Lesson #6

Casting a Circle & Invocations
part 5

Invocations

Part of Casting a Circle involves Invoking the Directions/Elements, so let's talk about Invocations.

Sounds very mysterious, doesn't it? Well, it's potent and magickal, but Invoking is really very simple.

Wicca, like other shamanic traditions, works with spirits, Deities, and other non-corporeal beings, including Elements.

To get their attention, we Call to them and invite them to join us and help with our goals. That's Invoking.

Some traditions believe that you must call on a Deity in a particular way, with certain words or tools or offerings. In Wicca Spirituality, it's not so complicated. Inviting an Element or Deity is not something that must be studied extensively and memorised and practiced. We Call from the heart, and the Divine hears.

Which is not to say that a certain amount of awareness isn't helpful.

If you call on Artemis, for instance, to help you find a mate, you're barking up the wrong tree and not likely to get great results since She is a Virgin Goddess who never mates — even if She did help, Her heart wouldn't really be in it or She might not know what to look for in a good mate.

Or if you call on Aphrodite with an offering of a stone (something she has no energetic-resonance with, and likely a disharmony with, since She's aligned with water and fire), She's not going to be impressed.

If you call on a somber God like Saturn with revelry and mirth, or a joyful God like Pan with solemn rites, They may not show up at all.

So it's good to learn something about the Deities before invoking them.

How to Invoke

What does Invoking actually mean?

It means to desire, Call, invite, request,
command, and require something
to attend to you or to come to you,
to create an irresistible magnetic pull for something,
to insist that something happen,
and to know that it is irresistibly going to happen
through your Intention and Will,
and connection with Divine Source Energy.

Now, there's a fine line here. You can't command the gods — and shouldn't try! And it's not polite to demand things from other beings, either.

However, the energy, the potency of that kind of Call is what is going to work best.

Declaration: Speaking With Power

Any statement you make in ritual or magick needs to be made with your full attention, intention, and energy in order to be maximally effective. This is engaging your personal authority, your inner Power.

Whatever you say to the Divine,
if you want Her to pay attention,
you need to speak with Power.

That's the difference between declaring something that's magickally potent, and just making small talk with the Universe.

How do you do speak with Power?

Most people try by making their voices louder. That's not necessary, nor by itself effective.

A good technique is to imagine yourself as an Empress, strong in your power and your rightful expectation that your wishes will be obeyed.

When you ask for things from the Universe, you need to do it like an Empress, not like a slave begging favours. You have to stand in your power and CALL like you mean it, not like, "just, hey, y'know, I kinda want this, if you feel like it... no pressure though!"

This is challenging for most people, for various reasons. Men tend to be able to access their Power more easily, but it can slip over into dominance or aggression (which won't work with the Gods ). Young people and women tend to feel tentative or unassertive (which also doesn’t work well, but for different reasons). ¹

You get back what you give out: if you're sending your intentions out with weak, uncommitted energy, they simply don't have much power behind them to make them real. Speak with Power, and you get better results.

Developing Inner Authority

Being trained by a cultural system to be a disempowered work force for the benefit of the few at the top, we need to learn to access our inner authority, and that takes practice. (Did I mention ritual is a perfect place to practice this? )

But before we can learn it, we must believe that we deserve to have authority.

This requires...

	The clarity to know our heart's true desires
	The willingness to trust that we are worthy
	The willingness to know that it's our right as well as our duty to ask for what we (and the world) want and need
	The courage to be a person who Calls and directs the Universe in what it creates
	The passion to want to make a positive change in ourselves, our lives, and/or the world

It also requires an awareness that we are working in concert with the Divine. We don't order the Universe around like the Empress ordering a slave, but like an Empress making a request of another great leader, a respected equal. We are on the same team, co-creating with the Divine as we were meant to.

So we don't want to get all ego-y about it. Aim to embody and feel that you are...

• In command
• Confident
• Calm
• Strong
• Firm
• Certain
• Worthy

You don't need to be mean or angry or tyrannical. You simply know what needs to be done and by gum it's gonna get done!

Speak with full concentration on each word: really MEAN every single word...

• As if you’re telling your child, employee, dog, or faithful soldier what needs to happen.
• As if you’re Calling from the tips of your toes and fingers, the ends of your hairs, and (especially) the depth of your heart and belly, for what you want to come to you immediately.
• As if you’re sending your voice out to lead a loved one back to you (not with fear and sadness, but powerfully, with faith and confidence and optimism)

Whatever you say, declare it with complete conviction and command.

Believe in what you're saying, and be firmly committed to making it happen. Imagine the Divine is listening to you — you need to sound fully convincing or She won't take you seriously.

Try it. Maybe it will feel uncomfortable in the beginning, but don't let that discomfort stop you from growing — anything new feels uncomfortable at first.

In time, you’ll adapt to being a person of power. And you and the whole world will be better off because of it!

The Physical Aspect

There are some physical tips that can help:

• Stand tall and strong, with feet well-grounded

• Relax any muscle that doesn’t need to be used (especially shoulders, throat and neck, jaw, and tongue)

• Breathe deeply, expanding your belly to sides as well as front and back

• Enunciate: speak clearly

• Be fully present with every word (even "the" )

• Support your voice with your core muscles (as singers learn to do) — engaging and lifting from the pelvic floor all the way up through the top of your head.
  Taking some singing lessons would help a lot!

• Use your Womb Centre (dantien²) to empower your words — imagine connecting with this Power Centre at your 2nd chakra and using that, rather than from your lungs or throat or mouth, to charge your words with strength and energy

• Use a strong voice, with power like a lion's roar, and expect the same kind of immediate, alert attention the lion gets!

Continue with Casting a
Circle & Invoking, part 6

Invoking Elements & Deities
Devocation

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