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Brief Introduction
EVOCATION
The term evocation means 'to call forth' and it is used to describe all magical
techniques which serve to bring forth some kind of entity into a defined space, such as a
bottle or a crystal, or simply a visualised form which has shape and character. The
practice of evocation has generally come to be associated with the so-called 'demons'
of Grimoires such as The Keys of Solomon, and has, in some quarters, acquired a
dubious reputation. When you evoke a spirit, it is usually to get it to perform some kind
of 'task' for you. In other quarters, evocation is similarly frowned on, as it is felt that
magicians should not 'order' spirits about. Neither arguments are convincing, and
evocation is a very useful magical technique which, once the basic elements have been
grasped, has numerous applications.
The following gives a basic approach to designing Servitors for a wide range of
tasks, and demonstrates how you can utilise some of the techniques presented earlier.
In this sequence, Servitors are treated very much in cybernetic terms, as though they
are some kind of programmable astral-machine.
- This illustration develops the Healing Servitor. Its core sigil has been
placed within a hexagram, and the number 7 has been added to it. Here,
the hexagram represents balance, health, life enhancement and Solar
qualities, and forms the elemental symbols of Fire (representing healing
fire, the burning up of fever) and Water (representing expulsion of toxins
through sweat, calming influences). The number 7 represents the idea of
harmony, and also represents the duration of the Servitor's operation. The
entire figure forms the 'instructions' for the Servitor which will be visualised
as forming a part of it, during its launch phase.
Graphic Symbols
The design of Graphic symbols in Magic is very much part of the glamour
and mystery the occult has for many people—books full of weird symbols and
figures which are purported to have all kinds of mysterious, inherent powers, and
geometric figures chalked on the floor to summon Demons. Examples of Graphic
figures can be found in many magical textbooks, and fall into three categories:
The first category includes the type of figures referred to above, examples
of which include astrological and planetary symbols, geometric patterns such as
the pentagram, and "secret" alphabets. It is generally held that personally
designed (i.e., Sigils) or, as in the third case, "discovered" symbols are more
beneficial than using someone else's symbols, as the former will have more
personal associations and reflect the users psychocosm more accurately than
anything from a book. If you are already assimilating magical symbol systems
however, there is no reason why you shouldn't incorporate them into Servitor
design. Again, this comes down to personal preference.