Not Alone Anymore

Very, very recently I was privileged to be witness, albeit remotely, to a very beautiful thing - a joining of spirits. And I don't mean sex, although it could be likened to that by way of analogy I suppose. No, I'm referring to that of my Lady Hekate joining her spirit to that of a young woman that I am acquainted to. One of the young woman's comments during this that stands out most in my mind was, paraphrased, "Holy Cow! I know what this feels like! It's like when during Confirmation, when I was filled with the Holy Spirit!". Indeed, Evangelical Christians typically refer to this as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is, in practice, basically the same thing as the phenomenon I'm talking about - though obviously their baptism does not include Hekate in any way, shape, or form. This event prompts me though to think back on my own joining with my Lady, and on the concept of joining spirits as a whole.

Invocation
Invocation, in this context the ritual invitation of a spirit (generally a deity) into a voluntary practitioner, is the most common form of spiritual union in modern magic and paganism. Phil Hine, one of my favorite authors on the topic of Chaos Magic, gives an excellent overview of such here. Ideally, invocation results in a form of possession for the during of the ritual, with the volunteer's persona subsumed and the deity's persona in control. This is generally done in order to facilitate practical matters - oracular pronouncements, magical workings, etc - in the circles I am familiar with, but worship is also a reason some make use of invoked possession. In terms of joining of spirits, invocation can be a profound experience, but it is at it's core a temporary condition - one to be ended when the ritual comes to an end. As such it is, ideally, dramatic and flashy, but ultimately limited in scope.

Of course, any discussion of possession in modern times must by necessity touch on the Christian concept of demonic possession it seems. Aside from the nauseatingly obvious theology issues, the fundamental difference between demonic possession and religious or invoked possession is that in the former the subject is unwilling. Hence, while it is relevant to this discussion in the sense that a joining that has outlasted the recipient's willing participation could be seen as similar to a demonic possession, the two concepts are really rather different despite their practical similarity. Demonic possession does teach us an important lesson though - anything that outstays it's welcome is very much a problem.

Inspiration
This brings us to the concept of inspiration. Having it's origins in Hellenic and Hebrew traditions, this term often refers to an individual being influenced (literally "breathed upon") by the divine resulting in sacred writings, prophecies, etc. This term is often taken for granted in modern culture, but let's look deeper at it for a moment. To be inspired, to have divine knowledge imparted into one's being - this is certainly nothing to sneeze at or casually push aside as it so often is in the modern world. In a sense, it can be thought of as a low level form of possession. A temporary union with the divine that brings with it knowledge and leaves one breathless. While I can't speak from direct personal experience about invocation, this is a matter I can talk about. Since I dedicated myself to my Lady Hekate about a year ago, I have been privileged to a number of such moments of inspiration. They are fleeting, and not always of great importance in the scheme of things, but the sensation - the sudden realization that you know something that you couldn't possible have known before - well, it really can't be properly described unless you've experienced it. I had some moments like this during my Christian days long ago, but never to the extent, frequency, or intensity that I experience them now.

But there is another benefit to inspiration beyond the obvious I have noted - calm. When you know you are in contact with something beyond you, beyond the stresses of normal life, it produces a different attitude. Things that would normally be stressing or irritating become merely annoying as they are clearly seen as the trivialities that they are. Christianity brags of this as a "peace beyond understanding" as if it is their exclusive property, but it is neither beyond understanding or exclusive. All it takes is contact, inspiration.

So how does inspiration come about? Well, not worrying about such things as fleeting inspiration or the possibility of psychic knowledge, from analysis inspiration would seem to be a benefit of attunement to a particular deity. As Phil notes in his essay Cthulhu Madness "To know the god - to be accepted by it - to feel its mysteries, well you have to let that madness wash over you, and through you." This is the reality of attuning oneself to a god - in essence, joining one's spirit with the deity after a fashion by means of accepting this divine madness. This process can be either slow and gradual, as it was with me, or sudden and dramatic as it was for the young lady I noted above. As to which is qualitatively "better" it really depends on the person I think. We are all aware of the life changing potential of a sudden dramatic "conversion" experience, but I think in the long run a gradual infusion of and immersion in a god's spirit can produce a deeper, stronger bond.

Or perhaps that is my ego talking.

Elevation
So what's the point of all this? What good is it? Well, beyond the occult benefits and the psychological benefits I've already mentioned, it seems that their is an overlooked possibility in regards to spiritual union with the divine - the potential of elevation. Although the exact means are not something I know, in a moment of inspiration the other day I understood that spiritual union with a god is a necessary step of theurgy along the path of evolution of the human soul to a higher state. What the whole of the path is I don't know, but now at least I see the road ahead of me and know where it leads.

One just has to have faith.