Evocation Through Paintings

I’ve been reading a lot on evocation lately. Something I’ve noticed in several books is the insistence by the authors on using incense as a way of creating a substance the entity could use to give itself form. The argument roughly goes that the entities can not survive in our plane of existence and they need some substance associated with them that they can use to construct a space that allowed them to exist and interact with us safely (Bardon 2001, Lisiewski 2004). Now, although I’ve done a fair amount of ceremonial magic, I’m not really a fan of getting lots of ingredients together to do a ritual. I live in a small cramped house and there isn’t a lot of room to put down a traditional circle, break out all the tools, and light the incense. And while I’d love to do a ritual in my backyard, somehow I don’t think the neighbors would appreciate it.

At the same time, as I read these books, I am told by one author that any evocation I do that isn’t by the book is inauthentic and not a real evocation (Lisiewski 2004). So I’m left in a quandary. I want to evoke, but I don’t have the physical space or materials and it’s not authentic if you don’t follow the instructions. In fact evocation sounds more like a cook book recipe than anything else. There’s no allowance for experimentation here, is there?

Not necessarily. As it turns out there is room for experimentation and your evocations can be as effective as going the traditional route. After all, the symbol does not make the reality, it just denotes it. If that’s the case, and from my experiences it has been, then it’s possible that it’s not so much the particular act in-and-of-itself that works, as it is what the act is supposed to do for all parties involved. If Evocation is about creating a link and a space for an entity to use so that it can interact with this reality safely, then incense and the rest of a ceremonial ritual is only way to go about this. Another way to go about this is to use a container that functions outside of conventional space/time, such as can be found in Brian Shaughnessy’s Tesseract device which I’ve quite successfully used for just that purpose.

Another process however, involves taking a principle from Bardon’s work and applying it toward creating a gateway that allows the practitioner to evoke the entity, while at the same time keeping the entity safe so that it can interact with the magician. Bardon uses an approach called impregnation, where he puts into an object a specific meaning/energy that can then be evoked from that object. In the case of working with an entity, Bardon would carve or put the seal/sigil of the entity on the object in question and use that symbol as a focal point. Your focus is on the symbol which is impregnated the meaning, and access to the entity is incorporated into the talisman. Bardon’s method then explains how to evoke the entity, show it the talisman, and get it agree to using the talisman as a portal to this plane. Once set up, the magician could then use the talisman anytime (Bardon 2001).

Bardon also uses the magic mirror for evocation. In this technique, a mirror would be painted with the symbol of the entity, and then impregnated with the particular vibration or energy the entity identified with. Then, the entity is evoked through the mirror (Bardon 2001).

The definition of entities Bardon’s approach to evocation is:

     “The beings and principals which he will perceive there are not personified beings. Instead, they are powers      and vibrations which are analogous to the names and attributes. Should a magician…decide to materialize      one of these powers, or if he were to give this power a form that is accessible to his receptivity, then his power      would appear to him in the form which corresponds to his symbolic abilities of perception” (2001, p. 96).”

I tend to treat entities as real beings that exist in their own right, but I agree with Bardon’s idea that the appearance of them is likely only a symbolic embodiment created to represent the particular power/vibration/concept being worked with. In other words, the entities are real, but they know that to effectively work with someone they need to interact with hir in a way that makes sense while still aiming to accomplish the goal at hand. I also will admit that I use personalized symbols, this being based off of the principle A. O. Spare’s alphabet of desire and my own interactions with entities. I find that a personalized system of symbols emphasizes a personal relationship with the entity being evoked. This, in turn, grants me a relationship that works because it’s based off my own parameters as opposed to someone else’s parameters. I still have successful evocations like the ones described by Lisiewski, but less noisy and with less mind games as my parameters don’t involve forcing an evoked entity to do a task. I prefer mutual partnership, cooperation, and respect, which I find causes the evocations that I’ve worked to go rather well, with my desires manifested as I needed.

My particular approach to evocation is a synthesis of Bardon’s impregnation techniques and A.O. Spare’s artistic work. I use watercolor paints to create a gateway/portal to the particular entity I want to work with. The landscape of the painting represents the native environment of the entity, and can also represent the vibration or energy the particular entity is associated with. I put my symbol representing the entity into the painting and I try to incorporate the symbol into a representation of the body of the entity I’m working with. The symbol serves as a key to activate a gateway. I usually touch the symbol and mentally call the entity to me. I know the entity has arrived when the painting seems to come to life which I can best describe is when the landscape and representation of the entity seem to move. I then interact with the entity and work out whatever it is we need to do together.

This form of evocation can be used with classical entities or pop culture entities or entities created by yourself. I’ve even used this approach to work solely with planetary energies, evoking their vibrations into my life and then making an offering of the vibrations/energy to the Earth.
Another innovative way to use this approach is to actually evoke yourself. I’ve painted several different versions of my internal landscape, complete with a symbol and used it to evoke aspects of my personality in order to work with them more closely and dissolve energetic blockages. That approach has greatly helped me in that internal work, while allowing me to get to know parts of myself I might not consciously interact with otherwise.

I’ve included below some paintings with appropriate captions.