Invocation and Evocation

[AndrewX]

"The great theme of the new world religion will be the recognition of the many divine approaches and the continuity of revelation which each of them conveyed; the task ahead of the spiritually minded people of the world today is to prepare humanity for the imminent and (perhaps) the greatest of all the Approaches. The method employed will be the scientific and intelligent use of Invocation and Evocation and the recognition of their tremendous potency. Man invokes divine Approach in various ways: by means of the inchoate, voiceless appeal or invocative cry of the masses and also by the planned, defined invocation of the spiritually oriented aspirants, the intelligently convinced worker, disciple and initiate,—by all, in fact, who form the New Group of World Servers." (-- Alice Bailey, The Reappearance of the Christ, 151)

I feel certain that for a Christian to read this, the most important thing s/he can try to take away is a consideration of the role, the place or the function of prayer, considered within the context of what s/he understands the quote to say. Not, what does s/he believe prayer is, but rather, how does the author characterize prayer, or what do you feel that she is saying about it in light of what she has shared?
I haven’t answered my own question yet, but if others feel like answering, I’ll promise to respond with thoughts of my own.


Peace,
andrew

[Nick_A]

Hi Andrew

In order to express why I believe this to be a well intentioned but serious mistake, I have to raise another controversy.

Genesis 11 explains through the Tower of Babel exactly what the problem is but it means exploring this in the context of the Alice Bailey excerpt which may defeat the intent of your thread.

1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, [a] they found a plain in Shinar [b] and settled there.

3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." 8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel [c] —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

[AndrewX]

Hmmm. Thank you, Nick. A couple of things come to mind.

One is that as I read the Biblical quote, the only meaning that occurs to me (without deeper reflection) is a rather esoteric -- and purely symbolic -- one. It isn't too carefully veiled, either. But then, I may be mistaken in my intepretation, or in my assumptions.

In short, what I take from that story is that we must carefully prepare ourselves, rather than blundering into the Inner Sanctuary demanding an audience with the King. As we are destined to find (and even be reminded), it doesn't quite work that way.

Simultaneously, the student must take the Kingdom of Heaven by storm ... and the esoteric significance of the mountain goat, and of Capricorn seems relevant here.

The second point is that really I'm just interested in an exploration of Invocation and Evocation, as a Divine Science, and in the intersection of this with Prayer. Some angles of approach may be from the esoteric, yet an equally welcome contribution would be how this quote speaks to a person of a more exoteric, even a strictly conventional religious (or perhaps humanistic) background.

I include the latter possibility, that humanism is a legitimate form and practice of invocation, because I believe it to be so. In the context of the quote, I think this is fairly well indicated, though the focus is directed more toward conscious and intentional ("scientific and intelligent") Invocation ... and Evocation.

If I might go one step further I would ask, what does the idea of "scientific and intelligent" Evocation connote, or suggest?

Regards,

andrew

[Dondi]

There is no formula for prayer, except in the context within a meaningful relationship with God. To express it as a scientific exercise is to sterilize prayer into a vain ritual that is only self serving.

[wil]

Originally Posted by Dondi

There is no formula for prayer, except in the context within a meaningful relationship with God. To express it as a scientific exercise is to sterilize prayer into a vain ritual that is only self serving.

Exactly what the 'Our Father' has done to so many, and the scary "Now I lay me down to sleep" rote prayers...where he was actually asked, how, not what. It was a pattern provided.

As for proper preparation I agree there is value on one level. But I've gone into prayer with more doubts and issues than I can enumerate, with great results. One time it was litterally like the angel and devil on my shoulder. Me wanting to believe there existed a solution, an answer. The angel saying of course it is the way it works, the devil saying no you are doubter you've already screwed everything up, it is not fixable....all this went on for what seemed ever till I drifted off in meditation and came out with the answer, the solution, all laid out for me.

[Eclectic Mystic]

Originally Posted by Dondi

There is no formula for prayer, except in the context within a meaningful relationship with God. To express it as a scientific exercise is to sterilize prayer into a vain ritual that is only self serving.

Hmm. I think what you meant to say was:

Originally Posted by Dondi

There is no formula for prayer, except in the context within a meaningful relationship with God. To express it as merely a scientific exercise is to sterilize prayer into a vain ritual that is only self serving.

[Dondi]

Originally Posted by Eclectic Mystic

Hmm. I think what you meant to say was:

What's the difference?

[Nick_A]

Andrew

The second point is that really I'm just interested in an exploration of Invocation and Evocation, as a Divine Science, and in the intersection of this with Prayer. Some angles of approach may be from the esoteric, yet an equally welcome contribution would be how this quote speaks to a person of a more exoteric, even a strictly conventional religious (or perhaps humanistic) background.

I include the latter possibility, that humanism is a legitimate form and practice of invocation, because I believe it to be so. In the context of the quote, I think this is fairly well indicated, though the focus is directed more toward conscious and intentional ("scientific and intelligent") Invocation ... and Evocation.

If I might go one step further I would ask, what does the idea of "scientific and intelligent" Evocation connote, or suggest?


I agree there is a science to it. It can be either used to allow the real in us to develop or the imaginary. The imaginary is basically demonic and the science is consciously affecting universal laws known since ancient times as magick.

This is why I avoid referring to the science. I know the damage done by certain practices in ignorance.