A Quick Question

[seekinghga]

Preface:
Yesterday I asked Jim a question regarding a quote from his book TM&MSotAA. At his suggestion I am reproducing my question and his response here on the public forums.

Q:
In your book "The Mystical & Magical System of the A:.A:.", on page 91 in the Zelator chapter you have a quote from THE EQUINOX No. 4. Within the quote it says, "the uniting of the Magus and the God which is Evocation". Is evocation correct, or should it be invocation? To me, personally, it seems like invocation, but perhaps that is merely indicative of faulty knowledge on my part.

A:

@Jim Eshelman said

Good question.

First off, of course: I was just quoting, and the quote is correct

I see the basis of the question and, superficially, you're right. I'm certain what he's saying, though, is this: In the process of evocation, it isn't (rightly) the magician who is doing the evocation, but the God-force that is first invoked, working through the magician (one might say, in collaboration). It brings up a solid point because there is too much thinking that evocation is a different process than invocation, or that it is an earlier and easier practice. One sometimes gets the idea that a magician thinks evocation is as far from invocation as a thing could be. But, in fact, evocation depends on successful invocation. It's just a matter of bringing the force down an extra plane.

[ThelemicMage]

A quick quote from our man Crowley:

[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.]

[Jim Eshelman]

Key words: "having become the macrocosm." Compare these words to what I wrote above.

[ThelemicMage]

In the form of evocation discussed, it feels as if one is becoming an active messenger of of a specific God.

I wonder how far this could go with one becoming a messenger of one's HGA. I do suppose this is what Liber Samehk is all about, and that is one thing I am seriously working on right now.

The elements are all invoked, then the HGA is invoked and evoked, if successful, and you become its active messenger?

[Jim Eshelman]

@ThelemicMage said

"I wonder how far this could go with one becoming a messenger of one's HGA."

This is, effectively, what the Adept is. It's part of the thinking behind my describing "one's True Will" moving through the Adept as "the Voice of the HGA." One's unfolding being is the articulation of that Word.