapons. If we were called on to confront them, there is no way we Dharma practitioners could defeat them. That is why we make supplication prayers to the three jewels, do the aspiration prayers, the offering prayers and the prayers of invocation. We are responsible for those activities. This is what I urge you to do. ~ Chatral Rinpoche,
83:Because we don't know, do we? "Everyone knows" . . . How what happens the way it does? What underlies the anarchy of the train of events, the uncertainties, the mishaps, the disunity, the shocking irregularities that define human affairs? Nobody knows, Professor Roux. "Everyone knows" is the invocation of the cliche and the beginning of the banalization of experience, and it's the solemnity and the sense of authority that people have in voicing the cliché that's so insufferable. What we know is that, in an unclichéd way, nobody knows anything. You can't know anything. The things you know you don't know. Intention? Motive? Consequence? Meaning? All that we don't know is astonishing. Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing. ~ Philip Roth,
84:At the end of the day, there should be an accounting and fresh resolution made. Though every day be a catalog of failure, there should be no sense of sin or guilt. Magic is the raising of the whole individual in perfect balance to the power of Infinity, and such feelings are symptomatic of imbalance.
   If any unnecessary or imbalanced scraps of ego become identified with the genius by mistake, then disaster awaits. The life force flows directly into these complexes and bloats them into grotesque monsters variously known as the demon Choronzon. Some magicians attempting to go too fast with this invocation have failed to banish this demon, and have gone spectacularly insane as a result.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null, Liber LUX, Augeoides [50-51],
85:If women allow themselves to be consoled for their culturally determined lack of access to the modes of intellectual debate by the invocation of hypothetical great goddesses, they are simply flattering themselves into submission (a technique often used on them by men). All the mythic versions of women, from the myth of the redeeming purity of the virgin to that of the healing, reconciliatory mother, are consolatory nonsenses; and consolatory nonsense seems to me a fair definition of myth, anyway. Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths gives women emotional satisfaction, it does so at the price of obscuring the real conditions of life. This is why they were invented in the first place. ~ Angela Carter,
86:So, how many generations of Indebted need to suffer – even as the civilized trappings multiply and abound on all sides, with an ever-increasing proportion of those material follies out of their financial reach? How many, before we all collectively stop and say, “Aaii! That’s enough! No more suffering, please! No more hunger, no more war, no more inequity!” Well, as far as I can see, there are never enough generations. We just scrabble on, and on, devouring all within reach, including our own kind, as if it was nothing more than the undeniable expression of some natural law, and as such subject to no moral context, no ethical constraint – despite the ubiquitous and disingenuous blathering over-invocation of those two grand notions. ~ Steven Erikson,
87:Our Father which art in heaven!' To appreciate this word of adoration aright, I must remember that none of the saints had in Scripture ever ventured to address God as their Father. The invocation places us at once in the centre of the wonderful revelation the Son came to make of His Father as our Father too. It comprehends the mystery of redemption—Christ delivering us from the curse that we might become the children of God. The mystery of regeneration—the Spirit in the new birth giving us the new life. And the mystery of faith—ere yet the redemption is accomplished or understood, the word is given on the lips of the disciples to prepare them for the blessed experience still to come. The words are the key to the whole prayer, to all prayer. It ~ Andrew Murray,
88:In tire world today there is a “liberal” or “enlightened” tradition which regards the combative side of man’s nature as a pure, atavistic evil, and scouts the chivalrous sentiment as part of the “false glamour” of war. And there is also a neo-heroic tradition which scouts the chivalrous sentiment as a weak sentimentality, which would raise from its grave (its shallow and unquiet grave!) the pre-Christian ferocity of Achilles by a “modern invocation”. Already in our own Kipling the heroic qualities of his favourite subalterns are dangerously removed from meekness and urbanity. One cannot quite imagine the adult Stalkey in the same room with the best of Nelson’s captains, still less with Sidney! These two tendencies between them weave the world’s shroud. ~ C S Lewis,
89:/Farsi We are busy with the luxury of things. Their number and multiple faces bring To us confusion we call knowledge. Say: God created the world, pinned night to day, Made mountains to weigh it down, seas To wash its face, living creatures with pleas (The ancestors of prayers) seeking a place In this mystery that floats in endless space. God set the earth on the back of a bull, The bull on a fish dancing on a spool Of silver light so fine it is like air; That in turn rests on nothing there But nothing that nothing can share. All things are but masks at God's beck and call, They are symbols that instruct us that God is all. [1490.jpg] -- from The Conference of the Birds: The Selected Sufi Poetry of Farid ud-Din Attar, Translated by Raficq Abdulla

~ Farid ud-Din Attar, Invocation
,
90:She twisted her hair as if the question made her uncomfortable. “Seeing the past is simple magic. Seeing the present or the future—that is not.” “Yeah, well,” Leo said. “Watch and learn, Sunshine. I just connect these last two wires, and—” The bronze plate sparked. Smoke billowed from the sphere. A flash of fire raced up Leo’s sleeve. He pulled off his shirt, threw it down, and stomped on it. He could tell Calypso was trying not to laugh, but she was shaking with the effort. “Not a word,” Leo warned. She glanced at his bare chest, which was sweaty, bony, and streaked with old scars from weapon-making accidents. “Nothing worth commenting on,” she assured him. “If you want that device to work, perhaps you should try a musical invocation.” “Right,” he said. “Whenever an engine malfunctions, I like to tap-dance around it. Works every time. ~ Rick Riordan,
91:Sunday morning came – next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams – visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation ~ Mark Twain,
92:Invocation A La Poesie
Nymphe tendre et vermeille, ô jeune Poésie!
Quel bois est aujourd'hui ta retraite choisie?
Quelles fleurs, près d'une onde où s'égarent tes pas,
Se courbent mollement sous tes pieds délicats?
Où te faut-il chercher? Vois la saison nouvelle:
Sur son visage blanc quelle pourpre étincelle!
L'hirondelle a chanté; Zéphir est de retour:
Il revient en dansant; il ramène l'amour.
L'ombre, les prés, les fleurs, c'est sa douce famille,
Et Jupiter se plaît à contempler sa fille,
Cette terre où partout, sous tes doigts gracieux,
S'empressent de germer des vers mélodieux.
Le fleuve qui s'étend dans les vallons humides
Roule pour toi des vers doux, sonores, liquides.
Des vers, s'ouvrant en foule aux regards du soleil,
Sont ce peuple de fleurs au calice vermeil.
Et les monts, en torrents qui blanchissent leurs cimes,
Lancent des vers brillants dans le fond des abîmes.
~ Andre Marie de Chenier,
93:Elric: We are dreamers, shapers, singers, and makers. We study the mysteries of laser and circuit, crystal and scanner, holographic demons and invocation of equations. These are the tools we employ, and we know many things.

John Sheridan: Such as?

Elric: The true secrets, the important things. Fourteen words to make someone fall in love with you forever. Seven words to make them go without pain. How to say good-bye to a friend who is dying. How to be poor. How to be rich. How to rediscover dreams when the world has stolen them. That is why we are going away—to preserve that knowledge.

Sheridan: From what?

Elric: There is a storm coming, a black and terrible storm. We would not have our knowledge lost or used to ill purpose. From this place we will launch ourselves into the stars. With luck, you will never see our kind again in your lifetime. I know you have your orders, Captain. Detain us if you wish. But I cannot tell you where we are going. I can only ask you to trust us. ~ J Michael Straczynski,
94:Elric: We are dreamers, shapers, singers, and makers. We study the mysteries of laser and circuit, crystal and scanner, holographic demons and invocation of equations. These are the tools we employ, and we know many things.

John Sheridan: Such as?

Elric: The true secrets, the important things. Fourteen words to make someone fall in love with you forever. Seven words to make them go without pain. How to say good-bye to a friend who is dying. How to be poor. How to be rich. How to rediscover dreams when the world has stolen them. That is why we are going away-to preserve that knowledge.

Sheridan: From what?

Elric: There is a storm coming, a black and terrible storm. We would not have our knowledge lost or used to ill purpose. From this place we will launch ourselves into the stars. With luck, you will never see our kind again in your lifetime. I know you have your orders, Captain. Detain us if you wish. But I cannot tell you where we are going. I can only ask you to trust us. ~ J Michael Straczynski,
95:A person doing his true will is assisted by the momentum of the universe and seems possessed of amazing good luck. In beginning the great work of obtaining the knowledge and conversation, the magician vows 'to interpret every manifestation of existence as a direct message from the infinite Chaos to himself personally'
   To do this is to enter the magical world view in its totality. He takes complete responsibility for his present incarnation and must consider every experience, thing, or piece of information which assails him from any source, as a reflection of the way he is conducting his existence. The idea that things happen to one that may or may not be related to the way one acts is an illusion created by our shallow awareness.
   Keeping a close eye on the walls of the labyrinth, the conditions of his existence, the magician may then begin his invocation. The genius is not something added to oneself. Rather it is a stripping away of excess to reveal the god within.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null, Liber LUX, Augoeides [49-50],
96:Invocation
The Spirit of Darkness, the Prince of the Power of the Air,
The terror that walketh by night, and the horror by day,
The legions of Evil, alert and awake and aware,
Press round him each hour; and I pray here alone, far away.
God! call up Thy legions to fight on the side of my love,
Let the seats of the mighty be cast down before him, O Lord,
Send strong wings of angels to shield him beneath and above,
Let glorious Michael unsheath his implacable sword.
Let the whole host of Heaven take part with my dear in his fight,
That the armies of Hell may be scattered like chaff in the blast,
And the trumpets of Heaven blow fair for the triumph of Right.
Inspire him, protect him, and bring him home victor at last.
But if--ah, dear God, give me strength to withhold nothing now! If the life of my life be required for Thy splendid design,
Give his country the laurels, though cold and uncrowned be his brow
...
Thou gavest Thy Son for the world, and shall I not give mine?
~ Edith Nesbit,
97:[invocation] Let us describe the magical method of identification. The symbolic form of the god is first studied with as much care as an artist would bestow upon his model, so that a perfectly clear and unshakeable mental picture of the god is presented to the mind. Similarly, the attributes of the god are enshrined in speech, and such speeches are committed perfectly to memory. The invocation will then begin with a prayer to the god, commemorating his physical attributes, always with profound understanding of their real meaning. In the second part of the invocation, the voice of the god is heard, and His characteristic utterance is recited. In the third portion of the invocation the Magician asserts the identity of himself with the god. In the fourth portion the god is again invoked, but as if by Himself, as if it were the utterance of the will of the god that He should manifest in the Magician. At the conclusion of this, the original object of the invocation is stated.
   ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA, Book 4, Magick, Part 3, The Formuale of the Elemental Weapons [149] [T4],
98:Justice is the central star which governs societies, the pole around which the political world revolves, the principle and the regulator of all transactions. Nothing takes place between men save in the name of right; nothing without the invocation of justice. Justice is not the work of the law: on the contrary, the law is only a declaration and application of justice in all circumstances where men are liable to come in contact. If, then, the idea that we form of justice and right were ill-defined, if it were imperfect or even false, it is clear that all our legislative applications would be wrong, our institutions vicious, our politics erroneous: consequently there would be disorder and social chaos.
This hypothesis of the perversion of justice in our minds, and, as a necessary result, in our acts, becomes a demonstrated fact when it is shown that the opinions of men have not borne a constant relation to the notion of justice and its applications; that at different periods they have undergone modifications: in a word, that there has been progress in ideas. Now, that is what history proves by the most overwhelming testimony. ~ Pierre Joseph Proudhon,
99:while we observe how God has destined all things for our good and salvation, we at the same time feel his power and grace, both in ourselves and in the great blessings which he has bestowed upon us; thence stirring up ourselves to confidence in him, to invocation, praise, and love. Moreover, as I lately observed, the Lord himself, by the very order of creation, has demonstrated that he created all things for the sake of man. Nor is it unimportant to observe, that he divided the formation of the world into six days, though it had been in no respect more difficult to complete the whole work, in all its parts, in one moment than by a gradual progression. But he was pleased to display his providence and paternal care towards us in this, that before he formed man, he provided whatever he foresaw would be useful and salutary to him. How ungrateful, then, were it to doubt whether we are cared for by this most excellent Parent, who we see cared for us even before we were born! How impious were it to tremble in distrust, lest we should one day be abandoned in our necessity by that kindness which, antecedent to our existence, displayed itself in a complete supply of all good things! ~ John Calvin,
100:Directly on awakening, preferably at dawn, the initiate goes to the place of invocation. Figuring to himself as he goes that being born anew each day brings with it the chance of greater rebirth, first he banishes the temple of his mind by ritual or by some magical trance. Then he unveils some token or symbol or sigil which represents to him the Holy Guardian Angel. This symbol he will likely have to change during the great work as the inspiration begins to move him. Next he invokes an image of the Angel into his minds eye. It may be considered as a luminous duplicate of ones own form standing in front of or behind one, or simply as a ball of brilliant light above ones head. Then he formulates his aspirations in what manner he will, humbling himself in prayer or exalting himself in loud proclamation as his need be. The best form of this invocation is spoken spontaneously from the heart, and if halting at first, will prove itself in time. He is aiming to establish a set of ideas and images which correspond to the nature of his genius, and at the same time receive inspiration from that source. As the magician begins to manifest more of his true will, the Augoeides will reveal images, names, and spiritual principles by which it can be drawn into greater manifestation.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,
101:The most powerful country in the world has handed over all of it's affairs, the prosperity of an entire economy, the security of some 300 million citizens, the purity of it's water, the viability of it's air, the safety of it's food, the future of it's vast system of education, the soundness of it's national highways, airways, and railways, the apocalyptic potential of nuclear arsenal to a carnival barker who introduce the phrase "grab em by the pussy", into the national lexicon. It is as if the white tribe united in demonstration to say "if a black man can be president than any white man, no matter how fallen, can be president", and in that perverse way, the democratic dreams of Jefferson and Jackson were fulfilled. The American Tragedy now being wrought, is larger than most imaged and will not end with Trump. In recent times, whiteness as an overt political tactic has been restrained by a kind of cordiality held that it's overt invocation would scare off moderate whites. This has proved to be only half-true at best. Trump's legacy will be exposing the patina of decency for what it is and revealing just how much a demagague can get away with. It does not take much to imagine another politician, wiser in the ways of Washington, schooled in the methodology of governance, now liberated from the pretense of anti-racist civility, doing a much more effective job than Trump. ~ Ta Nehisi Coates,
102:To prepare for Astral Magic a temple or series of temples needs to be erected on the plane of visualized imagination. Such temples can take any convenient form although some magicians prefer to work with an exact simulacrum of their physical temple. The astral temple is visualized in fine detail and should contain all the equipment required for ritual or at least cupboards where any required instruments can be found.
   Any objects visualized into the temple should always remain there for subsequent inspection unless specifically dissolved or removed. The most important object in the temple is the magician's image of himself working in it. At first it may seem that he is merely manipulating a puppet of himself in the temple but with persistence this should give way to a feeling of actually being there. Before beginning Astral Magic proper, the required temple and instruments together with an image of the magician moving about in it should be built up by a repeated series of visualizations until all the details are perfect. Only when this is complete should the magician begin to use the temple. Each conjuration that is performed should be planned in advance with the same attention to detail as in Ritual Magic. The various acts of astral evocation, divination, enchantment, invocation and illumination take on a similar general form to the acts of Ritual Magic which the magician adapts for astral work. ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Kaos [T2],
103:Rarely, rarely, comest thou,
Spirit of Delight!
Wherefore hast thou left me now
Many a day and night?
Many a weary night and day
'Tis since thou art fled away.

How shall ever one like me
Win thee back again?
With the joyous and the free
Thou wilt scoff at pain.
Spirit false! thou hast forgot
All but those who need thee not.

As a lizard with the shade
Of a trembling leaf,
Thou with sorrow art dismayed;
Even the sighs of grief
Reproach thee, that thou art not near,
And reproach thou wilt not hear.

Let me set my mournful ditty
To a merry measure;
Thou wilt never come for pity,
Thou wilt come for pleasure;
Pity then will cut away
Those cruel wings, and thou wilt stay.

I love all that thou lovest,
Spirit of Delight!
The fresh Earth in new leaves dressed,
And the starry night;
Autumn evening, and the morn
When the golden mists are born.

I love snow and all the forms
Of the radiant frost;
I love waves, and winds, and storms,
Everything almost
Which is Nature's, and may be
Untainted by man's misery.

I love tranquil solitude,
And such society
As is quiet, wise, and good:
Between thee and me
What diff'rence? but thou dost possess
The things I seek, not love them less.

I love Love, though he has wings,
And like light can flee,
But above all other things,
Spirit, I love thee,
Thou art love and life! O come!
Make once more my heart thy home!

~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, Invocation
,
104:You rest on the circle of Sri's breast, Wearing your earrings, Fondling wanton forest garlands. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! The sun's jewel light encircles you As you break through the bond of existence -- A wild Himalayan goose on lakes in minds of holy men. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! You defeat the venomous serpent Kaliya, Exciting your Yadu kinsmen Like sunlight inciting lotuses to bloom. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! You ride your fierce eagle Garuda To battle demons Madhu and Mura and Naraka, Leaving the other goods free to play. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Watching with long omniscient lotus-petal eyes, You free us from bonds of existence, Preserving life in the world's three realms. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Janaka's daughter Sita adorns you. You conquer demon Dusana. You kill ten-headed Ravana in battle. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Your beauty is fresh as rain clouds. You hold the mountain to churn elixir from the sea. Your eyes are night birds drinking from Sri's moon face. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Poet Jayadeva joyously sings This song of invocation In an auspicious prayer. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! As he rests in Sri's embrace, On the soft slope of her breast, The saffroned chest of Madhu's killer Is stained with red marks of passion And sweat from fatigue of tumultuous loving. May his broad chest bring you pleasure too! [1994.jpg] -- from Love Song of the Dark Lord: Jayadeva's Gitagovinda, Translated by Barbara Stoler Miller

~ Jayadeva, You rest on the circle of Sris breast (from The Gitagovinda)
,
105:All these young children being sent to prison forever, all this grief and violence. Those judges throwing people away like they're not even human, people shooting each other, hurting each other like they don't care. I don't know, it's a lot of pain. I decided that I was supposed to be here [at the court] to catch some of the stones people cast at each other.'
I chuckled when she said it. During the McMillian hearings, a local minister had held a regional church meeting about the case and had asked me to come speak. There were a few people in the African American community whose support of Walter was muted, not because they thought he was guilty but because he had had an extramarital affair and wasn't active in the church. At the church meeting, I spoke mostly about Walter's case, but I also reminded people that when the woman accused of adultery was brought to Jesus, he told the accusers who wanted to stone her to death, 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.' The woman's accusers retreated, and Jesus forgave her and urged her to sin no more. But today, our self-righteousness, our fear, and our anger have caused even the Christians to hurl stones at the people who fall down, even when we know we should forgive or show compassion. I told the congregation that we can't simply watch that happen. I told them we have to be stonecatchers.
When I chuckled at the older woman's invocation of the parable, she laughed, too. 'I heard you in that courtroom today. I've even seen you hear a couple of times before. I know you's a stonecatcher, too. ~ Bryan Stevenson,
106:Because we don't know, do we? Everyone knows . . . How what happens the way it does? What underlies the anarchy of the train of events, the uncertainties, the mishaps, the disunity, the shocking irregularities that define human affairs? Nobody knows, Professor Roux. "Everyone knows" is the invocation of the cliche and the beginning of the banalization of experience, and it's the solemnity and the sense of authority that people have in voicing the cliché that's so insufferable. What we know is that, in an unclichéd way, nobody knows anything. You can't know anything. The things you know you don't know. Intention? Motive? Consequence? Meaning?

All that we don't know is astonishing. Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing.

As the audience filed back in, I began, cartoonishly, to envisage the fatal malady that, without anyone's recognizing it, was working away inside us, within each and every one of us: to visualize the blood vessels occluding under the baseball caps, the malignancies growing beneath the permed white hair, the organs misfiring, atrophying, shutting down, the hundreds of billions of murderous cells surreptitiously marching this entire audience toward the improbable disaster ahead. I couldn't stop myself. The stupendous decimation that is death sweeping us all away. Orchestra, audience, conductor, technicians, swallows, wrens—think of the numbers for Tanglewood alone just between now and the year 4000. Then multiply that times everything. The ceaseless perishing. What an idea!

What maniac conceived it? And yet what a lovely day it is today, a gift of a day, a perfect day lacking nothing in a Massachusetts vacation spot that is itself as harmless and pretty as any on earth. ~ Philip Roth,
107:Maker of earth and sky, from age to age Who rul'st the world by reason; at whose word Time issues from Eternity's abyss: To all that moves the source of movement, fixed Thyself and moveless. Thee no cause impelled Extrinsic this proportioned frame to shape From shapeless matter; but, deep-set within Thy inmost being, the form of perfect good, From envy free; and Thou didst mould the whole To that supernal pattern. Beauteous The world in Thee thus imaged, being Thyself Most beautiful. So Thou the work didst fashion In that fair likeness, bidding it put on Perfection through the exquisite perfectness Of every part's contrivance. Thou dost bind The elements in balanced harmony, So that the hot and cold, the moist and dry, Contend not; nor the pure fire leaping up Escape, or weight of waters whelm the earth. Thou joinest and diffusest through the whole, Linking accordantly its several parts, A soul of threefold nature, moving all. This, cleft in twain, and in two circles gathered, Speeds in a path that on itself returns, Encompassing mind's limits, and conforms The heavens to her true semblance. Lesser souls And lesser lives by a like ordinance Thou sendest forth, each to its starry car Affixing, and dost strew them far and wide O'er earth and heaven. These by a law benign Thou biddest turn again, and render back To thee their fires. Oh, grant, almighty Father, Grant us on reason's wing to soar aloft To heaven's exalted height; grant us to see The fount of good; grant us, the true light found, To fix our steadfast eyes in vision clear On Thee. Disperse the heavy mists of earth, And shine in Thine own splendour. For Thou art The true serenity and perfect rest Of every pious soulto see Thy face, The end and the beginningOne the guide, The traveller, the pathway, and the goal.

~ Boethius, Invocation
,
108:[Jesus] claims that not the observance of outer civil or statutory churchly duties but the pure moral disposition of the heart alone can make man well-pleasing to God (Matthew V, 20-48); … that injury done one’s neighbor can be repaired only through satisfaction rendered to the neighbor himself, not through acts of divine worship (V, 24). Thus, he says, does he intend to do full justice to the Jewish law (V, 17); whence it is obvious that not scriptural scholarship but the pure religion of reason must be the law’s interpreter, for taken according to the letter, it allowed the very opposite of all this. Furthermore, he does not leave unnoticed, in his designations of the strait gate and the narrow way, the misconstruction of the law which men allow themselves in order to evade their true moral duty, holding themselves immune through having fulfilled their churchly duty (VII, 13). He further requires of these pure dispositions that they manifest themselves also in works (VII, 16) and, on the other hand, denies the insidious hope of those who imagine that, through invocation and praise of the Supreme Lawgiver in the person of His envoy, they will make up for their lack of good works and ingratiate themselves into favor (VII, 21). Regarding these works he declares that they ought to be performed publicly, as an example for imitation (V, 16), and in a cheerful mood, not as actions extorted from slaves (VI, 16); and that thus, from a small beginning in the sharing and spreading of such dispositions, religion, like a grain of seed in good soil, or a ferment of goodness, would gradually, through its inner power, grow into a kingdom of God (XIII, 31-33). ~ Immanuel Kant, Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone, Book IV, Part 1, Section 1, “The Christian religion as a natural religion,” as translated by Theodore M. Greene,
109:Quiller-Couch was all by himself my college education. I went down to the public library one day when I was seventeen looking for books on the art of writing, and found five books of lectures which Q had delivered to his students of writing at Cambridge. “Just what I need!” I congratulated myself. I hurried home with the first volume and started reading and got to page 3 and hit a snag: Q was lecturing to young men educated at Eton and Harrow. He therefore assumed that his students—including me—had read Paradise Lost as a matter of course and would understand his analysis of the “Invocation to Light” in Book 9. So I said, “Wait here,” and went down to the library and got Paradise Lost and took it home and started reading it and got to page 3, when I hit a snag: Milton assumed I’d read the Christian version of Isaiah and the New Testament and had learned all about Lucifer and the War in Heaven, and since I’d been reared in Judaism I hadn’t. So I said, “Wait here,” and borrowed a Christian Bible and read about Lucifer and so forth, and then went back to Milton and read Paradise Lost, and then finally got back to Q, page 3. On page 4 or 5, I discovered that the point of the sentence at the top of the page was in Latin and the long quotation at the bottom of the page was in Greek. So I advertised in the Saturday Review for somebody to teach me Latin and Greek, and went back to Q meanwhile, and discovered he assumed I not only knew all the plays of Shakespeare, and Boswell’s Johnson, but also the Second book of Esdras, which is not in the Old Testament and not in the New Testament, it’s in the Apocrypha, which is a set of books nobody had ever thought to tell me existed. So what with one thing and another and an average of three “Wait here’s” a week, it took me eleven years to get through Q’s five books of lectures. ~ Helene Hanff,
110:Q (Quiller-Couch) was all by himself my college education. I went down to the public library one day when I was seventeen looking for books on the art of writing, and found five books of lectures which Q had delivered to his students of writing at Cambridge.
"Just what I need!" I congratulated myself. I hurried home with the first volume and started reading and got to page 3 and hit a snag:
Q was lecturing to young men educated at Eton and Harrow. He therefore assumed his students − including me − had read Paradise Lost as a matter of course and would understand his analysis of the "Invocation to Light" in Book 9. So I said, "Wait here," and went down to the library and got Paradise Lost and took it home and started reading it and got to page 3, when I hit a snag:
Milton assumed I'd read the Christian version of Isaiah and the New Testament and had learned all about Lucifer and the War in Heaven, and since I'd been reared in Judaism I hadn't. So I said, "Wait here," and borrowed a Christian Bible and read about Lucifer and so forth, and then went back to Milton and read Paradise Lost, and then finally got back to Q, page 3. On page 4 or 5, I discovered that the point of the sentence at the top of the page was in Latin and the long quotation at the bottom of the page was in Greek. So I advertised in the Saturday Review for somebody to teach me Latin and Greek, and went back to Q meanwhile, and discovered he assumed I not only knew all the plays by Shakespeare, and Boswell's Johnson, but also the Second books of Esdras, which is not in the Old Testament and not in the New Testament, it's in the Apocrypha, which is a set of books nobody had ever thought to tell me existed.
So what with one thing and another and an average of three "Wait here's" a week, it took me eleven years to get through Q's five books of lectures. ~ Helene Hanff,
111:There is a story I would like to tell you about a woman who practices the invocation of the Buddha Amitabha's name. She is very tough, and she practices the invocation three times daily, using a wooden drum and a bell, reciting, "Namo Amitabha Buddha" for one hour each time. When she arrives at one thousand times, she invites the bell to sound. (In Vietnamese, we don't say "strike" or "hit" a bell.) Although she has been doing this for ten years, her personality has not changed. She is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time.

A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, so one afternoon when she had just lit the incense, invited the bell to sound three times, and was beginning to recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha," he came to her door, and said, "Mrs. Nguyen, Mrs. Nguyen!" She found it very annoying because this was her time of practice, but he just stood at the front gate shouting her name. She said to herself, "I have to struggle against my anger, so I will ignore that," and she went on, "Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha."

The gentleman continued to shout her name, and her anger became more and more oppressive. She struggled against it, wondering, "Should I stop my recitation and go and give him a piece of my mind?" But she continued chanting, and she struggled very hard. Fire mounted in her, but she still tried to chant "Namo Amitabha Buddha." The gentleman knew it, and he continued to shout, "Mrs. Nguyen! Mrs. Nguyen!"

She could not bear it any longer. She threw away the bell and the drum. She slammed the door, went out to the gate and said, "Why, why do you behave like that? Why do you call my name hundreds of times like that?" The gentleman smiled at her and said, "I just called your name for ten minutes, and you are so angry. You have been calling the Buddha's name for ten years. Think how angry he must be! ~ Thich Nhat Hanh,
112:There is a story I would like to tell you about a woman who practices the invocation of the Buddha Amitabha's name. She is very tough, and she practices the invocation three times daily, using a wooden drum and a bell, reciting, "Namo Amitabha Buddha" for one hour each time. When she arrives at one thousand times, she invites the bell to sound. (In Vietnamese, we don't say "strike" or "hit" a bell.) Although she has been doing this for ten years, her personality has not changed. She is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time.

A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, so one afternoon when she had just lit the incense, invited the bell to sound three times, and was beginning to recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha," he came to her door, and said, "Mrs. Nguyen, Mrs. Nguyen!" She found it very annoying because this was her time of practice, but he just stood at the front gate shouting her name. She said to herself, "I have to struggle against my anger, so I will ignore that," and she went on, "Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha."

The gentleman continued to shout her name, and her anger became more and more oppressive. She struggled against it, wondering, "Should I stop my recitation and go and give him a piece of my mind?" But she continued chanting, and she struggled very hard. Fire mounted in her, but she still tried to chant "Namo Amitabha Buddha." The gentleman knew it, and he continued to shout, "Mrs. Nguyen! Mrs. Nguyen!"

She could not bear it any longer. She threw away the bell and the drum. She slammed the door, went out to the gate and said, "Why, why do you behave like that? Why do you call my name hundreds of times like that?" The gentleman smiled at her and said, "I just called your name for ten minutes, and you are so angry. You have been calling the Buddha's name for ten years. Think how angry he must be! ~ Thich Nhat Hanh,
113:The Messenger Ritual

1. Sit down and relax completely. Let your mind wander and your thinking flow without restraint. After a while, begin to repeat to yourself, ‘Now I am relaxed, and I am in the deepest kind of sleep.’

2. When you feel that your mind is no longer concerned with anything, imagine a billow of fire to your right. Make the flames lively and brilliant. Then quietly say, ‘I order my subconscious to show itself. I order it to open
and reveal its magic secrets.’ Wait a bit, and concentrate only on the fire. If an image appears, it will be a manifestation of your subconscious. Try to keep it alive.

3. Keeping the fire always to your right, now begin to imagine another billow of fire to your left. When the flames are lively, say the following
words quietly: ‘May the power of the Lamb, which manifests itself in everything and everyone, manifest itself also in me when I invoke my messenger. (Name of messenger) will appear before me now.

4. Talk with your messenger, who should appear between the two fires. Discuss your specific problems, ask for advice, and give him the necessary orders.

5. When your conversation has ended, dismiss the messenger with the following words: ‘I thank the Lamb for the miracle I have performed. May (name of messenger) return whenever he is invoked, and when he is far away, may he help me to carry on my work.’

Note: On the first invocation – or during the first invocations, depending on the ability of the person performing the ritual to concentrate – do not say
the name of the messenger. Just say “he.” If the ritual is well performed, the messenger should immediately reveal his name telepathically. If not, insist until you learn his name, and only then begin the conversation. The more the ritual is repeated, the stronger the presence of the messenger will be and the more rapid his actions. ~ Paulo Coelho,
114:Invocation
Where Apennine slopes unto Tuscan plain,
And breaks into dimples, and laughs to flowers,
To see where the terrors of Winter wane,
And out of a valley of grape and grain
There blossoms a City of domes and towers,
Teuton, Lombard, and grasping Gaul,
Prince and Pontiff, have forced their way,
Have forded the river, and scaled the wall,
And made in its palaces stye and stall,
Where spears might glisten and war-steeds neigh.
But ever since Florence was fair and young,
And the sun upon turret and belfry shone,
Were her windows bannered and joy-bells rung,
When back to his saddle the Stranger sprung,
And lances were lifted and pikemen gone.
Yes, ever and ever till you, my Queen,
Came over the sea that is all your own,
When the tear on the tip of the vine is seen,
And the fig-tree cressets have flamed to green,
And windflower wakened, and tulip blown.
Then roses were showered before your feet,
And her lily-crowned gonfalons waved above,
And children chanted in square and street,
`All hail to the Monarch may free men greet,
Whose sceptre is Peace, and whose Throne is Love.'
And now that each snow-torrent foams and falls,
And the oreoles sing and the skylarks soar,
And the lithe swallow circles her rose-white walls,
Through the clefts of the Apennine Florence calls,
`More welcome than Spring, come back once more!
`Come back, for the cuckoo is on its way,
And the mountains, smiling, await your smile;
And still in my olive-groves bask and stray,
289
Till the warm-winged waters and winds of May
Shall waft you back to your own loved Isle.'
`The sickle hath performed its work
`The sickle hath performed its work,
The storm-gusts sweep the aspens bare,
Careering clouds and shadows mirk
Cow the disheartened air.
`No swallow circles round the roof,
No chirp redeems the dripping shed;
The very gables frown reproof,
``Why not already fled?'''
~ Alfred Austin,
115:I think of two landscapes- one outside the self, the other within. The external landscape is the one we see-not only the line and color of the land and its shading at different times of the day, but also its plants and animals in season, its weather, its geology… If you walk up, say, a dry arroyo in the Sonoran Desert you will feel a mounding and rolling of sand and silt beneath your foot that is distinctive. You will anticipate the crumbling of the sedimentary earth in the arroyo bank as your hand reaches out, and in that tangible evidence you will sense the history of water in the region. Perhaps a black-throated sparrow lands in a paloverde bush… the smell of the creosote bush….all elements of the land, and what I mean by “the landscape.”

The second landscape I think of is an interior one, a kind of projection within a person of a part of the exterior landscape. Relationships in the exterior landscape include those that are named and discernible, such as the nitrogen cycle, or a vertical sequence of Ordovician limestone, and others that are uncodified or ineffable, such as winter light falling on a particular kind of granite, or the effect of humidity on the frequency of a blackpoll warbler’s burst of song….the shape and character of these relationships in a person’s thinking, I believe, are deeply influenced by where on this earth one goes, what one touches, the patterns one observes in nature- the intricate history of one’s life in the land, even a life in the city, where wind, the chirp of birds, the line of a falling leaf, are known. These thoughts are arranged, further, according to the thread of one’s moral, intellectual, and spiritual development. The interior landscape responds to the character and subtlety of an exterior landscape; the shape of the individual mind is affected by land as it is by genes.

Among the Navajo, the land is thought to exhibit sacred order…each individual undertakes to order his interior landscape according to the exterior landscape. To succeed in this means to achieve a balanced state of mental health…Among the various sung ceremonies of this people-Enemyway, Coyoteway, Uglyway- there is one called Beautyway. It is, in part, a spiritual invocation of the order of the exterior universe, that irreducible, holy complexity that manifests itself as all things changing through time (a Navajo definition of beauty). ~ Barry Lopez,
116:I.
Come, be happy!sit near me,
Shadow-vested Misery:
Coy, unwilling, silent bride,
Mourning in thy robe of pride,
Desolationdeified!

II.
Come, be happy!sit near me:
Sad as I may seem to thee,
I am happier far than thou,
Lady, whose imperial brow
Is endiademed with woe.

III.
Misery! we have known each other,
Like a sister and a brother
Living in the same lone home,
Many yearswe must live some
Hours or ages yet to come.

IV.
Tis an evil lot, and yet
Let us make the best of it;
If love can live when pleasure dies,
We two will love, till in our eyes
This hearts Hell seem Paradise.

V.
Come, be happy!lie thee down
On the fresh grass newly mown,
Where the Grasshopper doth sing
Merrilyone joyous thing
In a world of sorrowing!

VI.
There our tent shall be the willow,
And mine arm shall be thy pillow;
Sounds and odours, sorrowful
Because they once were sweet, shall lull
Us to slumber, deep and dull.

VII.
Ha! thy frozen pulses flutter
With a love thou darest not utter.
Thou art murmuringthou art weeping
Is thine icy bosom leaping
While my burning heart lies sleeping?

VIII.
Kiss me;oh! thy lips are cold:
Round my neck thine arms enfold
They are soft, but chill and dead;
And thy tears upon my head
Burn like points of frozen lead.

IX.
Hasten to the bridal bed
Underneath the grave tis spread:
In darkness may our love be hid,
Oblivion be our coverlid
We may rest, and none forbid.

X.
Clasp me till our hearts be grown
Like two shadows into one;
Till this dreadful transport may
Like a vapour fade away,
In the sleep that lasts alway.

XI.
We may dream, in that long sleep,
That we are not those who weep;
Een as Pleasure dreams of thee,
Life-deserting Misery,
Thou mayst dream of her with me.

XII.
Let us laugh, and make our mirth,
At the shadows of the earth,
As dogs bay the moonlight clouds,
Which, like spectres wrapped in shrouds,
Pass oer night in multitudes.

XIII.
All the wide world, beside us,
Show like multitudinous
Puppets passing from a scene;
What but mockery can they mean,
Where I amwhere thou hast been?
Published by Medwin, The Athenaeum, September 8, 1832. Reprinted (as Misery, a Fragment) by Mrs. Shelley, Poetical Works, 1839, 1st edition. Our text is that of 1839. A pencil copy of this poem is amongst the Shelley manuscripts at the Bodleian Library.
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, Invocation To Misery
,
117:
   "Without conscious occult powers, is it possible to help or protect from a distance somebody in difficulty or danger? If so, what is the practical procedure?"

Then a sub-question:

   "What can thought do?"

We are not going to speak of occult processes at all; although, to tell the truth, everything that happens in the invisible world is occult, by definition. But still, practically, there are two processes which do not exclude but complete each other, but which may be used separately according to one's preference.

   It is obvious that thought forms a part of one of the methods, quite an important part. I have already told you several times that if one thinks clearly and powerfully, one makes a mental formation, and that every mental formation is an entity independent of its fashioner, having its own life and tending to realise itself in the mental world - I don't mean that you see your formation with your physical eyes, but it exists in the mental world, it has its own particular independent existence. If you have made a formation with a definite aim, its whole life will tend to the realisation of this aim. Therefore, if you want to help someone at a distance, you have only to formulate very clearly, very precisely and strongly the kind of help you want to give and the result you wish to obtain. That will have its effect. I cannot say that it will be all-powerful, for the mental world is full of innumerable formations of this kind and naturally they clash and contradict one another; hence the strongest and the most persistent will have the best of it.

   Now, what is it that gives strength and persistence to mental formations? - It is emotion and will. If you know how to add to your mental formation an emotion, affection, tenderness, love, and an intensity of will, a dynamism, it will have a much greater chance of success. That is the first method. It is within the scope of all those who know how to think, and even more of those who know how to love. But as I said, the power is limited and there is great competition in that world.

   Therefore, even if one has no knowledge at all but has trust in the divine Grace, if one has the faith that there is something in the world like the divine Grace, and that this something can answer a prayer, an aspiration, an invocation, then, after making one's mental formation, if one offers it to the Grace and puts one's trust in it, asks it to intervene and has the faith that it will intervene, then indeed one has a chance of success.

   Try, and you will surely see the result.

   ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1956, 253,
118:Invocation To The Social Muse
Señora, it is true the Greeks are dead.
It is true also that we here are Americans:
That we use the machines: that a sight of the god is unusual:
That more people have more thoughts: that there are
Progress and science and tractors and revolutions and
Marx and the wars more antiseptic and murderous
And music in every home: there is also Hoover.
Does the lady suggest we should write it out in The Word?
Does Madame recall our responsibilities? We are
Whores, Fräulein: poets, Fräulein, are persons of
Known vocation following troops: they must sleep with
Stragglers from either prince and of both views.
The rules permit them to further the business of neither.
It is also strictly forbidden to mix in maneuvers.
Those that infringe are inflated with praise on the plazas—
Their bones are resultantly afterwards found under newspapers.
Preferring life with the sons to death with the fathers,
We also doubt on the record whether the sons
Will still be shouting around with the same huzzas—
For we hope Lady to live to lie with the youngest.
There are only a handful of things a man likes,
Generation to generation, hungry or
Well fed: the earth’s one: life’s
One: Mister Morgan is not one.
There is nothing worse for our trade than to be in style.
He that goes naked goes further at last than another.
Wrap the bard in a flag or a school and they’ll jimmy his
Door down and be thick in his bed—for a month:
25
(Who recalls the address now of the Imagists?)
But the naked man has always his own nakedness.
People remember forever his live limbs.
They may drive him out of the camps but one will take him.
They may stop his tongue on his teeth with a rope’s argument—
He will lie in a house and be warm when they are shaking.
Besides, Tovarishch, how to embrace an army?
How to take to one’s chamber a million souls?
How to conceive in the name of a column of marchers?
The things of the poet are done to a man alone
As the things of love are done—or of death when he hears the
Step withdraw on the stair and the clock tick only.
Neither his class nor his kind nor his trade may come near him
There where he lies on his left arm and will die,
Nor his class nor his kind nor his trade when the blood is jeering
And his knee’s in the soft of the bed where his love lies.
I remind you, Barinya, the life of the poet is hard—
A hardy life with a boot as quick as a fiver:
Is it just to demand of us also to bear arms?
~ Archibald MacLeish,
119:INVOCATION
   The ultimate invocation, that of Kia, cannot be performed. The paradox is that as Kia has no dualized qualities, there are no attributes by which to invoke it. To give it one quality is merely to deny it another. As an observant dualistic being once said:
   I am that I am not.
   Nevertheless, the magician may need to make some rearrangements or additions to what he is. Metamorphosis may be pursued by seeking that which one is not, and transcending both in mutual annihilation. Alternatively, the process of invocation may be seen as adding to the magician's psyche any elements which are missing. It is true that the mind must be finally surrendered as one enters fully into Chaos, but a complete and balanced psychocosm is more easily surrendered.
   The magical process of shuffling beliefs and desires attendant upon the process of invocation also demonstrates that one's dominant obsessions or personality are quite arbitrary, and hence more easily banished.
   There are many maps of the mind (psychocosms), most of which are inconsistent, contradictory, and based on highly fanciful theories. Many use the symbology of god forms, for all mythology embodies a psychology. A complete mythic pantheon resumes all of man's mental characteristics. Magicians will often use a pagan pantheon of gods as the basis for invoking some particular insight or ability, as these myths provide the most explicit and developed formulation of the particular idea's extant. However it is possible to use almost anything from the archetypes of the collective unconscious to the elemental qualities of alchemy.
   If the magician taps a deep enough level of power, these forms may manifest with sufficient force to convince the mind of the objective existence of the god. Yet the aim of invocation is temporary possession by the god, communication from the god, and manifestation of the god's magical powers, rather than the formation of religious cults.
   The actual method of invocation may be described as a total immersion in the qualities pertaining to the desired form. One invokes in every conceivable way. The magician first programs himself into identity with the god by arranging all his experiences to coincide with its nature. In the most elaborate form of ritual he may surround himself with the sounds, smells, colors, instruments, memories, numbers, symbols, music, and poetry suggestive of the god or quality. Secondly he unites his life force to the god image with which he has united his mind. This is accomplished with techniques from the gnosis. Figure 5 shows some examples of maps of the mind. Following are some suggestions for practical ritual invocation.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,
120:Sweet Mother, there's a flower you have named "The Creative Word".

Yes.

What does that mean?

It is the word which creates.

There are all kinds of old traditions, old Hindu traditions, old Chaldean traditions in which the Divine, in the form of the Creator, that is, in His aspect as Creator, pronounces a word which has the power to create. So it is this... And it is the origin of the mantra. The mantra is the spoken word which has a creative power. An invocation is made and there is an answer to the invocation; or one makes a prayer and the prayer is granted. This is the Word, the Word which, in its sound... it is not only the idea, it is in the sound that there's a power of creation. It is the origin, you see, of the mantra.

In Indian mythology the creator God is Brahma, and I think that it was precisely his power which has been symbolised by this flower, "The Creative Word". And when one is in contact with it, the words spoken have a power of evocation or creation or formation or transformation; the words... sound always has a power; it has much more power than men think. It may be a good power and it may be a bad power. It creates vibrations which have an undeniable effect. It is not so much the idea as the sound; the idea too has its own power, but in its own domain - whereas the sound has a power in the material world.

I think I have explained this to you once; I told you, for example, that words spoken casually, usually without any re- flection and without attaching any importance to them, can be used to do something very good. I think I spoke to you about "Bonjour", "Good Day", didn't I? When people meet and say "Bonjour", they do so mechanically and without thinking. But if you put a will into it, an aspiration to indeed wish someone a good day, well, there is a way of saying "Good Day" which is very effective, much more effective than if simply meeting someone you thought: "Ah! I hope he has a good day", without saying anything. If with this hope in your thought you say to him in a certain way, "Good Day", you make it more concrete and more effective.

It's the same thing, by the way, with curses, or when one gets angry and says bad things to people. This can do them as much harm - more harm sometimes - than if you were to give them a slap. With very sensitive people it can put their stomach out of order or give them palpitation, because you put into it an evil force which has a power of destruction.

It is not at all ineffective to speak. Naturally it depends a great deal on each one's inner power. People who have no strength and no consciousness can't do very much - unless they employ material means. But to the extent that you are strong, especially when you have a powerful vital, you must have a great control on what you say, otherwise you can do much harm. Without wanting to, without knowing it; through ignorance.

Anything? No? Nothing?

Another question?... Everything's over? ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1955, 347-349,
121:SLEIGHT OF MIND IN ILLUMINATION
Only those forms of illumination which lead to useful behaviour changes deserve to be known as such. When I hear the word "spirituality", I tend to reach for a loaded wand. Most professionally spiritual people are vile and untrustworthy when off duty, simply because their beliefs conflict with basic drives and only manage to distort their natural behaviour temporarily. The demons then come screaming up out of the cellar at unexpected moments.

When selecting objectives for illumination, the magician should choose forms of self improvement which can be precisely specified and measured and which effect changes of behaviour in his entire existence. Invocation is the main tool in illumination, although enchantment where spells are cast upon oneselves and divination to seek objectives for illumination may also find some application.

Evocation can sometimes be used with care, but there is no point in simply creating an entity that is the repository of what one wishes were true for oneself in general. This is a frequent mistake in religion. Forms of worship which create only entities in the subconscious are inferior to more wholehearted worship, which, at its best, is pure invocation. The Jesuits "Imitation of Christ" is more effective than merely praying to Jesus for example.

Illumination proceeds in the same general manner as invocation, except that the magician is striving to effect specific changes to his everyday behaviour, rather than to create enhanced facilities that can be drawn upon for particular purposes. The basic technique remains the same, the required beliefs are identified and then implanted in the subconscious by ritual or other acts. Such acts force the subconscious acquisition of the beliefs they imply.

Modest and realistic objectives are preferable to grandiose schemes in illumination.

One modifies the behaviour and beliefs of others by beginning with only the most trivial demands. The same applies to oneselves. The magician should beware of implanting beliefs whose expression cannot be sustained by the human body or the environment. For example it is possible to implant the belief that flight can be achieved without an aircraft. However it has rarely proved possible to implant this belief deeply enough to ensure that such flights were not of exceedingly short duration. Nevertheless such feats as fire-walking and obliviousness to extreme pain are sometimes achieved by this mechanism.

The sleight of mind which implants belief through ritual action is more powerful than any other weapon that humanity possesses, yet its influence is so pervasive that we seldom notice it. It makes religions, wars, cults and cultures possible. It has killed countless millions and created our personal and social realities. Those who understand how to use it on others can be messiahs or dictators, depending on their degree of personal myopia. Those who understand how to apply it to themselves have a jewel beyond price if they use it wisely; otherwise they tend to rapidly invoke their own Nemesis with it. ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Kaos,
122:The Day Of Wrath / Dies Iræ
Day of Satan's painful duty! Dies iræ! dies illa!
Earth shall vanish, hot and sooty; Solvet sæclum in favilla
So says Virtue, so says Beauty. Teste David cum Sibylla.
Ah! what terror shall be shaping Quantus tremor est futurus,
When the Judge the truth's undraping- Quando Judex est venturus.
Cats from every bag escaping! Cuncta stricte discussurus.
Now the trumpet's invocation Tuba mirum spargens sonum
Calls the dead to condemnation; Per sepulchra regionem,
All receive an invitation. Coget omnes ante thronum
Death and Nature now are quaking, Mors stupebit, et Natura,
And the late lamented, waking, Quum resurget creatura
In their breezy shrouds are shaking. Judicanti responsura.
Lo! the Ledger's leaves are stirring, Liber scriptus proferetur,
And the Clerk, to them referring, In quo totum continetur,
Makes it awkward for the erring. Unde mundus judicetur.
When the Judge appears in session, Judex ergo quum sedebit,
We shall all attend confession, Quicquid latet apparebit,
Loudly preaching non-suppression. Nil inultum remanebit.
How shall I then make romances Quid sum miser tunc dicturus,
Mitigating circumstances? Quem patronem rogaturus,
Even the just must take their chances. Quum vix justus sit securus?
King whose majesty amazes, Rex tremendæ majestatis,
Save thou him who sings thy praises; Qui salvandos salvas gratis;
Fountain, quench my private blazes. Salva me, Fons pietatis.
Pray remember, sacred Saviour, Recordare, Jesu pie,
Mine the playful hand that gave your Quod sum causa tuæ viæ;
Death-blow. Pardon such behavior. Ne me perdas illa die.
Seeking me, fatigue assailed thee, Quærens me sedisti lassus
Calvary's outlook naught availed thee; Redemisti crucem passus,
Now 'twere cruel if I failed thee. Tantus labor non sit cassus.
Righteous judge and learnèd brother, Juste Judex ultionis,
Pray thy prejudices smother Donum fac remissionis
Ere we meet to try each other. Ante diem rationis.
Sighs of guilt my conscience gushes, Ingemisco tanquam reus,
And my face vermilion flushes; Culpa rubet vultus meus;
Spare me for my pretty blushes. Supplicanti parce, Deus.
Thief and harlot, when repenting, Qui Mariam absolvisti,
Thou forgavest-complimenting Et latronem exaudisti,
Me with sign of like relenting. Mihi quoque spem dedisti.
464
If too bold is my petition Preces meæ non sunt dignæ,
I'll receive with due submission Sed to bonus fac benigne
My dismissal-from perdition. Ne perenni cremer igne.
When thy sheep thou hast selected Inter oves locum præsta.
From the goats, may I, respected, Et ab hædis me sequestra,
Stand amongst them undetected. Statuens in parte dextra.
When offenders are indited, Confutatis maledictis,
And with trial-flames ignited, Flammis acribus addictis,
Elsewhere I'll attend if cited. Voca me cum benedictis.
Ashen-hearted, prone and prayerful, Oro supplex et acclinis,
When of death I see the air full, Cor contritum quasi cinis;
Lest I perish too be careful. Gere curam mei finis.
On that day of lamentation, Lacrymosa dies illa
When, to enjoy the conflagration, Qua resurget et favilla,
Men come forth, O be not cruel: Judicandus homo reus,
Spare me, Lord-make them thy fuel. Huic ergo parce, Deus!
~ Ambrose Bierce,
123:What distinguishes us above all from Muslim-born or converted individuals—“psychologically”, one could say—is that our mind is a priori centered on universal metaphysics (Advaita Vedānta, Shahādah, Risālat al-Ahadiyah) and the universal path of the divine Name (japa-yoga, nembutsu, dhikr, prayer of the heart); it is because of these two factors that we are in a traditional form, which in fact—though not in principle—is Islam. The universal orthodoxy emanating from these two sources of authority determines our interpretation of the sharī'ah and Islam in general, somewhat as the moon influences the oceans without being located on the terrestrial globe; in the absence of the moon, the motions of the sea would be inconceivable and “illegitimate”, so to speak. What universal metaphysics says has decisive authority for us, as does the “onomatological” science connected to it, a fact that once earned us the reproach of “de-Islamicizing Islam”; it is not so much a matter of the conscious application of principles formulated outside of Islamism by metaphysical traditions from Asia as of inspirations in conformity with these principles; in a situation such as ours, the spiritual authority—or the soul that is its vehicle—becomes like a point of intersection for all the rays of truth, whatever their origin.

One must always take account of the following: in principle the universal authority of the metaphysical and initiatic traditions of Asia, whose point of view reflects the nature of things more or less directly, takes precedence—when such an alternative exists—over the generally more “theological” authority of the monotheistic religions; I say “when such an alternative exists”, for obviously it sometimes happens, in esoterism as in essential symbolism, that there is no such alternative; no one can deny, however, that in Semitic doctrines the formulations and rules are usually determined by considerations of dogmatic, moral, and social opportuneness. But this cannot apply to pure Islam, that is, to the authority of its essential doctrine and fundamental symbolism; the Shahādah cannot but mean that “the world is false and Brahma is true” and that “you are That” (tat tvam asi), or that “I am Brahma” (aham Brahmāsmi); it is a pure expression of both the unreality of the world and the supreme identity; in the same way, the other “pillars of Islam” (arqān al-Dīn), as well as such fundamental rules as dietary and artistic prohibitions, obviously constitute supports of intellection and realization, which universal metaphysics—or the “Unanimous Tradition”—can illuminate but not abolish, as far as we are concerned. When universal wisdom states that the invocation contains and replaces all other rites, this is of decisive authority against those who would make the sharī'ah or sunnah into a kind of exclusive karma-yoga, and it even allows us to draw conclusions by analogy (qiyās, ijtihād) that most Shariites would find illicit; or again, should a given Muslim master require us to introduce every dhikr with an ablution and two raka'āt, the universal—and “antiformalist”—authority of japa-yoga would take precedence over the authority of this master, at least in our case. On the other hand, should a Hindu or Buddhist master give the order to practice japa before an image, it goes without saying that it is the authority of Islamic symbolism that would take precedence for us quite apart from any question of universality, because forms are forms, and some of them are essential and thereby rejoin the universality of the spirit.
(28 January 1956) ~ Frithjof Schuon,
124:Invocation
Goddess of Liberty! O thou
Whose tearless eyes behold the chain,
And look unmoved upon the slain,
Eternal peace upon thy brow,-
Before thy shrine the races press,
Thy perfect favor to imploreThe proudest tyrant asks no more,
The ironed anarchist no less.
Thine altar-coals that touch the lips
Of prophets kindle, too, the brand
By Discord flung with wanton hand
Among the houses and the ships.
Upon thy tranquil front the star
Burns bleak and passionless and white,
Its cold inclemency of light
More dreadful than the shadows are.
Thy name we do not here invoke
Our civic rites to sanctify:
Enthroned in thy remoter sky,
Thou heedest not our broken yoke.
Thou carest not for such as we:
Our millions die to serve the still
And secret purpose of thy will.
They perish-what is that to thee?
The light that fills the patriot's tomb
Is not of thee. The shining crown
Compassionately offered down
317
To those who falter in the gloom,
And fall, and call upon thy name,
And die desiring-'tis the sign
Of a diviner love than thine,
Rewarding with a richer fame.
To him alone let freemen cry
Who hears alike the victor's shout,
The song of faith, the moan of doubt,
And bends him from his nearer sky.
God of my country and my race!
So greater than the gods of oldSo fairer than the prophets told
Who dimly saw and feared thy face,-
Who didst but half reveal thy will
And gracious ends to their desire,
Behind the dawn's advancing fire
Thy tender day-beam veiling still,-
To whom the unceasing suns belong,
And cause is one with consequence,To whose divine, inclusive sense
The moan is blended with the song,-
Whose laws, imperfect and unjust,
Thy just and perfect purpose serve:
The needle, howsoe'er it swerve,
Still warranting the sailor's trust,-
God, lift thy hand and make us free
To crown the work thou hast designed.
O, strike away the chains that bind
318
Our souls to one idolatry!
The liberty thy love hath given
We thank thee for. We thank thee for
Our great dead fathers' holy war
Wherein our manacles were riven.
We thank thee for the stronger stroke
Ourselves delivered and incurred
When-thine incitement half unheardThe chains we riveted we broke.
We thank thee that beyond the sea
Thy people, growing ever wise,
Turn to the west their serious eyes
And dumbly strive to be as we.
As when the sun's returning flame
Upon the Nileside statue shone,
And struck from the enchanted stone
The music of a mighty fame,
Let Man salute the rising day
Of Liberty, but not adore.
'Tis Opportunity-no moreA useful, not a sacred, ray.
It bringeth good, it bringeth ill,
As he possessing shall elect.
He maketh it of none effect
Who walketh not within thy will.
Give thou more or less, as we
Shall serve the right or serve the wrong.
Confirm our freedom but so long
319
As we are worthy to be free.
But when (O, distant be the time!)
Majorities in passion draw
Insurgent swords to murder Law,
And all the land is red with crime;
Or-nearer menace!-when the band
Of feeble spirits cringe and plead
To the gigantic strength of Greed,
And fawn upon his iron hand;-
Nay, when the steps to state are worn
In hollows by the feet of thieves,
And Mammon sits among the sheaves
And chuckles while the reapers mourn:
Then stay thy miracle!-replace
The broken throne, repair the chain,
Restore the interrupted reign
And veil again thy patient face.
Lo! here upon the world's extreme
We stand with lifted arms and dare
By thine eternal name to swear
Our country, which so fair we deem-
Upon whose hills, a bannered throng,
The spirits of the sun display
Their flashing lances day by day
And hear the sea's pacific song-
Shall be so ruled in right and grace
That men shall say: 'O, drive afield
The lawless eagle from the shield,
320
And call an angel to the place!'
~ Ambrose Bierce,
125:CHAPTER XIII
OF THE BANISHINGS: AND OF THE PURIFICATIONS.
Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and had better come first. Purity means singleness. God is one. The wand is not a wand if it has something sticking to it which is not an essential part of itself. If you wish to invoke Venus, you do not succeed if there are traces of Saturn mixed up with it.

That is a mere logical commonplace: in magick one must go much farther than this. One finds one's analogy in electricity. If insulation is imperfect, the whole current goes back to earth. It is useless to plead that in all those miles of wire there is only one-hundredth of an inch unprotected. It is no good building a ship if the water can enter, through however small a hole.

That first task of the Magician in every ceremony is therefore to render his Circle absolutely impregnable.
If one littlest thought intrude upon the mind of the Mystic, his concentration is absolutely destroyed; and his consciousness remains on exactly the same level as the Stockbroker's. Even the smallest baby is incompatible with the virginity of its mother. If you leave even a single spirit within the circle, the effect of the conjuration will be entirely absorbed by it.> {101}

The Magician must therefore take the utmost care in the matter of purification, "firstly", of himself, "secondly", of his instruments, "thirdly", of the place of working. Ancient Magicians recommended a preliminary purification of from three days to many months. During this period of training they took the utmost pains with diet. They avoided animal food, lest the elemental spirit of the animal should get into their atmosphere. They practised sexual abstinence, lest they should be influenced in any way by the spirit of the wife. Even in regard to the excrements of the body they were equally careful; in trimming the hair and nails, they ceremonially destroyed> the severed portion. They fasted, so that the body itself might destroy anything extraneous to the bare necessity of its existence. They purified the mind by special prayers and conservations. They avoided the contamination of social intercourse, especially the conjugal kind; and their servitors were disciples specially chosen and consecrated for the work.

In modern times our superior understanding of the essentials of this process enables us to dispense to some extent with its external rigours; but the internal purification must be even more carefully performed. We may eat meat, provided that in doing so we affirm that we eat it in order to strengthen us for the special purpose of our proposed invocation.> {102}

By thus avoiding those actions which might excite the comment of our neighbours we avoid the graver dangers of falling into spiritual pride.

We have understood the saying: "To the pure all things are pure", and we have learnt how to act up to it. We can analyse the mind far more acutely than could the ancients, and we can therefore distinguish the real and right feeling from its imitations. A man may eat meat from self-indulgence, or in order to avoid the dangers of asceticism. We must constantly examine ourselves, and assure ourselves that every action is really subservient to the One Purpose.

It is ceremonially desirable to seal and affirm this mental purity by Ritual, and accordingly the first operation in any actual ceremony is bathing and robing, with appropriate words. The bath signifies the removal of all things extraneous to antagonistic to the one thought. The putting on of the robe is the positive side of the same operation. It is the assumption of the fame of mind suitable to that one thought.

A similar operation takes place in the preparation of every instrument, as has been seen in the Chapter devoted to that subject. In the preparation of theplace of working, the same considerations apply. We first remove from that place all objects; and we then put into it those objects, and only those {103} objects, which are necessary. During many days we occupy ourselves in this process of cleansing and consecration; and this again is confirmed in the actual ceremony.

The cleansed and consecrated Magician takes his cleansed and consecrated instruments into that cleansed and consecrated place, and there proceeds to repeat that double ceremony in the ceremony itself, which has these same two main parts. The first part of every ceremony is the banishing; the second, the invoking. The same formula is repeated even in the ceremony of banishing itself, for in the banishing ritual of the pentagram we not only command the demons to depart, but invoke the Archangels and their hosts to act as guardians of the Circle during our pre-occupation with the ceremony proper.

In more elaborate ceremonies it is usual to banish everything by name. Each element, each planet, and each sign, perhaps even the Sephiroth themselves; all are removed, including the very one which we wished to invoke, for that force ... ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,
126:AUGOEIDES:
   The magicians most important invocation is that of his Genius, Daemon, True Will, or Augoeides. This operation is traditionally known as attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. It is sometimes known as the Magnum Opus or Great Work.
   The Augoeides may be defined as the most perfect vehicle of Kia on the plane of duality. As the avatar of Kia on earth, the Augoeides represents the true will, the raison detre of the magician, his purpose in existing. The discovery of ones true will or real nature may be difficult and fraught with danger, since a false identification leads to obsession and madness. The operation of obtaining the knowledge and conversation is usually a lengthy one. The magician is attempting a progressive metamorphosis, a complete overhaul of his entire existence. Yet he has to seek the blueprint for his reborn self as he goes along. Life is less the meaningless accident it seems. Kia has incarnated in these particular conditions of duality for some purpose. The inertia of previous existences propels Kia into new forms of manifestation. Each incarnation represents a task, or a puzzle to be solved, on the way to some greater form of completion.
   The key to this puzzle is in the phenomena of the plane of duality in which we find ourselves. We are, as it were, trapped in a labyrinth or maze. The only thing to do is move about and keep a close watch on the way the walls turn. In a completely chaotic universe such as this one, there are no accidents. Everything is signifcant. Move a single grain of sand on a distant shore and the entire future history of the world will eventually be changed. A person doing his true will is assisted by the momentum of the universe and seems possessed of amazing good luck. In beginning the great work of obtaining the knowledge and conversation, the magician vows to interpret every manifestation of existence as a direct message from the infinite Chaos to himself personally.
   To do this is to enter the magical world view in its totality. He takes complete responsibility for his present incarnation and must consider every experience, thing, or piece of information which assails him from any source, as a reflection of the way he is conducting his existence. The idea that things happen to one that may or may not be related to the way one acts is an illusion created by our shallow awareness.
   Keeping a close eye on the walls of the labyrinth, the conditions of his existence, the magician may then begin his invocation. The genius is not something added to oneself. Rather it is a stripping away of excess to reveal the god within.
   Directly on awakening, preferably at dawn, the initiate goes to the place of invocation. Figuring to himself as he goes that being born anew each day brings with it the chance of greater rebirth, first he banishes the temple of his mind by ritual or by some magical trance. Then he unveils some token or symbol or sigil which represents to him the Holy Guardian Angel. This symbol he will likely have to change during the great work as the inspiration begins to move him. Next he invokes an image of the Angel into his minds eye. It may be considered as a luminous duplicate of ones own form standing in front of or behind one, or simply as a ball of brilliant light above ones head. Then he formulates his aspirations in what manner he will, humbling himself in prayer or exalting himself in loud proclamation as his need be. The best form of this invocation is spoken spontaneously from the heart, and if halting at first, will prove itself in time. He is aiming to establish a set of ideas and images which correspond to the nature of his genius, and at the same time receive inspiration from that source. As the magician begins to manifest more of his true will, the Augoeides will reveal images, names, and spiritual principles by which it can be drawn into greater manifestation. Having communicated with the invoked form, the magician should draw it into himself and go forth to live in the way he hath willed.
   The ritual may be concluded with an aspiration to the wisdom of silence by a brief concentration on the sigil of the Augoeides, but never by banishing. Periodically more elaborate forms of ritual, using more powerful forms of gnosis, may be employed. At the end of the day, there should be an accounting and fresh resolution made. Though every day be a catalog of failure, there should be no sense of sin or guilt. Magic is the raising of the whole individual in perfect balance to the power of Infinity, and such feelings are symptomatic of imbalance. If any unnecessary or imbalanced scraps of ego become identified with the genius by mistake, then disaster awaits. The life force flows directly into these complexes and bloats them into grotesque monsters variously known as the demon Choronzon. Some magicians attempting to go too fast with this invocation have failed to banish this demon, and have gone spectacularly insane as a result.
   ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,
127:Invocation To The Muses
Read by the poet at The Public Ceremonial of The Naional Institute
of Arts and Letters at Carnegie Hall, New York, January 18th, 1941.
Great Muse, that from this hall absent for long
Hast never been,
Great Muse of Song,
Colossal Muse of mighty Melody,
Vocal Calliope,
With thine august and contrapuntal brow
And thy vast throat builded for Harmony,
For the strict monumental pure design,
And the melodic line:
Be thou tonight with all beneath these rafters—be with me.
If I address thee in archaic style—
Words obsolete, words obsolescent,
It is that for a little while
The heart must, oh indeed must from this angry and out-rageous present
Itself withdraw
Into some past in which most crooked Evil,
Although quite certainly conceived and born, was not as yet the Law.
Archaic, or obsolescent at the least,
Be thy grave speaking and the careful words of thy clear song,
For the time wrongs us, and the words most common to our speech today
Salute and welcome to the feast
Conspicuous Evil— or against him all day long
Cry out, telling of ugly deeds and most uncommon wrong.
Be thou tonight with all beneath these rafters—be with me
But oh, be more with those who are not free.
Who, herded into prison camps all shame must suffer and all outrage see.
Where music is not played nor sung,
Though the great voice be there, no sound from the dry throat across the
thickened tongue
Comes forth; nor has he heart for it.
Beauty in all things—no, we cannot hope for that; but some place set
apart for it.
Here it may dwell;
And with your aid, Melpomene
68
And all thy sister-muses (for ye are, I think, daughters of Memory)
Within the tortured mind as well.
Reaped are those fields with dragon's-teeth so lately sown;
Many the heaped men dying there - so close, hip touches thigh; yet each man
dies alone.
Music, what overtone
For the soft ultimate sigh or the unheeded groan
Hast thou—to make death decent, where men slip
Down blood to death, no service of grieved heart or ritual lip
Transferring what was recently a man and still is warm—
Transferring his obedient limbs into the shallow grave where not again a friend
shall greet him,
Nor hatred do him harm . . .
Nor true love run to meet him?
In the last hours of him who lies untended
On a cold field at night, and sees the hard bright stars
Above his upturned face, and says aloud "How strange . . . my life is
ended."—
If in the past he loved great music much, and knew it well,
Let not his lapsing mind be teased by well-beloved but ill- remembered bars

Let the full symphony across the blood-soaked field
By him be heard, most pure in every part,
The lonely horror of whose painful death is thus repealed,
Who dies with quiet tears upon his upturned face, making to glow with softness
the hard stars.
And bring to those who knew great poetry well
Page after page that they have loved but have not learned by heart!
We who in comfort to well-lighted shelves
Can turn for all the poets ever wrote,
Beseech you: Bear to those
Who love high art no less than we ourselves,
Those who lie wounded, those who in prison cast
Strive to recall, to ease them, some great ode, and every stanza save the last.
Recall—oh, in the dark, restore them
The unremembered lines; make bright the page before them!
Page after page present to these,
In prison concentrated, watched by barbs of bayonet and wire,
69
Give ye to them their hearts' intense desire—
The words of Shelley, Virgil, Sophocles.
And thou, O lovely and not sad,
Euterpe, be thou in this hall tonight!
Bid us remember all we ever had
Of sweet and gay delight—
We who are free,
But cannot quite be glad,
Thinking of huge, abrupt disaster brought
Upon so many of our kind
Who treasure as do we the vivid look on the unfrightened face,
The careless happy stride from place to place,
And the unbounded regions of untrammelled thought
Open as interstellar space
To the exploring and excited mind.
O Muses, O immortal Nine!—
Or do ye languish? Can ye die?
Must all go under?—
How shall we heal without your help a world
By these wild horses torn asunder?
How shall we build anew? How start again?
How cure, how even moderate this pain
Without you, and you strong?
And if ye sleep, then waken!
And if ye sicken and do plan to die,
Do not that now!
Hear us, in what sharp need we cry!
For we have help nowhere
If not in you!
Pity can much, and so a mighty mind, but cannot all things do!—
By you forsaken,
We shall be scattered, we shall be overtaken!
Oh, come! Renew in us the ancient wonder,
The grace of life, its courage, and its joy!
Weave us those garlands nothing can destroy!
Come! with your radiant eyes! with your throats of thunder!
~ Edna St. Vincent Millay,
128:SECTION 1. Books for Serious Study
   Liber CCXX. (Liber AL vel Legis.) The Book of the Law. This book is the foundation of the New Æon, and thus of the whole of our work.
   The Equinox. The standard Work of Reference in all occult matters. The Encyclopaedia of Initiation.
   Liber ABA (Book 4). A general account in elementary terms of magical and mystical powers. In four parts: (1) Mysticism (2) Magical (Elementary Theory) (3) Magick in Theory and Practice (this book) (4) The Law.
   Liber II. The Message of the Master Therion. Explains the essence of the new Law in a very simple manner.
   Liber DCCCXXXVIII. The Law of Liberty. A further explanation of The Book of the Law in reference to certain ethical problems.
   Collected Works of A. Crowley. These works contain many mystical and magical secrets, both stated clearly in prose, and woven into the Robe of sublimest poesy.
   The Yi King. (S. B. E. Series [vol. XVI], Oxford University Press.) The "Classic of Changes"; give the initiated Chinese system of Magick.
   The Tao Teh King. (S. B. E. Series [vol. XXXIX].) Gives the initiated Chinese system of Mysticism.
   Tannhäuser, by A. Crowley. An allegorical drama concerning the Progress of the Soul; the Tannhäuser story slightly remodelled.
   The Upanishads. (S. B. E. Series [vols. I & XV.) The Classical Basis of Vedantism, the best-known form of Hindu Mysticism.
   The Bhagavad-gita. A dialogue in which Krishna, the Hindu "Christ", expounds a system of Attainment.
   The Voice of the Silence, by H.P. Blavatsky, with an elaborate commentary by Frater O.M. Frater O.M., 7°=48, is the most learned of all the Brethren of the Order; he has given eighteen years to the study of this masterpiece.
   Raja-Yoga, by Swami Vivekananda. An excellent elementary study of Hindu mysticism. His Bhakti-Yoga is also good.
   The Shiva Samhita. An account of various physical means of assisting the discipline of initiation. A famous Hindu treatise on certain physical practices.
   The Hathayoga Pradipika. Similar to the Shiva Samhita.
   The Aphorisms of Patanjali. A valuable collection of precepts pertaining to mystical attainment.
   The Sword of Song. A study of Christian theology and ethics, with a statement and solution of the deepest philosophical problems. Also contains the best account extant of Buddhism, compared with modern science.
   The Book of the Dead. A collection of Egyptian magical rituals.
   Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, by Eliphas Levi. The best general textbook of magical theory and practice for beginners. Written in an easy popular style.
   The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. The best exoteric account of the Great Work, with careful instructions in procedure. This Book influenced and helped the Master Therion more than any other.
   The Goetia. The most intelligible of all the mediæval rituals of Evocation. Contains also the favourite Invocation of the Master Therion.
   Erdmann's History of Philosophy. A compendious account of philosophy from the earliest times. Most valuable as a general education of the mind.
   The Spiritual Guide of [Miguel de] Molinos. A simple manual of Christian Mysticism.
   The Star in the West. (Captain Fuller). An introduction to the study of the Works of Aleister Crowley.
   The Dhammapada. (S. B. E. Series [vol. X], Oxford University Press). The best of the Buddhist classics.
   The Questions of King Milinda. (S. B. E. Series [vols. XXXV & XXXVI].) Technical points of Buddhist dogma, illustrated bydialogues.
   Liber 777 vel Prolegomena Symbolica Ad Systemam Sceptico-Mysticæ Viæ Explicandæ, Fundamentum Hieroglyphicam Sanctissimorum Scientiæ Summæ. A complete Dictionary of the Correspondences of all magical elements, reprinted with extensive additions, making it the only standard comprehensive book of reference ever published. It is to the language of Occultism what Webster or Murray is to the English language.
   Varieties of Religious Experience (William James). Valuable as showing the uniformity of mystical attainment.
   Kabbala Denudata, von Rosenroth: also The Kabbalah Unveiled, by S.L. Mathers. The text of the Qabalah, with commentary. A good elementary introduction to the subject.
   Konx Om Pax [by Aleister Crowley]. Four invaluable treatises and a preface on Mysticism and Magick.
   The Pistis Sophia [translated by G.R.S. Mead or Violet McDermot]. An admirable introduction to the study of Gnosticism.
   The Oracles of Zoroaster [Chaldæan Oracles]. An invaluable collection of precepts mystical and magical.
   The Dream of Scipio, by Cicero. Excellent for its Vision and its Philosophy.
   The Golden Verses of Pythagoras, by Fabre d'Olivet. An interesting study of the exoteric doctrines of this Master.
   The Divine Pymander, by Hermes Trismegistus. Invaluable as bearing on the Gnostic Philosophy.
   The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians, reprint of Franz Hartmann. An invaluable compendium.
   Scrutinium Chymicum [Atalanta Fugiens]¸ by Michael Maier. One of the best treatises on alchemy.
   Science and the Infinite, by Sidney Klein. One of the best essays written in recent years.
   Two Essays on the Worship of Priapus [A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus &c. &c. &c.], by Richard Payne Knight [and Thomas Wright]. Invaluable to all students.
   The Golden Bough, by J.G. Frazer. The textbook of Folk Lore. Invaluable to all students.
   The Age of Reason, by Thomas Paine. Excellent, though elementary, as a corrective to superstition.
   Rivers of Life, by General Forlong. An invaluable textbook of old systems of initiation.
   Three Dialogues, by Bishop Berkeley. The Classic of Subjective Idealism.
   Essays of David Hume. The Classic of Academic Scepticism.
   First Principles by Herbert Spencer. The Classic of Agnosticism.
   Prolegomena [to any future Metaphysics], by Immanuel Kant. The best introduction to Metaphysics.
   The Canon [by William Stirling]. The best textbook of Applied Qabalah.
   The Fourth Dimension, by [Charles] H. Hinton. The best essay on the subject.
   The Essays of Thomas Henry Huxley. Masterpieces of philosophy, as of prose.
   ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA, Appendix I: Literature Recommended to Aspirants #reading list,
129:Ode For The Keats Centenary
The Muse is stern unto her favoured sons,
Giving to some the keys of all the joy
Of the green earth, but holding even that joy
Back from their life;
Bidding them feed on hope,
A plant of bitter growth,
Deep-rooted in the past;
Truth, 'tis a doubtful art
To make Hope sweeten
Time as it flows;
For no man knows
Until the very last,
Whether it be a sovereign herb that he has eaten,
Or his own heart.
O stern, implacable Muse,
Giving to Keats so richly dowered,
Only the thought that he should be
Among the English poets after death;
Letting him fade with that expectancy,
All powerless to unfold the future!
What boots it that our age has snatched him free
From thy too harsh embrace,
Has given his fame the certainty
Of comradeship with Shakespeare's?
He lies alone
Beneath the frown of the old Roman stone
And the cold Roman violets;
And not our wildest incantation
Of his most sacred lines,
Nor all the praise that sets
Towards his pale grave,
Like oceans towards the moon,
Will move the Shadow with the pensive brow
To break his dream,
And give unto him now
One word! -When the young master reasoned
75
That our puissant England
Reared her great poets by neglect,
Trampling them down in the by-paths of Life
And fostering them with glory after death,
Did any flame of triumph from his own fame
Fall swift upon his mind; the glow
Cast back upon the bleak and aching air
Blown around his days -- ?
Happily so!
But he, whose soul was mighty as the soul
Of Milton, who held the vision of the world
As an irradiant orb self-filled with light,
Who schooled his heart with passionate control
To compass knowledge, to unravel the dense
Web of this tangled life, he would weigh slight
As thistledown blown from his most fairy fancy
That pale self-glory, against the mystery,
The wonder of the various world, the power
Of "seeing great things in loneliness."
Where bloodroot in the clearing dwells
Along the edge of snow;
Where, trembling all their trailing bells,
The sensitive twinflowers blow;
Where, searching through the ferny breaks,
The moose-fawns find the springs;
Where the loon laughs and diving takes
Her young beneath her wings;
Where flash the fields of arctic moss
With myriad golden light;
Where no dream-shadows ever cross
The lidless eyes of night;
Where, cleaving a mountain storm, the proud
Eagles, the clear sky won,
Mount the thin air between the loud
Slow thunder and the sun;
Where, to the high tarn tranced and still
No eye has ever seen,
Comes the first star its flame to chill
76
In the cool deeps of green; -Spirit of Keats, unfurl thy wings,
Far from the toil and press,
Teach us by these pure-hearted things,
Beauty in loneliness.
Where, in the realm of thought, dwell those
Who oft in pain and penury
Work in the void,
Searching the infinite dark between the stars,
The infinite little of the atom,
Gathering the tears and terrors of this life,
Distilling them to a medicine for the soul;
(And hated for their thought
Die for it calmly;
For not their fears,
Nor the cold scorn of men,
Fright them who hold to truth:)
They brood alone in the intense serene
Air of their passion,
Until on some chill dawn
Breaks the immortal form foreshadowed in their dream,
And the distracted world and men
Are no more what they were.
Spirit of Keats, unfurl thy deathless wings,
Far from the wayward toil, the vain excess,
Teach us by such soul-haunting things
Beauty in loneliness.
The minds of men grow numb, their vision narrows,
The clogs of Empire and the dust of ages,
The lust of power that fogs the fairest pages,
Of the romance that eager life would write,
These war on Beauty with their spears and arrows.
But still is Beauty and of constant power;
Even in the whirl of Time's most sordid hour,
Banished from the great highways,
Afflighted by the tramp of insolent feet,
She hangs her garlands in the by-ways;
Lissome and sweet
Bending her head to hearken and learn
Melody shadowed with melody,
77
Softer than shadow of sea-fern,
In the green-shadowed sea:
Then, nourished by quietude,
And if the world's mood
Change, she may return
Even lovelier than before. -The white reflection in the mountain lake
Falls from the white stream
Silent in the high distance;
The mirrored mountains guard
The profile of the goddess of the height,
Floating in water with a curve of crystal light;
When the air, envious of the loveliness,
Rushes downward to surprise,
Confusion plays in the contact,
The picture is overdrawn
With ardent ripples,
But when the breeze, warned of intrusion,
Draws breathless upward in flight,
The vision reassembles in tranquillity,
Reforming with a gesture of delight,
Reborn with the rebirth of calm.
Spirit of Keats, lend us thy voice,
Breaking like surge in some enchanted cave
On a dream-sea-coast,
To summon Beauty to her desolate world.
For Beauty has taken refuge from our life
That grew too loud and wounding;
Beauty withdraws beyond the bitter strife,
Beauty is gone, (Oh where?)
To dwell within a precinct of pure air
Where moments turn to months of solitude;
To live on roots of fern and tips of fern,
On tender berries flushed with the earth's blood.
Beauty shall stain her feet with moss
And dye her cheek with deep nut-juices,
Laving her hands in the pure sluices
Where rainbows are dissolved.
Beauty shall view herself in pools of amber sheen
Dappled with peacock-tints from the green screen
78
That mingles liquid light with liquid shadow.
Beauty shall breathe the fairy hush
With the chill orchids in their cells of shade,
And hear the invocation of the thrush
That calls the stars into their heaven,
And after even
Beauty shall take the night into her soul.
When the thrill voice goes crying through the wood,
(Oh, Beauty, Beauty!)
Troubling the solitude
With echoes from the lonely world,
Beauty will tremble like a cloistered thing
That hears temptation in the outlands singing,
Will steel her dedicated heart and breathe
Into her inner ear to firm her vow: -"Let me restore the soul that ye have marred.
O mortals, cry no more on Beauty,
Leave me alone, lone mortals,
Until my shaken soul comes to its own,
Lone mortals, leave me alone!"
(Oh Beauty, Beauty, Beauty!)
All the dim wood is silent as a dream
That dreams of silence.
~ Duncan Campbell Scott,
130: III - THE STUDY

FAUST

(Entering, with the poodle.)

Behind me, field and meadow sleeping,
I leave in deep, prophetic night,
Within whose dread and holy keeping
The better soul awakes to light.
The wild desires no longer win us,
The deeds of passion cease to chain;
The love of Man revives within us,
The love of God revives again.

Be still, thou poodle; make not such racket and riot!
Why at the threshold wilt snuffing be?
Behind the stove repose thee in quiet!
My softest cushion I give to thee.
As thou, up yonder, with running and leaping
Amused us hast, on the mountain's crest,

So now I take thee into my keeping,
A welcome, but also a silent, guest.

Ah, when, within our narrow chamber
The lamp with friendly lustre glows,
Flames in the breast each faded ember,
And in the heart, itself that knows.
Then Hope again lends sweet assistance,
And Reason then resumes her speech:
One yearns, the rivers of existence,
The very founts of Life, to reach.

Snarl not, poodle! To the sound that rises,
The sacred tones that my soul embrace,
This bestial noise is out of place.
We are used to see, that Man despises
What he never comprehends,
And the Good and the Beautiful vilipends,
Finding them often hard to measure:
Will the dog, like man, snarl his displeasure?

But ah! I feel, though will thereto be stronger,
Contentment flows from out my breast no longer.
Why must the stream so soon run dry and fail us,
And burning thirst again assail us?
Therein I've borne so much probation!
And yet, this want may be supplied us;
We call the Supernatural to guide us;
We pine and thirst for Revelation,
Which nowhere worthier is, more nobly sent,
Than here, in our New Testament.
I feel impelled, its meaning to determine,
With honest purpose, once for all,
The hallowed Original
To change to my beloved German.

(He opens a volume, and commences.)
'Tis written: "In the Beginning was the Word."
Here am I balked: who, now can help afford?
The Word?impossible so high to rate it;
And otherwise must I translate it.
If by the Spirit I am truly taught.
Then thus: "In the Beginning was the Thought"
This first line let me weigh completely,
Lest my impatient pen proceed too fleetly.
Is it the Thought which works, creates, indeed?
"In the Beginning was the Power," I read.
Yet, as I write, a warning is suggested,
That I the sense may not have fairly tested.
The Spirit aids me: now I see the light!
"In the Beginning was the Act," I write.

If I must share my chamber with thee,
Poodle, stop that howling, prithee!
Cease to bark and bellow!
Such a noisy, disturbing fellow
I'll no longer suffer near me.
One of us, dost hear me!
Must leave, I fear me.
No longer guest-right I bestow;
The door is open, art free to go.
But what do I see in the creature?
Is that in the course of nature?
Is't actual fact? or Fancy's shows?
How long and broad my poodle grows!
He rises mightily:
A canine form that cannot be!
What a spectre I've harbored thus!
He resembles a hippopotamus,
With fiery eyes, teeth terrible to see:
O, now am I sure of thee!
For all of thy half-hellish brood
The Key of Solomon is good.

SPIRITS (in the corridor)

Some one, within, is caught!
Stay without, follow him not!
Like the fox in a snare,
Quakes the old hell-lynx there.
Take heedlook about!
Back and forth hover,
Under and over,
And he'll work himself out.
If your aid avail him,
Let it not fail him;
For he, without measure,
Has wrought for our pleasure.

FAUST

First, to encounter the beast,
The Words of the Four be addressed:
Salamander, shine glorious!
Wave, Undine, as bidden!
Sylph, be thou hidden!
Gnome, be laborious!

Who knows not their sense
(These elements),
Their properties
And power not sees,
No mastery he inherits
Over the Spirits.

Vanish in flaming ether,
Salamander!
Flow foamingly together,
Undine!
Shine in meteor-sheen,
Sylph!
Bring help to hearth and shelf.
Incubus! Incubus!
Step forward, and finish thus!

Of the Four, no feature
Lurks in the creature.
Quiet he lies, and grins disdain:
Not yet, it seems, have I given him pain.
Now, to undisguise thee,
Hear me exorcise thee!
Art thou, my gay one,
Hell's fugitive stray-one?
The sign witness now,
Before which they bow,
The cohorts of Hell!

With hair all bristling, it begins to swell.

Base Being, hearest thou?
Knowest and fearest thou
The One, unoriginate,
Named inexpressibly,
Through all Heaven impermeate,
Pierced irredressibly!

Behind the stove still banned,
See it, an elephant, expand!
It fills the space entire,
Mist-like melting, ever faster.
'Tis enough: ascend no higher,
Lay thyself at the feet of the Master!
Thou seest, not vain the threats I bring thee:
With holy fire I'll scorch and sting thee!
Wait not to know
The threefold dazzling glow!
Wait not to know
The strongest art within my hands!

MEPHISTOPHELES

(while the vapor is dissipating, steps forth from behind the
stove, in the costume of a Travelling Scholar.)
Why such a noise? What are my lord's commands?

FAUST

This was the poodle's real core,
A travelling scholar, then? The casus is diverting.

MEPHISTOPHELES

The learned gentleman I bow before:
You've made me roundly sweat, that's certain!

FAUST

What is thy name?

MEPHISTOPHELES

A question small, it seems,
For one whose mind the Word so much despises;
Who, scorning all external gleams,
The depths of being only prizes.

FAUST

With all you gentlemen, the name's a test,
Whereby the nature usually is expressed.
Clearly the latter it implies
In names like Beelzebub, Destroyer, Father of Lies.
Who art thou, then?

MEPHISTOPHELES

Part of that Power, not understood,
Which always wills the Bad, and always works the Good.

FAUST

What hidden sense in this enigma lies?

MEPHISTOPHELES

I am the Spirit that Denies!
And justly so: for all things, from the Void
Called forth, deserve to be destroyed:
'Twere better, then, were naught created.
Thus, all which you as Sin have rated,
Destruction,aught with Evil blent,
That is my proper element.

FAUST

Thou nam'st thyself a part, yet show'st complete to me?

MEPHISTOPHELES

The modest truth I speak to thee.
If Man, that microcosmic fool, can see
Himself a whole so frequently,
Part of the Part am I, once All, in primal Night,
Part of the Darkness which brought forth the Light,
The haughty Light, which now disputes the space,
And claims of Mother Night her ancient place.
And yet, the struggle fails; since Light, howe'er it weaves,
Still, fettered, unto bodies cleaves:
It flows from bodies, bodies beautifies;
By bodies is its course impeded;
And so, but little time is needed,
I hope, ere, as the bodies die, it dies!

FAUST

I see the plan thou art pursuing:
Thou canst not compass general ruin,
And hast on smaller scale begun.

MEPHISTOPHELES

And truly 'tis not much, when all is done.
That which to Naught is in resistance set,
The Something of this clumsy world,has yet,
With all that I have undertaken,
Not been by me disturbed or shaken:
From earthquake, tempest, wave, volcano's brand,
Back into quiet settle sea and land!
And that damned stuff, the bestial, human brood,
What use, in having that to play with?
How many have I made away with!
And ever circulates a newer, fresher blood.
It makes me furious, such things beholding:
From Water, Earth, and Air unfolding,
A thousand germs break forth and grow,
In dry, and wet, and warm, and chilly;
And had I not the Flame reserved, why, really,
There's nothing special of my own to show!

FAUST

So, to the actively eternal
Creative force, in cold disdain
You now oppose the fist infernal,
Whose wicked clench is all in vain!
Some other labor seek thou rather,
Queer Son of Chaos, to begin!

MEPHISTOPHELES

Well, we'll consider: thou canst gather
My views, when next I venture in.
Might I, perhaps, depart at present?

FAUST

Why thou shouldst ask, I don't perceive.
Though our acquaintance is so recent,
For further visits thou hast leave.
The window's here, the door is yonder;
A chimney, also, you behold.

MEPHISTOPHELES

I must confess that forth I may not wander,
My steps by one slight obstacle controlled,
The wizard's-foot, that on your threshold made is.

FAUST

The pentagram prohibits thee?
Why, tell me now, thou Son of Hades,
If that prevents, how cam'st thou in to me?
Could such a spirit be so cheated?

MEPHISTOPHELES

Inspect the thing: the drawing's not completed.
The outer angle, you may see,
Is open left the lines don't fit it.

FAUST

Well,Chance, this time, has fairly hit it!
And thus, thou'rt prisoner to me?
It seems the business has succeeded.

MEPHISTOPHELES

The poodle naught remarked, as after thee he speeded;
But other aspects now obtain:
The Devil can't get out again.

FAUST

Try, then, the open window-pane!

MEPHISTOPHELES

For Devils and for spectres this is law:
Where they have entered in, there also they withdraw.
The first is free to us; we're governed by the second.

FAUST

In Hell itself, then, laws are reckoned?
That's well! So might a compact be
Made with you gentlemen and binding,surely?

MEPHISTOPHELES

All that is promised shall delight thee purely;
No skinflint bargain shalt thou see.
But this is not of swift conclusion;
We'll talk about the matter soon.
And now, I do entreat this boon
Leave to withdraw from my intrusion.

FAUST

One moment more I ask thee to remain,
Some pleasant news, at least, to tell me.

MEPHISTOPHELES

Release me, now! I soon shall come again;
Then thou, at will, mayst question and compel me.

FAUST

I have not snares around thee cast;
Thyself hast led thyself into the meshes.
Who traps the Devil, hold him fast!
Not soon a second time he'll catch a prey so precious.

MEPHISTOPHELES

An't please thee, also I'm content to stay,
And serve thee in a social station;
But stipulating, that I may
With arts of mine afford thee recreation.

FAUST

Thereto I willingly agree,
If the diversion pleasant be.

MEPHISTOPHELES

My friend, thou'lt win, past all pretences,
More in this hour to soo the thy senses,
Than in the year's monotony.
That which the dainty spirits sing thee,
The lovely pictures they shall bring thee,
Are more than magic's empty show.
Thy scent will be to bliss invited;
Thy palate then with taste delighted,
Thy nerves of touch ecstatic glow!
All unprepared, the charm I spin:
We're here together, so begin!

SPIRITS

Vanish, ye darking
Arches above him!
Loveliest weather,
Born of blue ether,
Break from the sky!
O that the darkling
Clouds had departed!
Starlight is sparkling,
Tranquiller-hearted
Suns are on high.
Heaven's own children
In beauty bewildering,
Waveringly bending,
Pass as they hover;
Longing unending
Follows them over.
They, with their glowing
Garments, out-flowing,
Cover, in going,
Landscape and bower,
Where, in seclusion,
Lovers are plighted,
Lost in illusion.
Bower on bower!
Tendrils unblighted!
Lo! in a shower
Grapes that o'ercluster
Gush into must, or
Flow into rivers
Of foaming and flashing
Wine, that is dashing
Gems, as it boundeth
Down the high places,
And spreading, surroundeth
With crystalline spaces,
In happy embraces,
Blossoming forelands,
Emerald shore-lands!
And the winged races
Drink, and fly onward
Fly ever sunward
To the enticing
Islands, that flatter,
Dipping and rising
Light on the water!
Hark, the inspiring
Sound of their quiring!
See, the entrancing
Whirl of their dancing!
All in the air are
Freer and fairer.
Some of them scaling
Boldly the highlands,
Others are sailing,
Circling the islands;
Others are flying;
Life-ward all hieing,
All for the distant
Star of existent
Rapture and Love!

MEPHISTOPHELES

He sleeps! Enough, ye fays! your airy number
Have sung him truly into slumber:
For this performance I your debtor prove.
Not yet art thou the man, to catch the Fiend and hold him!
With fairest images of dreams infold him,
Plunge him in seas of sweet untruth!
Yet, for the threshold's magic which controlled him,
The Devil needs a rat's quick tooth.
I use no leng thened invocation:
Here rustles one that soon will work my liberation.

The lord of rats and eke of mice,
Of flies and bed-bugs, frogs and lice,
Summons thee hither to the door-sill,
To gnaw it where, with just a morsel
Of oil, he paints the spot for thee:
There com'st thou, hopping on to me!
To work, at once! The point which made me craven
Is forward, on the ledge, engraven.
Another bite makes free the door:
So, dream thy dreams, O Faust, until we meet once more!

FAUST (awaking)

Am I again so foully cheated?
Remains there naught of lofty spirit-sway,
But that a dream the Devil counterfeited,
And that a poodle ran away?


~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, THE STUDY (The Exorcism)
,
131:The Deserted Garden
I know a village in a far-off land
Where from a sunny, mountain-girdled plain
With tinted walls a space on either hand
And fed by many an olive-darkened lane
The high-road mounts, and thence a silver band
Through vineyard slopes above and rolling grain,
Winds off to that dim corner of the skies
Where behind sunset hills a stately city lies.
Here, among trees whose overhanging shade
Strews petals on the little droves below,
Pattering townward in the morning weighed
With greens from many an upland garden-row,
Runs an old wall; long centuries have frayed
Its scalloped edge, and passers to and fro
Heard never from beyond its crumbling height
Sweet laughter ring at noon or plaintive song at night.
But here where little lizards bask and blink
The tendrils of the trumpet-vine have run,
At whose red bells the humming bird to drink
Stops oft before his garden feast is done;
And rose-geraniums, with that tender pink
That cloud-banks borrow from the setting sun,
Have covered part of this old wall, entwined
With fair plumbago, blue as evening heavens behind.
And crowning other parts the wild white rose
Rivals the honey-suckle with the bees.
Above the old abandoned orchard shows
And all within beneath the dense-set trees,
Tall and luxuriant the rank grass grows,
That settled in its wavy depth one sees
Grass melt in leaves, the mossy trunks between,
Down fading avenues of implicated green;
Wherein no lack of flowers the verdurous night
With stars and pearly nebula o'erlay;
Azalea-boughs half rosy and half white
94
Shine through the green and clustering apple-spray,
Such as the fairy-queen before her knight
Waved in old story, luring him away
Where round lost isles Hesperian billows break
Or towers loom up beneath the clear, translucent lake;
And under the deep grass blue hare-bells hide,
And myrtle plots with dew-fall ever wet,
Gay tiger-lilies flammulate and pied,
Sometime on pathway borders neatly set,
Now blossom through the brake on either side,
Where heliotrope and weedy mignonette,
With vines in bloom and flower-bearing trees,
Mingle their incense all to swell the perfumed breeze,
That sprung like Hermes from his natal cave
In some blue rampart of the curving West,
Comes up the valleys where green cornfields wave,
Ravels the cloud about the mountain crest,
Breathes on the lake till gentle ripples pave
Its placid floor; at length a long-loved guest,
He steals across this plot of pleasant ground,
Waking the vocal leaves to a sweet vernal sound.
Here many a day right gladly have I sped,
Content amid the wavy plumes to lie,
And through the woven branches overhead
Watch the white, ever-wandering clouds go by,
And soaring birds make their dissolving bed
Far in the azure depths of summer sky,
Or nearer that small huntsman of the air,
The fly-catcher, dart nimbly from his leafy lair;
Pillowed at case to hear the merry tune
Of mating warblers in the boughs above
And shrill cicadas whom the hottest noon
Keeps not from drowsy song; the mourning dove
Pours down the murmuring grove his plaintive croon
That like the voice of visionary love
Oft have I risen to seek through this green maze
(Even as my feet thread now the great world's garden-ways);
95
And, parting tangled bushes as I passed
Down beechen allies beautiful and dim,
Perhaps by some deep-shaded pool at last
My feet would pause, where goldfish poise and swim,
And snowy callas' velvet cups are massed
Around the mossy, fern-encircled brim.
Here, then, that magic summoning would cease,
Or sound far off again among the orchard trees.
And here where the blanched lilies of the vale
And violets and yellow star-flowers teem,
And pink and purple hyacinths exhale
Their heavy fume, once more to drowse and dream
My head would sink, from many an olden tale
Drawing imagination's fervid theme,
Or haply peopling this enchanting spot
Only with fair creations of fantastic thought.
For oft I think, in years long since gone by,
That gentle hearts dwelt here and gentle hands
Stored all this bowery bliss to beautify
The paradise of some unsung romance;
Here, safe from all except the loved one's eye,
'Tis sweet to think white limbs were wont to glance,
Well pleased to wanton like the flowers and share
Their simple loveliness with the enamored air.
Thrice dear to them whose votive fingers decked
The altars of First Love were these green ways,
These lawns and verdurous brakes forever flecked
With the warm sunshine of midsummer days;
Oft where the long straight allies intersect
And marble seats surround the open space,
Where a tiled pool and sculptured fountain stand,
Hath Evening found them seated, silent, hand in hand.
When twilight deepened, in the gathering shade
Beneath that old titanic cypress row,
Whose sombre vault and towering colonnade
Dwarfed the enfolded forms that moved below,
Oft with close steps these happy lovers strayed,
Till down its darkening aisle the sunset glow
96
Grew less and patterning the garden floor
Faint flakes of filtering moonlight mantled more and more.
And the strange tempest that a touch imparts
Through the mid fibre of the molten frame,
When the sweet flesh in early youth asserts
Its heyday verve and little hints enflame,
Disturbed them as they walked; from their full hearts
Welled the soft word, and many a tender name
Strove on their lips as breast to breast they strained
And the deep joy they drank seemed never, never drained.
Love's soul that is the depth of starry skies
Set in the splendor of one upturned face
To beam adorably through half-closed eyes;
Love's body where the breadth of summer days
And all the beauty earth and air comprise
Come to the compass of an arm's embrace,
To burn a moment on impassioned lips
And yield intemperate joy to quivering finger-tips,
They knew; and here where morning-glories cling
Round carven forms of carefullest artifice,
They made a bower where every outward thing
Should comment on the cause of their own bliss;
With flowers of liveliest hue encompassing
That flower that the beloved body is
That rose that for the banquet of Love's bee
Has budded all the æons of past eternity.
But their choice seat was where the garden wall,
Crowning a little summit, far and near,
Looks over tufted treetops onto all
The pleasant outer country; rising here
From rustling foliage where cuckoos call
On summer evenings, stands a belvedere,
Buff-hued, of antique plaster, overrun
With flowering vines and weatherworn by rain and sun.
Still round the turrets of this antique tower
The bougainvillea hangs a crimson crown,
Wistaria-vines and clematis in flower,
97
Wreathing the lower surface further down,
Hide the old plaster in a very shower
Of motley blossoms like a broidered gown.
Outside, ascending from the garden grove,
A crumbling stairway winds to the one room above.
And whoso mounts by this dismantled stair
Finds the old pleasure-hall, long disarrayed,
Brick-tiled and raftered, and the walls foursquare
Ringed all about with a twofold arcade.
Backward dense branches intercept the glare
Of afternoon with eucalyptus shade;
Eastward the level valley-plains expand,
Sweet as a queen's survey of her own Fairyland.
For through that frame the ivied arches make,
Wide tracts of sunny midland charm the eye,
Frequent with hamlet grove, and lucent lake
Where the blue hills' inverted contours lie;
Far to the east where billowy mountains break
In surf of snow against a sapphire sky,
Huge thunderheads loom up behind the ranges,
Changing from gold to pink as deepening sunset changes;
And over plain and far sierra spread
The fulgent rays of fading afternoon,
Showing each utmost peak and watershed
All clarified, each tassel and festoon
Of floating cloud embroidered overhead,
Like lotus-leaves on bluest waters strewn,
Flushing with rose, while all breathes fresh and free
In peace and amplitude and bland tranquillity.
Dear were such evenings to this gentle pair;
Love's tide that launched on with a blast too strong
Sweeps toward the foaming reef, the hidden snare,
Baffling with fond illusion's siren-song,
Too faint, on idle shoals, to linger there
Far from Youth's glowing dream, bore them along,
With purple sail and steered by seraph hands
To isles resplendent in the sunset of romance.
98
And out of this old house a flowery fane,
A bridal bower, a pearly pleasure-dome,
They built, and furnished it with gold and grain,
And bade all spirits of beauty hither come,
And wingéd Love to enter with his train
And bless their pillow, and in this his home
Make them his priests as Hero was of yore
In her sweet girlhood by the blue Dardanian shore.
Tree-ferns, therefore, and potted palms they brought,
Tripods and urns in rare and curious taste,
Polychrome chests and cabinets inwrought
With pearl and ivory etched and interlaced;
Pendant brocades with massive braid were caught,
And chain-slung, oriental lamps so placed
To light the lounger on some low divan,
Sunken in swelling down and silks from Hindustan.
And there was spread, upon the ample floors,
Work of the Levantine's laborious loom,
Such as by Euxine or Ionian shores
Carpets the dim seraglio's scented gloom.
Each morn renewed, the garden's flowery stores
Blushed in fair vases, ochre and peach-bloom,
And little birds through wicker doors left wide
Flew in to trill a space from the green world outside.
And there was many a dainty attitude,
Bronze and eburnean. All but disarrayed,
Here in eternal doubt sweet Psyche stood
Fain of the bath's delight, yet still afraid
Lest aught in that palatial solitude
Lurked of most menace to a helpless maid.
Therefore forever faltering she stands,
Nor yet the last loose fold slips rippling from her hands.
Close by upon a beryl column, clad
In the fresh flower of adolescent grace,
They set the dear Bithynian shepherd lad,
The nude Antinous. That gentle face,
Forever beautiful, forever sad,
Shows but one aspect, moon-like, to our gaze,
99
Yet Fancy pictures how those lips could smile
At revelries in Rome, and banquets on the Nile.
And there were shapes of Beauty myriads more,
Clustering their rosy bridal bed around,
Whose scented breadth a silken fabric wore
Broidered with peacock hues on creamiest ground,
Fit to have graced the barge that Cydnus bore
Or Venus' bed in her enchanted mound,
While pillows swelled in stuffs of Orient dyes,
All broidered with strange fruits and birds of Paradise.
'Twas such a bower as Youth has visions of,
Thither with one fair spirit to retire,
Lie upon rose-leaves, sleep and wake with Love
And feast on kisses to the heart's desire;
Where by a casement opening on a grove,
Wide to the wood-winds and the sweet birds' choir,
A girl might stand and gaze into green boughs,
Like Credhe at the window of her golden house.
Or most like Vivien, the enchanting fay,
Where with her friend, in the strange tower they planned,
She lies and dreams eternity away,
Above the treetops in Broceliande,
Sometimes at twilight when the woods are gray
And wolf-packs howl far out across the lande,
Waking to love, while up behind the trees
The large midsummer moon lifts-even so loved these.
For here, their pleasure was to come and sit
Oft when the sun sloped midway to the west,
Watching with sweet enjoyment interknit
The long light slant across the green earth's breast,
And clouds upon the ranges opposite,
Rolled up into a gleaming thundercrest,
Topple and break and fall in purple rain,
And mist of summer showers trail out across the plain.
Whereon the shafts of ardent light, far-flung
Across the luminous azure overhead,
Ofttimes in arcs of transient beauty hung
100
The fragmentary rainbow's green and red.
Joy it was here to love and to be young,
To watch the sun sink to his western bed,
And streaming back out of their flaming core
The vesperal aurora's glorious banners soar.
Tinging each altitude of heaven in turn,
Those fiery rays would sweep. The cumuli
That peeped above the mountain-tops would burn
Carmine a space; the cirrus-whorls on high,
More delicate than sprays of maiden fern,
Streak with pale rose the peacock-breasted sky,
Then blanch. As water-lilies fold at night,
Sank back into themselves those plumes of fervid light.
And they would watch the first faint stars appear,
The blue East blend with the blue hills below,
As lovers when their shuddering bliss draws near
Into one pulse of fluid rapture grow.
New fragrance on the freshening atmosphere
Would steal with evening, and the sunset glow
Draw deeper down into the wondrous west
Round vales of Proserpine and islands of the blest.
So dusk would come and mingle lake and shore,
The snow-peaks fade to frosty, opaline,
To pearl the doméd clouds the mountains bore,
Where late the sun's effulgent fire had been
Showing as darkness deepened more and more
The incandescent lightnings flare within,
And Night that furls the lily in the glen
And twines impatient arms would fall, and then---and then . . .
Sometimes the peasant, coming late from town
With empty panniers on his little drove
Past the old lookout when the Northern Crown
Glittered with Cygnus through the scented grove,
Would hear soft noise of lute-strings wafted down
And voices singing through the leaves above
Those songs that well from the warm heart that woos
At balconies in Merida or Vera Cruz.
101
And he would pause under the garden wall,
Caught in the spell of that voluptuous strain,
With all the sultry South in it, and all
Its importunity of love and pain;
And he would wait till the last passionate fall
Died on the night, and all was still again.
Then to his upland village wander home,
Marvelling whence that flood of elfin song might come.
O lyre that Love's white holy hands caress,
Youth, from thy bosom welled their passionate lays
Sweet opportunity for happiness
So brief, so passing beautiful---O days,
When to the heart's divine indulgences
All earth in smiling ministration pays
Thine was the source whose plenitude, past over,
What prize shall rest to pluck, what secret to discover!
The wake of color that follows her when May
Walks on the hills loose-haired and daisy-crowned,
The deep horizons of a summer's day,
Fair cities, and the pleasures that abound
Where music calls, and crowds in bright array
Gather by night to find and to be found;
What were these worth or all delightful things
Without thine eyes to read their true interpretings!
For thee the mountains open glorious gates,
To thee white arms put out from orient skies,
Earth, like a jewelled bride for one she waits,
Decks but to be delicious in thine eyes,
Thou guest of honor for one day, whose fêtes
Eternity has travailed to devise;
Ah, grace them well in the brief hour they last!
Another's turn prepares, another follows fast.
Yet not without one fond memorial
Let my sun set who found the world so fair!
Frail verse, when Time the singer's coronal
Has rent, and stripped the rose-leaves from his hair,
Be thou my tablet on the temple wall!
Among the pious testimonials there,
102
Witness how sweetly on my heart as well
The miracles of dawn and starry evening fell!
Speak of one then who had the lust to feel,
And, from the hues that far horizons take,
And cloud and sunset, drank the wild appeal,
Too deep to live for aught but life's sweet sake,
Whose only motive was the will to kneel
Where Beauty's purest benediction spake,
Who only coveted what grove and field
And sunshine and green Earth and tender arms could yield--A nympholept, through pleasant days and drear
Seeking his faultless adolescent dream,
A pilgrim down the paths that disappear
In mist and rainbows on the world's extreme,
A helpless voyager who all too near
The mouth of Life's fair flower-bordered stream,
Clutched at Love's single respite in his need
More than the drowning swimmer clutches at a reed--That coming one whose feet in other days
Shall bleed like mine for ever having, more
Than any purpose, felt the need to praise
And seek the angelic image to adore,
In love with Love, its wonderful, sweet ways
Counting what most makes life worth living for,
That so some relic may be his to see
How I loved these things too and they were dear to me.
I sometimes think a conscious happiness
Mantles through all the rose's sentient vine
When summer winds with myriad calyces
Of bloom its clambering height incarnadine;
I sometimes think that cleaving lips, no less,
And limbs that crowned desires at length entwine
Are nerves through which that being drinks delight,
Whose frame is the green Earth robed round with day and night.
And such were theirs: the traveller without,
Pausing at night under the orchard trees,
Wondered and crossed himself in holy doubt,
103
For through their song and in the murmuring breeze
It seemed angelic choirs were all about
Mingling in universal harmonies,
As though, responsive to the chords they woke,
All Nature into sweet epithalamium broke.
And still they think a spirit haunts the place:
'Tis said, when Night has drawn her jewelled pall
And through the branches twinkling fireflies trace
Their mimic constellations, if it fall
That one should see the moon rise through the lace
Of blossomy boughs above the garden wall,
That surely would he take great ill thereof
And famish in a fit of unexpressive love.
But this I know not, for what time the wain
Was loosened and the lily's petal furled,
Then I would rise, climb the old wall again,
And pausing look forth on the sundown world,
Scan the wide reaches of the wondrous plain,
The hamlet sites where settling smoke lay curled,
The poplar-bordered roads, and far away
Fair snowpeaks colored with the sun's last ray.
Waves of faint sound would pulsate from afar
Faint song and preludes of the summer night;
Deep in the cloudless west the evening star
Hung 'twixt the orange and the emerald light;
From the dark vale where shades crepuscular
Dimmed the old grove-girt belfry glimmering white,
Throbbing, as gentlest breezes rose or fell,
Came the sweet invocation of the evening bell.
~ Alan Seeger,
132:The Kalevala - Rune Xvii
WAINAMOINEN FINDS THE LOST-WORD.
Wainamoinen, old and truthful,
Did not learn the words of magic
In Tuoni's gloomy regions,
In the kingdom of Manala.
Thereupon he long debated,
Well considered, long reflected,
Where to find the magic sayings;
When a shepherd came to meet him,
Speaking thus to Wainamoinen:
'Thou canst find of words a hundred,
Find a thousand wisdom-sayings,
In the mouth of wise Wipunen,
In the body of the hero;
To the spot I know the foot-path,
To his tomb the magic highway,
Trodden by a host of heroes;
Long the distance thou must travel,
On the sharpened points of needles;
Then a long way thou must journey
On the edges of the broadswords;
Thirdly thou must travel farther
On the edges of the hatchets.'
Wainamoinen, old and trustful,
Well considered all these journeys,
Travelled to the forge and smithy,
Thus addressed the metal-worker:
'Ilmarinen, worthy blacksmith,
Make a shoe for me of iron,
Forge me gloves of burnished copper,
Mold a staff of strongest metal,
Lay the steel upon the inside,
Forge within the might of magic;
I am going on a journey
To procure the magic sayings,
Find the lost-words of the Master,
From the mouth of the magician,
303
From the tongue of wise Wipunen.'
Spake the artist, Ilmarinen:
'Long ago died wise Wipunen,
Disappeared these many ages,
Lays no more his snares of copper,
Sets no longer traps of iron,
Cannot learn from him the wisdom,
Cannot find in him the lost-words.'
Wainamoinen, old and hopeful,
Little heeding, not discouraged,
In his metal shoes and armor,
Hastens forward on his journey,
Runs the first day fleetly onward,
On the sharpened points of needles;
'Wearily he strides the second,
On the edges of the broadswords
Swings himself the third day forward,
On the edges of the hatchets.
Wise Wipunen, wisdom-singer,
Ancient bard, and great magician,
With his magic songs lay yonder,
Stretched beside him, lay his sayings,
On his shoulder grew the aspen,
On each temple grew the birch-tree,
On his mighty chin the alder,
From his beard grew willow-bushes,
From his mouth the dark green fir-tree,
And the oak-tree from his forehead.
Wainamoinen, coming closer,
Draws his sword, lays bare his hatchet
From his magic leathern scabbard,
Fells the aspen from his shoulder,
Fells the birch-tree from his temples,
From his chin he fells the alder,
From his beard, the branching willows,
From his mouth the dark-green fir-tree,
Fells the oak-tree from his forehead.
Now he thrusts his staff of iron
Through the mouth of wise Wipunen,
Pries his mighty jaws asunder,
Speaks these words of master-magic:
'Rise, thou master of magicians,
304
From the sleep of Tuonela,
From thine everlasting slumber!'
Wise Wipunen, ancient singer,
Quickly wakens from his sleeping,
Keenly feels the pangs of torture,
From the cruel staff of iron;
Bites with mighty force the metal,
Bites in twain the softer iron,
Cannot bite the steel asunder,
Opens wide his mouth in anguish.
Wainamoinen of Wainola,
In his iron-shoes and armor,
Careless walking, headlong stumbles
In the spacious mouth and fauces
Of the magic bard, Wipunen.
Wise Wipunen, full of song-charms,
Opens wide his mouth and swallows
Wainamoinen and his magic,
Shoes, and staff, and iron armor.
Then outspeaks the wise Wipunen:
'Many things before I've eaten,
Dined on goat, and sheep, and reindeer,
Bear, and ox, and wolf, and wild-boar,
Never in my recollection,
Have I tasted sweeter morsels!'
Spake the ancient Wainamoinen:
'Now I see the evil symbols,
See misfortune hanging o'er me,
In the darksome Hisi-hurdles,
In the catacombs of Kalma.'
Wainamoinen long considered
How to live and how to prosper,
How to conquer this condition.
In his belt he wore a poniard,
With a handle hewn from birch-wood,
From the handle builds a vessel,
Builds a boat through magic science;
In this vessel rows he swiftly
Through the entrails of the hero,
Rows through every gland and vessel
Of the wisest of magicians.
Old Wipunen, master-singer,
305
Barely feels the hero's presence,
Gives no heed to Wainamoinen.
Then the artist of Wainola
Straightway sets himself to forging,
Sets at work to hammer metals;
Makes a smithy from his armor,
Of his sleeves he makes the bellows,
Makes the air-valve from his fur-coat,
From his stockings, makes the muzzle,
Uses knees instead of anvil,
Makes a hammer of his fore-arm;
Like the storm-wind roars the bellows,
Like the thunder rings the anvil;
Forges one day, then a second,
Forges till the third day closes,
In the body of Wipunen,
In the sorcerer's abdomen.
Old Wipunen, full of magic,
Speaks these words in wonder, guessing:
'Who art thou of ancient heroes,
Who of all the host of heroes?
Many heroes I have eaten,
And of men a countless number,
Have not eaten such as thou art;
Smoke arises from my nostrils,
From my mouth the fire is streaming,
In my throat are iron-clinkers.
'Go, thou monster, hence to wander,
Flee this place, thou plague of Northland,
Ere I go to seek thy mother,
Tell the ancient dame thy mischief;
She shall bear thine evil conduct,
Great the burden she shall carry;
Great a mother's pain and anguish,
When her child runs wild and lawless;
Cannot comprehend the meaning,
Nor this mystery unravel,
Why thou camest here, O monster,
Camest here to give me torture.
Art thou Hisi sent from heaven,
Some calamity from Ukko?
Art, perchance, some new creation,
306
Ordered here to do me evil?
If thou art some evil genius,
Some calamity from Ukko,
Sent to me by my Creator,
Then am I resigned to suffer
God does not forsake the worthy,
Does not ruin those that trust him,
Never are the good forsaken.
If by man thou wert created,
If some hero sent thee hither,
I shall learn thy race of evil,
Shall destroy thy wicked tribe-folk.
'Thence arose the violation,
Thence arose the first destruction,
Thence came all the evil-doings:
From the neighborhood of wizards,
From the homes of the magicians,
From the eaves of vicious spirits,
From the haunts of fortune-tellers,
From the cabins of the witches,
From the castles of Tuoni,
From the bottom of Manala,
From the ground with envy swollen,
From Ingratitude's dominions,
From the rocky shoals and quicksands,
From the marshes filled with danger,
From the cataract's commotion,
From the bear-caves in the mountains,
From the wolves within the thickets,
From the roarings of the pine-tree,
From the burrows of the fox-dog,
From the woodlands of the reindeer,
From the eaves and Hisi-hurdles,
From the battles of the giants,
From uncultivated pastures,
From the billows of the oceans,
From the streams of boiling waters,
From the waterfalls of Rutya,
From the limits of the storm-clouds,
From the pathways of the thunders,
From the flashings of the lightnings,
From the distant plains of Pohya,
307
From the fatal stream and whirlpool,
From the birthplace of Tuoni.
'Art thou coming from these places?
Hast thou, evil, hastened hither,
To the heart of sinless hero,
To devour my guiltless body,
To destroy this wisdom-singer?
Get thee hence, thou dog of Lempo,
Leave, thou monster from Manala,
Flee from mine immortal body,
Leave my liver, thing of evil,
In my body cease thy forging,
Cease this torture of my vitals,
Let me rest in peace and slumber.
'Should I want in means efficient,
Should I lack the magic power
To outroot thine evil genius,
I shall call a better hero,
Call upon a higher power,
To remove this dire misfortune,
To annihilate this monster.
I shall call the will of woman,
From the fields, the old-time heroes?
Mounted heroes from the sand-hills,
Thus to rescue me from danger,
From these pains and ceaseless tortures.
'If this force prove inefficient,
Should not drive thee from my body,
Come, thou forest, with thy heroes,
Come, ye junipers and pine-trees,
With your messengers of power,
Come, ye mountains, with your wood-nymphs,
Come, ye lakes, with all your mermaids,
Come, ye hundred ocean-spearmen,
Come, torment this son of Hisi,
Come and kill this evil monster.
'If this call is inefficient,
Does not drive thee from my vitals,
Rise, thou ancient water-mother,
With thy blue-cap from the ocean,
From the seas, the lakes, the rivers,
Bring protection to thy hero,
308
Comfort bring and full assistance,
That I guiltless may not suffer,
May not perish prematurely.
'Shouldst thou brave this invocation,
Kapè, daughter of Creation,
Come, thou beauteous, golden maiden,
Oldest of the race of women,
Come and witness my misfortunes,
Come and turn away this evil,
Come, remove this biting torment,
Take away this plague of Piru.
'If this call be disregarded,
If thou wilt not leave me guiltless,
Ukko, on the arch of heaven,
In the thunder-cloud dominions,
Come thou quickly, thou art needed,
Come, protect thy tortured hero,
Drive away this magic demon,
Banish ever his enchantment,
With his sword and flaming furnace,
With his fire-enkindling bellows.
'Go, thou demon, hence to wander,
Flee, thou plague of Northland heroes;
Never come again for shelter,
Nevermore build thou thy dwelling
In the body of Wipunen;
Take at once thy habitation
To the regions of thy kindred,
To thy distant fields and firesides;
When thy journey thou hast ended,
Gained the borders of thy country,
Gained the meads of thy Creator,
Give a signal of thy coming,
Rumble like the peals of thunder,
Glisten like the gleam of lightning,
Knock upon the outer portals,
Enter through the open windows,
Glide about the many chambers,
Seize the host and seize the hostess,
Knock their evil beads together,
Wring their necks and hurl their bodies
To the black-dogs of the forest.
309
'Should this prove of little value,
Hover like the bird of battle,
O'er the dwellings of the master,
Scare the horses from the mangers,
From the troughs affright the cattle,
Twist their tails, and horns, and forelocks,
Hurl their carcasses to Lempo.
'If some scourge the winds have sent me,
Sent me on the air of spring-tide,
Brought me by the frosts of winter,
Quickly journey whence thou camest,
On the air-path of the heavens,
Perching not upon some aspen,
Resting not upon the birch-tree;
Fly away to copper mountains,
That the copper-winds may nurse thee,
Waves of ether, thy protection.
'Didst those come from high Jumala,
From the hems of ragged snow-clouds,
Quick ascend beyond the cloud-space,
Quickly journey whence thou camest,
To the snow-clouds, crystal-sprinkled,
To the twinkling stars of heaven
There thy fire may burn forever,
There may flash thy forked lightnings,
In the Sun's undying furnace.
'Wert thou sent here by the spring-floods,
Driven here by river-torrents?
Quickly journey whence thou camest,
Quickly hasten to the waters,
To the borders of the rivers,
To the ancient water-mountain,
That the floods again may rock thee,
And thy water-mother nurse thee.
'Didst thou come from Kalma's kingdom,
From the castles of the death-land?
Haste thou back to thine own country,
To the Kalma-halls and castles,
To the fields with envy swollen,
Where contending armies perish.
'Art thou from the Hisi-woodlands,
From ravines in Lempo's forest,
310
From the thickets of the pine-wood,
From the dwellings of the fir-glen?
Quick retrace thine evil footsteps
To the dwellings of thy master,
To the thickets of thy kindred;
There thou mayest dwell at pleasure,
Till thy house decays about thee,
Till thy walls shall mould and crumble.
Evil genius, thee I banish,
Got thee hence, thou horrid monster,
To the caverns of the white-bear,
To the deep abysm of serpents,
To the vales, and swamps, and fenlands,
To the ever-silent waters,
To the hot-springs of the mountains,
To the dead-seas of the Northland,
To the lifeless lakes and rivers,
To the sacred stream and whirlpool.
'Shouldst thou find no place of resting,
I will banish thee still farther,
To the Northland's distant borders,
To the broad expanse of Lapland,
To the ever-lifeless deserts,
To the unproductive prairies,
Sunless, moonless, starless, lifeless,
In the dark abyss of Northland;
This for thee, a place befitting,
Pitch thy tents and feast forever
On the dead plains of Pohyola.
'Shouldst thou find no means of living,
I will banish thee still farther,
To the cataract of Rutya,
To the fire-emitting whirlpool,
Where the firs are ever falling,
To the windfalls of the forest;
Swim hereafter in the waters
Of the fire-emitting whirlpool,
Whirl thou ever in the current
Of the cataract's commotion,
In its foam and boiling waters.
Should this place be unbefitting,
I will drive thee farther onward,
311
To Tuoni's coal-black river,
To the endless stream of Mana,
Where thou shalt forever linger;
Thou canst never leave Manala,
Should I not thy head deliver,
Should I never pay thy ransom;
Thou canst never safely journey
Through nine brother-rams abutting,
Through nine brother-bulls opposing
Through nine brother-stallions thwarting,
Thou canst not re-cross Death-river
Thickly set with iron netting,
Interlaced with threads of copper.
'Shouldst thou ask for steeds for saddle,
Shouldst thou need a fleet-foot courser,
I will give thee worthy racers,
I will give thee saddle-horses;
Evil Hisi has a charger,
Crimson mane, and tail, and foretop,
Fire emitting from his nostrils,
As he prances through his pastures;
Hoofs are made of strongest iron,
Legs are made of steel and copper,
Quickly scales the highest mountains,
Darts like lightning through the valleys,
When a skilful master rides him.
'Should this steed be insufficient,
I will give thee Lempo's snow-shoes,
Give thee Hisi's shoes of elm-wood,
Give to thee the staff of Piru,
That with these thou mayest journey
Into Hisi's courts and castles,
To the woods and fields of Juutas;
If the rocks should rise before thee,
Dash the flinty rocks in pieces,
Hurl the fragments to the heavens;
If the branches cross thy pathway,
Make them turn aside in greeting;
If some mighty hero hail thee,
Hurl him headlong to the woodlands.
'Hasten hence, thou thing of evil,
Heinous monster, leave my body,
312
Ere the breaking of the morning
Ere the Sun awakes from slumber,
Ere the sinning of the cuckoo;
Haste away, thou plague of Northland,
Haste along the track of' moonbeams,
Wander hence, forever wander,
To the darksome fields or Pohya.
'If at once thou dost not leave me,
I will send the eagle's talons,
Send to thee the beaks of vultures,
To devour thine evil body,
Hurl thy skeleton to Hisi.
Much more quickly cruel Lempo
Left my vitals when commanded,
When I called the aid of Ukko,
Called the help of my Creator.
Flee, thou motherless offendant,
Flee, thou fiend of Sariola,
Flee, thou hound without a master,
Ere the morning sun arises,
Ere the Moon withdraws to slumber!'
Wainamoinen, ancient hero,
Speaks at last to old Wipunen:
'Satisfied am I to linger
In these old and spacious caverns,
Pleasant here my home and dwelling;
For my meat I have thy tissues,
Have thy heart, and spleen, and liver,
For my drink the blood of ages,
Goodly home for Wainamoinen.
'I shall set my forge and bellows
Deeper, deeper in thy vitals;
I shall swing my heavy hammer,
Swing it with a greater power
On thy heart, and lungs, and liver;
I shall never, never leave thee
Till I learn thine incantations,
Learn thy many wisdom-sayings,
Learn the lost-words of the Master;
Never must these words be bidden,
Earth must never lose this wisdom,
Though the wisdom-singers perish.'
313
Old Wipunen, wise magician,
Ancient prophet, filled with power,
Opens fall his store of knowledge,
Lifts the covers from his cases,
Filled with old-time incantations,
Filled with songs of times primeval,
Filled with ancient wit and wisdom;
Sings the very oldest folk-songs,
Sings the origin of witchcraft,
Sings of Earth and its beginning
Sings the first of all creations,
Sings the source of good and evil
Sung alas! by youth no longer,
Only sung in part by heroes
In these days of sin and sorrow.
Evil days our land befallen.
Sings the orders of enchantment.
How, upon the will of Ukko,
By command of the Creator,
How the air was first divided,
How the water came from ether,
How the earth arose from water,
How from earth came vegetation,
Fish, and fowl, and man, and hero.
Sings again the wise Wipunen,
How the Moon was first created,
How the Sun was set in heaven,
Whence the colors of the rainbow,
Whence the ether's crystal pillars,
How the skies with stars were sprinkled.
Then again sings wise Wipunen,
Sings in miracles of concord,
Sings in magic tones of wisdom,
Never was there heard such singing;
Songs he sings in countless numbers,
Swift his notes as tongues of serpents,
All the distant hills re-echo;
Sings one day, and then a second,
Sings a third from dawn till evening,
Sings from evening till the morning;
Listen all the stars of heaven,
And the Moon stands still and listens
314
Fall the waves upon the deep-sea,
In the bay the tides cease rising,
Stop the rivers in their courses,
Stops the waterfall of Rutya,
Even Jordan ceases flowing,
And the Wuoksen stops and listens.
When the ancient Wainamoinen
Well had learned the magic sayings,
Learned the ancient songs and legends,
Learned the words of ancient wisdom,
Learned the lost-words of the Master,
Well had learned the secret doctrine,
He prepared to leave the body
Of the wisdom-bard, Wipunen,
Leave the bosom of the master,
Leave the wonderful enchanter.
Spake the hero, Wainamoinen:
'O, thou Antero Wipunen,
Open wide thy mouth and fauces,
I have found the magic lost-words,
I will leave thee now forever,
Leave thee and thy wondrous singing,
Will return to Kalevala,
To Wainola's fields and firesides.'
Thus Wipunen spake in answer:
'Many are the things I've eaten,
Eaten bear, and elk, and reindeer,
Eaten ox, and wolf, and wild-boar,
Eaten man, and eaten hero,
Never, never have I eaten
Such a thing as Wainamoinen;
Thou hast found what thou desirest,
Found the three words of the Master;
Go in peace, and ne'er returning,
Take my blessing on thy going.'
Thereupon the bard Wipunen
Opens wide his mouth, and wider;
And the good, old Wainamoinen
Straightway leaves the wise enchanter,
Leaves Wipunen's great abdomen;
From the mouth he glides and journeys
O'er the hills and vales of Northland,
315
Swift as red-deer or the forest,
Swift as yellow-breasted marten,
To the firesides of Wainola,
To the plains of Kalevala.
Straightway hastes he to the smithy
Of his brother, Ilmarinen,
Thus the iron-artist greets him:
Hast thou found the long-lost wisdom,
Hast thou heard the secret doctrine,
Hast thou learned the master magic,
How to fasten in the ledges,
How the stern should be completed,
How complete the ship's forecastle?
Wainamoinen thus made answer:
'I have learned of words a hundred,
Learned a thousand incantations,
Hidden deep for many ages,
Learned the words of ancient wisdom,
Found the keys of secret doctrine,
Found the lost-words of the Master.'
Wainamoinen, magic-builder,
Straightway journeys to his vessel,
To the spot of magic labor,
Quickly fastens in the ledges,
Firmly binds the stern together
And completes the boat's forecastle.
Thus the ancient Wainamoinen
Built the boat with magic only,
And with magic launched his vessel,
Using not the hand to touch it,
Using not the foot to move it,
Using not the knee to turn it,
Using nothing to propel it.
Thus the third task was completed,
For the hostess of Pohyola,
Dowry for the Maid of Beauty
Sitting on the arch of heaven,
On the bow of many colors.
~ Elias Lönnrot,
133:Orpheus
ORPHEUS.
LAUGHTER and dance, and sounds of harp and lyre,
Piping of flutes, singing of festal songs,
Ribbons of flame from flaunting torches, dulled
By the broad summer sunshine, these had filled
Since the high noon the pillared vestibules,
The peristyles and porches, in the house
Of the bride's father. Maidens, garlanded
With rose and myrtle dedicate to Love,
Adorned with chaplets fresh the bride, and veiled
The shining head and wistful, girlish face,
Ineffable sweetness of divided lips,
Large light of clear, gray eyes, low, lucid brows,
White as a cloud, beneath pale, clustering gold.
When sunless skies uncertain twilight cast,
That makes a friend's face as an alien's strange,
Investing with a foreign mystery
The dear green fields about our very home.
Then waiting stood the gilded chariot
Before the porch, and from the vine-wreathed door,
Issued the white-veiled bride, while jocund youths
And mænads followed her with dance and song.
She came with double glory; for her lord,
Son of Apollo and Calliope,
Towered beside her, beautiful in limb
And feature, as though formed to magic strains,
Like the Bœotian city, that arose
In airy structures to Amphion's lute.
The light serene shone from his brow and eyes,
Of one whose lofty thoughts keep consonance
With the celestial music of the spheres.
His smile was fluent, and his speech outsang
The cadences of soft-stringed instruments.
He to the chariot led Eurydice,
And these twain, mounting with their paranymph,
Drove onward through the dusky twilit fields,
Preceded by the nymphs and singing youths,
And boys diffusing light and odors warm,
With flaming brands of aromatic woods,
138
And matrons bearing symbols of the life
Of careful wives, the distaff and the sieve;
And followed by the echoes of their songs,
The fragrance crushed from moist and trodden grass,
The blessing of the ever-present gods,
Whom they invoked with earnest hymns and prayer.
From Orpheus' portico, festooned with vines,
Issued a flood of rare, ambrosial light,
As though Olympian portals stood ajar,
And Hymen, radiant by his torch's flame,
Mystic with saffron vest and purple, stood
With hands munificent to greet and bless.
Ripe fruits were poured upon the married pair
Alighting, and the chariot wheels were burnt,
A token that the bride returned no more
Unto her father's house. With step resolved,
She crossed the threshold soft with flowers, secure
That his heroic soul who guided her,
Was potent and alert to grace her life,
With noble outlines and ideal hues,
Uplifting it to equal height with his.
EPITHALAMIUM. TO ZEUS.
Because thou art enthroned beyond our reach,
Behind the brightest and the farthest star,
And silence is as eloquent as speech,
To thee who knowest us for what we are,
We bring thee naught save brief and simple prayer,
Strong in its naked, frank sincerity.
Send sacred joys of marriage to this pair,
With fertile increase and prosperity.
Three nymphs had met beneath an oak that cast
Cool, dappled shadow on the glowing grass,
And liquid gleam of the translucent brook.
The air was musical with frolic sounds
Of feminine voices, and of laughter blithe.
Patines of sunshine fell like mottled gold
On the rose-white of bright bare limbs and neck,
On flowing, snowy mantles, and again
With sudden splendor on the gloriole
Of warm, rich hair. The fairest nymph reclined
Beneath the tree, and leaned her yellow head,
With its crisp, clustering rings, against the trunk,
139
And dipped her pure feet in the colorless brook,
Stirring the ripples into circles wide,
With cool, delicious plashings in the stream.
Her young companions lay upon the grass,
With indolent eyes half closed, and parted lips
Half-smiling, in the languor of the noon.
But suddenly these twain, arising, cried,
Startled and sharply, 'Lo, Eurydice,
Behold!' and she, uplifting frightened eyes,
Saw a strange shepherd watching with bold glance.
Veiling their faces with their mantles light,
Her sisters fled swift-footed, with shrill cries,
Adown the meadow, but her wet feet clung
To the dry grasses and the earthy soil.
'Eurydice, I love thee! fear me not,
For I am Aristæus, with gray groves
Of hoary olives, and innumerous flocks,
And precious swarms of yellow-vested bees.'
But she with sudden strength eluding him,
Sprang o'er the flowery turf, with back-blown hair,
And wing-like garments, shortened breath, and face
Kindled with shame and terror. In her flight
She ran through fatal flowers and tangled weeds,
And thick rank grass beside a stagnant pool,
When, with a keen and breathless cry of pain,
Abrupt she fell amidst the tall, green reeds.
Then Aristæus reached her, as a snake
Crept back in sinuous lines amidst the slime.
Desire was changed to pity, when he saw
The wounded dryad in her agony
Strive vainly to escape, repelling him
With feeble arms. 'Forgive me, nymph,' he cried;
' I will not touch, save with most reverent hands,
Thy sacred form. But let me bear thee hence,
And soothe thy bruise with healing herbs. 'Too late,
Leave me,' she sighed, 'and lead thou Orpheus here,
That I may see him ere the daylight fails.'
He left her pale with suffering, —earth seemed strange
Unto her eyes, who knew she looked her last
On level-stretching meadows, hazy hills,
And all the light and color of the sky.
Brief as a dream she saw her happy life,
140
Her father's face, her mother's blessed eyes,
The hero who, unheralded, appeared,
And all was changed,— all things put forth a voice,
As in the season of the singing birds.
She looked around revived, and saw again
The lapsing river and abiding sky.
Across the sunny fields came Aristæus,
With Orpheus following,— and after these,
Sad nymphs and heroes grave with sympathy.
Quite calm she lay, and almost wished to die
Before they reached her, if the throbbing pain
Of limb and heart could only thus be stilled.
But Orpheus hastened to her side, and mourned,
'Eurydice, Eurydice! Remain, —
For there is no delight of speech nor song
Among the dead. Will the gods jest with me,
And call this life, which must forevermore
Be but a void, a hunger, a desire,
A stretching out of empty hands to grasp
What earth nor sea nor heaven will restore?
Is this the life that I conceived and sang,
Rich with all noble opportunities
And beautiful realities?' But she:
'Brave Orpheus, search thou not the eternal gods,
Surely they love us dearer than we know.
Do thou refrain, for yet I hold my faith.
When I am gone, thou still wilt have thy lyre;
Love it and cherish,— it is Fate's best gift,
And with death's clearer vision, I can see
That in all ages men will be upraised
Nearer to gods through this than through aught else.
My death may but inspire a larger note,
A passionate cadence to thy strain, which else
Were not quite human, and thus incomplete.
And with this thought I am content to die.
Cease not to sing to me when I am gone;
Thy voice will reach me in the farthest spheres,
Or wake me out of silence. Now begin,
That I may float on those celestial waves
Into the darkness, as I oft have longed.'
ORPHEUS.
Once in a wild, bright vision, came to me
141
Beautiful music, luminous as morn,
An effluence of light and rapture born,
With eyes as full of splendor as the sea;
Dazzling as youth, with pinions frail as air,
Yet potent to uplift and soar as prayer.
Again I see her, cypress in her wreath,
Sad with all grave and tender mysteries;
Tears in her unimaginable eyes,
That look their first with wondering awe on Death.
Never again, in all the after years,
Will her lips laugh with utter mirthfulness;
Nor the strange longing in her eyes grow less,
Nor any time dispel their mist of tears.
Yea, with new numbers she completes her strain,
A song unsung before by gods or men;
But she hath lost, ah! lost for evermore,
The ringing note of joy ineffable,
The high assurance proud, that all is well,
The glad refrain that pealed from shore to shore.
O lyre, thou hast done with joyous things,
Triumphant ecstasies, exultant song;
Of subtle pain, keen anguish, hopeless wrong,
I fashion now another of thy strings,
And strike thee with a strong hand passionate,
Into a fuller music, adequate
Unto a soul that seeks insatiably,
With fond, illusive hope and faith divine;
For through all ages will my soul seek thine,
Eurydice, my lost Eurydice!
What solace to lament with empty hands
And smitten heart, above a mound of earth,
Vivid with mockery of perpetual flowers,
O'er one small urn that holds beneath its lid,
With overmeasure, all the flameless dust
And soulless ashes of our love? Yet this
Was Orpheus' life, to mourn beside the grave,
From his stringed lyre compelling wild response
And thrilling intonation of his grief,
That made the hearts of gnarled and knotty oaks
Ache as with human sympathy, and rived
The adamantine centre of the rock,
And lured the forest beasts, and hushed the birds,
142
Mavis and lark, while with wide, awful wings,
The eagle shadowed his exalted brow.
'Surely,' he cried, 'the senseless dust hears not,
More than the burnt brand hears old natural sounds
Innumerable rustle of young leaves.
It cannot be that only these remain,
The ashes of her glittering limbs, warm flesh,
And blessed hair,— my love had more than these
Where is the vital soul, that was to me
An inspiration and an influence?
The gods are not unstable like rash man,
Aimlessly to create and discreate,
With cruel and capricious fantasy,
For thus the immaculate skies would be a lie;
Eurydice is but withdrawn from me,
And disembodied, while mine eyesight blinds,
My senses are a hindrance, and obstruct
The accurate perception of my soul.
When mine own spirit, nightly disenthralled,
Soars to the land of dreams, whose boundaries,
By day, loom infinitely far and vague,
And yet, at night, become our very home,—
There still I see thee with the same bright form,
The same auroral eyes that made for me
Perpetual morning; and I stretch mine arms
Hungering after thee, and, calling, wake
Unto the vapid glare of languid dawn.
Yet all these things address my very soul,
Telling it that thou art not dead; for death
Is but the incarnation of man's fears;
Gods do not recognize it. If thou art
(As I have faith) in the known universe,
Yea, though it be in the extremest land,
Beyond the sunset, with its shining isles,
I will go forth and seek thee, nor will cease
To mourn thee and desire, till I have found.'
Thus Orpheus fared across the full-fed streams
Of Hebrus and of Strymon, and beyond
The purple outlines and aerial crags,
Snow-glittering of Scardus, Rhodope,
And grand Orbelus; through fair, fertile fields
Of Thessaly with increase of ripe corn,
143
Through Attica, Bœotia and Eubœa,
And southward to the royal-citied state,
Beautiful Corinth, throned upon the base
Of green Acrocorinthus, whose soft slope
Was dedicate with temples to the gods,
And towering over all the sacred shrine
Of Aphrodite. Upward from the town
The mountain rose defensive, where the walls
Of Corinth ended, and beyond the gates,
The radiant plain of the Corinthian Gulf
Stretched infinitely. Orpheus rested here,
Till he bethought him to ascend the mount,
With offerings at Aphrodite's shrine—
Not sanguine victims, but fresh myrtle wreath
And faultless rose—to sue the oracle
For help and guidance.
All the town was still,
The bright red band of sunrise lit the sky
Above the dark blue gulf, and Orpheus heard
A hundred birds saluting, from the brake,
Aurora, and cool rush of waterfalls.
Made murmurous music, while Athené breathed
The vigor of the morning in his soul.
Up the steep mountain side he passed, beyond
The silver growth of olives, and the belt
Of pines, to where the foam-white temple stood,
Smitten at once by all the beams of morn.
He saw the double peak, rose-white with snow
And early sunshine, of Parnassus cleave
The northern sky, and sacred Helicon
Erect its head, crowned with the Muses' grove,
The Bay of Crissa and Corinthian Gulf,
Below flashed restless, and a path of gold
Divided with clear, tremulous light the waves.
From the large beauty of the morn, he went
Into the holy limits of the shrine,
With warm air heavy with the odorous rose.
ORPHEUS.
I put into my prayer to thee, O mother,
The tumult and the passion of the ocean,
The unflecked purity of winnowed foam-wreaths;
To thee who sprang from these, the incarnation
144
Of all the huge sea holds of grace or splendor,
With its own light between thine amorous eyelids.
For I, in thy most sacred cause a pilgrim,
Have wandered tireless, from Thrace to Corinth,
'Midst foreign scenes and alien men and women.
And at my right hand Grief incessant follows,
And at my left walks Memory with the semblance
Of lost Eurydice's ethereal beauty.
Infatuate I gaze, until the vision
Thrills me to madness, and I start and tremble,
Remembering also Grief is my companion.
Onward through spacious fields, by copious waters,
Through purple growth of amaranth and crocus,
And past the marble beauty of great cities,
We three have journeyed,— strangers saw me reckless,
And knew at once that I had walked with sorrow,
And that the gods had chosen me their victim.
Are all my carols useless, worse than useless?
Shall my long pilgrimage, thus unrewarded,
End at the blank, insuperable ocean?
Hast thou no wise compassion, goddess, mother?
In all the measureless years' unfathomed chances,
Is the dear past to be repeated never?
O supreme mother! crowned with blessed poppy
As well as myrtle,— bring her here, or compass
My soul with death, that elsewhere I may seek her.
He ceased, and through the temple spread a mist
Ambrosial, and above the shrine a star
Serenely brightened, and a heavenly voice
Made sweet response: ' Love guides himself thy course
To the last sea-girt rock. No worthy soul
May ever truly seek, and fail to find.'
Still southward Orpheus journeyed, till he reached
Cape Tænarus, the last bleak point of Greece,
Desolate o'er an infinite waste of waves,
While sunset lit the western sea and sky
With yellow floods of warm, diffusive light,
Kindling his serious face and earnest eyes,
And glittering on his lyre. Long time he stood,
And gazed upon the trouble of the waves,
Expectant of a word, a sign— and still
No answer made the wild, indifferent sea.
145
Impetuous, he smote his quivering lyre
To reckless and sonorous melody,
Vibrating o'er the watery turbulence.
Then far below its western bath, the sun
Dipped and was gone, and all the sea was gray.
Still through the air rang those imploring notes,
Unutterably plaintive— till there came
From out the ocean cave of Tænarus
The shining forms of Oceanides,
With myriad faces raised supremely fair,
And myriad arms that beckoned as he sang.
Behold! a stir amidst the frothing brine,
As though upheaved by powers submarine,
In implicate confusion, wave on wave,
Then rose with windy manes and fiery eyes,
Proudly careering, the immortal steeds,
Bearing, within the shell-shaped car, the god
Of august aspect and imperial port,
With such profusion of ambrosial locks
As curl around the very front of Zeus.
He with benign regard the minstrel viewed,
Then whirling thrice his massy trident, struck
The scarpéd promontory with its fork.
And Orpheus felt the solid basis yield,
And heard the hollow rumbling, as when earth
Rocks to her centre, and high hills spit flame.
And lo! he stood before a sulphurous throne,
Set in an open space, wherefrom there streamed
Four rivers stagnant, black. Here Ades reigned,
His very presence unto mortal sense
Oppressive as low thunder in the air.
The triple-headed guardian of his realm
Crouched at his feet, and in the dismal murk,
The hideous Harpies hovered o'er his head.
The serpent-haired Eumenides stood near,
Brow-bound with sanguine fillets, and the Fates
Wielded the distaff, spindle, and sharp shears.
The air was dense with noisome influence,
And shadowy apparitions seemed to float
Athwart the dusk. But on the infernal throne
Conspicuous in beauty, by her lord,
Persephone was seated. Wonderment
146
Looked from her eyes, in seeing him, no god,
Who came before his time among the dead,
Unarmed with spear or shield, a glistening lyre
Nigh slipping from the loose grasp of his hands.
'Who comes unsummoned to my realm?' began
The baleful godhead in discordant tones,
Widely reverberant; and the low, clear voice
Of Orpheus answered: 'One who would remain,
If but the impotent body could be free
To follow the desires of the soul,—
Orpheus, an unskilled singer.' 'Birth and death
Are preordained for thee, presumptuous man.
What narrow space of time the Fates accord,
'Twould best become thee to bear worthily,
With dignity, and leave the rest to them,
The end as the beginning.' 'Plead for me,
O beautiful Persephone, — behold!
Eurydice was snatched with violent hand
From out mine eager arms, and I have sought
Her image o'er the peopled earth in vain.'
Then she: 'I may not summon her, nor hope
To swerve the haughty purpose of my lord.
With influence of thy familiar voice,
If thou canst touch her spirit, she is thine.'
But Ades: 'Who recalls the dead by prayer?
They whose calm souls are once possessed by death,
Find such a solid joy in grasping firm,
After life's phantasms, this reality,
That wisdom, grief, nor love persuadeth them
Their liberated spirits to confine
With fleshly limitations. Nathless sing,—
And prove life's glittering evanescence vain,
Outweighed by death's sublime security.'
ORPHEUS.
I render thanks, eternal gods, that ye
Empower myself to call Eurydice.
Man only can fulfill his own desire;
And if I fail, the sorrow rests with me.
Ye give what we deserve; I pray alone
Ne'er to be cursed with what I have not won.
And to whom else would I intrust my lyre,
This supreme invocation to intone?
147
But in myself I feel the love, the power,
The lyric inspiration, while the flower
Of all my life brings forth its proper fruit,
In this my loftiest, most godlike hour.
If I could make ye feel the agony
Of the strong man, O gods, condemned to see
The light fail from dear eyes, the white lips mute,
The elusive soul take flight eternally
To where we cannot follow it nor find,
With the most subtle searchings of the mind,
With the most passionate longings of the soul,
Deaf, unresponsive as the empty wind;
Then would your pity as your power be,
'Twould crown us all with immortality,
And grace us with completeness, make us whole,
Worthy to be the peers of deity.
For we are mighty now to slay and bless,
Yea, gifted with strange strength of steadfastness,
To conquer bodiless and viewless foes
Within ourselves, yet in our helplessness,
As children, in the presence of this Death,
Whom nor revolt nor patience conquereth,
Implacable, with grim mouth fastened close,
That with no hope our anguish answereth.
Resound with wildest utterance, O my lyre;
Let each note be a living flame of fire,
To reach her, to burn through her, to compel,
Strong with the infinite strength of my desire.
I am no god, yet Fate, Eurydice,
A goddess for my slave hath given me,—
Immortal Music, pure, ineffable;
And I send her, my handmaid, after thee.
If all wherein I put my faith as sure,
Be not delusions vain which death will cure;
If the sublime reliance of the soul
On her own powers be no empty lure,
Whereat the high gods laugh in bitter scorn;
If what I have achieved and what forborne,
Will lead me nearer to a worthy goal,
If all life's promises be not forsworn,—
Eurydice, appear! Before mine eyes,
O gods, I see a formless essence rise,
148
That moulds itself unto the music's beat,
Appareled in the glory of the skies.
Now, while I ring a more celestial tone,
The spirit more divinely bright hath grown,
To larger modulations, strains complete,
The white limbs from the shapeless mist are won,
As from the bosom of a summer cloud,
Wherewith a goddess would her semblance shroud.
Is this mine own creation? Is it truth,
That with warm life I have blank air endowed?
The soft cloud parts asunder,— yea, 'tis she!
Once more the face that was my star I see,
Crowned with the beauty of immortal youth,
Eurydice, my lost Eurydice!
Silent beside his silent, fallen lyre,
The singer stood, and clasped her in his arms,
Gazing upon this pale, fair face as one
Whose heart's supreme desire is satisfied.
'Is not this hour the hour I have foreseen,
Through all obstructions and infirmities
Of my mortality, and is it not
More glorious in fruition than I dreamed!
Yea, I have dreamed it all, eternal gods,
Even as now have pressed her to my heart
With the same clinging effort to retain,
And seen this breathing form, these lucent eyes
Vivid as now, instinct with life and love.
Yet have I waked to chill discouragement,
To vacant disappointment, and the sense
Of aching, unassuaged desire. O speak,
For in my dreams I never hear thy voice,
Save veiled and indistinct, a mockery
Of the old limpid music. Speak to me:
Thy flesh is warm, thy heart beats close to mine,
Thine upturned face is wet with human tears;
O speak to me,— lest I should wake again
To barren fields and empty skies of Thrace.'
Then in low, natural tones, Eurydice:
'Thy voice hath reached me in the farthest spheres,
And waked me out of silence.' 'Follow me,—
It is thyself,— if I must wake from this,
'Twill be to death or madness. Follow me,
149
From darkness palpable, to earth, to light
Of ample skies, and freshness of blown grass
And rolling waters.' 'Hold!' the jarring voice
Of Ades interposed: ''Tis excellent
The attribute we gave thee, to convert
To such a weapon as may overcome
The old hereditary foes of man,
Sleep, death, corruption, and necessity.
But to reveal thyself the peer of gods,
Not only through inspired ecstasy,
But through a continent persistency,
This never was accomplished by thy race,
And thou must yet be tried. This soul is thine,
For thou hast won her from the jaws of Hell;
Yea, she may follow thee as free as light,—
Lead thou the way and charm the hostile fiends.
Look forward ever; if thine eyes revert
But once to gaze on her, to reassure
Unworthy fears, or sate a mean desire,
Thou art not mate for us. She will dissolve
To empty air —never to be recalled.
ORPHEUS.
Back to the vital earth, O follow me,
Regained Eurydice.
To rippling well-heads and to sunlit plains,
Greened by soft wash of rains.
See orchards rosy with prolific bloom,
And vineyards' purple gloom.
Lulled by the languid flow of lilied streams,
There will I sing my dreams.
Behold! I chant a hymn of adoration,
Triumphant exultation,
For I can see, in all the universe,
No error and no curse.
The gods have naught withheld, in power and sway,
From him who will obey
Their own divine and everlasting laws.
Above the world's applause,
As vigorous as morning, he can rise,
Wrest the desired prize
From the clenched hands of Nemesis and Fate.
With victory elate,
150
I chant unmitigated prayer and praise
To gods who part our ways,
Seeing 'midst clamorous change incredible,
That all is ordered well.
In more harmonious strains, O lyre, express
My twice-born happiness;
Yea, utter and translate with larger sense
My rich experience,
That makes complete life's solemn threnody
Joy unalloyed and free,
Grief unexampled, victory at last,
When strife is overpast.
Through pathways hedged with horrors still they fared
Invulnerable. Darkness stayed them not,
Nor yet more dreadful light, revealing oft
The hideous fiends who rose on every side,
Huge shapes of ill, to gaze upon the twain.
A Greek, who, fleeing, smote a vibrant lyre,
That chimed to carols more divinely quired
Than those that fill with ravishment a grove,
Misty with moonlight, where the plain brown bird
Makes midnight vocal. Closely following him,
A woman with grave aspect, parted lips,
Upraising, in enthralléd ecstasy,
Large eyes serene, fulfilled with holier light
For having pierced beyond the boundaries
Of time and of mortality. The day
Shone through the murk at last, and filled their path
With dusky sunbeams; and far-stretching fields
Of soft, delicious green, and crystal skies,
Encouraged them; all perils past save one.
But a black, stagnant river crawled along,
Spanned by no bridge, and ferried by no sail,
With muddy tide between the day and them.
And Orpheus with enamored eyes passed on,
And saw not how the loathsome waters crept,
Nor how his magic song enchanted them
To solid substance; but he missed at once
The footsteps light that had inspired his lay.
Impetuous he turned to reassure
His fearful soul, and sate his hungry eyes;
But as he turned, the inspiration fled,
151
His lips refused to frame the fruitless words,
His eyes beheld,—O gods! Eurydice
Removed already far away from him,
By all the wide-expanded space, between
Our loftiest dream and our unworthy deed.
She gazed with no reproachful glance nor tears,
And Orpheus felt himself beneath her, fall,
Momently down from empyreal heights,
And lo! he stood within the fields of Thrace,
On earth familiar, 'neath familiar skies,
And heard a voice float through the shining air,
From unimaginable distances,
Faint as a dream, — 'Farewell, farewell, farewell.'
'Woe! woe! what lamentations may express
The fullness of my new calamity!
I, overbearing, who presumed to reach
The lordly and severe stability
Of the immortals, — whom may I invoke?
To whom may man appeal when he hath failed
Unto himself? What god will interpose
To thwart invincible necessity?
Lost, lost forever! I stood elevate,
For one brief moment dreaming I had won
The skill and power of true divinity.
Gods! with what lofty and superb disdain
Ye must look down on mine unworthy haste,—
Ye, who with grandeur of sublime repose,
And majesty of patience, still abide
Invariable through eternity!
Alas! my mighty visions were to me
Auspicious omens, and they fed my heart
With vigor and encouragement; but now,
This was no dream; for Hope, full-flushed and fair,
Born, like the freshness of auroral dew,
From unseen air, and traceless vanishing,
Consorts not with this mighty goddess, Truth,
With solemn and unfathomable eyes,
For Truth is one with Death and Destiny.
With what a depth of meaning didst thou turn,
For the last time, to me, Eurydice,
A glory 'midst the darkness, with that glance
Of infinite compassion, hands outstretched,
152
As if to save the from mine own defect.
With what humiliation and despair
I saw thee rising unattainably!—
The vault, the stream accursed had disappeared;
I was in Thrace uplooking to the sky.
O, to what harmonies I might have wed
The blessed tidings which all men await!
Now I can only make my song express
A distant echo, a suggestion vague,
Of the serene contentment of thy voice.
Sing this, my lyre, that all who hark to thee
With an attentive and a gentle ear,
May hear the promise, faint and yet assured,
Recall the grace and the deliciousness
Of immortality, and strive anew
Towards the ideal unattained by me,
Yet still accessible to stronger souls.'
Thus Orpheus, when the first wild burst of woe
Had passed; no need to seek her now;
No need to wander o'er the peopled earth.
Was he in truth a victim of the gods,
Or rather with a fairer fortune blest
Than happier men, selected for a fate
Divinely tragical, that he might know
The fullness of a life's experience,
And find expression adequate for all,
Simple as wisdom, and as dignified
As silence? From his kind he lived apart,
As one who cherishes a grief, nor seeks
Forgetfulness nor comfort; elevate
To glittering eminence by destiny,
And lonely through the privacy of woe
Beyond the reaches of man's sympathy.
Where lucid Hebrus bathes its golden sands,
He sat discoursing gracious harmonies,
Amidst the morning fields, when on his ears
Sounded with horrid dissonance the clang
Of smitten cymbals and the throb of drums.
But still the revelers remained unseen,
Till, rounding suddenly a neighboring hill,
The whole mad troop came dancing into sight.
First marched a jovial bacchanal, who bore
153
A crystal vessel, decked with branching vine,
Then youth and nymphs with ivy chapleted,
In purfled raiment of hues delicate,
With mitres, thyrsi, cymbals, drums and flutes,
Some balancing upon their graceful heads,
Regal with crisp-curled gold, their burdens light
Of baskets heaped with figs and dusky grapes.
And 'midst them all the sacrificial goat,
Adorned with berries. Thus the festal throng,
With wanton gestures, and with antic bounds,
And wild embracings, mad with wine, approached,
With peals of laughter, echoing faintly back
From jocund hill to hill, and lusty shouts
Of 'Bacché, Bacché!'
SONG.
With wassail all the night,
Celestial Bacchus, we have worshipped thee!
With riotous revel and with festal wine.
Still on the hills in early morning light,
With frolic dances and brisk jollity,
Our hymns of praise are thine.
For we have seen thee, god!
The fawn-skin slipping from thy shoulder bare,
Thy gestures lithe and loose, thine eyes that shine,
Thy rosy hands that waved a clustered rod
Of uncrushed grapes, and thine ambrosial hair,
Dripping with myrrh and wine.
Thou art not strict, severe,
Like loftier gods and ruthless goddesses,
Implacable like Pallas, Zeus, or Truth;
But to humanity akin and near,
Eager for folly, and the luxuries
Of lustful health and youth.
This crystal-vialed balm,
Divinely brewed, soothing as Lethe's streams,
Is the most generous gift of Deity,
Informing us with soft oblivion calm
Of Death and Fate, with joys beyond the dreams
Of grave sobriety.
Come, let us drink again.
Resound, O timbrels, and thou bird-voiced flute;
Thyrsus and pipes make shrill and dear acclaim,
154
To Bacchus, who impurples hill and plain
With vineyards bursting with increase of fruit,
Subtle as liquid flame.
Œoë! quaff and sing!
Who drinks no more, offends the deity
Of Bacchus! lo on Hebrus' grassy brink,
A minstrel sits, with gold lute glistening,
Marring our rites with stern solemnity,
Who doth not chant nor drink.
Ho! Orpheus, laugh again,
From mirthful heart, and join our happy throng;
Cease to lament with unappeased desire.
We bring a cordial for all grief and pain.
Add to the choral strain thy siren song,
And thine enchanted lyre.
For Fate hath answered thee
With cold derision; Death respondeth not.
Here is a god who soothes tire soul and sense
With sweet nepenthe,—thy Eurydice
Thou wilt not lure to earthly grove nor grot
With suasive eloquence.
Here, nymphs no whit less fair
Are waiting thee, with warm, caressing arms
And loving eyes, lips fit for gods to kiss,
And rosy shoulders, dimpling white and bare,—
Pliant and graceful, with innumerous Charms,
To sate thy heart with bliss.
ORPHEUS.
Hence, thou ignoble throng!
Dare ye profane the splendid purity,
The high nobility of morn, with rites
Lewd and disgusting, and delirious song,
Completing in dear sunshine, shamelessly,
Rude orgies of wild nights?
BACCHANTES.
Ha! he insults the god,
With his presumptuous and impious scorn.
Avenge, O bacchanals, the cause divine;
Compel him with the sacred cup and rod,
To quaff his salutation to the morn,
In frothing, Massic wine!
ORPHEUS.
155
Mad bacchanals, begone!
I honor all the gods and Nemesis.
They favor not such frantic revelry,
But blameless lives, and deeds most like their own,
The service of a patient heart submiss,
And staunch integrity.
Behold the morning hills,
Sky-kissed Libethra, delicate as air;
The fragile grasses gray with wreaths of dew.
Hark to the tumbling of the mountain rills
To Eos and Athene your first prayer
And sacrifice are due.
BACCHANTES.
With shameless blasphemy,
He dares proscribe, O god, thy rank and fame.
Enough! enough! he hath despised us long,
Bewailing his beloved Eurydice.
O nymphs, avenge yourselves in Liber's name,
Slay him 'midst dance and song.
Your deadly javelins fling
With flinty missiles at the singer proud,
Who deems himself an equal of the gods,
Because he hath the skill to pipe and sing,
With facile fluency of speech endowed.
Smite him with spears and rods.
ORPHEUS.
Ring forth, my lyre, again,—
With magic harmonies my doom avert,
In tones as plaintive and as rich as life.
BACCHANTES.
Our stones and javelins we have hurled in vain;
His lyre enchants them, he remains unhurt,
'Midst all the wrath and strife.
Toss the loud tambourine,
Its tight-drawn skin with noisy fingers smite;
Clash ye the cymbals, sing with fatal art;
Cast ye his sundered limbs the stream within,—
They irritate us, soft and bare and white;
Rend them, O nymphs, apart.
ORPHEUS.
Sweet Death, deliver me
Out of the reach of envy, lust, and hate;
156
Enfold me in thy large-embracing arms.
BACCHANTES.
Ah! will he now invoke Eurydice,
Madly resisting his allotted fate
With vile, unhallowed charms?
So with a clamorous swell
Of drums and timbrels, we o'erpower the breath
Of dulcet and persuasive melody.
ORPHEUS.
The maniacs conquer! O my lyre, farewell!
Approach, thou beautiful and welcome Death,
With lost Eurydice.
~ Emma Lazarus,

IN CHAPTERS [150/157]



   50 Occultism
   47 Integral Yoga
   15 Poetry
   9 Psychology
   4 Yoga
   4 Philosophy
   3 Fiction
   3 Christianity
   2 Hinduism
   1 Buddhism
   1 Baha i Faith
   1 Alchemy


   29 The Mother
   29 Aleister Crowley
   20 Satprem
   16 Sri Aurobindo
   14 Nolini Kanta Gupta
   10 Carl Jung
   6 James George Frazer
   4 Sri Ramakrishna
   4 Khwaja Abdullah Ansari
   3 Walt Whitman
   3 Peter J Carroll
   3 Franz Bardon
   2 William Wordsworth
   2 Vyasa
   2 Saint Augustine of Hippo
   2 Percy Bysshe Shelley
   2 Aldous Huxley


   20 Liber ABA
   10 Magick Without Tears
   7 Mysterium Coniunctionis
   6 The Golden Bough
   6 Agenda Vol 02
   5 The Secret Of The Veda
   4 The Secret Doctrine
   4 Hymns to the Mystic Fire
   3 Whitman - Poems
   3 Vedic and Philological Studies
   3 The Practice of Magical Evocation
   3 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
   3 Liber Null
   3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08
   3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04
   3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
   3 Agenda Vol 03
   2 Wordsworth - Poems
   2 Vishnu Purana
   2 The Perennial Philosophy
   2 Shelley - Poems
   2 Questions And Answers 1957-1958
   2 Prayers And Meditations
   2 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
   2 City of God
   2 Agenda Vol 12
   2 Agenda Vol 08
   2 Agenda Vol 04
   2 Agenda Vol 01
   2 Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2E


00.03 - Upanishadic Symbolism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Svh is the offering and Invocation. One must dedicate everything to the Divine, cast all one has or does into the Fire of Aspiration that blazes up towards the Most High, and through the tongue of that one-pointed flame call on the Divinity.
   In doing so, in invoking the Truth and consecrating oneself to it, one begins to ascend to it step by step; and each step means a tearing of another veil and a further opening of the I passage. This graded mounting is vaakra.

0 1958-05-11 - the ship that said OM, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Something quite curious took place during a recent meditation. I no longer recall when exactly, but it was at a time when there were many visitors, for the courtyard was full. After perhaps no more than a few minutes, I suddenly heard a distinct voice, coming from my right, say OM, like that. And then a second time, OM. What an impact it had upon me! I felt an emotion here (gesture towards the heart) as I have not felt for years and years and years. And all, all, all was filled with light, with forceit was absolutely marvelous. It was an Invocation, and during the whole meditation the Presence was resplendent.
   I said to myself, Who could have done that? I was not sure if only I had heard it, so I asked. The reply was, But it was the ship leaving! There was actually a ship which had left during the night3that is in support of those who said it was a ship. But for me, it was SOMEONE because I felt someone there and I thought, Oh! If someone, in the ardor of his soul, said that in this what I could call an atheistic silence. Because people here are so afraid of following tradition, of being the slaves of the old things, that they cast out anything closely or remotely resembling religion.
  --
   In any event, if it wasnt a man, if it was a ship, then the ship said it! Because it was THATit was that, it was nothing other than an Invocation. And the result was fantastic!
   People immediately thought, Oh, its the ship! Well, even if it was a ship, it was the ship that said OM!

0 1958-10-04, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Puja: ceremony , Invocation or evocation of a god (in this case, a tantric ritual ).
   When the disciple became a Sannyasi and travelled in the Himalayas with the tantric Swami

0 1961-02-04, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Oh (laughing), he had a formidable power! Theon had a formidable power. One stormy day (there were terrible thunderstorms there), he climbed to the high terrace above the sitting room. Its a strange time to be going up there, I said to him. He laughed, Come along, dont be afraid! So I joined him. He began some Invocations and then I clearly saw a bolt of lightning that had been heading straight towards us suddenly swerve IN THE MIDST OF ITS COURSE. You will say its impossible, but I saw it turn aside and strike a tree farther away. I asked Theon, Did you do that? He nodded.
   Oh, that man was terriblehe had a terrible power. But quite a good external appearance!

0 1961-03-21, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Puja: ceremony, Invocation or evocation of a god (in this case, a tantric ritual).
   Z was Satprem's first guru when he became a sannyasi. Then Z tried to exert his control over Satprem and predicted to Mother that he would never remain in the Ashram. Finally Satprem broke with him and Z went away furious.

0 1961-04-25, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   It came last night. It came slowly, but last night it was very strong: no more sequence, no more linking of cause and effect, no more goal, no more purpose, no more intentiona kind of Absolute which does not exclude the creation. It is not Nirvana, it has nothing to do with Nirvana (I know Nirvana very well, Ive had itjust yesterday evening, for instance, while walking for japa, and even this morning. You see, I begin by an Invocation to the Supreme under his three aspects, and no sooner have I uttered the sound, TAT when all is abolished: Nirvana. And the last few days I have noticed that its instantaneous, so easy! Oh, a delight! Bah!). But its not Nirvana, its beyond that; it contains Nirvana and it contains the manifested world and it contains everything else; all the appearances and disappearances13all of that is contained in it.
   Something.

0 1961-07-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   While walking in my room, a series of Invocations or prayers have come to me2 (I didnt choose themthey were dictated to me) in which I implore the Lord to manifest his Perfection (and I am quite aware of how foolish this expression is, but it does correspond to an aspiration).3 When I say manifest, I mean to manifest in our physical, material world Im asking for the transformation of this world. And the moment I utter one of these Invocations, the sense of the particular approach it represents is there; thats why I am now able to give such a lecture on PerfectionPerfection is one of these approaches. Manifest this, I tell Him, Manifest that, manifest Your Perfection. (The series is very long and it takes me quite a while to go through it all.) Well, each time I say Manifest Your Perfection, I have an awareness of what constitutes Perfectionit is something global.
   Its like the word purityone could lecture endlessly on the difference between divine purity and what people call purity. Divine purity (at the lowest level) is to admit but one influence the divine Influence (but this is at the lowest level, and already terribly distorted). Divine purity means that only the Divine existsnothing else. It is perfectly pureonly the Divine exists, nothing other than He.

0 1961-07-12, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   (Regarding the last conversation, where Mother spoke of divine Perfection and of the series of Invocations in her japa imploring the Lord to manifest his various aspects:)
   But Perfection is only one side, one special way of approaching the Divine. There are innumerable sides, angles, aspectsinnumerable ways to approach the Divine. When I am walking, for example, doing japa, I have the sense of Unity (I have spoken to you of all the things I mention when I am upstairs walking: will, truth, purity, perfection, unity, immortality, eternity, infinity, silence, peace, existence, consciousness the list goes on). And when one follows a particular tack and does succeed in reaching or approaching or contacting the Divine, one realizes through experience that these many approaches differ only in their most external forms the contact itself is identical. Its like looking through a kaleidoscopeyou revolve around a center, a globe, and see it under various aspects; but as soon as the contact is established, its identical.

0 1961-10-15, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Well then, concentrate, call it! Make an Invocation, call it init is THERE, contact it. That is the thread to catchnot in the head.
   But thats just it, you see-before working I always become completely silent and in that silence there is NOTHING. I could stay like that for hours!

0 1962-02-03, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Naturally, if theres also an awareness of the idea behind it, if one does japa as a very active CONSCIOUS Invocation, then its effects are greatly multiplied. But the basis is the magic of sound. This is a fact of experience, and its absolutely true. The sound OM, for instance, awakens very special vibrations (there are other such sounds as well, but of course that one is the most powerful of all).
   It is an attempt to divinize material substance.
  --
   And if one adds to this, as I do, a mantric program, that is, a sort of prayer or Invocation, a program for both personal development and helping the collective, then it becomes a truly active work. Then theres also what I call external work: contact with others, reading and answering letters, seeing and speaking to people, and finally all the activities having to do with the organization and running of the Ashram (in meditation this work becomes worldwide, but physically, materially, it is limited for the moment to the Ashram).
   In the course of my observation, I also saw the position of X and people like him, who practically spend their lives doing japa, plus meditation, puja,4 ceremonies (I am talking only about sincere people, not fakers). Well, thats their way of working for the world, of serving the Divine, and it seems the best way to themperhaps even the only way but its a question of mental belief. In any case, its obvious that even a bit of not exactly puja, but some sort of ceremony that you set yourself to dohabitual gestures symbolizing and expressing a particular inner statecan also be a help and a way of offering yourself and relating to the Divine and thus serving the Divine. I feel its important looked at in this waynot from the traditional viewpoint, I cant stand that traditional viewpoint; I understand it, but it seems to me like putting a brake on true self-giving to the Divine. I am speaking of SELF-IMPOSED japa and rules (or, if someone gives you the japa, rules you accept with all your heart and adhere to). These self-imposed rules should be followed as a gesture of love, as a way of saying to the Divine, I love You. Do you see what I mean? Like arranging flowers in a certain way, burning incense, dozens of little things like that, made beautiful because of what is put into themit is a form of self-giving.
  --
   Let it be your own manner of serving the Divine, of relating to Him, loving Him, of joining Him to your physical life, being close to Him and drawing Him close to you that way its beautiful. Each time you say the Word, let it be an Invocation, let it be like the recitation of a word of love; then its beautiful.
   Thats how I see it.

0 1962-02-24, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I should mention that three or four days before my birthday something apparently very troublesome happened5 (it could have been troublesome, anyway), and it made me wonder: Will I be able to do what I have to on the 21st? I wasnt happy about it. No, I said, I cant let these people down when theyre expecting so much from this day; thats not right. So throughout the 20th I stayed exclusively concentrated in a very, very deep, very interiorized Invocation, not in the least superficial, far from all emotions and sentiments something really at the summit of the being. And I remained in contact with That, for everything to be truly for the best, free from any false movement in Matter whatsoever. And that night I was CLEARLY cured; I mean I followed the action and saw myself really and truly cured. When I got up in the morning, I got up cured. All the things I constantly had to do, all the tapasyas just to keep going, were no longer necessarysomeone had taken charge of everything, and it was all over and done with. And on the morning of the 21st, with a crowd of two thousand and some hundred people, it went perfectly smoothly, without the slightest hitch. Then in the afternoon I had that very special experience for my legs.
   So on the 21st morning I could say quite spontaneously and unhesitatingly, Today the Lord has given me the gift of healing me. (I was speaking in English about the things people had given me, and I said, and the Lord has given me the gift of healing me.)
  --
   The 19th was so-so, and on the 20th I was concentrated all day long: no contacts with anyone, nothing external, only an intense Invocation as intense and concentrated as when youre trying to melt into the Lord at death. It was like that. The same movement of identification, but at its core a will for everything to work out in a good way here [on the material plane]. In a good way I mean I said to the Lord, YOUR Good, the true Good, not. The true Good, a victorious Good, a real progress over the way life is usually lived. And I stayed in this unwavering concentration the whole day, all the time, all the time: even when I spoke, it was something very external speaking. And then at night when I went to bed I felt something had changed the body felt completely different. When I got up in the morning, all the pains and disorders and dangers had vanished. Lord, I said, You have given me a gift of health.
   And with this change, the bodily substance, the very stuff of the cells, was constantly being told, Dont you forget, now you see that miracles CAN happen. In other words, the way things work out in physical substance may not at all conform to the laws of Nature. Dont forget, now! It kept coming back like a refrain: Dont forget, now! This is how it is. And I saw how necessary this repetition was for the cells: they forget right away and try to find explanations (oh, how stupid can you be!). Its a sort of feeling (not at all an individual way of thinking), its Matters way of thinking. Matter is built like that, its part of its make-up. We call it thinking for lack of a better word, but its not thinking: it is a material way of understanding things, the way Matter is able to understand.

0 1962-03-11, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   The other day, didnt I tell you the story of those entities working for me? (It wasnt you? Id had a vision.) In fact, I very often see entities like Nature spirits when I enter the subtle physical and work there (usually for people here and the Ashram, and for the world at large), I very, very often have them with me, or else I meet them in the course of my work. They are forces, generally feminine in appearance, that do some work and have a great deal of power. They are usually the ones that respond to Tantric Invocations (I dont mean the Tantrics who call on Kali or Durga, thats something else altogether, those belong to a totally different world). Most of the time these Nature forces are very willing to helpat any rate, they are wonderfully obliging with me! But they are limited beings, with their own ideas and laws, their own volition, and when vexed they can do unpleasant things. Yet they are not hostile beings, nor are they vital beings: they are personified forces of physical Nature, in the subtle physical.
   A world of things could be said.

0 1963-02-15, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   When I sit down to play, I make how should I put it? Not a prayer, but my usual Invocation, like this (gesture above), I am in a state of contemplation, and all of a sudden it starts: I see my hands in position on the keys, and, Now then, begin that way! All right, I begin that way. Then one note calls for the next. But I have to be very tranquil. And, oh, what I hear is lovely, so lovely! But I have no idea of what I play. I play without hearing what I play: I hear the other thing.
   Thats why one day I will ask to listen to the recording to see whether both things are the same.

0 1963-07-24, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   And yet, for some time now and increasingly, there has been an extremely concrete Response to a kind of aspiration (a call or prayer) in which I say to the Lord, Supreme Lord, manifest Your Love. (It comes at the end of a long Invocation in which I ask Him to manifest all His aspects one after another, one after another, and it ends like that.) But then, remarkably enough, at that moment there comes a Response which is growing clearer and clearer, stronger and stronger. But Sri Aurobindo says that Truth should be established first, and that what he calls the Supramental is the supreme Truth, the Divine Truth. It corresponds to what I noticed while translating that last chapter on the perfection of the being in the Yoga of Self-Perfection: I kept thinking, But thats only the aspect of Truth; all that he expresses is the aspect of Truth; always and everywhere, its the angle of Truth; and his supramental action is an action of Truth.
   I didnt know he had said it, but its written clearly here:

0 1964-11-21, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Mon petit, thats because what you call aspiration is a movement of your psychic consciousness, mentally formulated and supported by the vital but it ISNT YOUR BODY. And its only if you are very attentive to the vibration of the cells, if you are accustomed to observing them and feeling them that you can see. Well, I dont know, but I cant complain about my bodys cells. You know, it isnt a perception, it isnt a sensation, it is a LIVED FAITH in the existence of the Supreme aloneyou know, a faith that its the only Reality and the only Existence. Just that, and everything seems to swell up, as if all these cells were swelling up with such joy! Only, it doesnt take the form of a feeling, not even of a sensation, even less of a thought; so if you arent very attentive, you dont notice it. But, for instance, when I repeat the mantra, its repeated by that famous physical mind, which is so stupid (the mantra is the only thing that can keep a rein on it), and now it has become so identified that the mantra is its whole life, it is like a pulsation of its being; but then when I come to the Invocation (there is a series of Invocations: each one has its own effect on the body), when I come to Manifest Your Love, I see a sort of twinkling of a golden light, which represents an intense joy in all the cells.
   It isnt easy to observe, you must be very, very, very detached from the movement of thought, otherwise you dont notice it. But if you see it, you see that even those cells are there waiting for the Thing.

0 1965-02-19, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   the supreme Invocation
   In other words, the Highest you can attain in your aspiration and in your Invocation the purest, the highest. The purest, I mean, to be exclusively under the influence of the Supreme. So I wrote:
   the supreme Invocation
   the Invocation to the Supreme.
   With the first word, you invoke the Supreme in all that you can attain and all that you will attain, indefinitely. The word has to be progressive.
  --
   the supreme Invocation
   the Invocation to the Supreme.
   The second word represents:

0 1967-04-15, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   There is something interesting in this cellular consciousness: they have a sense of sincerity which is MUCH sharper, and what they call in English exacting, than in the vital and the mind (even the material vital and mind). There is a sort of absoluteness in the sincerity which is very remarkable, and they have a rigorousness between them which is quite wonderful. Its extremely interesting. If anything, any part, any movement, tries to cheat, they catch it like this (gesture of nipping it and wringing its neck), and in such a sharp and precise way. In all the vital or mental movements, there is always a kind of (sinuous gesture) suppleness, something that tries to adaptwhile here, oh its like this (inflexible gesture). So when there is Invocation, prayer, self-giving, surrender, trust, all those things become so pureso pure, so crystalline, you know, that oh!
   And precisely, there is a growing conviction that a perfection realized in Matter is a perfection that is FAR MORE perfect than anywhere else. Thats what gives it a stability it has nowhere else. If there is something somewhere (when there is a great offering and then a joyous self-giving, joyous surrender), if there is something that comes in with even the slightest self-interest for instance, a suffering in some little corner (a pain or disorder), which hopes for or wishes or expects some improvement then it gets caught like this (same gesture of nipping and wringing its neck) and its told, Oh, insincere one! Give yourself unconditionally. Then its magnificent.

0 1967-09-13, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   You know, when I go there (to the music room) to see people, I simply concentrate and there is a sort of Invocation to the Lords Presence. And when He is there, when I feel the whole room full of Him, then its good. That is the sole will (immobile, passive gesture turned upward). I expressed this when I said to someone, I give them a bath of the Lord! And thats indeed how it is: His Presence, His Action His Presence, His Action Thats all. And when I look at them, there is no more person: there is only His Presence and His Action.
   So there we are, it has a different effect on each one!

0 1971-07-24, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   The body feels its no longer here: this holds no reality for it anymore, but its not yet THERE. So its like this (oscillating gesture between the two). It aspires. It has learned to invoke the Divine all the time, all the time, all the time, whatever it is doing, whether there are people present, whether its speaking or not; whatever it does, there is a constant Invocation. That way, its all right. But its not positive yet. (Mother coughs) And this cold seems to go away and then it comes back. Its not an ordinary cold.
   But as soon as I go into deep silence, then, for somebody whos receptive, it can be very helpful. As soon as I go into deep silence, the Presence becomes concrete, evident. Then its helpful. But as soon as I speak, I am (gesture of crumbling away).

0 1971-10-13, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   These last words were said in such a moving tone, as if they were at once Invocation, pain, prayer....
   ***

02.07 - George Seftris, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Or this truly pitiful Invocation:
   But they have eyes all white without eyelashes

02.11 - Hymn to Darkness, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Here is a modern poem in Bengali. It is characteristically modern, though perhaps not quite modernist. It is an Invocation to Darkness:
   That darkness is no more,
  --
   Invocation to Darkness has, it appears, become quite fashionable among a certain group of modern poets. It is a favourite theme on which many a poet, many a good poet has played each in his way, a characteristic variation. Curiously enough, I came across about the same time the work of another poet, a French poet, also modern and almost modernist and, curio user still, in the same manner, a worshipper of Darkness. He is Yves Bonnefoy, originally belonging to the school of Jouve, an earlier modern. He speaks of two kinds of Night, one darker than the other the less dark one is our common day with its grey light. The other is on the other shore:
   Vers l' autre rive encore plus nocturne1

04.01 - The March of Civilisation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Turning to India we find a fuller and completerif not a globalpicture of the whole movement. India, we may say, is the spiritual world itself: and she epitomised the curve of human progress in a clearer and more significant manner. Indian history, not its political but its cultural and spiritual history, divides itself naturally into great movements with corresponding epochs each dwelling upon and dealing with one domain in the hierarchy of man's consciousness. The stages and epochs are well known: they are(l) Vedic, (2) Upanishadic, (3) Darshanasroughly from Buddha to Shankara, (4) Puranic, (5) Bhagavataor the Age of Bhakti, and finally (6) the Tantric. The last does not mean that it is the latest revelation, the nearest to us in time, but that it represents a kind of complementary movement, it was there all along, for long at least, and in which the others find their fruition and consummation. We shall explain presently. The force of consciousness that came and moved and moulded the first and the earliest epoch was Revelation. It was a power of direct vision and occult will and cosmic perception. Its physical seat is somewhere behind and or just beyond the crown of the head: the peak of man's manifest being that received the first touch of Surya Savitri (the supreme Creative Consciousness) to whom it bowed down uttering the Invocation mantra of Gayatri. The Ray then entered the head at the crown and illumined it: the force of consciousness that ruled there is Intuition, the immediate perception of truth and reality, the cosmic consciousness gathered and concentrated at that peak. That is Upanishadic knowledge. If the source and foundation of the Vedic initiation was occult vision, the Upanishad meant a pure and direct Ideation. The next stage in the coming down or propagation of the Light was when it reached further down into the brain and the philosophical outlook grew with rational understanding and discursive argumentation as the channel for expression, the power to be cultivated and the limb to be developed. The Age of the Darshanas or Systems of Philosophy started with the Buddha and continued till it reached its peak in Shankaracharya. The age sought to give a bright and strong mental, even an intellectual body to the spiritual light, the consciousness of the highest truth and reality. In the Puranic Age the vital being was touched by the light of the spirit and principally on the highest, the mental level of that domain. It meant the advent of the element of feeling and emotiveness and imagination into the play of the Light, the beginning of their reclamation. This was rendered more concrete and more vibrant and intense in the next stage of the movement. The whole emotional being was taken up into the travailing crucible of consciousness. We may name it also as the age of the Bhagavatas, god-lovers, Bhaktas. It reached its climax in Chaitanya whose physical passion for God denoted that the lower ranges of the vital being (its physical foundations) were now stirred in man to awake and to receive the Light. Finally remains the physical, the most material to be worked upon and made conscious and illumined. That was the task of the Tantras. Viewed in that light one can easily understand why especial stress was laid in that system upon the esoteric discipline of the five m's (pancha makra),all preoccupied with the handling and harnessing of the grossest physical instincts and the most material instruments. The Tantric discipline bases itself upon Nature Power coiled up in Matter: the release of that all-conquering force through a purification and opening into the consciousness of the Divine Mother, the transcendent creatrix of the universe. The dynamic materialising aspect of consciousness was what inspired the Tantras: the others forming the Vedantic line, on the whole, were based on the primacy of the static being, the Purusha, aloof and withdrawing.
   The Indian consciousness, we say, presented the movement as an intensive and inner, a spiritual process: it dealt with the substance itself, man's very nature and sought to know it from within and shape it consciously. In Europe where the frontal consciousness is more stressed and valued, the more characteristic feature of its history is the unfoldment and metamorphosis of the forms and expressions, the residuary powers, as it were, of man's evolving personality, individual and social.

07.25 - Prayer and Aspiration, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   There are many kinds of prayers. There is one external and physical, that is to say, simply words learnt by rote and repeated mechanically. It does not mean much. It has usually one result, however, making you quiet. If you go on repeating a few words or sounds for some time, it puts you into a state of calmness in the end. There is another kind which is the natural expression of a wish; you want a particular thing and you express it clearly. You can pray for an, object or for a circumstance, you can pray also for a person or for yourself. There is still another kind in which the prayer borders on aspiration and the two meet: it is the spontaneous formulation of a living experience; it shoots out of the depth of your being, it is the utterance of something lived within: it wants to express gratitude for the experience, asks for its continuation or seeks an explanation. It is then, what I said, almost an aspiration. Aspiration, however, does not necessarily formulate itself in words; if it uses words at all, it makes of them a kind of Invocation. Thus, you wish to be in a certain condition. You have, for example, found in you something which is not in harmony with your ideal, a movement of obscurity or ignorance or even bad will. You wish to see it changed. You do not express the thing in so many words, but it rises up in you like a flame, an ardent offering of the experience itself which seeks increase and greatening to be made more clear and precise. It is true all this is capable of being expressed in words, if one tries to recall and note down the experience. But the experience, the aspiration itself is, as I say, like a flame shooting up and contains within it the very thing it asks for. I say asks for, but the movement is not at all that of a desire; it is truly a flame, the flame of purifying will carrying at its centre the very object which it wished to be realised. The discovery of a fault in you impels you to make it an occasion for more progress, for greater self-discipline, for further ascension towards the Divine. It opens out a door upon your future, which you wish to be clearer, truer, intenser; all that gathers in you like a concentrated force and tosses you up in a movement of ascension. It needs no expression in words. It is indeed a flame that leaps up. Such is true aspiration. Prayer usually is something much more external; it is about a very precise object. It is always formulated; for the formulation itself makes what a prayer is. You may have an aspiration and you can transcribe it into a prayer, but the aspiration itself exceeds the prayer. It is something much more intimate, much more self-forgetful, living only in the object it wishes to be or the thing to do, almost identified with it. A prayer can be of a very high quality. Instead of being a request for a fulfilment of your particular desire, it may express your thankfulness and gratefulness for what the Divine has done and is doing for you. You are not busy with your little self and its egoistic interests, you ask for the Divine's ways in you and in the world. This leads you to the border of aspiration. For aspiration too has many degrees and it is expressed on many levels. But the core of aspiration is in the psychic being, it is there at its purest, for there is its origin and source. Prayers come from the other, the lower or secondary levels of being. That is to say, there are physical or material prayers, asking for physical or material things, vital prayers, mental prayers; there are psychic prayers and spiritual prayers too. Each has its own character and its own value. I say again there is a certain type of prayer which is so spontaneous and so disinterested, more like an appeal or a call, generally not for one's own sake, but acting sometimes like an intercession with the Divine on behalf of others. Such a prayer is extremely powerful. I have seen innumerable cases where such a prayer had brought about its immediate fulfilment. It means a great faith, a great fervour, a great sincerity and also a great simplicity of heart, something which does not calculate, which does not bargain or barter, does not give with the idea of receiving. The majority of prayers are precisely made with the idea of giving so that one may receive. But I was speaking of the rarer variety which also does exist, which is a kind of thanksgiving, a canticle or a hymn.
   To sum up then it can be said that a prayer is always formed of words. Words have different values, according to the state of consciousness of the person when he formulates it. But always prayer is a formulated thing. But one can aspire without formulating. And then, prayer needs a person to whom one prays. There is, of course, a certain class of people whose conception of the universe is such that there is no room in it for the Divine (the famous French scientist Laplace, for example). Such people are not likely to favour the existence of any being superior to themselves to whom they can appeal or look up for guidance and help. There is no question of prayer for them. But even they, though they may not pray, may aspire. They may not believe in God, but they may believe, for example, in progress. They may conceive of the world as a progressive movement, that it is becoming better and better, rising higher and higher, growing constantly to a nobler fulfilment. They can ask for, will for, aspire for such progress; they need not look for the Divine. Aspiration requires faith, certainly, but not faith necessarily in a personal God. But prayer is always addressed to a person, a person who hears and grants it. There lies the great difference between the two. Intellectual people admit aspiration, but prayer they consider as something inferior, fit for unintellectual persons. The mystics say, aspiration is quite all right, but if your aspiration is to be heard and fulfilled, you must also pray, know how to pray and to whomwho else but the Divine? The aspiration need not be towards any person; the aspiration is not for a person, but for a state of consciousness, a knowledge, a realisation. Prayer adds to it the relation to a person. Prayer is a personal thing addressed to a person for a thing which he alone can grant.

07.31 - Images of Gods and Goddesses, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   I have seen some of these forms in the vital world and also in the mental world; they are truly creations of man. There is a Power from beyond that manifests, but in this triple world of Ignorance man creates God Himself in his own image and beings that appear there are more or less the outcome of the creative human thought. So at times we do have things that are truly frightful. I have seen formations that are so obscure, so un-understandable, so inexpressive! There are some divine beings that are treated worse than the others. Take, for example, this poor Mahakali. What has man made of her, wildly terrible, a nightmare beyond imagination! Such creations however live in a very inferior world, in the lowest vital world; and if there is anything there of the original being, it is such a far off reflection that it is hardly recognisable. And yet it is that which is pulled by the human consciousness. When, for example, an image is made and installed and the priest calls down into it a form, an emanation of a god, through an inner Invocation there is usually a whole ceremony in this connectionif the priest is someone having the power of evocation, then the thing succeeds (what Ramakrishna did in the Kali temple). But generally priests are people with the commonest ideas and the most traditional training and education; when they think of the gods they give them attributes and appearances which are popular, which belong normally to entities of the vital world, at best to mental formations but which do not represent in any way the truth of the beings behind. All the idols in temples or the household gods worshipped by the many are inhabited by beings who know only how to lead you to unhappiness and disaster. They are so far away from the divinity that one means to worship. There are certain family Kalis that are real monsters. I have even advised some to throw such an image into the Ganges to get rid of the evil influence emanating from it. But of course it is always the fault of man and not of the divinity. For man wishes so much to make his gods in his own image.
   ***

09.01 - Prayer and Aspiration, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Prayer is a thing much more external than aspiration. It concerns generally a definite object and it is always formulated, for it is the formula itself that is the prayer. One can have an aspiration and transcribe it in a prayer, but if it is formulated in words, ids almost a movement of Invocation.
   Aspiration goes beyond prayer on all sides. It is much more self-forgetful, living only in the thing that one wills to do or become, in the offering that one seeks to make to the Divine. Aspiration may come from any plane, but the centre lies in the psychic.

09.02 - Meditation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Collective meditation, of which the most external form is collective prayer, has been practised since ancient times for different reasons, in different ways, and with different purposes. Groups of persons, whether belonging to the same Church or not, come together to express a common feeling; in certain cases, it is to sing together in praise of God, to chant a hymn of gratitude, expressing love, adoration, thankfulness. In other cases,there are many historical examples of thispeople gather together for a common Invocation, to ask something from the Divine in the hope that a prayer done collectively will have more effect than an individual prayer. Thus, in Europe prophets announced that in the year one thousand of grace there would be the end of the world; everywhere crowds assembled to implore the divine protection and to pray that the catastrophe might be averted. More recently in modern times, when the king of England, George VI, had an attack of pneumonia and was almost on the point of death, the British people gathered not only in churches but even in the streets in front of the royal palace, to pray in common and to ask God to save their king. This is of course a most external form, I could say, a most worldly meditation in community. Besides, in all groups of Initiation, in all spiritual schools of ancient times and naturally in modern times also, meditation in community has always been practised; here the purpose is evidently very different. People gather together to make a collective progress, to open themselves to a force, a light and an influence; it is somewhat like that which we all try to do here. There are two ways to proceed, and both are excellent. For individual meditation, first of all, one must prepare to meditate, that is to say, after sitting down in a posture, at the same time comfortable enough not to be too cramped, and not too comfortable either lest you should fall asleep, one establishes the calm and the silence, not only externally but internally and then one gathers as far as possible one's consciousness which is generally dispersed in all kinds of thoughts and preoccupations. One brings back the consciousness as completely as one can, and concentrates it in the region of the heart, towards the solar plexus, so that all the active energies which are in the head, all which make the brain active are turned and concentrated on this point. This may be done in a few seconds, or in a few minutes. It depends upon each one; when you have prepared yourself in this way, you have the choice between two attitudes: active and passive.
   What I call an active attitude is to concentrate on the person who guides the meditation with the will to open yourself to receive what is being given to you or to the force with which you are put in contact. It is active, because here there is a will which acts and an active concentration to open yourself to someone or something.

10.12 - Awake Mother, #Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The Mother rises and sends out a grim Invocation.
  Who art thou at this dead of night swinging the titan heads in Thy hands?

1.02.4.1 - The Worlds - Surya, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
  form of an Invocation to Surya and Agni, the Vedic godheads,
  representative one of the supreme Truth and its illuminations,

1.02 - The Magic Circle, #The Practice of Magical Evocation, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
  All authors of books dealing with ceremonial magic and giving reports about conjuration and Invocation of beings of any kind point out that the magic circle plays the most important role in this. Hundreds of instructions can be found on how to make magic circles to attain various goals, for instance with Albertus Magnus, in the Clavicula Salomonis, in the Goethia, in Agrippa, in Magia Naturalis, in the Faust-Magia-Naturalis and in the oldest Grimoires. It is told everywhere that when invoking or calling a being, one must stand within the magic circle. But an explanation of the esoteric symbolism of the magic circle is hardly ever given.
  Therefore I intend to give the studious and eager magician a completely satisfactory description of the magic circle according the Universal Laws and Analogies.
  --
  The effect of such a circle on the mental or astral plane, indirectly also on this material world, depends, in this case, on the grade and strenght of such an imagination. The binding force of the circle is generally known in magnetic magic. Moreover, a magic circle may be produced by the accumulation of elements or the condensation of light. When practising evocations or Invocation of beings, it is desirable to draw within the centre of the circle in which one is to stand another smaller circle or a pentagram with one of its points upwards, the symbol representing man. This is then the symbolization of the small world, of man as genuine magician.
  The books dealing with the construction of the magic circle clearly state that during the act of Invocation the magician must not leave the circle, which, in its magic sense, means nothing else but that the consciousness of, or contact with, the Absolute, (i. e. the macrocosm), must not be interrupted. Needless to say that the magician, during his magic operation with the help of a magic circle and with the being standing in front of him, must not step out of the circle with his physical body, unless he has finished his experiment and dismissed the relevant being.
  All this clearly shows that a true magic circle is really the best means to practice ceremonial magic. The magician will always find that the magic circle is, in every respect, the highest symbol in his hand.

1.02 - THE NATURE OF THE GROUND, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  Some idea of the inexhaustible richness of the divine nature can be obtained by analysing, word by word, the Invocation with which the Lords Prayer beginsOur Father who art in heaven. God is oursours in the same intimate sense that our consciousness and life are ours. But as well as immanently ours, God is also transcendently the personal Father, who loves his creatures and to whom love and allegiance are owed by them in return. Our Father who art: when we come to consider the verb in isolation, we perceive that the immanent-transcendent personal God is also the immanent-transcendent One, the essence and principle of all existence. And finally Gods being is in heaven; the divine nature is other than, and incommensurable with, the nature of the creatures in whom God is immanent. That is why we can attain to the unitive knowledge of God only when we become in some measure Godlike, only when we permit Gods kingdom to come by making our own creaturely kingdom go.
  God may be worshipped and contemplated in any of his aspects. But to persist in worshipping only one aspect to the exclusion of all the rest is to run into grave spiritual peril. Thus, if we approach God with the preconceived idea that He is exclusively the personal, transcendental, all-powerful ruler of the world, we run the risk of becoming entangled in a religion of rites, propitiatory sacrifices (sometimes of the most horrible nature) and legalistic observances. Inevitably so; for if God is an unapproachable potentate out there, giving mysterious orders, this kind of religion is entirely appropriate to the cosmic situation. The best that can be said for ritualistic legalism is that it improves conduct. It does little, however, to alter character and nothing of itself to modify consciousness.

1.035 - The Recitation of Mantra, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  The adoration of God, the contemplation of God, the attunement of oneself with God, says Patanjali, can be easily achieved through the repetition of the Name of God. It is difficult to contact God, for reasons that are obvious. But we need not despair or feel that it is impossible to contact Him, because while there are most difficult techniques of the soul's merger into God, there are also very simple methods of drawing His attention to oneself. The most traditional, accepted and common sadhana, not only in India but in religious circles in almost all parts of the world, is what is known as japa or recitation of the Divine Name. The object that we are having in our mind becomes associated with our idea of it by the Invocation of its name, as it is known in common parlance. There are two aspects to the way in which there can be an Invocation of anything in our mind. One is, if I want to draw the attention of a person towards myself, I call the name of that person, and the person listens. The expected effect is then produced.
  There can be a reciprocal action on the part of the object of our idea, when we summon the name of that object, if it is an object which is conscious, like a human being. But if the object is not conscious like a human being, or it is so withdrawn into itself that it has no consciousness of itself at all, then we can generate an idea of that object by calling its name and visualising it in our mind so that we are able to remember it. Japa has something to do with the drawing up of a memory in respect of anything that we wish to maintain in our consciousness. There are objects of various kinds in this world, of which some are conscious and some are unconscious. If I summon a conscious object, there is an immediate reaction; but more effort is necessary for summoning an unconscious object. I can call a dog by making a sound with my mouth and it will come running to me. But if I call an umbrella: "You come," - it will not come, because it is not conscious of my intention in regard to it. Though, ultimately, even unconscious objects can be made to move by the power of thought, it cannot be done easily; it requires extraordinary effort.
  The Name of God is a peculiar mode of Invocation by which we generate in ourself forces of a peculiar character which have significance, both in our inner life as well as in our outer life. The particular symbol by which we can invoke the form of God into our mind, and which Patanjali has in mind, is pranava or omkara. Tasya vcaka praava (I.27): The Name of God is Om, says Patanjali. Now, when he says 'Om', he does not mean any kind of Hindu concept or any type of sectarian tradition. What he intends to tell us is that the symbol of God should be comprehensive enough to contain within itself almost all of the characteristics of God. A limited object, a finite thing in this world, can be designated by a finite name. But, an infinite object like God cannot be designated by any kind of finite designation or epithet. When a finite name is uttered, an idea in the mind is generated which corresponds to that finite name. The name 'tree', for instance, immediately generates in the mind the idea of a tree, which is the corresponding finite object that is related to this finite name. A particular name can summon up only a particular idea of a given object.
  God is not any particular thing. He is the most general of all beings, satta samanya, as He is called, the universal substratum or the greatest common factor present in every conceivable thing, anywhere. Therefore, the designation of God should be possessed of similar characteristics namely, it should be very comprehensive. That is, when the name of God is chanted, it is not that any particular finite idea is generated in the mind, but a vaster and more comprehensive notion is generated, which works in such a way that it removes the finitude of consciousness in our mind. Tajjapa tadarthabhvanam (I.28) 'japa' is the word used here in this sutra. Japa is a holy recitation, a constant hammering into the mind of a particular formula, an idea, or a name, in order that the same idea may be allowed to originate in the mind, and nothing else is allowed. The mind is made in such a way that it cannot think one and the same thing continuously and, therefore, it is necessary to repeat the designation or formula of a particular given object again and again, without any remission or gap, so that the mind reconstitutes itself into the form of that object, and there is a new type of vyapti or pervasion taking place in the mind, which is our intention in the recitation of the mantra.

1.03 - Invocation of Tara, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
  object:1.03 - Invocation of Tara
  subject class:Buddhism

1.03 - THE STUDY (The Exorcism), #Faust, #Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #Poetry
  I use no leng thened Invocation:
  Here rustles one that soon will work my liberation.

1.04 - The Gods of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The master word of the address to the Aswins is the verb chanasyatam, take your delight. The Aswins, as I understand them, are the masters of strength, youth, joy, swiftness, pleasure, rapture, the pride and glory of existence, and may almost be described as the twin gods of youth and joy. All the epithets applied to them here support this view. They are dravatpani subhaspati, the swift-footed masters of weal, of happiness and good fortune; they are purubhuja, much enjoying; their office is to take and give delight, chanasyatam. So runs the first verse, Aswin yajwaririsho dravatpani subhaspati, Purubhuja chanasyatam. O Aswins, cries Madhuchchhanda, I am in the full rush, the full ecstasy of the sacrificial action, O swift-footed, much-enjoying masters of happiness, take in me your delight. Again they are purudansasa, wide-distributing, nara, strong. O strong wide-distributing Aswins, continues the singer, with your bright-flashing (or brilliantly-forceful) understanding take pleasure in the words (of the mantra) which are now firmly settled (in the mind). Aswina purudansasa nara shaviraya dhiya, Dhishnya vanatam girah. Again we have the stress on things subjective, intellectual and spiritual. The extreme importance of the mantra, the inspired & potent word in the old Vedic religion is known nor has it diminished in later Hinduism. The mantra in Yoga is only effective when it has settled into the mind, is asina, has taken its seat there and become spontaneous; it is then that divine power enters into, takes possession of it and the mantra itself becomes one with the god of the mantra and does his works in the soul and body. This, as every Yogin knows, is one of the fundamental ideas not only in the Rajayogic practice but in almost all paths of spiritual discipline. Here we have the very word that can most appropriately express this settling in of the mantra, dhishnya, combined with the word girah. And we know that the gods in the Veda are called girvanah, those who delight in the mantra; Indra, the god of mental force, is girvahas, he who supports or bears the mantra. Why should Nature gods delight in speech or the god of thunder & rain be the supporter or bearer of any kind of speech? The hymns? But what is meant by bearing the hymns? We have to give unnatural meanings to vanas & vahas, if we wish to avoid this plain indication. In the next verse the epithets are dasra, bountiful, which, like wide-distributing is again an epithet appropriate to the givers of happiness, weal and youth, rudravartani, fierce & impetuous in all their ways, and Nasatya, a word of doubtful meaning which, for philological reasons, I take to mean gods of movement.As the movement indicated by this and kindred words n, (natare), especially meant a gliding, floating, swimming movement, the Aswins came to be especially the protectors of ships & sailors, and it is in this capacity that we find Castor & Polydeuces (Purudansas) acting, their Western counterparts, the brothers of Helen (Sarama), the swift riders of the Roman legend. O givers, O lords of free movement, runs the closing verse of this Invocation, come to the outpourings of my nectar, be ye fierce in action;I feel full of youthful vigour, I have prepared the sacred grass,if that indeed be the true & early meaning of barhis. Dasra yuvakavah suta nasatya vriktabarhishah, Ayatam rudravartani. It is an intense rapture of the soul (rudravartani) which Madhuchchhandas asks first from the gods.Therefore his first call is to the Aswins.
  Next, it is to Indra that he turns. I have already said that in my view Indra is the master of mental force. Let us see whether there is anything here to contradict the hypothesis. Indra yahi chitrabhano suta ime tu ayavah, Anwibhis tana putasah. Indrayahi dhiyeshito viprajutah sutavatah Upa brahmani vaghatah. Indrayahi tutujana upa brahmani harivah Sute dadhishwa nas chanah. There are several important words here that are doubtful in their sense, anwi, tana, vaghatah, brahmani; but none of them are of importance for our present purpose except brahmani. For reasons I shall give in the proper place I do not accept Brahma in the Veda as meaning speech of any kind, but as either soul or a mantra of the kind afterwards called dhyana, the object of which was meditation and formation in the soul of the divine Power meditated on whether in an image or in his qualities. It is immaterial which sense we take here. Indra, sings the Rishi, arrive, O thou of rich and varied light, here are these life-streams poured forth, purified, with vital powers, with substance. Arrive, O Indra, controlled by the understanding, impelled forward in various directions to my soul faculties, I who am now full of strength and flourishing increase. Arrive, O Indra, with protection to my soul faculties, O dweller in the brilliance, confirm our delight in the nectar poured. It seems to me that the remarkable descriptions dhiyeshito viprajutah are absolutely conclusive, that they prove the presence of a subjective Nature Power, not a god of rain & tempest, & prove especially a mind-god. What is it but mental force which comes controlled by the understanding and is impelled forward by it in various directions? What else is it that at the same time protects by its might the growing & increasing soul faculties from impairing & corrupting attack and confirms, keeps safe & continuous the delight which the Aswins have brought with them? The epithets chitrabhano, harivas become at once intelligible and appropriate; the god of mental force has indeed a rich and varied light, is indeed a dweller in the brilliance. The progress of the thought is clear. Madhuchchhanda, as a result of Yogic practice, is in a state of spiritual & physical exaltation; he has poured out the nectar of vitality; he is full of strength & ecstasy This is the sacrifice he has prepared for the gods. He wishes it to be prolonged, perhaps to be made, if it may now be, permanent. The Aswins are called to give & take the delight, Indra to supply & preserve that mental force which will sustain the delight otherwise in danger of being exhausted & sinking by its own fierceness rapidly consuming its material in the soul faculties. The state and the movement are one of which every Yogin knows.
  --
  We have therefore as a result of a long and careful examination the clear conviction that certainly in this poem of Madhuchchhanda, probably in others of his hymns, perhaps in all we have an Invocation to subjective Nature powers, a symbolic sacrifice, a spiritual, moral & subjective effort & purpose. And if many other suktas in this & other Mandalas confirm the evidence of this third hymn of the Rigveda, shall we not say that here we have the true Veda as the Rishis understood it and that this was the reason why all the ancient thinkers looked on the hymns with so deep-seated a reverence that even after they came to be used merely as ceremonial liturgies at a material sacrifice, even after the Buddha impatiently flung them aside, the writer of the Gita had to look beyond them & Shankara respectfully put them on the shelf of neglect as useless for spiritual purposes, even after they have ceased to be used and almost to be read, the most spiritual nation on the face of the earth still tenaciously, by a sort of divine instinct, clings to them as its supreme Scriptures & refers back all its spirituality and higher knowledge to the Vedas? Let us proceed and see whether this is not the truest as well as the noblest reading of the riddle the real root of Gods purpose in maintaining this our ancient faith and millennial tradition.
  ***

1.05 - Hymns of Bharadwaja, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
    2. To us thou art our priest of the Invocation, harmless and perfect in ecstasy; thou art the god within in mortals that makes the discoveries of knowledge; thou art the carrier with the burning mouth, with the purifying flame of oblation. O Fire, worship with sacrifice thy own body.
    3. In thee the understanding is full of riches and it desires the gods, the divine births, that the word may be spoken and the sacrifice done, when the singer, the sage, wisest of the Angirases chants his honey-rhythm in the rite.
  --
    2. The Fire is the thinker and knower, the Fire is a mightiest disposer of works and a seer. To Fire the priest of the Invocation the peoples of men aspire in their sacrifices.
    3. Of many kinds are they who seek thy safeguard and strive with the foe for his riches; men breaking through the Destroyer seek to overcome his lawless strength by the order of their works.
  --
  4. Crown must thou the guest shining with light, the Male of the Sun-world, the priest of man's Invocation who makes perfect the Rite of the Path. Crown with your acts of purification the Seer whose speech has its home in the Light,12 the Carrier of offerings, the Traveller, the Godhead of Fire.
   11 Or, be our deliverer from the enemy beyond and within us.
  --
  13. Fire, the priest of the Invocation, is a king and the Master in
  our house; all the births he knows, he is of all things born
  --
  the gift of the oblation: sit, the priest of our Invocation, on
  the grass of the altar.

1.05 - The Magical Control of the Weather, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
  every halting-place, while they sing an Invocation, of which the
  following is part:

1.06 - Agni and the Truth, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Atri. In each of these Mandalas the Suktas addressed to Agni are first collected together and followed by those of which Indra is the deity; the Invocations of other gods, Brihaspati, Surya, the Ribhus, Usha etc. close the Mandala. A whole book, the ninth, is given to a single god, Soma. The first, eighth and tenth
  Mandalas are collections of Suktas by various Rishis, but the hymns of each seer are ordinarily placed together in the order of their deities, Agni leading, Indra following, the other gods succeeding. Thus the first Mandala opens with ten hymns of the seer Madhuchchhandas, son of Vishwamitra, and an eleventh ascribed to Jetri, son of Madhuchchhandas. This last Sukta, however, is identical in style, manner and spirit with the ten that precede it and they can all be taken together as a single block of hymns one in intention and diction.
  --
  This is the obvious sense of the word kavikratuh., he whose active will or power of effectivity is that of the seer, - works, that is to say, with the knowledge which comes by the truth-consciousness and in which there is no misapplication or error. The epithets that follow confirm this interpretation. Agni is satya, true in his being; perfect possession of his own truth and the essential truth of things gives him the power to apply it perfectly in all act and movement of force. He has both the satyam and the r.tam. Moreover, he is citrasravastamah.; from the Ritam there proceeds a fullness of richly luminous and varied inspirations which give the capacity for doing the perfect work. For all these are epithets of Agni as the hotr., the priest of the sacrifice, he who performs the offering. Therefore it is the power of Agni to apply the Truth in the work (karma or apas) symbolised by the sacrifice, that makes him the object of human Invocation.
  The importance of the sacrificial fire in the outward ritual corresponds to the importance of this inward force of unified Light and Power in the inward rite by which there is communication and interchange between the mortal and the Immortal. Agni is elsewhere frequently described as the envoy, duta, the medium of that communication and interchange.
  --
  Rishis, - the conception of a Truth-consciousness supramental and divine, the Invocation of the gods as powers of the Truth to raise man out of the falsehoods of the mortal mind, the attainment in and by this Truth of an immortal state of perfect good and felicity and the inner sacrifice and offering of what
  Agni and the Truth

1.06 - Hymns of Parashara, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  of Invocation and increases the house of his worshipper.
  dvo n y, sEvtA s(ymmA 5(vA EnpAEt vjnAEn Ev

1.08a - The Ladder, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
  I ignore completely, at this stage of exegesis, the charms and amulets which comprise a greater part of such Qabal- istic works as Sepher Ratsiel haMaloch and The Greater Key of King Solomon. My references are in the main directed towards the spiritual thaumaturgy manifested in, for example, The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage and such Invocations as " The Bornless One ", " Liber Israfel " ; the latter being an adaptation from the Book of the Dead ; and the powerful fragments of lyrical ritual found in the Dee manuscripts. When a man endeavours to perfect his meditation, the rebellion of the human will and the Ruach is violent, and only by experience can one discover the almost diabolical ingenuity of the mind in attempting to escape from control. There are methods of training that will, by which it is more or less easy to check one's progress. Magical ritual is a mnemonic process devoted to this end. I say mnemonic advisedly, to answer objections to " apparatus " employed by the Practical Qabalist.
  By each act, word, and thought, the one object of the ceremony - the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel- is being constantly indicated. Every fumigation, Invocation, banishing and circumambulation is simply a reminder of the single purpose until - after symbol upon symbol, emotion after emotion having been added - the supreme moment arrives, and every nerve of the body, every force-channel of the Nephesch and Ruach is strained in one overwhelming orgasm, one ecstatic rush of the Will and Soul in the pre- determined direction.
  Everything in the operation is so arranged that it will remind the Magician of his one Aim, his one True Object.
  He resolves that every weapon and instrument employed in his ceremony shall serve to remind him of his chosen end, making every impression (by means of the Qabalistic alpha- bet of association of ideas) the starting-point of a connected series of thoughts ending in that thing. His whole energy is resolved that every act shall turn to the advantage of his Invocations.
  In a Temple which typifies the universe as he is aware of it, he draws a circle to announce the nature of his operation.
  --
  To this we must return, say the Qabalists ; to a dynamic living conception of the cosmos. And the way is through daily ritual. Our reawakening by the Invocation of the
  Gods to never-ending manifestation as living presences within our own hearts, souls, and in our own bodies.
  --
  Philosophus the very idea of separation will imply the great- est misery, despondency, and heartache. He then considers himself as the High Priest of his God, beseeching Him to appear in answer to the prayers and Invocations offered, seeking to establish a devotion similar to that of St. Francis of Assisi for Christ, and Abdullah Haji Shiraz for Allah.
  The fashioning of his Wand is also necessary at this juncture. The wand is the symbol for the Magical Will, which he is developing into a mighty potential, capable of making changes by a mere gesture.

1.08 - Origin of Rudra: his becoming eight Rudras, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
  Śrī, the bride of Viṣṇu, the mother of the world, is eternal, imperishable; in like manner as he is all-pervading, so also is she, oh best of Brahmans, omnipresent. Viṣṇu is meaning; she is speech. Hari is polity (Naya); she is prudence (Nīti). Viṣṇu is understanding; she is intellect. He is righteousness; she is devotion. He is the creator; she is creation. Śrī is the earth; Hari the support of it. The deity is content; the eternal Lakṣmī is resignation. He is desire; Śrī is wish. He is sacrifice; she is sacrificial donation (Dakṣinā). The goddess is the Invocation which attends the oblation; Janārddana is the oblation. Lakṣmī is the chamber where the females are present (at a religious ceremony); Madhusūdana the apartment of the males of the family. Lakṣmī is the altar; Hari the stake (to which the victim is bound). Śrī is the fuel; Hari the holy grass (Kuśa). He is the personified Sāma veda; the goddess, lotus-throned, is the tone of its chanting. Lakṣmī is the prayer of oblation (Svāhā); Vāsudeva, the lord of the world, is the sacrificial fire. Saurī (Viṣṇu) is Śa
  kara (Śiva); and Śrī is the bride of Śiva (Gaurī). Keśava, oh Maitreya, is the sun; and his radiance is the lotus-seated goddess. Viṣṇu is the tribe of progenitors (Pitrigana); Padma. is their bride (Swadhā), the eternal bestower of nutriment. Śrī is the heavens; Viṣṇu, who is one with all things, is wide extended space. The lord of Śrī is the moon; she is his unfading light. She is called the moving principle of the world; he, the wind which bloweth every where. Govinda is the ocean; Lakṣmī its shore. Lakṣmī is the consort of Indra (Indrānī); Madhusūdana is Devendra. The holder of the discus (Viṣṇu) is Yama (the regent of Tartarus); the lotus-throned goddess is his dusky spouse (Dhūmornā). Śrī is wealth; Śridhara (Viṣṇu) is himself the god of riches (Kuvera). Lakṣmī, illustrious Brahman, is Gaurī; and Keśava, is the deity of ocean (Varuna). Śrī is the host of heaven (Devasenā); the deity of war, her lord, is Hari. The wielder of the mace is resistance; the power to oppose is Śrī. Lakṣmī is the Kāṣṭhā and the Kalā; Hari the Nimeṣa and the Muhūrtta. Lakṣmī is the light; and Hari, who is all, and lord of all, the lamp. She, the mother of the world, is the creeping vine; and Viṣṇu the tree round which she clings. She is the night; the god who is armed with the mace and discus is the day. He, the bestower of blessings, is the bridegroom; the lotus-throned goddess is the bride.
  --
  gadvāra, as tradition reports[2]. They found Dakṣa, the best of the devout, surrounded by the singers and nymphs of heaven, and by numerous sages, beneath the shade of clustering trees and climbing plants; and all of them, whether dwellers on earth, in air, or in the regions above the skies, approached the patriarch with outward gestures of respect. The Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, Maruts, all entitled to partake of the oblations, together with Jiṣṇu, were present. The four classes of Pitris, Ushmapās, Somapās, Ājyapās, and Dhūmapās, or those who feed upon the flame, the acid juice, the butter, or the smoke of offerings, the Aswins and the progenitors, came along with Brahmā. Creatures of every class, born from the womb, the egg, from vapour, or vegetation, came upon their Invocation; as did all the gods, with their brides, who in their resplendent vehicles blazed like so many fires. Beholding them thus assembled, the sage Dadhīca was filled with indignation, and observed, 'The man who worships what ought not to be worshipped, or pays not reverence where veneration is due, is guilty, most assuredly, of heinous sin.' Then addressing Dakṣa, he said to him, 'Why do you not offer homage to the god who is the lord of life (Paśubhartri)?' Dakṣa spake; 'I have already many Rudras present, armed with tridents, wearing braided hair, and existing in eleven forms: I recognise no other Mahādeva.' Dadhīca spake; 'The Invocation that is not addressed to Īśa, is, for all, but a solitary (and imperfect) summons. Inasmuch as I behold no other divinity who is superior to Śa
  kara, this sacrifice of Dakṣa will not be completed.' Dakṣa spake; I offer, in a golden cup, this entire oblation, which has been consecrated by many prayers, as an offering ever due to the unequalled Viṣṇu, the sovereign lord of all[3].'

1.08 - The Gods of the Veda - The Secret of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Madhuchchhanda turns to Saraswati at the close of his hymn after successively calling to the Aswins, Indra & the Visvadevas. To each of these deities he has addressed three riks of praise & Invocation; the last three of the twelve reiterate in each verse the name, epithets & functions of Saraswati. The Sukta falls therefore into four equal parts of which the last alone immediately concerns us.
    Pvak nah Saraswat, vjebhir vjinvat,
  --
  We have now arrived, in the thought of the Sukta, at a stage when the strength & delight supported by the Soma, taken up through the mantras into the understanding, poured into a strong & many-sided mental activity can be utilised for action and poured out on the world. Therefore the next Invocation is to the Visve Devah, to whom also three riks are devoted:
    Omsa charshandhrito, vive devsah gata,

1.09 - Saraswati and Her Consorts, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Saraswati are associated together in a constant formula in those hymns of Invocation in which the gods are called by Agni to the
  Sacrifice.

1.09 - The Crown, Cap, Magus-Band, #The Practice of Magical Evocation, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
  Always when carrying out operations of ritual magic, no matter whether evocations, Invocations or other operations, the magician should wear something on his head. He may take, for this purpose, a golden crown with magic symbols engraved on it, or he may take a cap or some other headgear with the symbols of the macrocosm and microcosm of the deity with whom the magician is connected or whose shape he is taking on. The symbols must either be drawn with a good colour or embroidered or fastened with silk. Such a symbol of the macrocosm and microcosm, for instance, is a hexagon in the middle of two circles inside of which is the microcosmic symbol of man, the pentagram. If the magician embroiders his cap himself, or if he has it embroidered by somebody else, he may choose a golden colour for the circles as a symbol of infinity; for the hexagon he may take a silvery colour as the symbol of the created universe, and for the pentagram in the centre a white or violet colour. Instead of using a cap or a turban as a headgear, a silk-band, a so-called magus-band, may suffice. This band may be in white, violet or black and is to be wound round the magician's head. The part running over his forehead should be ornamented with the macro-microcosmic symbol, described previously. The symbol may either be embroidered or drawn on a piece of parchment, thereby using the colour mentioned above. Instead of the symbol of the macrocosm some other symbol representing the magician's connection with the deity may be used. For instance, a cross, which at the same time, symbolizes the Positive and the Negative, and the ends of which symbolize the four elements. A rosecross symbol may also be employed, that is a cross with seven roses in the centre, also symbolizing the four elements, the Positive and the Negative, and on top of that, the seven planets. The magician's choice is not, as can be seen, restricted to a particular symbol. He may express his spiritual development, his destination, his maturity, his cosmic relationship by several symbols, whichever he prefers, and he may wear them on his cap or magus-band.
  As already mentioned, the crown, cap or magus-band is a symbol of the dignity of the magician's authority. It is a symbol of the perfection of his spirit, a symbol of his relationship to the microcosm and macrocosm, the tiny and the great world, the highest expression of his magical power, serving him to crown his head. All articles, no matter whether cap, crown or magus-band, must be made of the finest material and must serve no other purposes but operations of ritual magic. As soon as the cap, crown or magus-band is ready and has been tried out, it should be sanctified by meditation and a holy oath, so that the magician will only put it on his head when he is fully absorbed with the idea of his unity with the deity, and he will only make use of the cap for operations which demand this kind of symbolism. When speaking his oath the magician should put his right hand on the cap and should concentrate, by force of imagination, on the idea that at the moment he puts the cap on his head he is united with his deity, or with the symbol ornamenting his cap. Then he should put his headgear away safely together with his other magical implements.

11.06 - The Mounting Fire, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   But how to awaken this God buried in matter, how is one to kindle this fire that apparently lies extinguished, the Vedic Rishis have a whole ritual of the process. They speak, first of all, of preparing the seat for Agnibarhi: it is the material casing of the body, and then one takes two pieces of the arai, species of wood or fuel, and rubs them one against the other till the fire leaps out. It refers to an aspiration, a concrete and concentrated aspiration that is breathed into the living cells, this breathing, dhmtam, is the concretising or embodying of the aspiration: it is the Invocation that calls forth sleeping divinity.
   The fire in fact is the aspiration in the body, the divine demand in the body and it kindles itself by its own self-pressure. The spreading of the barhi in the Vedic image means also the surrender and submission, the prostration of the bodily being. By namas, by constant obeisance the fire is to be tended; and a ceaseless refuelling has to be done by a ceaseless self-offering of all movements, especially all the automatic reactions of the physical that form the roots of the material existence.

1.10 - Harmony, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  From within that silence in him a silence that is not empty, not an absence of noise, not a cold and toneless blank, but the smooth breadth of the open sea, an extreme of sweetness that fills him and needs neither words nor thought nor comprehension: it is instant comprehension, the embracing of everything, the absolute here and now. So what could be missing? the seeker, the newborn to be, begins to see the mental play. First, he sees that those thousands of thoughts, gray or blue or paler, do not actually emanate from any brain. Rather, they float in midair, as it were. They are currents, vibrations, which are translated into thoughts in our heads when we capture them, as waves are translated into music or words or images into our television sets; and everything shifts and moves and whirls at different levels, flows universally over our motley little frontiers: captured in English, German, French; colored yellow, black, or blue depending on the height of our antenna; rhythmic, broken, or scattered into a powdering of microscopic thoughts depending on our level of reception; musical, grating, or discordant depending on our clarity or complication. But the seeker, the listener, does not try to pick up one channel or another, to turn the dials of his machine to capture this or that he is tuned in to the infinite, focused on a little flame in the center, so sweet and full, free from interference and preference. He needs only one thing: that that flame in him burn and burn, that that flowing pass again and again through his clearing, without words, without mental meaning, and yet full of meaning and of all meaning, as if it were the very source of meaning. And, at times, without his thinking or wanting it, something comes and strikes him: a little vibration, a little note alighting on his still waters and leaving a whole train of waves. And if he leans a little, to see, stretches toward that little eddy (or that slight note, that point calling out, that rip in the expanse of his being), a thought appears, a feeling, an image or a sensation as though there were really no dividing line between one mode of translation and another; there is just something vibrating, a more or less clear rhythm, a more or less pure light being lit in him, a shadow, a heaviness, an uneasiness, sometimes a glittering little rocket, dancing and light as a powdering of sunshine on the sea, an outpouring of tenderness, a fleeting smile and sometimes a great, solemn rhythm that seems to rise from the depths of time, immense, poignant, eternal, which calls up the unique sacred chant of the world. And It flows effortlessly. There is no need to think or want; the only need is to be again, to burn in unison with a single little flame that is like the very fire of the world. And, when necessary, just for a second, a little note comes knocking at his window, and there comes exactly the right thought, the impulse for the required action, the right or left turn that will open up an unexpected trail and a whole chain of answers and new opportunities. The seeker, the fervent one, then intimately understands the Invocation of this five or six-thousand-year-old Vedic poet: O Fire, let there be created in us the correct thought that springs from Thee.24
  But wrong thoughts, too, are a surprising source of discoveries. As a matter of fact, more and more, he realizes that this kind of distinction is meaningless. What, in the end, is not for our own good? What does not ultimately turn out to be our greater good? The wrong paths are part of the right one and pave a broader way, a larger view of our indivisible estate. The only wrong is not to see; it is the vast grayness of the terra incognita of our limited maps. And we indeed limit our maps. We have attributed those thoughts, feelings, reactions and desires to the little Mississippi flowing through our lands, to the thriving Potomac rivers lined with stone buildings and fortresses and indeed, they have got into the habit of running through those channels, cascading here or there, boiling a little farther below, or disappearing into our marshes. It is a very old habit, going back even before us or the ape, or else a scarcely more recent one going back to our schooldays, our parents or yesterday's newspaper. We have opened paths, and the current follows them it follows them obstinately. But for the demechanized seeker, the meanders and points of entry begin to become more visible. He begins to distinguish various levels in his being, various channeling centers, and when the current passes through the solar plexus or through the throat, the reactions or effects are different. But, mostly, he discovers with surprise that it is one and the same current everywhere, above or below, right or left, and those which we call thought, desire, will or emotion are various infiltrations of the same identical thing, which is neither thought nor desire nor will nor anything of the sort, but a trickle, a drop or a cataract of the same conscious Energy entering here or there, through our little Potomac or muddy Styx, and creating a disaster or a poem, a millipede's quiver, a revolution, a gospel or a vain thought on the boulevard we could almost say at will. It all depends on the quality of our opening and its level. But the fundamental fact is that this is an Energy, in other words, a Power. And thus, very simply, quite simply, we have the all-powerful source of all possible changes in the world. It is as we will it! We can tune in either here or there, create harmony or cacophony; not a single circumstance in the world, not one fateful event, not one so-called ineluctable law, absolutely nothing can prevent us from turning the antenna one way or the other and changing this muddy and disastrous flood into a limpid stream, instantly. We just have to know where we open ourselves. At every moment of the world and every second, in the face of every dreadful circumstance, every prison we have locked ourselves alive in, we can, in one stroke, with a single cry for help, a single burst of prayer, a single true look, a single leap of the little flame inside, topple all our walls and be born again from top to bottom. Everything is possible. Because that Power is the supreme Possibility.

1.10 - The descendants of the daughters of Daksa married to the Rsis, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
  [9]: The eldest son of Brahmā, according to the commentator, upon the authority of the Vedas. The Vāyu P. enters into a very long detail of the names and places of the whole forty-nine fires. According to that, also, Pāvaka is electric or Vaidynta fire; Pavamāna is that produced by friction, or Nirmathya; and Śuci is solar, Saura, fire. Pavamāna was the parent of Kavyavāhana, the fire of the Pitris; Śuci of Havyavāhana, the fire of the gods; and Pavamāna of Saharakṣa, the fire of the Asuras. The Bhāgavata explains these different fires to be so many appellations of fire employed in the Invocations with which different oblations to fire are offered in the ritual of the Vedas: ### explained by the commentator, ###.
  [10]: According to the commentator, this distinction is derived from the Vedas. The first class, or Agniṣvāttas, consists of those householders who, when alive, did not maintain their domestic fires, nor offer burnt-sacrifices: the second, of those who kept up the household flame, and presented oblations with fire. Manu calls these Agnidagdhas and the reverse, which Sir W. Jones renders, 'consumable by fire,' &c. Kullūka Bhaṭṭa gives no explanation of them. The Bhāgavata adds other classes of Pitris; or, the Ājyapas, drinkers of ghee;' and Somapās, drinkers of the acid juice.' The commentator, explaining the meaning of the terms Sāgnayas and Anāgnyas, has, ### which might be understood to signify, that the Pitris who are 'without fire' are those to whom oblations are not offered; and those 'with fire' are they to whom oblations are presented.

1.10 - THE MASTER WITH THE BRAHMO DEVOTEES (II), #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  Some of the Brahmo ladies sat on chairs, with music books in their hands. The songs of the Brahmo Samaj were sung to the accompaniment of harmonium and piano. Sri Ramakrishna's joy was unbounded. The Invocation was followed by a prayer, and then the worship began. The acharyas, seated on the platform, recited from the Vedas: Om. Thou art our Father. Give us right knowledge; do not destroy us! We bow to Thee.
  The Brahmo devotees chanted in chorus with the acharyas: Om. Brahman is Truth, Knowledge, Infinity.

1.12 - The Herds of the Dawn, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The image of the Cow is the most important of all the Vedic symbols. For the ritualist the word go means simply a physical cow and nothing else, just as its companion word, asva, means simply a physical horse and has no other sense, or as ghr.ta means only water or clarified butter, vra only a son or a retainer or servant. When the Rishi prays to the Dawn, gomad vravad dhehi ratnam us.o asvavat, the ritualistic commentator sees in the Invocation only an entreaty for "pleasant wealth to which are attached cows, men (or sons) and horses". If on the other
  124

1.14 - INSTRUCTION TO VAISHNAVS AND BRHMOS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  Soon the service began according to the rules of the Brahmo Samaj. The preacher was seated on the dais. After the opening prayer he recited holy texts of the Vedas and was joined by the congregation in the Invocation to the Supreme Brahman. They chanted in chorus: "Brahman is Truth, Knowledge, and Infinity. It shines as Bliss and Immortality.
  Brahman is Peace, Blessedness, the One without a Second; It is pure and unstained by sin." The minds of the devotees were stilled, and they closed their eyes in meditation.

1.14 - The Structure and Dynamics of the Self, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  pp. 269ft - .), which Augurellus dedicated to Pope Leo X. It contains an Invocation
  of the alma soror of Phoebus:
  --
  of significant numbers and the Invocation or conjuring up of the
  familiar spirit. Similarly, the age-old art of geomancy no is based

1.16 - Advantages and Disadvantages of Evocational Magic, #The Practice of Magical Evocation, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
  With these points in mind the magician will realize the true value of the book of charms which he has started for his personal use, and that the book actually is a language book of the cosmic language in which he will enter all the procedures of his art of magical evocation translated into symbolic picture-language. A necromancer or sorcerer working according to the worst rituals and carrying out the most barbarous Invocations and evocations is by no means able to practise Invocations in a systematic order, that is, to start a conversation with the being concerned, not to mention the authority he should be able to represent, for he is lacking the necessary magical maturity and perfection. A necromancer might, at the most, put himself into an ecstatic state during his operations, which is not more than a cry into the zone in question, even if his citations are most terrifying and appear to him very promising.
  In most cases the sorcerer, during his state of ecstasy, is a victim of the most misleading hallucinations. In the most favourable case such an incomplete Invocation of a sorcerer might, quite unconscious to him, result in the creation of an elemental or an elementary, owing to the ecstatic stress of the sorcerer's nerves, depending on the amount of nerve-power he projects from his magic circle into the magic triangle. Such an elementary might then unconsciously take the shape of the evoked being; the sorcerer, being unable to tell the difference, would regard the elementary as the being evoked by him. Such an elementary is then able to awaken certain desires in its creator and provide their satisfaction. I have already said enough about this in my first book: "Initiation into Hermetics".
  In this connection I must point out that the magician must have a clear idea of what a contract is, how such a contract is made, what are its disadvantages, etc. I shall now give further details on this point.

1.16 - On Concentration, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  I want to insist most earnestly that concentration is not, as we nearly all of us think, a matter of getting things right in the practices; you must make every breath you draw subservient to the True Will, to fertilize the soil for the practices. When you sit down in your Asana to quiet your mind, it is much easier for you if your whole life has tended to relative quietude; when you knock with your Wand to announce the opening of an Invocation, it is better if the purpose of that ceremony has been simmering in the background of your thought since childhood!
  Yes indeed: background!

1.17 - Astral Journey Example, How to do it, How to Verify your Experience, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  Let us suppose that you have been making an Invocation, or shall we call it an investigation, and suppose you want to interpret a passage of Bach. To play this is the principal weapon of your ceremony. In the course of your operation, you assume your astral body and rise far above the terrestrial atmosphere, while the music continues softly in the background. You open your eyes, and find that it is night. Dark clouds are on the horizon; but in the zenith is a crown of constellations. This light helps you, especially as your eyes become accustomed to the gloom, to take in your surroundings. It is a bleak and barren landscape. Terrific mountains rim the world. In the midst looms a cluster of blue-black crags. Now there appears from their recesses a gigantic being. His strength, especially in his hands and in his loins, it terrifying. He suggests a combination of lion, mountain goat and serpent; and you instantly jump to the idea that this is one of the rare beings which the Greeks called Chimaera. So formidable is his appearance that you consider it prudent to assume an appropriate god-form. But who is the appropriate god? You may perhaps consider it best, in view of your complete ignorance as to who he is and where you are, to assume the god-form of Harpocrates, as being good defence in any case; but of course this will not take you very far. If you are sufficiently curious and bold, you will make up your mind rapidly on this point. This is where your daily practice of the Qabalah will come in useful. You run through in your mind the seven sacred planets. The very first of them seems quite consonant with what you have so far seen. Everything suits Saturn well enough. To be on the safe side, you go through the others; but this is a very obvious case Saturn is the only planet that agrees with everything. The only other possibility will be the Moon; but there is no trace noticeable of any of her more amiable characteristics. You will therefore make up your mind that it is a Saturnian god-form that you need. Fortunate indeed for you that you have practiced daily the assumption of such forms! Very firmly, very steadily, very slowly, very quietly, you transform your normal astral appearance into that of Sebek. The Chimaera, recognizing your divine authority, becomes less formidable and menacing in appearance. He may, in some way, indicate his willingness to serve you. Very good, so far; but it is of course the first essential to make sure of his integrity. Accordingly you begin by asking his name. This is vital; because if he tells you the truth, it gives you power over him. But if, on the other hand, he tells you a lie, he abandons for good and all his fortress. He becomes rather like a submarine whose base has been destroyed. He may do you a lot of mischief in the meantime, of course, so look out!
  Well then, he tells you that his name is Ottillia. Shall we try to spell it in Greek or in Hebrew. By the sound of the name and perhaps to some extent by his appearance one might plump for the former; but after all the Greek Qabalah is so unsatisfactory. We give Hebrew the first chance we start with Ayin Teth Yod Lamed Yod Aleph H. Let us try this lettering for a start. It adds up to 135. I daresay that you don't remember what the Sepher Sephiroth tells you about the number; but as luck will have it, there is no need to inquire; for 135 = 3 x 45. Three is the number, is the first number of Saturn, and 45 the last. (The sum of the numbers in the magic square of Saturn is 45.) That corresponds beautifully with everything you have got so far; but then of course you must know if he is "one of the beliving Jinn." Briefly, is he a friend or an enemy? You accordingly say to him "The word of the Law is " It turns out that he doesn't understand Greek at all, so you were certainly right in choosing Hebrew. You put it to him, "What is the word of the Law?" and he replies darkly. "The word of the Law is Thora." That means nothing to you; any one might know as much as that, Thora being the ordinary word for the Sacred Law of Israel, and you accordingly ask him to spell it to make sure you have heard aright; and he gives you the letters, perhaps by speaking them, perhaps by showing them: Teth, Resh, Ayin. You add these up and get 279. This again is divisible by the Saturnian 3, and the result is 93; in other words, he has been precisely right. On the plane of Saturn one may multiply by three and therefore he has given you the correct word "Thelema" in a form unfamiliar to you. You man now consider yourself satisfied of his good faith, and may proceed to inspect him more closely. The stars above his head suggest the influence of Binah, whose number also is three, while the most striking thing about him is the core of his being: the letter Yod. (One does not count the termination "AH": being a divine suffix it represents the inmost light and the outermost light.) This Yod, this spark of intense brilliance, is of the pale greenish gold which one sees (in this world) in the fine gold leaf of Tibet. It glows with ever greater intensity as you concentrate upon observing him, which you could not do while you were preoccupied with investigating his credentials.

1.18 - The Human Fathers, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The hymn is therefore an Invocation to Agni for the journey to the supreme good, the divine birth, the bliss. And its opening verse is a prayer for the necessary conditions of the journey, the things that are said here to constitute the form of the pilgrim sacrifice, adhvarasya pesah., and among these comes first the forward movement of the Angirases; "Forward let the Angirases travel, priests of the Word, forward go the cry of heaven (or, of the heavenly thing, cloud or lightning), forward move the fostering Cows that diffuse their waters, and let the two pressing-stones be yoked (to their work) - the form of the pilgrim sacrifice," pra brahman.o angiraso naks.anta, pra krandanur nabhanyasya vetu; pra dhenava udapruto navanta, yujyatam adr adhvarasya pesah.. The Angirases with the divine
  Word, the cry of Heaven which is the voice of Swar the luminous heaven and of its lightnings thundering out from the Word, the divine waters or seven rivers that are set free to their flowing by that heavenly lightning of Indra the master of Swar, and with the outflowing of the divine waters the outpressing of the immortalising Soma, these constitute the form, pesah., of the adhvara yajna. And its general characteristic is forward movement, the advance of all to the divine goal, as emphasised by the three verbs of motion, naks.anta, vetu, navanta and the emphatic pra, forward, which opens and sets the key to each clause.

1.20 - RULES FOR HOUSEHOLDERS AND MONKS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  After finishing his ablutions he would stand in the water and meditate on the Deity, reciting the Invocation: 'I meditate on Thee, of red hue and four faces', while tears streamed down his cheeks.
  "When my father walked along the lanes of the village wearing his wooden sandals, the shopkeepers would stand up out of respect and say, 'there he comes!' When he bathed in the Haldrpukur, the villagers would not have the courage to get into the water.

1.20 - Talismans - The Lamen - The Pantacle, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  The decisive advantage of this system is not that its variety makes it so adaptable to our needs, but that we already posses the Invocations necessary to call forth the Energies required. What is perhaps still more to the point, they work without putting the Magician to such severe toil and exertion as is needed when he has to write them out from his own ingenium. Yes! This is weakness on my part, and I am very naughty to encourage you to shirk the hardest path.
  I used often to make the background of my Talismans of four concentric circles, painting then, the first (inmost) in the King (or Knight) scale, the second in the Queen, the third in the Prince, and the outermost in the Princess scale, of the Sign, Planet, or Element to which I was devoting it. On this, preferably in the "flashing" colours, I would paint the appropriate Names and Figures.
  --
  Most of my Talismans, like my Invocations, have been poems.[34] This letter must be like the Iliad in at least one respect: it does not end; it stops.
  Love is the law, love under will.

1.20 - The Hound of Heaven, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Then after the Invocation of Indra and Agni by the "words of perfect speech that are loved of the gods", - for by those words the Maruts1 perform the sacrifices as seers who by their seer-knowledge do well the sacrificial work, ukthebhir hi s.ma kavayah. suyajna . . . maruto yajanti, - the Rishi next puts into the mouth of men an exhortation and mutual encouragement to do even as the Fathers and attain the same divine results.
  "Come now, today let us become perfected in thought, let us destroy suffering and unease, let us embrace the higher good," eto nu adya sudhyo bhavama, pra ducchuna minavama a varyah.;

1.23 - Improvising a Temple, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  This means that your manoeuvres have somehow attracted the notice of the Astral Plane: your new neighbours (May I call them?) are taking an interest in the latest Tenderfoot, some to welcome, to do all they can to help you to settle down, others indignant or apprehensive at this disturbance of routine. This is where your Banishings and Invocations come to the rescue. Of course, I am not here referring to the approach to Sanctuaries which of necessity are closely guarded, but merely to the recognition of a new-comer to that part of the world in general.
  Of course all these miracles are very naughty of you; they mean that your magical power has sprung a few small leaks; at least, the water is oozing between some planks not sealed as Hermetically as they should be. But oh and this is naughtier still it is a blessed, blessed comfort that they happen, that chance, coincidence and all the rest will simply not explain it all away, that your new vision of life is not a dream, but part and parcel of Experience for evermore, a real as any other manifestation of Reality through sense such as is common to all men.

1.33 - The Gardens of Adonis, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
  the distribution of the barley shoots to the men, and the Invocation
  of a blessing on their husbands by the wives, point clearly to the

1.39 - The Ritual of Osiris, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
  Isis. The Invocation seems to have taken the form of a melancholy
  chant, to which the Greeks gave the name of Maneros. Similar
  --
  practices the lamentations and the Invocations of the Old Woman of
  the Corn resemble the ancient Egyptian customs of lamenting over the

1.42 - This Self Introversion, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  This matter is of importance, because it influences one's attitude to Invocation. I can, for instance, work myself up to a "Divine Consciousness," in which I can understand, and act, as I cannot in my normal state. I become "inspired;" I feel, and I express, ideas of almost illimitable exaltation. But this is totally different from the "Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel," which is the special aim of the Adeptus Minor. It is ruin to that Work if one deceives oneself by mistaking one's own "energized enthusiasm" for external communication. The parallel on the physical plane is the difference between Onanism and Sexual Intercourse.
  Probably, my reason for insistence on this point is my antipathy to introversion in any form. The "mystic path" itself is packed with dangers. Unless the strongest counter-irritants are exhibited, the process is almost certain to become morbid. It is only one step from the Invocation of Zeus, or Apollo, or Dionysus, which does demand identification of oneself with the object of one's worship, to a form of self-worship which soon develops into a maniacal exacerbation of the Ego; and if one persists in this involuted curve, one becomes a "Black Brother," or departs for the local loony-bin.
   Invocations of even the most positive Gods are dangerous, unless care can be taken to keep the personality of the god distinct from one's own. Athene is a superb deity; but one does not want to be nothing but Athene, except in that supreme moment of Samadhi with Her which is the climax of the Invocation.
  Do you remember one of Barbey d'Aurevilly's Contes Cruels about a Spanish nobleman who anticipated one of the privileges of marriage instead of waiting for ecclesiastical licence? The Inquisitor simply had him tied to his betrothed for 48 hours.
  --
  So, even in divine Invocation, one should insist on definite communication of knowledge (or what not) which is incontestably not one's own. The fact that the self-begotten feelings and ideas are so eminently satisfactory naturally, since there is nobody to oppose them is damnably seductive.
  Once started on that road, one can easily develop self-deception to a fine art. One can imagine that one has undergone, or achieved, all sorts of experiences "as described in the books," when all that one has actually done is to work the results of one's reading into a bubble inflated by imagination.
  --
  Now do remember this; it is the guarantee of wholesomeness in any Invocation that there should be contact with another. It is better to conjure up the most obnoxious demons from the most noisome pit of Hell than to take one's own exhilarations for Divine benediction; if only because there was never a demon yet so atrocious as that same old Ego.
  You will discover the truth of these remarks when you approach the Frontier of the Abyss. Well, now, if that isn't too funny! The text of this stupendous sermon was AL II, 22. I take this verse in its most obvious and ordinary sense; for instance, the following sentence: "... The exposure of innocence is a lie. ..."; for that means clearly enough Hypocrisy. So "... It is a lie, this folly against self. ..." only means, "To hell with sentimental altruism, with false modesty, with all those most insidious fiends, the sense of guilt, of shame in a word, the 'inferiority complex' or something very like it." The whole tenor of The Book of the Law, is to this effect. The very test of worth is that one should be aware of it and not afraid to sock the next man on the jaw if he disputes it!

1.58 - Do Angels Ever Cut Themselves Shaving?, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  We see and hear them, usually (in my own experience) as the result of specific Invocation. Less frequently we know them through the sense of touch as well; sometimes their presence is associated with a particular perfume. (This, by the way, is very striking, since it has to overcome that of the incense.) I must very strongly insist, at this point, on the difference between "gods" and "angels." Gods are macrocosmic, as we microcosmic: an incarnated (materialised) God is just as much a person, an individual animal, as we are; as such, he appeals to all our senses exactly as if he were "material."
  But everything sensible is matter in some state or other; how then are we to regard an Angel, complete with robes, weapons, and other impedimenta? (I have never known a god thus encumbered, when he has been "materialised" at all. Of course, the mere apparition of a God is sub- ject to laws similar to those govering the visions of angels.)

1.62 - The Fire-Festivals of Europe, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
  the Invocations are addressed, and who gives his name to the
  torches, may possibly be, as Dr. Pommerol suggests, no other than

1.63 - Fear, a Bad Astral Vision, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  Of course, there are other Gods, notably Pan. (I must ask you to set my Hymn to Pan to music). But I doubt if any of these are what you want. Probably the most practical plan would be to make a musical conjuration of Sol: use this as your Invocation when you go on the Astral Plane: there find a suitable guide to the proper authority and so on!
  And that, dear Sister, for to-night will be exactly and precisely that!

1.63 - The Interpretation of the Fire-Festivals, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
  chanting Invocations the while, and this is supposed to ensure
  bountiful crops for the next season. The custom of trundling a

1.67 - The External Soul in Folk-Custom, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
  procession, chanting an Invocation to Daramulun, had defiled from
  among the rocks and trees into the open, it drew up on the side of

1.68 - The God-Letters, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  The subject is closely bound up with Mantra-Yoga, and with Invocation. You will doubtless have noticed (for instance) that many chapters of the Q'uran have the letter L for a leit-motif. Islam attaches immense importance to this liquid L, as it appears in Allah (compare the Hebrew L-Gods, AL, Aloah, Elohim, A'alion, etc., and look up the L-idea in your Book of Thoth, and in Magick, pp. 331 sqq.[136]) and other peculiarly sacred names and words.
  Before cursing my way to dinner oh! how I hate the need of food unless I am practising the "Ninth Art" and disguise myself as a gourmet I must mention the letter M. This is the only letter that can be pronounced with the lips firmly closed; it is the beginning of speech, and so the Mother of the Alphabet. (Distinguish from N, the letter of the Female). Look up Magick again; Chapter VII (pp. 45-49) gives a good account of M in discussing AUM. Note, too, the root MU "to be silent," form which we have the words Mystic, Mystery and others. As the letter of the Mother it appears to this day in nature everywhere, the first call of the child to "Mamma." In nearly every language, moreover, the word for Mother is based on M. Madar, Mere, Mutter, Umm, AMA or AIMA and the rest.

1.71 - Morality 2, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  You are not "stuck." You can use your Astral Body well enough: too well, in one way. But I think you need a few more journeys with me: you ought to get on to the stage where the vision results from a definite Invocation.
  Do please forget all these vague statements about the "clarification of one's dream-life" (meaning what?) and "shadow-thinking" (meaning what?) These speculations are idle, and idleness is poison. In your very next paragraph you give the whole show away! "Artistically it appeals to me but not spiritually." You have been spiritually poisoned.

1.83 - Epistola Ultima, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  GOETIA, The The most intelligible of the medival (sic) rituals of Evocation. Contains also the favourite Invocation of the Master Therion. Republished as facsimile of first edition London: Equinox, 1976 and Thame: First Impressions, 1992. Re-set reprint Weiser, 1995. Note that the "favourite Invocation of the Master Therion" is not part of the original Goetia which is a 17th century Grimoire, but a modern translation and adaptation of a Grco-Egyptian rite of exorcism.
  HEART OF THE MASTER, The A sublime Masterpiece, describing a vision given upon the Holy Hill of Sidi Bou Said. Has been reprinted in the 1970s by 93 Publishing, in the 1980s by Mandrake of Thame, and in the 1990s by New Falcon.

1915 03 03p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   [Solitude, a harsh, intense solitude, and always this strong impression of having been flung headlong into a hell of darkness! Never at any moment of my life, in any circumstances, have I felt myself living in surroundings so entirely opposite to all that I am conscious of as true, so contrary to all that is the essence of my life. Sometimes when the impression and the contrast grow very intense, I cannot prevent my total submission from taking on a hue of melancholy, and the calm and mute converse with the Master within is transformed for a moment into an Invocation that almost supplicates, O Lord, what have I done that Thou hast thrown me thus into the sombre Night? But immediately the aspiration rises, still more ardent, Spare this being all weakness; suffer it to be the docile and clear-eyed instrument of Thy work, whatever that work may be.]1
   For the moment the clear-sightedness is lacking; never was the future more veiled. It is as though we were moving towards a high, impenetrable wall, so far as the destiny of individual men is concerned. As for the destinies of nations and of the earth, they appear more distinctly. But of these it is useless to speak: the future will reveal them clearly to all eyes, even of the most blind.

1916 01 23p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Unceasingly, at every moment, my Invocation rises to Thee, and I call Thee: Lord, O Lord, take possession of Thy kingdom, illumine it with Thy eternal Presence, put an end to the cruel error in which it lives believing itself separate from Thee, while in its reality and essence it is Thyself.
   Break, break down the last resistances, consume the last impurities, blast this being if need be, but let it be transfigured!

1953-07-08, #Questions And Answers 1953, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   There is a point where aspiration and prayer meet, for there are prayers which are the spontaneous formulation of a lived experience: these spring up all ready from within the being, like something thats the expression of a profound experience, and which offers thanksgiving for that experience or asks its continuation or asks for its explanation also; and that indeed is quite close to aspiration. But aspiration is not necessarily formulated in words; or if it is formulated in words, it is almost a movement of Invocation. You aspire for a certain state; for instance, you have found something in yourself that is not in keeping with your ideal, a movement of darkness and ignorance, perhaps even of ill-will, something thats not in harmony with what you want to realise; then that is not going to be formulated in words; that will be like a springing flame and like an offering made of a living experience, asking to grow larger, be magnified and ever more and more clear and precise. All that may be put into words later, if one tries to remember and note down ones experience. But aspiration always springs up like a flame that rises high and carries in itself the thing one desires to be or what one desires to do or desires to have. I use the word desire, but truly it is here that the word aspire should be used, for that does not have either the quality or the form of a desire.
   It is truly like a great purifying flame of will, and it carries in its core the thing that asks to be realised.

1954-08-11 - Division and creation - The gods and human formations - People carry their desires around them, #Questions And Answers 1954, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  Some of the gods are more ill-treated than others. For example, that poor Mahakali, you know, what things are done to her! It is so frightful, it is unimaginable! But this form lives only in a very low world yes, in the lowest vital; and what it possesses of the original being is something a reflection so remote from the origin that it is unrecognisable. However, usually, it is this that is attracted by human consciousness. And when an idol is made, you see, and the priest brings down a formwhen the ceremony takes place in a regular manner, he puts himself in an inner state of Invocation and tries to bring down a form or an emanation of the godhead into the idol in order to give it a powerif the priest is truly a man with a power of Invocation, he can succeed. But usually there are exceptions to everything but usually these people have been educated in the common ideas according to tradition. And so, when they think of the godhead whom they are invoking, they think of all the attributes and appearances that have been given to it, and the Invocation is usually addressed to entities of the vital world or at best to those of the mental world, but not to the Being itself. And it is these small entities which manifest in one idol or another. All these idols in small temples or even in familiessome people have their little shrines, you know, in their homes and keep an image of the godhead they worship these entities manifest in them; sometimes the consequences are rather unfortunate, for these forms are precisely so remote from the original godhead that they are awkward formations. Some of those Kalis they worship in certain families are veritable monsters!
  I can tell you, believe me, that I have advised some people to take the statue and throw it in the Ganges in order to get rid of a thoroughly disastrous influence. In fact, this has succeeded very well Some of these are unlucky presences. But this is mans own fault. It is not the fault of the godheads. It would be wrong to put the blame on the godheads. It is mans fault. He wants to fashion the gods in his own image. Some who are wicked make them still more autocratic; and those who are nice make them still more nice; that is, men have magnified their own defects a little more.

1955-10-26 - The Divine and the universal Teacher - The power of the Word - The Creative Word, the mantra - Sound, music in other worlds - The domains of pure form, colour and ideas, #Questions And Answers 1955, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  There are all kinds of old traditions, old Hindu traditions, old Chaldean traditions in which the Divine, in the form of the Creator, that is, in His aspect as Creator, pronounces a word which has the power to create. So it is this And it is the origin of the mantra. The mantra is the spoken word which has a creative power. An Invocation is made and there is an answer to the Invocation; or one makes a prayer and the prayer is granted. This is the Word, the Word which, in its sound it is not only the idea, it is in the sound that theres a power of creation. It is the origin, you see, of the mantra.
  In Indian mythology the creator God is Brahma, and I think that it was precisely his power which has been symbolised by this flower, The Creative Word. And when one is in contact with it, the words spoken have a power of evocation or creation or formation or transformation; the words sound always has a power; it has much more power than men think. It may be a good power and it may be a bad power. It creates vibrations which have an undeniable effect. It is not so much the idea as the sound; the idea too has its own power, but in its own domainwhereas the sound has a power in the material world.

1956-08-08 - How to light the psychic fire, will for progress - Helping from a distance, mental formations - Prayer and the divine - Grace Grace at work everywhere, #Questions And Answers 1956, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  Therefore, even if one has no knowledge at all but has trust in the divine Grace, if one has the faith that there is something in the world like the divine Grace, and that this something can answer a prayer, an aspiration, an Invocation, then, after making ones mental formation, if one offers it to the Grace and puts ones trust in it, asks it to intervene and has the faith that it will intervene, then indeed one has a chance of success.
  Try, and you will surely see the result.

1957-01-09 - God is essentially Delight - God and Nature play at hide-and-seek - Why, and when, are you grave?, #Questions And Answers 1957-1958, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  In fact, it could be said that all preaching, all exhortations, even all prayers and Invocations come from what Sri Aurobindo calls the lower hemisphere, that is to say, one is still down below. It may be the summit, may be the frontier, it may be just the edge of this lower hemisphere, but one is still in the lower hemisphere, that is to say one is still down below. It may be the summit, may be the frontier, it may be just the edge of this lower hemisphere, but one is still in the lower hemisphere. And as soon as one passes to the other side, all this seems, to say the least, useless and almost childish in the bad Sense of the wordignorant, still ignorant. And it is very interesting to be still in this state where one is at times on one side, at times just on the border of the other. Well, this border of the other, which for the human consciousness is an almost inaccessible summit, for one who can live consciously and freely in the higher hemisphere, is in spite of everything a descent.
  Later I would like us to take up and read here the last chapters of The Life Divine. I think you are becoming old enough, mature enough, to be able to follow it. And then there are all kinds of things you will be able to understand and subjects we shall be able to take up, based on this text, which will help us to go one step further, a serious step towards realisation. He describes so precisely and marvellously the difference between these two states of consciousness, how all that seems to man almost the ultimate of perfection, at least of realisation, how all that still belongs to the lower hemisphere, including all the relations with the gods ass men have known them and still know themhow all these things are still far below and what is the true state, the one which he describes as the supramental state, when one passes beyond.

1957-02-07 - Individual and collective meditation, #Questions And Answers 1957-1958, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  From the beginning of human history, it is known that certain groups of people would meet to express a certain common state of soul: some to sing together the praise of God, hymns, thanksgiving, to express adoration, thankfulness, gratitude, and to praise God; othersand there are historical examples of thisa certain number of people gathered together for a common Invocation, for instance, to ask God for something, and this was done all together, united, in the hope that this Invocation, this prayer, this asking would carry more weight. There have been some very famous instances. A very old one occurred in 1000 A.D. when some prophets had announced that it was the end of the world and everywhere people gathered together to offer common prayers and ask that the world may not come to an end (!) or anyway, for it to be protected. Much more recently, in modern times, when King George of England was dying of pneumonia, people assembled in England, not only in the churches but even in the streets in front of the royal palace, to offer prayers and ask God to cure him. It so happened that he recovered, and they believed that it was their prayers. That is, of course, the most external form, I could say the most worldly, of group meditation.
  In all initiatory groups, in all the spiritual schools of ancient times, group meditation was always practised and in that case the motive was quite different. They assembled for a collective progress, to open together to a force, a light, an influence, and this is more or less what we want to try to do.

1969 10 18, #On Thoughts And Aphorisms, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   This simply means the vision of the whole earth at the same time and the sentiment which is the result of this vision of the whole. This whole contains all things at the same time, light and darkness, suffering and pleasure, happiness and unhappiness, and all together makes a vibration of adoration turned towards the Divine, just as all sounds heard together make the supreme Invocation to the Divine: OM.
   18 October 1969

1.bts - Invocation, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  object:1.bts - Invocation
  author class:Boethius

1f.lovecraft - The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, #Lovecraft - Poems, #unset, #Zen
   been made, and some terrible Invocations chanted under strange and
   secret circumstances; after certain answers to these Invocations had
   been plainly indicated, and a frantic letter penned under agonising and
  --
   coupled with curious chants or Invocations. After that date, however,
   they assumed a very singular and terrible cast as they ran the gamut
  --
   what an authority had told him was a very terrible Invocation addressed
   to secret gods outside the normal spheres. It was not spelled here
  --
   had evolved more powerful and perfected variants of the Invocations in
   question. The doctor tried to reconcile the chiselled version with the
  --
   minusculesthe cryptic Invocation whose heading was the Dragons Tail,
   sign of the descending node

1.fua - Invocation, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  object:1.fua - Invocation
  author class:Farid ud-Din Attar

1.jda - You rest on the circle of Sris breast (from The Gitagovinda), #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by Barbara Stoler Miller Original Language Sanskrit You rest on the circle of Sri's breast, Wearing your earrings, Fondling wanton forest garlands. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! The sun's jewel light encircles you As you break through the bond of existence -- A wild Himalayan goose on lakes in minds of holy men. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! You defeat the venomous serpent Kaliya, Exciting your Yadu kinsmen Like sunlight inciting lotuses to bloom. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! You ride your fierce eagle Garuda To battle demons Madhu and Mura and Naraka, Leaving the other goods free to play. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Watching with long omniscient lotus-petal eyes, You free us from bonds of existence, Preserving life in the world's three realms. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Janaka's daughter Sita adorns you. You conquer demon Dusana. You kill ten-headed Ravana in battle. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Your beauty is fresh as rain clouds. You hold the mountain to churn elixir from the sea. Your eyes are night birds drinking from Sri's moon face. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! Poet Jayadeva joyously sings This song of Invocation In an auspicious prayer. Triumph, God of Triumph, Hari! As he rests in Sri's embrace, On the soft slope of her breast, The saffroned chest of Madhu's killer Is stained with red marks of passion And sweat from fatigue of tumultuous loving. May his broad chest bring you pleasure too! [1994.jpg] -- from Love Song of the Dark Lord: Jayadeva's Gitagovinda, Translated by Barbara Stoler Miller <
1.kaa - I Came, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   Original Language Persian/Farsi From the un-manifest I came, And pitched my tent, in the Forest of Material existence. I passed through mineral and vegetable kingdoms, Then my mental equipment carried me into the animal kingdom; Having reached there I crossed beyond it; Then in the crystal clear shell of human heart I nursed the drop of self in a Pearl, And in association with good men Wandered round the Prayer House, And having experienced that, crossed beyond it; Then I took the road that leads to Him, And became a slave at His gate; Then the duality disappeared And I became absorbed in Him. [bk1sm.gif] -- from Munajat: The Intimate Invocations, by Sheikh Ansari / Translated by A. G. Farhadi <
1.kaa - In Each Breath, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by A.G. Farhadi Original Language Persian/Farsi O you who have departed from your own self, and who have not yet reached the Friend: do not be sad, for He is accompanying you in each of your breaths. [bk1sm.gif] -- from Munajat: The Intimate Invocations, by Sheikh Ansari / Translated by A. G. Farhadi <
1.kaa - The Beauty of Oneness, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by A.G. Farhadi Original Language Persian/Farsi Any eye filled with the vision of this world cannot see the attributes of the Hereafter, Any eye filled with the attributes of the Hereafter would be deprived of the Beauty of Oneness. [bk1sm.gif] -- from Munajat: The Intimate Invocations, by Sheikh Ansari / Translated by A. G. Farhadi <
1.kaa - The Friend Beside Me, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   English version by A.G. Farhadi Original Language Persian/Farsi O God You know why I am happy: It is because I seek Your company, not through my own efforts. O God, You decided and I did not. I found the Friend beside me when I woke up! [bk1sm.gif] -- from Munajat: The Intimate Invocations, by Sheikh Ansari / Translated by A. G. Farhadi <
1.pbs - Invocation, #Shelley - Poems, #Percy Bysshe Shelley, #Fiction
  object:1.pbs - Invocation
  author class:Percy Bysshe Shelley

1.pbs - Invocation To Misery, #Shelley - Poems, #Percy Bysshe Shelley, #Fiction
  object:1.pbs - Invocation To Misery
  author class:Percy Bysshe Shelley

1.whitman - That Last Invocation, #Whitman - Poems, #unset, #Zen
  object:1.whitman - That Last Invocation
  author class:Walt Whitman

1.whitman - The Last Invocation, #Whitman - Poems, #unset, #Zen
  object:1.whitman - The Last Invocation
  author class:Walt Whitman

1.whitman - Thou Orb Aloft Full-Dazzling, #Whitman - Poems, #unset, #Zen
       Invocation.
  (Thou canst not with thy dumbness me deceive,          

1.ww - Invocation To The Earth, February 1816, #Wordsworth - Poems, #unset, #Zen
  object:1.ww - Invocation To The Earth, February 1816
  author class:William Wordsworth

1.ww - The Excursion- II- Book First- The Wanderer, #Wordsworth - Poems, #unset, #Zen
  In these their Invocations, with a voice
  Obedient to the strong creative power

2.00 - BIBLIOGRAPHY, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  ANSARI OF HERAT. The Invocations of Sheikh Abdullah Ansari of
  Herat. Translated by Sardar Sir Jogendra Singh (London, 1939).

2.01 - Mandala One, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  (12) We sing with Invocation the blazing, purifying, enjoying, all-seeing children of the Violent One. Cling for the glory to the strong and puissant Marut host who move with a straight force crossing the middle world.
  (13) Soon that mortal whom ye have cherished, O Maruts, takes his place in might above all men. He gets with his war-horses and his strong ones wealth and plenty and dwells in a wise will that meets the question and increases.

2.01 - THE ARCANE SUBSTANCE AND THE POINT, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  [39] The alchemists seem to have visualized their lapis or prima materia in a similar manner. At any rate they were able to cap the paradoxes of Monomos. Thus they said of Mercurius: This spirit is generated from the substances of the sea26 and calls himself moist, dry, and fiery,27 in close agreement with the Invocation to Hermes in the magic papyrus entitled The Secret Inscription, where Hermes is addressed as a damp-fiery-cold spirit (
  ).28

2.01 - The Mother, #Words Of The Mother I, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  But the consciousness cries: I want Thee, I want Thee; without Thee I am nothing, I do not even exist! And the vibration of the call is so strong that even this heavy Matter is shaken by it. I want Thee, I want Thee! Since Thou dost not permit me to spring towards Thee, leaving all behind to be with Thee, I shall call Thee from here; and I shall beseech Thee so very much that Thou wilt come down to infuse Thyself into a world that has finally awakened to the absolute need of Thy Presence. And the vibration of this Invocation was so intense that through the dark and amorphous mass passed the first quiver announcing the approach of the Beloved.
  8 March 1932

2.02 - THE SCINTILLA, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  [46] The Egyptians held that the eye is the seat of the soul; for example, Osiris is hidden in the eye of Horus.91 In alchemy the eye is the coelum (heaven): It is like an eye and a seeing of the soul, whereby the state of the soul and her intentions are ofttimes made known to us, and through the rays and the glance [of heaven] all things take form.92 In Steebs view, which agrees with that of Marsilius Ficinus,93 the coelum is a virtus, indeed a certain perfect, living being.94 Hence the alchemists called their quinta essentia coelum. The idea of a virtus is borne out by the description of the Holy Ghost as an eye,95 a parallel to the Invocation to Hermes: Hermes . . . the eye of heaven.96 The eye of God emits power and light,97 likewise the fishes eyes are tiny soul-sparks from which the shining figure of the filius is put together. They correspond to the particles of light imprisoned in the dark Physis, whose reconstitution was one of the chief aims of Gnosticism and Manichaeism. There is a similar nexus of ideas in the siddhaila of Jainism: The loka [world] is held in the middle of the aloka [void], in the form of the trunk of a man, with siddhaila at the top, the place where the head should be. This siddhaila is the abode of the omniscient souls, and may be called the spiritual eye of the universe.98
  [47] The eye, like the sun, is a symbol as well as an allegory of consciousness.99 In alchemy the scintillulae are put together to form the gold (Sol), in the Gnostic systems the atoms of light are reintegrated. Psychologically, this doctrine testifies to the personality- or ego-character of psychic complexes: just as the distinguishing mark of the ego-complex is consciousness, so it is possible that other, unconscious complexes may possess, as splinter psyches, a certain luminosity of their own.100 From these atoms is produced the Monad (and the lapis in its various significations), in agreement with the teachings of Epicurus, who held that the concourse of atoms even produced God.101

2.06 - The Wand, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  35:To return to the question of the development of the Will. It is always something to pluck up the weeds, but the flower itself needs tending. Having crushed all volitions in ourselves, and if necessary in others, which we find opposing our real Will, that Will itself will grow naturally with greater freedom. But it is not only necessary to purify the temple itself and consecrate it; Invocations must be made. Hence it is necessary to be constantly doing things of a positive, not merely of a negative nature, to affirm that Will.
  36:Renunciation and sacrifice are necessary, but they are comparatively easy. There are a hundred ways of missing, and only one of hitting. To avoid eating beef is easy; to eat nothing but pork is very difficult.

2.07 - The Cup, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  57:The Magick Cup must have no lid, yet it must be kept veiled most carefully at all times, except when Invocation of the Highest is being made.
  58:This cup must also be hidden from the profane. The Wand must be kept secret lest the profane, fearing it, should succeed in breaking it; the Cup lest, wishing to touch it, they should defile it.

2.08 - The Sword, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  It all dealings with demons the point of the Sword is kept downwards, and it should not be used for Invocation, as is taught in certain schools of magick.
  If the Sword is raised towards the Crown, it is no longer really a sword.

2.3.07 - The Mother in Visions, Dreams and Experiences, #The Mother With Letters On The Mother, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The Mother makes an Invocation or aspiration and stands till the movement is over. Yesterday she passed for some time beyond the sense of the body and it is perhaps this that made you see in
  29 August 1932 that way.

2.3.1.52 - The Ode, #Letters On Poetry And Art, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  What is meant by an ode? Is it another name for an Invocation?
  No. It is a lyrical poem of some length on a single subject e.g. the Skylark (Shelley), Autumn (Keats), the Nativity (Birth of Christ) (Milton) working out a description or central idea on the subject.

2 - Other Hymns to Agni, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  5. Accepting with the mind the seven Invocations, taking possession of all that is by the Truth, they went towards their
  goal. Many powers born in the finding of knowledge and
  --
  7. I crown the two supreme Priests of the Invocation. The seven pleasures take their rapture by the self-law of their nature; the Truth they express, the Truth only they speak, guardians of the law of its action according to that law they shine.
  8. In unison may Bharati with her Muses of Invocation, Ila with gods and men, and Fire, Saraswati with her powers of inspiration come down to us, the three goddesses sit upon this seat of sacrifice.
    19 Or, may they so shine with their lights that Mitra may take pleasure in us and Varuna
  --
  8. I crown the two supreme Priests of the Invocation. The seven
  pleasures take their rapture by the self-law of their nature;
  --
  1. Create for yourselves the King of the pilgrim-rite, the Terrible, the priest of the Invocation who wins by sacrifice
  the Truth in earth and heaven,30 create Fire golden in his
  --
  word of Invocation, who hast the just discernment, who
  art strongest to found the ecstasy, - thee who dwellest in
  --
  8. In unison may Bharati with her Muses of Invocation, Ila with gods and men, and Fire, Saraswati with her powers of inspiration come down to us, the three goddesses sit upon this seat of sacrifice.
    6 Or, be with us for our happy journey.
  --
  our Invocations of the god, by our offerings may we give
  making prostration, to the Fire of the brilliant light.
  --
  3. Come, O Fire, with the gods to our Invocation of the gods
  taking pleasure in the cry "Vashat", to thee, O god, may we
  --
  5. O Angiras, by words which bear in them the Invocation,
  bring down nearer that sacrifice as the heaven's craftsmen
  --
  approach thee with Invocation, O Fire, O shining One; for
  the singer of the hymn34 who has given the offering and
  --
  2. Thou comest to men's Invocation, thou comest to the purification, thou art the thinker, the giver of the riches, the
  possessor of the Truth: may we make the offerings with
  --
  them, O Fire, doing well with thy voices of Invocation the
  pilgrim-sacrifice for man; when thou givest utterance to the

3.00.2 - Introduction, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  end their treatises with pious Invocations. Yet it would be an altogether
  unjustifiable suppression of the truth were I to confine myself to the

30.17 - Rabindranath, Traveller of the Infinite, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Dance and music almost run abreast. From the viewpoint of spiritual realisation we find that aspiration and Invocation have the same origin. The spontaneous utterance of the heart is but the. mounting self-revelation and self-declaration of the aspiration.
   All that I have not attained,
  --
   Tagore, as it appears to me, never again reached such heights of bold imageries and in such an amplitude of melody. Enchanting moods and manners, figures and symbols, diverse and varied, were there, every one of them with its own speciality, beauty and gracefulness but it is doubtful whether they possess the sense of vastness and loftiness and epic sweep and grandeur to that extent as here. The urge, the movement that finds expression here is not concerned merely with the aspiration of human beings or individuals; here is expressed in a profound, grandiose voice the aspiration of the inert soil and the mute earth; not merely in conscious beings but also in the subconscient world there vibrates an intense, passionate, vast, upward longing. A sleepless march proceeds towards the light from the bottom of the entire creation - not only it is finely and adequately expressed but that reality has assumed its own form as it were in word and rhythm, as a living embodiment. In 'The Awakening of the Fountain' we notice the lisping of this grand message, although the .fountain there is a mere symbol or an image, and the significance too is to a considerable extent of the nature of an oration or discourse, nevertheless fundamentally the poet's dream remains the same. So, we can say, what commenced with the 'Fountain', with the cry of a chord and the Invocation of a single limb, has become a full-fledged orchestral symphony in 'Balaka': the wheel has come full circle.
   ***

3.01 - The Principles of Ritual, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of
  the Holy Guardian Angel;1 or in the language of Mysticism,
  --
  and arrange his Invocations in such a way as to redress the
  balance.1 This, of course, should have been done in a preliminary
  --
  difficulties of this method of Invocation.3 It will doubtless have
  been noted by the acumen of the reader that in the great essentials
  --
  branches of Magick. In Invocation, the macrocosm floods the
  consciousness. In evocation, the Magician, having become the

3.02 - SOL, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  , a ministering spirit or familiar who can be conjured up by magical Invocations to help with the work.17
  [113] From what has been said about the active sun-substance it should be clear that Sol in alchemy is much less a definite chemical substance than a virtus, a mysterious power18 believed to have a generative19 and transformative effect. Just as the physical sun lightens and warms the universe, so, in the human body, there is in the heart a sunlike arcanum from which life and warmth stream forth.20 Therefore Sol, says Dorn, is rightly named the first after God, and the father and begetter of all,21 because in him the seminal and formal virtue of all things whatsoever lies hid.22 This power is called sulphur.23 It is a hot, daemonic principle of life, having the closest affinities with the sun in the earth, the central fire or ignis gehennalis (fire of hell). Hence there is also a Sol niger, a black sun, which coincides with the nigredo and putrefactio, the state of death.24 Like Mercurius, Sol in alchemy is ambivalent.

3.02 - The Formulae of the Elemental Weapons, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  such speeches are committed perfectly to memory. The Invocation
  will then begin with a prayer to the god, commemorating his
  --
  real meaning. In the second part of the Invocation, the voice of the
  god is heard, and His characteristic utterance is recited.
  In the third portion of the Invocation the Magician asserts the
  identity of himself with the god. In the fourth portion the god is
  --
  conclusion of this, the original object of the Invocation is stated.
  Thus, in the Invocation of Thoth which is to be found in The
  Rite of Mercury (Equinox I (6)), and Liber LXIV, the first part begins
  --
  far-off utterance of the Magician. If this Invocation has been
  correctly performed, the words of the fourth part will sound distant
  --
  spiritual and yet so perfectly material, that this one Invocation is
  sufficient. The God bethinks him that the spirit of Mercury should
  --
  It will be noted, however, that in this Invocation of Thoth which
  we have summarized, there is another formula contained, the
  --
  The formula of this Invocation of Thoth may also be classed
  under Tetragrammaton. The first part is fire, the eager prayer of the
  --
  of Invocations. The mind is the great enemy; so, by invoking
  enthusiastically a person whom we know not to exist, we are
  --
  as an Invocation Sapphos Ode to Venus before a Probationer of
  the AA who was ignorant of Greek, the language of the Ode.
  --
  the Invocations which have come down to us are but the ruins of the
  Temple of Magick. The exorcisms might have been committed to

3.03 - The Formula of Tetragrammaton, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  the Invocations when they are properly performed.
  The peculiar dangers of each are obvious that of the first is a

3.04 - LUNA, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  [174] This dark side of the moon is hinted at in the ancient Invocation to Selene as the dog or bitch (
  ), in the Magic Papyri.277 There it is also said that in the second hour Helios appears as a dog.278 This statement is of interest in so far as the symbolizatio279 by the dog280 entered Western alchemy through Kalids Liber secretorum, originally, perhaps, an Arabic treatise. All similar passages that I could find go back, directly or indirectly, to Kalid.281 The original passage runs:
  --
  ), roughly corresponding to the position of the filius philosophorum.293a Kalids filius plays the role of a guiding spirit or familiar whose Invocation by magic is so typical of the Harranite texts. A parallel to the dog-spirit is the poodle in Faust, out of whom Mephistopheles emerges as the familiar of Faust the alchemist.
  [178] In this connection I would like to mention the incest dream of a woman patient: Two dogs were copulating. The male went head first into the female and disappeared in her belly.294 Theriomorphic symbolism is always an indication of a psychic process occurring on an animal level, i.e., in the instinctual sphere. The dream depicts a reversed birth as the goal of a sexual act. This archetypal situation underlies the incest motif in general and was present in modern man long before any consciousness of it. The archetype of incest is also at the back of the primitive notion that the father is reborn in the son, and of the heirosgamos of mother and son in its pagan and Christian form;295 it signifies the highest and the lowest, the brightest and the darkest, the best and the most detestable. It represents the pattern of renewal and rebirth, the endless creation and disappearance of symbolic figures.

3.04 - The Formula of ALHIM, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  2. See A. Crowley, Orpheus, for an Invocation of this Goddess.
   24

3.05 - SAL, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  [341] The Gloria mundi says that the aqua permanens is a very limpid water, so bitter as to be quite undrinkable.679 In a hymn-like Invocation the text continues: O water of bitter taste, that preservest the elements! O nature of propinquity, that dissolvest nature! O best of natures, which overcomest nature herself! . . . Thou art crowned with light and art born . . . and the quintessence ariseth from thee.680 This water is like none on earth, with the exception of that fount in Judaea which is named the Fount of the Saviour or of Blessedness. With great efforts and by the grace of God the philosophers found that noble spring. But the spring is in a place so secret that only a few know of its gushing, and they know not the way to Judaea where it might be found. Therefore the philosopher681 cries out: O water of harsh and bitter taste! For it is hard and difficult for any man to find that spring.682 This is an obvious allusion to the arcane nature and moral significance of the water, and it is also evident that it is not the water of grace or the water of the doctrine but that it springs from the lumen naturae. Otherwise the author would not have emphasized that Judaea was in a secret place, for if the Churchs teachings were meant no one would need to find them in a secret place, since they are accessible to everyone. Also, it would be quite incomprehensible why the philosopher should exclaim: O water, held worthless by all! By reason of its worthlessness and tortuousness683 no one can attain perfection in the art, or perceive its mighty virtue; for all four elements are, as it were, contained in it. There can be no doubt that this is the aqua permanens or aqua pontica, the primal water which contains the four elements.
  [342] The psychological equivalent of the chaotic water of the beginning684 is the unconscious, which the old writers could grasp only in projected form, just as today most people cannot see the beam in their own eye but are all too well aware of the mote in their brothers. Political propaganda exploits this primitivity and conquers the naive with their own defect. The only defence against this overwhelming danger is recognition of the shadow. The sight of its darkness is itself an illumination, a widening of consciousness through integration of the hitherto unconscious components of the personality. Freuds efforts to bring the shadow to consciousness are the logical and salutary answer to the almost universal unconsciousness and projection-proneness of the general public. It is as though Freud, with sure instinct, had sought to avert the danger of nation-wide psychic epidemics that threatened Europe. What he did not see was that the confrontation with the shadow is not just a harmless affair that can be settled by reason. The shadow is the primitive who is still alive and active in civilized man, and our civilized reason means nothing to him. He needs to be ruled by a higher authority, such as is found in the great religions. Even when Reason triumphed at the beginning of the French Revolution it was quickly turned into a goddess and enthroned in Notre-Dame.

3.07 - The Formula of the Holy Grail, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  5. [The Invocation of Horus according to the Divine Vision of W. the Seer, also
  in The Equinox of the Gods.]
  --
  gives the formula of the Invocation of that God.2 It would
  therefore be impossible, even were it desirable, to analyse all such

3.09 - Of Silence and Secrecy, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  main types. The preliminary Invocation in the Gotia consists
  principally of corruptions of Greek and Egyptian names.2 For
  --
  The Egyptian Invocations are much purer, but their meaning has
  not been sufficiently studied by persons magically competent. We
  posses a number of Invocations in Greek of every degree of
  excellence; in Latin but few, and those of inferior quality. It will be
  --
  3. See Appendix IV, Liber Samekh; this is an edition of this Invocation, with an
  elaborate Rubric, translation, scholia, and instruction.
  --
  Bartzabel in Equinox I (9). There are many extant Invocations
  throughout his works, in many kinds of metre, of many kinds of

3.10 - Of the Gestures, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  rituals, nominally of Invocation, which employ widdershins circumabulations, see
  Liber Samkeh (Appendix IV, p. 245), and Liber V vel Reguli (Appendix VI, p.
  --
  pure Invocation a better example is given in Liber 831.2
  In the construction of a ceremony an important thing to decide is
  --
  will make your Invocation to Her, and then dance and inward spiral
  deosil ending at the foot of the altar, where you sink on your knees

3.11 - Spells, #Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2E, #unset, #Zen
  Conformance ::: (Conjuration/Summoning, Invocation)
    Sphere: Law
  --
  Reversion ::: (Alteration, Invocation)
    Sphere: Time
  --
  Spirit of Power ::: (Summoning, Invocation)
    Sphere: Summoning

3.12 - Of the Bloody Sacrifice, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  Experience here as elsewhere is the best teacher. In the Sacrifice during Invocation,
  however, it may be said without fear of contradiction that the death of the victim
  should coincide with the supreme Invocation.
  2. [See also Appendix VI, p. 302 of this book.]
  --
  by the names of God and the Invocations used at the same time, but
  by a long habit of successful defence.6 If you are easily disturbed or

3.13 - Of the Banishings, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  purpose of our proposed Invocation.2
  By thus avoiding those actions which might excite the comment [103]
  --
  attitude of mind for the Invocations. The Banishing Ritual of the
  Pentagram (as now rewritten, Liber 333, Cap. XXV)1 is the best to

3.14 - Of the Consecrations, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  operations, even when performed as far as Invocation goes, are as
  harmless as igniting loose gunpowder.

3.15 - Of the Invocation, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  object:3.15 - Of the Invocation
  class:chapter
  --
  Of the Invocation
  In the straightforward or Protestant system of Magick there is
  --
  success in Invocation has not been hitherto disclosed. It is an
  exceedingly simple one. It is of practically no importance whatever
  that the Invocation should be right. There are a thousand different
  ways of compassing the end proposed, so far as external things are
  --
  XV: OF THE Invocation
  being of the Magician undergoes a spiritual spasm, at that
  --
  The subsequent Invocations, the gradual development and
  materialization of the force, require no effort. It is one great
  --
  cause of failure in Invocation.
  A corollary of this Theorem is that the Magician soon discards
  --
  entirely to the Invocation of a god; and as soon as his balance
  approaches perfection he ceases to invoke any partial god; only that
  --
  methods of Invocation, of which we may give three.
  1. This forgetfulness must be complete; it is fatal to try to let oneself go
  --
  really essential to all proper Invocation, and cannot be too
  sedulously practised.
  There are many other devices to aid Invocation, so many that it is
  impossible to enumerate them; and the Magician will be wise to
  --
  Suppose the Supreme Invocation to consist of 20 or 30 barbarous
  names, let him imagine these names to occupy sections of a vertical

3.16.1 - Of the Oath, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  He is now ready to commence the Invocations. He consequently
  pauses to cast a last glance around the Temple to assure himself of

3.16.2 - Of the Charge of the Spirit, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  With regard to Invocations of the Gods, such considerations do
  not apply. The Gods are beyond most material conditions. It is
  --
  and all magical ceremonies used in that Invocation are merely
  intended to prepare that Aspirant; not in any way to attract or
  --
  implies a defect in Invocation. The spirit cannot resist even for a
  moment the constraint of his Intelligence, when that Intelligence is
  --
  God above him. It is therefore better to repeat the Invocations than
  to proceed at once to curses.
  --
  this consideration from the new standpoint attained by the Invocation.
   120
  --
  Oath and the Invocations. And this may be done thrice.
  But if this be satisfactorily accomplished, and spirit be yet disobedient, the implication is that some hostile force is at work to

3.18 - Of Clairvoyance and the Body of Light, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  and Invocations. In short, educate it. Ultimately, the relation of that
  body with your own must be exceedingly intimate; but before this
  --
  it may be employed in ceremonies of initiation or of Invocation
  while the physical body remains silent and still.
  --
  practice. He will be able by suitable Invocations to travel to any
  place desired. In Liber 418 an example of perfection is given. The
  --
  marked to begin the divination by Invocations of the forces thereto
  appropriate. An error of judgement as to the true character of the

3.19 - Of Dramatic Rituals, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  The Wheel turns to those effectual methods of Invocation
  employed in the ancient Mysteries and by certain secret bodies of
  initiates to-day. The object of them is almost invariably1 the Invocation of a God, that God conceived in a more or less material and
  personal fashion. These Rituals are therefore well suited for such
  --
  composition. Lengthy speeches and Invocations should be avoided,
  but action should be very full. Such ceremonies should be carefully

31 Hymns to the Star Goddess, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  I. Invocation
  Mother of the Sun, Whose Body is White with the Milk of the Stars, bend upon Thy servant and impart unto him Thy Secret Kiss!

3.21 - Of Black Magic, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  7. Works of creation and dissolution, and the higher Invocations.
  There are also hundreds of other operations;2 to bring wanted
  --
  by the use of rituals of Invocation.
  1. This does not conflict with the go-as-you-please plan put forward in the

36.08 - A Commentary on the First Six Suktas of Rigveda, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08, #unset, #Zen
   The first group begins with the Invocation of the twin Riders. Who are these Riders? According to the narration of the Puranas, the Aswinikumaras are generally known as the twin heavenly physicians. It means, they drive away disease, decay and incapacity from the being and make the life-energy pure, sound and indomitable. In other words, they are the gods of immortality. Their work is to found immortality and an eternal youth of divinity in life. Pranavayu,which is the conveyance of the divine power, has been symbolically expressed as the horses. It may be asked why they have the twin forms. Perhaps it is because the one gives knowledge, the other the energy for work. Both are the presiding deities of immortality and both of them embody the most benevolent delight. Hence they are called Subhaspati.Also they are called Purubhuja,for they bring into life the divine enjoyment in. profusion. However, the one gives much importance to the energy of work, the other to the powerful pure intelligence. Whatever may be the difference in their outlook, they are the twin faces of one and the same God. The two horsemen open the fount of that very divine exhilaration in life by which there awakes and ascends an upward flame in the being of the aspirant. As the aspirant has been the possessor of an intense diversified delight, he is now able to proceed farther and farther, higher and higher by sacrificing his lower aspiration to the higher one. It is an immortalised life-energy that makes all the realisation effective, real and beautiful. It infuses spirit and power into the intelligence. The aspirant is endowed with an occult power of hearing and is initiate with the power of mantras which expresses and manifest the Truth. That is why the twin gods are called Nasatya(the Guides on the path). They are the leaders in our spiritual adventure. They lead us speedily through the different levels of consciousness to the vast ocean of the higher truth.
   The second group of riks: The spiritual delight and to immortal power of life will found themselves in a calm, pill and firmly rooted basis of the entire being. And this immortal delight will lead the spiritual practicant to the Divine Mind, to the pure Intelligence, to the realm of Indra. An ordinary man is unable to have a glimpse of the higher mind, the pure Intelligence because he is confined to the narrow limits of the lower material world and his life abounds wit restless, impure and hurtful desires. It is not by a gross inert inspiration but by a subtle inward power that the enjoyment of life must be purified and divinised. Then only the slot of the mind will be replaced by the divine Intelligence. With the divine Intelligence of Indra the aspirant enjoys a pure delight in life. It is Indra who fills the different aspects each object with a luminous truth. The inspiration surcharged with the effulgent knowledge of Indra will bring down and manifest in the aspirant the delightful truth of the Self which is the main support of the divine in the aspirant.

37.03 - Satyakama And Upakoshala, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08, #unset, #Zen
   The Fires are three. The first has its seat in the body; it is the power of the body's upward endeavour. It is as if a coiled-up force, kundalini.When this coiled-up force opens itself out and moves upward in a spiral curve, it goes on opening the body consciousness wider and wider in a clockwise or right-handed motion: that is the Fire of the Right, the fire of aspiration, in the inner consciousness of which mid-air is the symbol here. It is a right-handed motion because the movement is full of knowledge, instinct with the power of right discrimination, daksa, daksnna,between the truth and the falsehood, it is of the substance of knowledge. It merges up on high with the Fire of the Call, ahavaniya,once it gets purified and gross into a spotless Flame. This Fire of the Call is the power of austerity that has to be called down from on high by an Invocation. The tongue of this Flame lies hidden in the heavenly worlds of pure mind.
   The Fires spoke of the form or extension of Brahman, its manifested cosmic expansion, in time and space, inner and outer Satyakama completes the picture by revealing the supracosmic reality of Brahman, its transcendent essence beyond manifestation. That essence, Satyakama says in our first approach to it, appears as a twofold reality - it is a thing of light, Bhamani, and it is a thing of delight, Vamani, it is luminous, it is delightful. We get here an early version of the later well-known formula - Sachchidananda - satis citand ananda.

37.07 - Ushasti Chakrayana (Chhandogya Upanishad), #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08, #unset, #Zen
   In this manner Ushasti gave the teaching about the Triple Principle, the Trinity represented by Life, Mind and Body; Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svar, that is, Earth, Sky and Heaven. He gave an indication of these three levels of manifested being, the triple world of this universe, spoke of the divinity that presides over this Triplicity. First of all comes the God of Life. This is the deity that is invoked at the outset, has to be so invoked in every act, in all ceremonial function, even in the effort at an inner perfection. He is the Creator, all that is manifested has Him for its driving power, sarvam ejati nihsrtam. Creation begins with a vibration of this Life - Force. The first thing necessary is to infuse Life into things. When we worship a divine image, we begin the rites with an Invocation to this Life-force to enter the image; what was just an idol is awakened to life by the infusion of this Force. Life and Life-Force, this comes first. Next comes consciousness, knowledge, light, that is, the Sun-God, Aditya, and ordinarily, mind is His field. But by itself force is not enough, knowledge is not enough; this force and this light have to be embodied and given a form, they have to take physical shape with matter as the basis; they have to become an integral part of this earth of matter. Force and Light and Being are the three cosmic Principles, and. they have three Deities presiding over them. In establishing them in their unity in his awakened being man finds his entire and all round fulfilment.
   You may notice here one thing. Many of these Rishis in the Upanishads are found sometimes using a threat that if anything or anyone deviated from the truth or the accepted norm, "the head would fall off". It seems to mean this. If one commits an error or there is a fault in the course of one's spiritual effort and if one continues on the wrong path without acknowledging the error or shortcoming, then it implies a movement, a gesture against the Truth and the Right, and this default carries in itself the possibility of a derangement of the head. The actual physical calamity befell an ancient seeker, Shakalya; we already know that story. In this age we do not perhaps come across an actual physical instance of such a mishap; but we are certainly familiar with something analogous, a derangement of the brain instead of the physical falling off of the head. As the Mother has said, the spiritual force is a kind of fire, to play with this fire without an inner devotion and sincerity invites dangers of this sort.

3 - Commentaries and Annotated Translations, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  So the Rigveda begins with an Invocation to Agni, with
  the adoration of the pure, mighty and brilliant God. "Agni (he
  --
  the offering, therefore the Invocation or praise might also fall to
  542
  --
  the Invocation to Agni with which the Rig Veda opens. Agni
  the god of the sacred flame, ruler of the sacrifice, is described
  --
  thought); and art the priest of Invocation of this thinking, O doer
  of works (or, O Puissant); thou hast made an impassable strength
  --
  as the priest of Invocation mighty for the sacrifice, adorable of
  men, thence impelling them to their journey (or to the work).
  --
  priest of Invocation).
  d-m Sayana takes as dfnFy beautiful. ds^ means to cut,
  --
  priest of Invocation of this thinking."
  (v\ sF\ vq3kZod;rFt; sho Ev
  --
  priest of Invocation of this thinking. Thou hast made an impassable strength for thyself on every side, O Bull, that thou mayst
  overpower every force.
  --
  Hotri is the priest of Invocation and also the priest who gives
  the offering. This divine Power of the sacrificial thought and
  --
  tookest thy seat) yjFyAn^ hotA as the priest of Invocation and
  offering very capable for the sacrifice.
  --
  Flame takes up, as now, his seat as the priest of the Invocation
  and offering and in that fulfilled strength he is very mighty for

4.4.4.02 - Peace, Calm, Quiet as a Basis for the Descent, #Letters On Yoga III, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  aspiration or Invocation for the descent of the Light from above.
  Only it must be an aspiration in this calm and wideness, not

6.06 - SELF-KNOWLEDGE, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  [707] Expressed in the language of Hermetic philosophy, the ego-personalitys coming to terms with its own background, the shadow, corresponds to the union of spirit and soul in the unio mentalis, which is the first stage of the coniunctio. What I call coming to terms with the unconscious the alchemists called meditation. Ruland says of this: Meditation: The name of an Internal Talk of one person with another who is invisible, as in the Invocation of the Deity, or communion with ones self, or with ones good angel.128 This somewhat optimistic definition must immediately be qualified by a reference to the adepts relations with his spiritus familiaris, who we can only hope was a good one. In this respect Mercurius is a rather unreliable companion, as the testimony of the alchemists agrees. In order to understand the second stage, the union of the unio mentalis with the body, psychologically, we must bear in mind what the psychic state resulting from a fairly complete recognition of the shadow looks like. The shadow, as we know, usually presents a fundamental contrast to the conscious personality. This contrast is the prerequisite for the difference of potential from which psychic energy arises. Without it, the necessary tension would be lacking. Where considerable psychic energy is at work, we must expect a corresponding tension and inner opposition. The opposites are necessarily of a characterological nature: the existence of a positive virtue implies victory over its opposite, the corresponding vice. Without its counterpart virtue would be pale, ineffective, and unreal. The extreme opposition of the shadow to consciousness is mitigated by complementary and compensatory processes in the unconscious. Their impact on consciousness finally produces the uniting symbols.
  [708] Confrontation with the shadow produces at first a dead balance, a standstill that hampers moral decisions and makes convictions ineffective or even impossible. Everything becomes doubtful, which is why the alchemists called this stage nigredo, tenebrositas, chaos, melancholia. It is right that the magnum opus should begin at this point, for it is indeed a well-nigh unanswerable question how one is to confront reality in this torn and divided state. Here I must remind the reader who is acquainted neither with alchemy nor with the psychology of the unconscious that nowadays one very seldom gets into such a situation. Nobody now has any sympathy with the perplexities of an investigator who busies himself with magical substances, and there are relatively few people who have experienced the effects of an analysis of the unconscious on themselves, and almost nobody hits on the idea of using the objective hints given by dreams as a theme for meditation. If the ancient art of meditation is practised at all today, it is practised only in religious or philosophical circles, where a theme is subjectively chosen by the meditant or prescribed by an instructor, as in the Ignatian Exercitia or in certain theosophical exercises that developed under Indian influence. These methods are of value only for increasing concentration and consolidating consciousness, but have no significance as regards effecting a synthesis of the personality. On the contrary, their purpose is to shield consciousness from the unconscious and to suppress it. They are therefore of therapeutic value only in cases where the conscious is liable to be overwhelmed by the unconscious and there is the danger of a psychotic interval.

6.07 - THE MONOCOLUS, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  [735] The relation of alchemical fantasies to the primordial images of Greek mythology is too well known for me to document it. The cosmogonic brother-sister incest,208 like the Creation itself, had been from ancient times the prototype of the alchemists great work. Yet we seek the Graeco-Roman tradition in vain for traces of the wonder-working monocolus. We find him, perhaps, in Vedic mythology, and in a form that is highly significant for our context, namely, as an attri bute of the sun-god Rohita209 (red sun), who was called the one-footed goat210 (ag kapada). In Hymn XIII, i of the Atharva-veda he is praised together with his wife Rohini. Of her it says: Rise up, O steed, that art within the waters, and The steed that is within the waters is risen up.211 The hymn begins with this Invocation to Rohini, who is thereby united with Rohita after he has climbed to his highest place in heaven. The parallel with our French text is so striking that one would have to infer its literary dependence if there were any way of proving that the author was acquainted with the Atharva-veda. This proof is next to impossible, as Indian literature was not known in the West at all until the turn of the eighteenth century, and then only in the form of the Oupnekhat of Anquetil du Perron,212 a collection of Upanishads in Persian which he translated into Latin.213 The Atharva-veda was translated only in the second half of the nineteenth century.214 If we wish to explain the parallel at all we have to infer an archetypal connection.
  [736] From all this it appears that our picture represents the union of the spirit with material reality. It is not the common gold that enters into combination but the spirit of the gold, only the right half of the king, so to speak. The queen is a sulphur, like him an extract or spirit of earth or water, and therefore a chthonic spirit. The male spirit corresponds to Dorns substantia coelestis, that is, to knowledge of the inner light the self or imago Dei which is here united with its chthonic counterpart, the feminine spirit of the unconscious. Empirically this is personified in the psychological anima figure, who is not to be confused with the anima of our mediaeval philosophers, which was merely a philosophical anima vegetativa, the ligament of body and spirit. It is, rather, the alchemical queen who corresponds to the psychological anima.215 Accordingly, the coniunctio appears here as the union of a consciousness (spirit), differentiated by self-knowledge, with a spirit abstracted from previously unconscious contents. One could also regard the latter as a quintessence of fantasy-images that enter consciousness either spontaneously or through active imagination and, in their totality, represent a moral or intellectual viewpoint contrasting with, or compensating, that of consciousness. To begin with, however, these images are anything but moral or intellectual; they are more or less concrete visualizations that first have to be interpreted. The alchemist used them more as technical terms for expressing the mysterious properties which he attri buted to his chemical substances. The psychologist, on the contrary, regards them not as allegories but as genuine symbols pointing to psychic contents that are not known but are merely suspected in the background, to the impulses and ides forces of the unconscious. He starts from the fact that connections which are not based on sense-experience derive from fantasy creations which in turn have psychic causes. These causes cannot be perceived directly but are discovered only by deduction. In this work the psychologist has the support of modern fantasy material. It is produced in abundance in psychoses, dreams, and in active imagination during treatment, and it makes accurate investigation possible because the author of the fantasies can always be questioned. In this way the psychic causes can be established. The images often show such a striking resemblance to mythological motifs that one cannot help regarding the causes of the individual fantasies as identical with those that determined the collective and mythological images. In other words, there is no ground for the assumption that human beings in other epochs produced fantasies for quite different reasons, or that their fantasy images sprang from quite different ides forces, from ours. It can be ascertained with reasonable certainty from the literary records of the past that at least the universal human facts were felt and thought about in very much the same way at all times. Were this not so, all intelligent historiography and all understanding of historical texts would be impossible. Naturally there are differences, which make caution necessary in all cases, but these differences are mostly on the surface only and lose their significance the more deeply one penetrates into the meaning of the fundamental motifs.

6.0 - Conscious, Unconscious, and Individuation, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  60 So called in an Invocation to Hermes. Cf. Preisendanz, II, p. 139. Further par-
  ticulars in Psychology and Alchemy, par. 172; fig. 214 is a repetition of the

7 - Yoga of Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  of them a kind of Invocation. Thus, you wish to be in a
  certain condition. You have, for example, found in you
  --
  emanation of a god, through an inner Invocation there
  is usually a whole ceremony in this connection if the

Appendix 4 - Priest Spells, #Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2E, #unset, #Zen
        By means of this spell, the caster is able to change a specially prepared staff into a treantlike creature of the largest size, about 24 feet tall. When the priest plants the end of the staff in the ground and speaks a special comm and and Invocation, the staff turns into a treantlike creature with 12 Hit Dice, 40 hit points, and Armor Class 0. It attacks twice per round, inflicting 4d6 points of damage with every successful attack. The staff-treant defends the caster and obeys any spoken commands. However, it is by no means a true treant; it cannot converse with actual treants or control trees. The transformation lasts either for as many turns as the caster has experience levels, until the caster commands the staff to return to its true form, or until the staff is destroyed, whichever occurs first. If the staff-treant is reduced to 0 hit points or less, it crumbles to a sawdustlike powder and the staff is destroyed. Otherwise, the staff can be used again after 24 hours and the stafftreant is at full strength.
        To cast a changestaff spell, the caster must have either his holy symbol or leaves (ash, oak, or yew) of the same sort as the staff.

APPENDIX I - Curriculum of A. A., #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  The rituals of The Book of Lies and the Goetia are also to be studied. The "preliminary Invocation" of the Goetia is in particular recommended for daily use and work.
  Orpheus, by Aleister Crowley, contains a large number of magical Invocations in verse. There are also a good many others in other parts of his poetical works.
  The following is a complete curriculum of reading officially approved by the A.'. A.'.
  --
   The Goetia. ::: The most intelligible of the mediaeval rituals of Evocation. Contains also the favorite Invocation of the Master Therion.
      Erdmann's "History of Philosophy". ::: A compendious account of philosophy from the earliest times.
  --
    Liber VI. (6) [B] Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae. ::: Instructions given for elementary study of the Qabalah, Assumption of God forms, vibration of Divine Names, the Rituals of Pentagram and Hexagram, and their uses in protection and Invocation, a method of attaining astral visions so-called, and an instruction in the practice called Rising on the Planes. Equinox II, p. 11 and appendix VI in this book.
    Liber VII. (7) [A] Liber Liberi vel Lapis Lazuli ::: Adumbratio Kabbalae Aegyptiorum. sub Figura VII. Being the Voluntary Emancipation of a certain exempt Adept from his Adeptship. These are the Birth Words of a Master of the Temple. Its 7 chapters are referred to the 7 planets in the following order: Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Sol, Mercury, Luna, Venus.
  --
    Liber LXIV. (64) [B] - Liber Israfel. ::: By Allen Bennet, Crowley, Others. Invocation of Thoth, as a prelude to preaching. Formerly called 'Liber Anubis', an instruction in a suitable method of preaching.
    Liber LXV. (65) [A] - Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente. ::: An account of the relations of the Aspirant with his Holy Guardian Angel. Equinox XI (vol. iii, part 1), p. 65.
  --
    Liber CCCLXV, (365) [] - vel CXX ::: The Preliminary Invocation of the Goetia so-called, with a complete explanation of the barbarous names of evocation used therein, and the secret rubric of the ritual, by the Master Therion. This is the most potent Invocation extant, and was used by the Master Himself in his attainment. See p. 265 of this book.
    Liber CCCLXVII (367) [] - De Homunculo

BOOK II. -- PART I. ANTHROPOGENESIS., #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
  sidereal world. In the same Fargard (ii. and iii.), in his Invocation against Angra Mainyu and his Host,
  Zarathustra appeals to them in these words: "I invoke the seven bright Sravah with their sons and their

BOOK II. -- PART II. THE ARCHAIC SYMBOLISM OF THE WORLD-RELIGIONS, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
  Spenta" (Vendidad Sadah), has, as a prayer and Invocation, an identical meaning with "Lead us not
  into temptation," and is addressed by man to the terrible Spirit of duality in man himself. For (Ahura)

BOOK I. -- PART I. COSMIC EVOLUTION, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
  Compare two Invocations, one to the Hermetic "Supreme All," the
  [[Footnote(s) -------------------------------------------------]]
  --
  undeniably ancient. Let us now compare the above with a like Invocation in the Hindu Scriptures -undoubtedly as old, if not far older. Here it is Parasara, the Aryan "Hermes" who instructs Maitreya,
  the Indian Asclepios, and calls upon Vishnu in his triple hypostasis.
  --
  This is a grand Invocation, full of philosophical meaning underlying it; but, for the profane masses, as
  suggestive as is the first of an anthropomorphic Being. We must respect the feeling that dictated both;

BOOK I. -- PART III. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
  tendencies -- reads that these are only appellations of fire employed in the Invocations and rituals, he
  http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sd/sd1-3-06.htm (14 von 17) [06.05.2003 03:33:23]

BOOK IV. - That empire was given to Rome not by the gods, but by the One True God, #City of God, #Saint Augustine of Hippo, #Christianity
  Therefore, that it might be known that these earthly good things, after which those pant who cannot imagine better things, remain in the power of the one God Himself, not of the many false gods whom the Romans have formerly believed worthy of worship, He multiplied His people in Egypt from being very few, and delivered them out of it by wonderful signs. Nor did their women invoke Lucina when their offspring was being incredibly multiplied; and that nation having increased incredibly, He Himself delivered, He Himself saved them from the hands of the Egyptians, who persecuted them, and wished to kill all their infants. Without the goddess Rumina they sucked; without Cunina they were cradled; without Educa and Potina they took food and drink; without all those puerile gods they were educated; without the nuptial[Pg 176] gods they were married; without the worship of Priapus they had conjugal intercourse; without Invocation of Neptune the divided sea opened up a way for them to pass over, and overwhelmed with its returning waves their enemies who pursued them. Neither did they consecrate any goddess Mannia when they received manna from heaven; nor, when the smitten rock poured forth water to them when they thirsted, did they worship Nymphs and Lymphs. Without the mad rites of Mars and Bellona they carried on war; and while, indeed, they did not conquer without victory, yet they did not hold it to be a goddess, but the gift of their God. Without Segetia they had harvests; without Bubona, oxen; honey without Mellona; apples without Pomona: and, in a word, everything for which the Romans thought they must supplicate so great a crowd of false gods, they received much more happily from the one true God. And if they had not sinned against Him with impious curiosity, which seduced them like magic arts, and drew them to strange gods and idols, and at last led them to kill Christ, their kingdom would have remained to them, and would have been, if not more spacious, yet more happy, than that of Rome. And now that they are dispersed through almost all lands and nations, it is through the providence of that one true God; that whereas the images, altars, groves, and temples of the false gods are everywhere overthrown, and their sacrifices prohibited, it may be shown from their books how this has been foretold by their prophets so long before; lest, perhaps, when they should be read in ours, they might seem to be invented by us. But now, reserving what is to follow for the following book, we must here set a bound to the prolixity of this one.
  [Pg 177]

BOOK X. - Porphyrys doctrine of redemption, #City of God, #Saint Augustine of Hippo, #Christianity
  10. Concerning theurgy, which promises a delusive purification of the soul by the Invocation of demons.
  But here we have another and a much more learned Platonist than Apuleius, Porphyry, to wit, asserting that, by I know not what theurgy, even the gods themselves are subjected to passions and perturbations; for by adjurations they were so bound and terrified that they could not confer purity of soul,were so terrified by him who imposed on them a wicked command, that they could not by the same theurgy be freed from that terror, and fulfil the righteous behest of him who prayed to them, or do the good he sought. Who does not see that all these things are fictions of deceiving demons, unless he be a wretched slave of theirs, and an alien from the grace of the true Liberator? For if the Chaldan had been dealing with good gods, certainly a well-disposed man, who sought to purify his own soul, would have had more influence with them than an evil-disposed man seeking to hinder him. Or, if the gods were just, and considered the man unworthy of the purification he sought, at all events they should not have been terrified by an envious person, nor hindered, as Porphyry avows, by the fear of a stronger deity, but should have simply denied the boon on their own free judgment. And it is surprising that that well-disposed Chaldan, who desired to purify his soul by theurgical rites, found no superior deity who could either terrify the frightened gods still more, and force them to confer the boon, or compose their fears, and so enable them to do good without compulsion,even supposing that the good theurgist had no rites by which he himself might purge away the taint of fear from the gods whom he invoked for the purification of his own soul. And why is it that there is a god who has power to terrify the inferior gods, and none who has[Pg 397] power to free them from fear? Is there found a god who listens to the envious man, and frightens the gods from doing good? and is there not found a god who listens to the well-disposed man, and removes the fear of the gods that they may do him good? O excellent theurgy! O admirable purification of the soul!a theurgy in which the violence of an impure envy has more influence than the entreaty of purity and holiness. Rather let us abominate and avoid the deceit of such wicked spirits, and listen to sound doctrine. As to those who perform these filthy cleansings by sacrilegious rites, and see in their initiated state (as he further tells us, though we may question this vision) certain wonderfully lovely appearances of angels or gods, this is what the apostle refers to when he speaks of "Satan transforming himself into an angel of light."[399] For these are the delusive appearances of that spirit who longs to entangle wretched souls in the deceptive worship of many and false gods, and to turn them aside from the true worship of the true God, by whom alone they are cleansed and healed, and who, as was said of Proteus, "turns himself into all shapes,"[400] equally hurtful, whether he assaults us as an enemy, or assumes the disguise of a friend.

ENNEAD 04.04 - Questions About the Soul., #Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 02, #Plotinus, #Christianity
  40. But how shall we explain the enchantments of magic? By the sympathy that things have for each other, the accord of those that are similar, the struggle of those that are contrary, the variety of the powers of the various beings which contri bute to the formation of a single organism; for many things are attracted towards each other and are mutually enchanted, without the intervention of a magician. The real magic is the Love that reigns in the universe, with its contrary of Hate. The first magician, him whom men consult to act by the means of his philtres and enchantments, is Love; for it is from the natural mutual love of all504 things, and from the natural power they have to compel each others' love, that is derived the efficaciousness of the art of inspiring love by employing enchantments. By this art, magicians bring together the natures which have an innate love for each other; they unite one soul to another as one cross-fertilizes distant plants; by employing (symbolic) figures which possess special virtues; by themselves taking certain attitudes, they noiselessly attract the powers of other beings, and induce them to conspire to unity so much the easier as they themselves are in unity. A being of the same disposition, but located outside of the universe, could neither by magic attractions fascinate, nor by his influence enchain any of the things contained in the world; on the contrary, from the moment that he is not a stranger to the world, he can attract towards himself other beings, knowing their mutual relations and attractions within the universal organism. There are indeed Invocations, songs, words, (symbolic) figures, and, for instance, certain sad attitudes and plaintive tones which exert a natural attraction. Their influence extends even to the soul I mean, the irrational soul; for neither the will nor the reason permit themselves to be subdued by the charms of music. This magic of music does not arouse any astonishment; nevertheless those who play or sing, charm and inspire love unintentionally. Nor does the virtue of prayers depend on their being heard by Beings that make free decisions; for these Invocations do not address themselves to free-will. Thus160 when a man is fascinated by a serpent, he neither feels nor understands the influence exerted on him; he perceives what he has felt only after having experienced it the governing part of the soul cannot anyway experience anything of the kind. Consequently when an Invocation is addressed to a Being, some thing results; either for him who makes this Invocation, or for some other person.
  505

Liber 111 - The Book of Wisdom - LIBER ALEPH VEL CXI, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   true Self, since without It no Invocation were possible, we have here a
   Cooperation of Alliance between the Inner and the Outer Self, and thus
  --
   Fourth, make an especial and direct Invocation at thy Mass, before the
   Introit, formulating a visible Image of this Child, and offering the
  --
   performed the Ritual of the Pentagram or the Invocation of the Heart
   girt with a Serpent, or the Mass of he Phoenix, or of the Holy Ghost,
  --
   very lordly, in our Holy Invocation. Sekhet our Lady is figured as a
   lioness, for that She is that Lust of Nuit toward Hadit which is the

Liber 46 - The Key of the Mysteries, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   Invocation borrowed from the Jewish liturgy. It is a page from the
   qabalistic poem Kether-Malkuth, by Rabbi Solomon, son of Gabirol:

Liber, #Liber Null, #Peter J Carroll, #Occultism
  @Liber VI. (6) [B] Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae. ::: Instructions given for elementary study of the Qabalah, Assumption of God forms, vibration of Divine Names, the Rituals of Pentagram and Hexagram, and their uses in protection and Invocation, a method of attaining astral visions so-called, and an instruction in the practice called Rising on the Planes. Equinox II, p. 11 and appendix VI in this book.
  @Liber VII. (7) [A] - Liber Liberi vel Lapis Lazuli ::: Adumbratio Kabbalae Aegyptiorum. sub Figura VII. Being the Voluntary Emancipation of a certain exempt Adept from his Adeptship. These are the Birth Words of a Master of the Temple. Its 7 chapters are referred to the 7 planets in the following order: Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Sol, Mercury, Luna, Venus.
  --
  Liber LXIV. (64) [B] - Liber Israfel. ::: By Allen Bennet, Crowley, Others. Invocation of Thoth, as a prelude to preaching. Formerly called 'Liber Anubis', an instruction in a suitable method of preaching.
  Liber LXV. (65) [A] - Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente. ::: Crowley: 'An account of the relations of the Aspirant with his Holy Guardian Angel. Attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel is the Crown of the Outer College. Similarly 'Liber VII is given to Neophytes, as the grade of Master of the Temple is the next highest resting-place, and Liber CCXX to the Zelator, since that carries him to the highest of all possible grades. Liber XXVII is given to the Practicus, as in this book is the ultimate foundation of the highest theoretical Qabalah, and Liber DCCCXIII to the Philosophus, as it is the foundation of the highest practical Qabalah. This magical treatise describes particularly the relation of the Aspirant with his Higher Self. It is, alike in conception and execution, a masterpiece of exaltation of thought, carved in Pure Beauty.' Also known as The Heart Girt with a Serpent.
  --
  Liber CCCLXV, (365) [] - vel CXX ::: The Preliminary Invocation of the Goetia so-called, with a complete explanation of the barbarous names of evocation used therein, and the secret rubric of the ritual, by the Master Therion. This is the most potent Invocation extant, and was used by the Master Himself in his attainment. See p. 265 of this book.
  Liber CCCLXVII (367) [B] - De Homunculo ::: A secret instruction of the X of O.T.O.

LUX.01 - GNOSIS, #Liber Null, #Peter J Carroll, #Occultism
  The nature of a sexual working: lends itself readily to the creation of independent orders of being - evocation. Also in works of Invocation where the magician seeks union with some principle (or being), the process can be mirrored on the physical plane; one's partner is visualized as an incarnation of the desired idea or god. Prolonged sexual excitement through karezza, inhibition of orgasm, or repeated orgasmic collapse can lead to trance states useful for divination. It may be necessary to regain one's original sexuality from the mass of fantasy and association into which it mostly sinks. This is achieved by judicious use of abstention and by arousing lust without any form of mental prop or fantasy. This exercise is also therapeutic. Be ye ever virgin unto Kia.
  The concentrations: leading to magical trance are discussed in Liber MMM.

WORDNET



--- Overview of noun invocation

The noun invocation has 4 senses (first 1 from tagged texts)
                  
1. (1) invocation, supplication ::: (a prayer asking God's help as part of a religious service)
2. invocation ::: (an incantation used in conjuring or summoning a devil)
3. conjuring, conjuration, conjury, invocation ::: (calling up a spirit or devil)
4. invocation ::: (the act of appealing for help)


--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun invocation

4 senses of invocation                        

Sense 1
invocation, supplication
   => prayer, petition, orison
     => request, asking
       => speech act
         => act, deed, human action, human activity
           => event
             => psychological feature
               => abstraction, abstract entity
                 => entity

Sense 2
invocation
   => incantation, conjuration
     => spell, magic spell, magical spell, charm
       => speech, speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, language, voice communication, oral communication
         => auditory communication
           => communication
             => abstraction, abstract entity
               => entity

Sense 3
conjuring, conjuration, conjury, invocation
   => magic, thaumaturgy
     => supernaturalism
       => belief
         => content, cognitive content, mental object
           => cognition, knowledge, noesis
             => psychological feature
               => abstraction, abstract entity
                 => entity

Sense 4
invocation
   => implementation, effectuation
     => act, deed, human action, human activity
       => event
         => psychological feature
           => abstraction, abstract entity
             => entity


--- Hyponyms of noun invocation

2 of 4 senses of invocation                      

Sense 1
invocation, supplication
   => rogation

Sense 3
conjuring, conjuration, conjury, invocation
   => evocation, summoning


--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun invocation

4 senses of invocation                        

Sense 1
invocation, supplication
   => prayer, petition, orison

Sense 2
invocation
   => incantation, conjuration

Sense 3
conjuring, conjuration, conjury, invocation
   => magic, thaumaturgy

Sense 4
invocation
   => implementation, effectuation




--- Coordinate Terms (sisters) of noun invocation

4 senses of invocation                        

Sense 1
invocation, supplication
  -> prayer, petition, orison
   => prayer wheel
   => benediction, blessing
   => collect
   => commination
   => deprecation
   => grace, blessing, thanksgiving
   => intercession
   => invocation, supplication
   => requiescat

Sense 2
invocation
  -> incantation, conjuration
   => invocation

Sense 3
conjuring, conjuration, conjury, invocation
  -> magic, thaumaturgy
   => juju
   => mojo
   => conjuring, conjuration, conjury, invocation
   => sorcery, black magic, black art, necromancy
   => white magic

Sense 4
invocation
  -> implementation, effectuation
   => invocation
   => instrumentation
   => motorization, motorisation
   => means, agency, way
   => practice, praxis




--- Grep of noun invocation
invocation



IN WEBGEN [10000/50]

Wikipedia - Asynchronous method invocation
Wikipedia - Constitutional references to God -- Invocations of God in national constitutions
Wikipedia - Great Invocation
Wikipedia - Implicit invocation
Wikipedia - Invocation (disambiguation)
Wikipedia - Invocation: Jazz Meets the Symphony No. 7 -- Studio album by Lalo Schifrin
Wikipedia - Invocation
Wikipedia - Java remote method invocation
Wikipedia - Our Lady, Star of the Sea -- Invocation of Mary, Mother of Jesus, among other names and titles
Wikipedia - Platform Invocation Services
Wikipedia - Pray and work -- Latin phrase and Benedictine motto and invocation
Wikipedia - Prayer -- Invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26631696-invocation
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4131083-the-invocation-of-the-name-of-jesus
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44566338-the-invocation
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/498739.The_Prophetic_Invocations
Integral World - Collective Ritual Invocation of an Integral Post-Metaphysical Spirituality, Joe Corbett
wiki.auroville - Invocation_(journal)
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Invocation
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/BurialInvocation
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Great_Invocation
https://dnd4.fandom.com/wiki/Binding_invocation_of_chains
https://dnd4.fandom.com/wiki/Fourfold_invocation_of_doom
https://dnd4.fandom.com/wiki/Invocation_of_ice_and_fire
https://dnd4.fandom.com/wiki/Invocation_of_War
https://dnd4.fandom.com/wiki/Racking_invocation_of_pain
https://dnd4.fandom.com/wiki/Shadowdark_invocation
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Invocation_of_Azura
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Invocation_of_Hircine
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Pocket_Guide_to_the_Empire,_First_Edition:_Invocation
https://eq2.fandom.com/wiki/Dazing_Invocation
https://eq2.fandom.com/wiki/Invocation_Strike
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Candle_of_invocation
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Invocation
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Invocation/Evocation
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Invocation/evocation
https://neverwinter.fandom.com/wiki/Invocation
https://shadowhearts.fandom.com/wiki/Demon's_Gate_Invocation
https://shadowhearts.fandom.com/wiki/Reverse_Demon's_Gate_Invocation
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Blood_Invocation_(comic_story)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Invocation_(audio_story)
Asynchronous method invocation
Basilica Minor under the invocation of the Blessed Lady Mary in Inowrocaw
Controversial invocations of the Patriot Act
Invocation
Invocation (disambiguation)
Invocation (William Lloyd Webber album)
Java remote method invocation
Platform Invocation Services
United Kingdom invocation of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union



convenience portal:
recent: Section Maps - index table - favorites
Savitri -- Savitri extended toc
Savitri Section Map -- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
authors -- Crowley - Peterson - Borges - Wilber - Teresa - Aurobindo - Ramakrishna - Maharshi - Mother
places -- Garden - Inf. Art Gallery - Inf. Building - Inf. Library - Labyrinth - Library - School - Temple - Tower - Tower of MEM
powers -- Aspiration - Beauty - Concentration - Effort - Faith - Force - Grace - inspiration - Presence - Purity - Sincerity - surrender
difficulties -- cowardice - depres. - distract. - distress - dryness - evil - fear - forget - habits - impulse - incapacity - irritation - lost - mistakes - obscur. - problem - resist - sadness - self-deception - shame - sin - suffering
practices -- Lucid Dreaming - meditation - project - programming - Prayer - read Savitri - study
subjects -- CS - Cybernetics - Game Dev - Integral Theory - Integral Yoga - Kabbalah - Language - Philosophy - Poetry - Zen
6.01 books -- KC - ABA - Null - Savitri - SA O TAOC - SICP - The Gospel of SRK - TIC - The Library of Babel - TLD - TSOY - TTYODAS - TSZ - WOTM II
8 unsorted / add here -- Always - Everyday - Verbs


change css options:
change font "color":
change "background-color":
change "font-family":
change "padding":
change "table font size":
last updated: 2022-05-04 11:19:38
106019 site hits