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the psyche of the operator is stimulated in a special way, according to the nature of the spirit.
To recapitulate, the purpose of Evocation is that some portion of the human psyche which has
become deficient in a more or less important quality is made intentionally to stand out, as it
were. Given body and name by the power of the stimulated will and imagination and exuded
astral substance, it is, to continue to use metaphor, specially nourished by the warmth and
sustenance of the sun, and given water and food that it may grow and flourish.
Familiarity, of course, is requisite before this type of Magic should be attempted. It requires
study and long training. Arduous and persistent toil needs to be undertaken with the
appropriate formulae before one dare apply oneself to so formidable and perhaps dangerous an
aspect of the magical routine. But it has this advantage over the analytical procedure. lt is
infinitely speedier when once the technique has been mastered and the special association
tracks have been familiarised, and considerably more thorough and effective as a cathartic
agent. I hope one day to see a modification of it in current use by our psychologists.
There is an important variation of this technique. At first sight, it may seem to bear but little
relationship with the Evocation method. But it too has as its objective the necessary
assimilation of the unconscious content of the psyche into normal consciousness. Its object,
also, is the enlarging of the horizon of the mind by enlarging the student's intellectual
conceptions of the nature of the universe.
The elementary technical processes of this method call for the drawing or the painting of
coloured symbols of the elements Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Ether. Each of these has a
different traditional symbol and colour.
To Earth is attributed a yellow square.
Air is a blue circle.
Water is a silver crescent.
Fire, the red triangle,
and Ether is the black egg.
After staring intently at the symbol of some one particular element for several seconds, and then
throwing the vision to some white or neutral surface, a reflex image of the complementary
colour is seen against it. This is a normal optical illusion without having in itself any special
significance. The optical reflex obtained, the student is counselled to close the eyes, imagining
that before him is the symbolic shape and complementary colour of the element being used. The
shape is then to be enlarged until it seems tall enough for him to visualise himself walking
through it. Then he must permit the fantasy faculty of the mind full and unimpeded play. What
is particularly important is that at this stage he must vibrate certain divine and archangelic
names which tradition ascribes to that particular symbol. These names may be found in the first
volume of my work The Golden Dawn.
In this way, he enters imaginatively or clairvoyantly by means of a vision, into the elemental
realm corresponding to the nature of the symbol he has chosen. By employing element after
element, he acquires a sympathetic contact with the understanding of the several hierarchical
planes existing within Nature, and thus widens tremendously the sphere of his consciousness.
From the psychological point of view, we might understand the magical theory to imply that
the Unconscious (which has been compared to the nine-tenths of an ice-berg concealed under
water and not at all visible) may be classified into five principal layers or sub-divisions. These
five levels correspond to the five elements, the most superficial being Earth, and the deepest
being Ether or Spirit. By following such a vision or fantasy technique the candidate's ordinary
consciousness is enabled to cross the otherwise impenetrable barrier subsisting between it and
the unconscious. A link is formed between the two aspects of mind, a bridge is constructed,
across which the psyche may pass at any moment. Entering these various psychic levels by way
of an imaginative projection is analagous to forming an association track by means of which
idea, inspiration, and vitality are made available to consciousness.
The vision thus obtained corresponds generally to a sort of dream, experienced however in a
fully conscious state-- one in which none of the faculties of consciousness, such as will,
criticism and keen perception are in any way in abeyance. The goal of analysis, from the
synthetic and constructive point of view, is accomplished readily by such means. A wide range
of knowledge and feeling is thereby opened up and assimilated without strain or difficulty to
the advantage and spiritual development of the individual.
Interpretation of the vision is an important factor. The neglect of interpretation may account for
the intellectual sterility and spiritual emptiness so frequently observed in those who employ
similar methods. Acquaintance with the methods of Jung's symbolic analysis of dreams and
spontaneous fantasies may be extremely useful here, providing a useful adjunct to the
Qabalistic reference of symbols to the ten Sephiros of the Tree of Life. Before passing on, it is
interesting to note that Jung gives towards the end of his book Two Essays on Analytical
Psychology an account of a patient's spontaneous fantasy which is curiously similar to the
tattwa technique I have just described. He calls it a " 'vision' which by intense concentration
was perceived on the background of consciousness, a technique that is perfected only after long
practice." It is so interesting that I am constrained to quote it here: "I climbed the mountain and
came to a place where I saw seven red stones in front of me, seven on either side, and seven
behind me. I stood in the middle of this quadrangle. The stones were flat like steps. I tried to
lift the four stones that were nearest to me. In doing so I discovered that these stones were the
pedestals of four statues of gods which were buried upside down in the earth. I dug them up
and so arranged them around me that I stood in the middle of them. Suddenly they leaned
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