Evocation
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The evolution of the universe and the wills of the majority of people do not act in your interest. It is important to digest this before embarking on our voyage to the backwaters of our psyches'. I keep reading that defictis in character produce poor magickal results, and occasionally, in my experience, and I think shane's, can create a monster simulating a magus.
So supposedly, this is where "evocation" brings us, magick for the purpose of psychology, with techniques such as Goetia. I just read an article stating that Goetia is valid and works, but is Obsolete, because the language and conceptual frameworks of our current time have evolved beyond the 19th Century model the Goetia presented.
In evocation, to get results, I read that the act must bring about some change in consciousness in order to be effective, say summoning an entity that has an association with the pscyhological character attribute you're working on; than a dissociation of the entity (to relieve yourself of the burden), and then a reintegration of choices.
So what is the difference between the Goetia and other new types of evocations? They all produce dissociation from the object, and the Goetia is far more fun apparently initially, but since the object of evocation is self-engineering, from what I've read, the Goetia is not specific enough and fails to provide an adequat and selective libary of personae or "selves."
For instance you can find a demon for Greed or Lust, but try to find a demon for "culture shock" and you'll be out of luck.
Whenever I read about people working the Goetia, I read about how one of it's main desirablitlies is that it does provide interesting and spectacular results when it comes down to sheer research of magickal phenomena, but does so be utilizing a gnosis of fear and terror. When you evoke a demon, the fear of loss of self-control creates an intense experience giving good results. The thought is though, after time, the results will no longer produce that fear and therefore not be effective.
I don't know how I feel about this honestly. Obviously the AA uses the Goetia. Obviously the Goetia works if done properly. Would exploring newer forms of evocation be worth it, or just lead one down a road of not sticking with something, of being fickle and therefore never accomplishing anything significant?
"Battle ye not with monsters lest ye become a monster." Nietzsche
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93,
"The evolution of the universe and the wills of the majority of people do not act in your interest."
If we define 'you' in this context as the lower ego, that could well be correct. But if we are looking at things from the level of the True Will, then it is an essentially false assertion. The idea that "I" have a will that is fundamentally separate from the rest of the Universe is an absurd proposition.
93 93/93,
EM
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I'm sorry, yes, I was referring to the Lower Ego, in the Freudian sense. I believe/have faith in that we are truly all one, in the sense of the Atman, the Collective Consciousness, or Huxley's "Divine Ground."
In your everyday materialistic, world of Assiah sense though, I do strongly feel that the SuperEgo of each "individual," does NOT act in your best interest. IMHO, if you haven't yet reached the point of Initiation, wherein you have been set to the path to the HGA, or, your Higher Self, you are fighting the Universe. I believe Crowley also felt this in his, "Magick in Theory & Practice."
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93,
My own take on this is that the Superego is <i>one</i> aspect of the HGA. It is, in fact, the form in which the HGA often first manifests. It has an "OMIGOD!" flavor to it, and some people pack up their books and regalia at that point and become Baptists. This is depicted in the Devil card of the tarot, Ayin (the OMIGOD bit, not the Baptists - unless you consider the figures struggling in the testes to be rival preachers
)This would be an integral part of the total path to the K&C. I'm not suggesting it's an easy part, but the sense that the Universe is fundamentally hostile to what we are has to be seen as false at some point. The interaction with the Superego is a part of the deprogramming that allows us to accept and align with what we <i>think</i> will destroy or limit us.
So getting to the point where we can see that Assiah sometimes presents a picture that is the opposite of an inner or greater reality is a task the Superego aspect of the HGA sets for us.
93 93/93,
EM
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@Edward Mason said
"My own take on this is that the Superego is <i>one</i> aspect of the HGA."
The superego in the Freudian sense is hardly the HGA, except insofar as everything is. The superego is the sense of right and wrong that a child acquires from parents and other authority figures.
The traditional tarot card The Moon is almost a perfect depiction of the Freudian model of the psyche. On one side is a wild wolf, emblem of the id, the unrestrained biological impulses a child is born with. On the other side, a dog, representing the domesticated superego, the good boy or girl that knows how to behave. Navigating a perilous path between them is a fragile crustacean -- the ego -- its vulnerability sheathed in armor, just barely emerging from the pool of the subconscious.
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93,
I did italicise the word 'one'. Perhaps a clearer way to state it would be to say the psyche initially represents the HGA as having the evaluative and frequently disapproving nature of the Superego. Freud saw the Superego as an internalized father-figure, although I think the concept could also include material derived from one's mother or other authority figures.
The first intimations of Neshamah that we get tend to be presented to consciousness in the image of a conventionally monotheistic God. It's big, it's powerful and "therefore" it's scary. The psyche has to work through a process of internal negotiation and absorption of Neshamic awareness to equilibrate these intimations.
In your example of the Moon card, the Moon itself might equally represent the Superego.
93 93/93,
EM
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So I would like to clarify, to see if we can discuss what I was grasping at. In my original post, I put:
"For instance you can find a demon for Greed or Lust, but try to find a demon for "culture shock" and you'll be out of luck."
Is the Goetia too out-dated to work for a magi of today? Can it be up-dated or somehow re-conformed to work on the pscyhological problems of today? Or is something new needed?
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So have any compared the Heptameron to the Lemegeton? Is there even a comparrison to be made? I know that it is "outside" of what would be the syllabus of the AA, but I thought I would bring it up, as a friend just lent me a copy, and it's very interesting.
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@h3fall3n777 said
"So I would like to clarify, to see if we can discuss what I was grasping at. In my original post, I put:
"For instance you can find a demon for Greed or Lust, but try to find a demon for "culture shock" and you'll be out of luck."
Is the Goetia too out-dated to work for a magi of today? Can it be up-dated or somehow re-conformed to work on the pscyhological problems of today? Or is something new needed?"
It is unnecessary to assume that new terms and concepts equate to new realities. "Culture shock" is just a new phrase. For "culture shock", read, simply, confusion (or any of a variety of other simple terms).
TaMo
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I agree with RifRaf. I have modified it (Not extensively), to suit my "Modern" belief system.
I have to say, Liber Samekh is one of my favorites though.
And one of the rituals in 1995 that had the most profound effect on my being, ever.It is a modified version. I don't recommend it to anyone unless I knew them very well. We have done it as a group ritual as well. Very intense.
best wishes.
93 93/93.'.
James