When most Pagans and other magick users think of Evocation Magick they tend to think in terms of the Ritual Magick approach of contacting or “Calling up” entities from the Otherworld. Usually this involves a long complex ceremony which may involve precautions in some cases, especially if the Mage is considering summoning a being defined as “evil” in some way. This is particularly common in systems that are more psychological in approach rather than those that work with and for more natural energies. At the beginning of her training the famous Occultist Violet Firth, better known as “Dion Fortune” was said to be wary of Witches and Conjuring Men, and Women, saying that they “Worked too close to the Green Ray”. But as time passed and she gained more experience she came to blend both styles of magick in her rituals and magick.It was she who first popularised the idea of the thoughtform, although she called it “An artificial Elemental”, but described its construction very well:

“A portion of the Akasha is moulded into a definite form and held thus until, as it were, the form ‘sets’. Into this mould is poured the concentrated will of the operator, something of his own self goes into it. This is its soul, and it is like a self-steering torpedo which is set to move in a curve towards a chosen mark. Or the operator, if an expert magician, may deliberately ensoul this this thought-form with elemental essence”*

Akasha is the Ritual Magic term for the Astral Light, which makes up the substance of the Astral Plane, and is manipulated by will and intent. This passage is from a book first published in 1930, when Witchcraft, and most forms of Paganism, were illegal in the UK under the 1735 Witchcraft Act. This meant that the exact method of constructing a thoughtform was perceived as being only being capable of being done by someone with training in Ritual Magick from a so-called White Lodge. After its replacement with the Fraudulent Mediums Act in 1951 Paganism became more mainstream and people who studied magick discovered that making a thoughtform was less complicated than the Ritual Magick system had lead them to believe.

Interestingly in the same book a far simpler way of making and empowering a thoughtform is described when Ms Firth describes how she accidentally produced one in the form of a wolf when contemplating revenge on someone she thought had done her wrong. Not only did she produce it, but it began to take on an existence of its own and had the potential to cause a great deal of trouble. Fortunately she was able to do before any damage was done, but so after immense effort and psychic integration.

The explorer Alexandra David-Neel travelled in Tibet in the early part of the 20th century when most of the country was unknown and some areas, such as the capital Lhasa, were actively forbidden to Westerners. She became interested in the spiritual practices of the area, which included the practice of making Tulpa, the local term for thoughtforms. According to her book “With Mystics and Magicians in Tibet” she performed the evoking rituals and began to visualise the Tulpa in the form of a Monk- a bit like the Tibetan version of Friar Tuck.

Over a period of months the being developed an existence on the physical plane, and was seen independently by other people she was travelling with. Unfortunately, as he solidified he developed an independent nature, and not a nice one. So she decided to disperse it, not realising how hard this would be, it took her “six months of hard struggle” before she succeeded.

From these examples you can see that the construction of thoughtforms can lead to all sorts of problems if you are not careful. It seems to be the more complex the entity you create, the more potential for problems. With this in mind most magick users these days tend to work with simple thoughtforms such as the ‘Astral Tube’ used by many crystal ball users for remote viewing or looking into the past or the future. Having made their surroundings as quiet and free from distracting sights and sounds as possible the viewer concentrates on the ball and uses visualisation and intent to form a tube connecting the ball with what they want to see. This ‘thoughtform tube’ can greatly increase the skills of the viewer, and the accuracy of what they perceive.

Another development of this use of simple thoughtforms is to make one specifically for a single task. This was a very popular technique amongst the Brujería (Witchcraft) community of Mexico City when I lived there in the 1970’s. In addition to the crystal ball they used to make thoughtforms via a technique very similar to the one outlined by Violet Firth. Staying with the remote viewing theme they would create one not unlike the floating Eyeball Guardian shown in the film ‘Big Trouble in Little China’. It was usually connected to the person who created it by an Astral or Etheric thread and either alerted them when something was happening in a particular location, or its memories could be absorbed during meditation.

Thoughtforms can also be made by groups, usually via a ritual. There is a theory amongst Chaos Magick groups that this is the way many of the Gods, Goddesses, and their pantheons first came into being. In spiritual paths such as Hinduism it is claimed that the Universe came into being first, then the Deities developed, as opposed to many systems that suggest that the Divine created the Universe and all within it. This has been the centre of some heated debates at Pagan Moots and Interfaith gatherings I have attended.

Finally a little appreciated way of evoking thoughtforms is unconscious repetition and emotion. One of the most common modern ways is the Ghosthunt, be it an actual event or a televised series. A lot of people in a highly emotional state actively focusing on a ‘ghost’ manifesting can result in the construction of a short-lived pretty powerful thoughtform. If this becomes a regular event the thoughtform can grow and evolve under the influence of the people ‘building’ it. As a result even if an area is reputed to be haunted isn’t per se, the psychic energy from the people investigating and concentrating on it will soon assure that it will be!

Ghosts can indeed be evoked, and in the next article we will look at how to work with them and what they can and cannot do.

*”Psychic Self-Defence” by Dion Fortune ISBN 0850301513