Haelos wrote:heck, for all I care, let's use Winnie the Pooh, who's planetary correspondence is honey. He's a bear, so we can make up our own correspondences to create an example.
But that's not how Natural Magick works. We don't say that copper is an element of bronze because we made it up, we say that copper is a element of bronze because Sn (Tin) + Cu (Copper) ---> SnCu (Bronze). Like this, in Natural Magick, we say that something corresponds to something else because there is an actual relationship between those forces, an actual composition of energies and psychic qualities which can be observed and used via metaphysics. You can make things up all you like, and you can easily enough imbue objects or beings with your own ideas and psychic qualities, but this does not dismiss the issue of those things having their own individual compositions independent of anyone's imagination.
Haelos wrote:What would be the chosen common preference in working with a spirit who was a powerful magician in their mortal life be? Would creating a pact for the evocation be the single-best bet?
Shades are rarely as strong as a living, trained magician, and are even more rarely as strong as other spirits the living magician can contact. And calling up one that actually is can be very dangerous for you, since he will have his own intellect, his own power, and his own goals that may not align with yours. He may be offended that you summoned him and kill you, or he may hang around until he finds an opening where he can possess you and live again. There are actually a lot of stories in various tradition, Oral Lore, where this sort of scenario has actually happened in a lot of different ways. It usually ends badly.
Necromancy, it must be remembered, is best used as a form of divination. Shades are rarely as powerful as other spirits, but they damn well
know a lot. They have access to tons of information where they are in the underworld, and you can learn a lot by simply having a respectful conversation with the dead, especially if they are your ancestors - spirits who usually have an actual interest in your preservation, so that their own blood will be preserved through you.
Haelos wrote:I've actually seen a lot of pages on Godforms being evoked (though to what extent of success I'm unsure) and I've even seen people say that invocation is safer to do than evocation, so I'm wondering where they get these ideas?
Most would-be initiates that I have met over the last couple of years cannot tell the difference between an actual god and an egregore, or an actual spirit and their imagination, or even a deities psychic answering machine and the deity themselves. Deities are very busy fellows, and they don't pop up for every prayer or calling.
As for which is safer between invocation and evocation, that depends entirely on what you are invoking and evoking. Both have dangers depending on what you do.
And as for where people get these ideas: experience, for better or worse. There are also those who simply theorize, but you would be wise to distrust people who speak of things they have not seen and done themselves.
Haelos wrote:First off, what entity/ies would you specifically recommend *Against* evoking?
Any entity that 1) you have not met via Journeying and acquired permission to evoke, and 2) you don't have the knowledge and power to send back.
Haelos wrote:And second, what entities do you know of who look down upon being evoked/invoked while the mage is under the influence of narcotic or entheogenic substances?
My own personal methods of spirit work does not utilize such things. While it isn't exactly looked down upon, such methods leave the mind open to delusion and dangerous psychic influence, and also can cause metaphysical and physical damage to the physical body if they are used incorrectly or two often. I can't say exactly which spirits would dislike the person who used such methods, but I can say that a great many spirits hold a deeper respect for the person who can perform spirit work without that crutch. It's just not that hard to learn how to achieve Ecstasy via training and personal development, but the time and effort given to the process is something notable.
~:Shin:~
