The Practical Theurgy of Deity Assumption

In this article we will explore the practical art of deity assumption - a practice common to many polytheistic religions and also know as channelling. The methods given in this article can be used in any Pagan path, and with a little creativity and insight on the part of the seeker, a ritual can be created for this working.

Definitions

1. The operator is completely taken over (possessed) by a Goddess or God. They have no recollection of the behaviour and attitudes they exhibited afterwards.
2. The operator experiences partial possession by a Goddess or God. They remember the experience but are often unclear about what motivated them to do or say certain things. Partial possession is often a prelude to full deity assumption, the partial effect is sometimes called channelling.

Techniques

Bhakti Yoga

Devotional Bhakti yoga techniques can be effective for example: Liber Astarte vel Berylli which can be found in Crowley's Magick in Theory and Practise (book 4). The shortcoming with this approach is that it works best with Deities which embody the principle of love in some way. Deities that relate to intellectual thought or could be considered austere in some way are not suitable for a purely devotional practice to achieve Deity assumption.

Ritual Magick

Ritual Magick approach for solo deity assumption: Decide upon a specific image of the deity which you will use in your work; Egyptian deities are often favoured by magickians because of their cartoon-like format which makes them easy to visualise.

Prepare the ritual area and include objects, images and perfumes appropriate to the deity.

Establish the sacred space, for example perform the lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram or cast a circle.

Raise power by doing some of the following: mantra, vibratory formula of the middle pillar, liber samek (again in Crowleys book 4), drumming, dance, invocations specific to the deity and anything else which you deem appropriate for contact with the goddess/god. I would not recommend blood letting, scarification or drug use, on the grounds of physical and mental health.

Contact the Deity by astrally projecting, meeting the Deity on the inner planes and through sincere invocation have them accompany you back to the circle, return to your physical body. Alternatively visualise the Deity just outside the circle and speak with them, invoke the Deity with sincerity and the 'image' will quickly become the actual Deity.

With arms outstretched from your sides turn around and ask the deity to enter the circle and occupy your body; to enhance this visualise the deity doing so. This should seem easy and natural, as if you are mentally observing the Goddess/God moving towards you of their own volition. You must now see that your internal, psychological self-image, your image of how you look, has now completely changed. Your self-image is now the form and appearance of the Deity. To increase contact and possibly achieve complete possession say the following (inserting deity name in place of 'XXXXX'? and visualise and feel it to be actually so):

XXXXX is behind me
XXXXX is in front of me
XXXXX is to the right of me
XXXXX is to the left of me
XXXXX is above me
XXXXX is below me
XXXXX surrounds me
XXXXX is within me
I and XXXXX are one
I am XXXXX

The Goddess/God now does 'something', after initial contact. The Deity could make known to you a specific objective they wish to achieve through you, here are some possibilities:

Imbues food and wine with divine force (Eucharist), oracle - makes prophecies/predictions, charges an object (e.g. a talisman) with divine force, forces an unwanted spirit to leave a location (exorcism), gives blessings (often related to seasonal celebrations).

When the work is done you will start to feel more like yourself again. It is vital that you give licence to depart to emphasise the end of Deity assumption. Through creative visualisation you see the Deity to be no-longer in your physical body but outside the circle. Speaking to them you thank them for their help referring specifically to what has been achieved and bid them leave and return to their normal place. It's kind of traditional to say "depart this place to whence you came" three times.

The Deity is now gone and you must clear the working area with, for example, the lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram. Now that the theurgy is accomplished you need to ground yourself fully by, for example, going to the local for a glass of beer and a steak. (The best part of magick! - Ed.)

An essential point I have not addressed is why anybody should do all this. I will conclude by repeating what was explained to me in 1985, a viewpoint which I still agree with. The Gods wish to work through us, they wish to help us satisfy our wants and needs. Also they wish us to fully express and realise in the world the sacred and divine purposes which they are.