A Direct Appeal to Divinity
When considering the Great Invocation it’s helpful to remember that it is one of our most potent tools for preparing human consciousness for the return of the World Teacher, known by many different names in the various world religions. The emanating source to which we direct our invocative appeal is a world of pure energy, of pure Being, “of light and directed force; [It]... can be seen as streams and centres of force, all forming a pattern of consummate beauty…(DINA II, p. 293). Holding within our hearts and minds the vision of this emanating source can be helpful in aiding us to keep our work alive. We lift and breathe in these streams of force and then breathe them out into the world.
We’re often encouraged to sound the Great Invocation aloud, both in our Triangles work and at other times as well. This audible sounding increases its potency in the act of distributing and anchoring its potent energies upon the etheric-physical plane. The correct use of the Invocation aids us to move away from mysticism and into a more mental approach to the inner life, one that contributes to positive changes in our world. It is important, therefore, to give attention to how we voice the words, what is our inflection and our tone, while at the same time always placing the focus of the work on the underlying spiritual intention which substands the outer form.
It is helpful to keep in mind that although the Invocation surely transmits the energies of all the seven rays (for it was translated from seven ancient word forms), it is primarily a seventh ray mantram. It is, therefore, aligned with the incoming ray and astrological energies and will serve to aid humanity in breaking down the crystallization of the past and in establishing the new rhythms and pathways that will characterize the coming age. It will, therefore, contribute to and foster the growing sense of wholeness and interdependence that will be keynotes of Aquarius. People who use the Invocation are accustoming their vehicles to this new energy, because daily they are entering into this new energy field. And through their daily interactions with others they serve as transmitters of these new energies into the established grid.
But like all things, ray energies have different expressions, different strengths and weaknesses--activities that are supported and those that are not. One of the weaknesses of the seventh ray is a tendency to crystallize and to place too much focus on the form, losing touch with the underlying soul that substands and enlivens it. If this happens, for example, in the case of the use of the Great Invocation, it can lead to a hollow monotonous voicing of the words that makes those who so sound it appear lifeless, like automatons. We must guard against this.
The seventh ray tendency towards crystallization means that forms today crystallize quickly. People have come to expect innovation and constant change and improvement. Sometimes this kind of attitude can prove a detriment to the spiritual life because it is within consciousness, within the soul, and not within the outer form, that the real livingness in any project must be engendered. But positively the seventh ray can aid us to experiment with new ways of working, ways that can aid us in making the form a more potent transmitter of spiritual energy.
The Invocation is an appeal to God Himself, to the God of our planet, our Heavenly Man, the planetary Logos, to bring this divinity into the heart of every atom of substance, thus enlivening the whole. Humanity is establishing direct access to Deity, and through our work together in Triangles, we are sending forth a collective appeal to release and bring relief to the suffering that is so acute at this time on the planet.
When we work with sound, coupled with visualization, our work with the Invocation constitutes a truly magical activity. Speech is said to be one “of the keys which opens the doors of communication between human beings and subtler beings that reside on the other side of the veil that separates the inner and outer realms.” We’re told in the Secret Doctrine that “magic consists... in addressing the Gods in Their own language;” therefore, the speech of average man cannot reach Them.
In A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 980 we read, “Therefore, those who… yearn to become aware of the words which will penetrate to the ears of those who stand on the other side, and those who seek to utilise the formulae and phrases which will give them power... have to unlearn their previous use of words and to refrain from ordinary methods of talking. Then the new language will be theirs and the new expressions, words, mantrams and formulas will be entrusted to their care.” Surely the Great Invocation is one of those new expressions, those new mantrams and it is our opportunity as a group to share in the collective unfolding of ways of using it with “new and potent livingness.”