God Forms Options

when assuming a god form does one actually take the god/deities power?
If so, can one enter the higher planes of those of the deity?





sasha (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happydance.gif)

Greetings!
The Intention that one uses when they adopt Assuming the God(dess) form is to, indeed, become a vessel for the diety. It is a powerful technique that can have marvelous results. You are inviting yourself to become a living conduit of the diety. There can be no indecisiveness nor misuse when this is used for obvious reasons. This technique can be applied to a variety of uses, some more 'useful' (department of redundancy department...duh) than others. 'Sending the Fetch' is a time honored technique which basically sends the etheric and/or astral form of the sorceror in the shape of a predator after someone or thing. As titilating as this might be, I would recommend caution and a 'buddy' to help if you wish to experiment. There are a variety of herbal triggers and help/guides that go with these techniques. Induced Lycanthropy and theriomorphs are avenues of knowledge that can employ Assumption Techniques.

One can find higher transcental states accessible with this form of Invocation. It will take some time to practice with the technique before one can safely handle these mental asanas. But, IMHO, this technique should be learned by any/all magicians sometime in their journey! These techniques are not for beginners! Unless you know your stuff, it is possible to get 'stuck' in an altered state...longer than anticipated! A variety of unwanted results can be manifested with a range of pleasantness. Learn all you can about breathing and trance-conciousness before embarking with this tool. And, Good Luck! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/i_triangle.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/innocent.gif)

I gotta say that Bym offers excellent advice that I am personally inclined to agree with, but since I love to play devil's advocate I will offer an alternative point of view!

A good friend of mine (yes, I mention him a lot on these boards, but he is a huge influence on me) takes the view that magicians shouldn't invoke.

Why?

Well, his argument is that invocation is the practice of the religious person. The religious person seeks to unite themselves with their God/dess by subjugating their will to that of the entity and inviting them into their body/mind. The magician is not interested in subjugating his will to anyone or anything, and therefore evokes the God/dess to his presence to the end that he might then negotiate a means of making what he wants to happen come about through the agency of that particular god/dess...essentially he is hiring in a contractor. Obviously there is one great exception to this rule that blurs the distinctions somewhat, and in that case I think it is probably right to go with Uncle Al and his "No man knoweth another's God, nor the right that invoketh him" - or something like that!

By way of interest, my own experiences of evocation are limited to one occasion. This is largely because although I agree with Bym, I accept that the argument I have presented above represents a sound and consistent praxis for a Thelemic magician. Nevertheless, in the one instance I did experience what I believe is known as an "overshadowing", i.e. a partial possession, some interesting stuff occurred. After the rather lengthy and elaborate ritual had concluded I spent some time during the rest of the evening having a "tete-a-tete" with the young lady who had taken the role of the divine sister/spouse to the god form that I myself had "played". The thing is that I had absolutely no memory of this at all and only found out about it a month later when my friend told me that he had walked in on us in the kitchen! I can't help but be of the opinion that we were both still partially in the control of the entities from the ritual who were using our bodies to do their thing!

I think it is fair to say that invocation has the potential to get you into a whole lot of trouble!

Good post!
I'd like to concur, for the most part! If you ever have a chance to actually 'look' at a mediums aura then you'll see why it can have its drawbacks... But this will also lead us to the discussion of how do I make Solomonic Magic work if I'm not a Christian or a Jew? A great deal of 'magic(k)' is made up from ancient/older theurgic exercises. If one has done their homework then a bit of Invocation can really help without forever destroying the users religous stance. Granted, if one has strong ties with the spiritual aspect of the divinity then one would normally expect an easier ride... I've noticed that quite a few practicing magicians who are atheistic lean abit on assists from somewhat dubious spiritual contacts...I leave this dilemma with them...LOL! J*S makes a very valid point! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/i_triangle.gif)

Just a note that on reading what I put in the previous post, when I mentioned my one experience of evocation, I meant to say invocation! Heck, confusing the two words when writing about them is an ancient magical tradition! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/oops.gif)

I am interested to know what a medium's aura looks like, Bym? I recall watching a friend in a light, mediumistic trance when he was attempting to contact someone's dead grandmother (not our usual kind of thing, but we were bored and thought it would be an interesting experiment) and as far as I was able to perceive (my "sight" is never great, and wasn't particularly fired up at the time) his aura was being distended with an influx of what I can only describe as "gloopy ick", particularly around the back of the head. Does this seem congruent with the consensus opinion on the matter?

You make an interesting point about how atheists deal with Solomonic Magic. To be honest though, I never actually met a magician who is a dyed-in-the-wool atheist. I, for example, may have an issue with some Christian symbolism and doctrine (something which becomes less of an issue as I study them more and put my own neo-gnostic spin on things), but not to the degree that I am incapable of investing in it. Heck, I am even experimenting with replacing the practice of Eastern style meditative exercises with saying rosaries and novenas to various manifestations of Our Lady (particularly Our Lady of Grace...who isn't Sophia/Babalon, no really!) I figure why bother with struggling to do Eastern stuff that I am not naturally disposed to either culturally or in terms of historicity when there are actually practices within Western spiritual traditions that accomplish the same ends? So far I am pleased with the results compared to my efforts to establish good discipline in terms of more passive Eastern styles of meditation.

But I digress. To address the point, I don't think that these systems are unworkable by anyone with slightly gnostic leanings, which I would contend accounts for most practitioners, even including chaos magicians and the like. I say this based on my experiences of how people actually approach their magical work, as opposed to what they might say they believe! It simply takes a bit of time to tailor things. My own copy of the Goetia that I actually use is full of editing to make the traditional evocations and constraints as consistent with my own views as possible. If I can do it then I don't see why others can't.

I agree with the tendency of proclaimed atheists to rely on "dubious" contacts though. I think that this reliance is less problematic as the degree of attainment increases, but it can be detrimental when both this and the practitioner's general experience are perhaps not so advanced.

when assuming a god form does one actually take the god/deities power?
If so, can one enter the higher planes of those of the deity?
sasha (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happydance.gif)

yes and yes.

But you have to figure out what that means when you get there.