So I want to start out by saying that this post is going to probably be somewhat controversial. Some of the terms I use (specifically 'Personal Godform') are likely to give some more hardcore traditional practitioners an aneurysm. However, the terminology I am going to use I feel is most apt to describe the actual process I want to lay out, and whether you agree with the specific names I have decided to call things, the process itself is effective. Try it before you knock it.
First off, what is a Godform? Some readers are likely familiar with this concept already, others maybe not so much. To boil it down to an oversimplified definition, a Godform is an energy thought-form used in Magick. The process of creating a Godform is relatively simple to describe, but moderately advanced to actually perform. Googling the term will bring up a host of techniques and various opinions on optimal operation and theological significance. Today we are not really concerned with any of that, the purpose of this post is practical application, not to further the debate in any one direction or another.
In a practical sense you would assume a Godform in order to work with a specific energy or purpose typically associated with that God. For instance if you were doing a working to protect a home or family, you might assume the Godform of Bastet for the purpose of the ritual, in order to channel her protective energies into your working and add a little bit of extra kick. Likewise you might assume the Godform of Loki if you are doing some sort of confusion or crossing, or Jupiter for wealth or empowerment.
The actual process of creating a Godform differs depending on what source you are using. For the sake of simplicity I am going to boil everything down into the primary essential elements that are fairly ubiquitous to the vast majority of the available techniques.
1. Gather energy. This can be done in multiple ways, but you don't get an actual Godform without real energy, you just get an imaginary figure. (I am not knocking pure visualization, mind you, there is ample benefit to just strongly visualizing things as well without going through the rest of the steps. My focus today though is on something a little more intense.)
2. Focus the energy. Sometimes this is done inside the individual, usually around the heart, sometimes externally where the Godform is meant to appear. Regardless the gathered energy is focused.
3. Visualize the Godform itself and direct the energy at it, watch it coalesce and take shape. The more strongly you can visualize, preferably with as many senses as possible, the better. Sometimes this is done with a visual aid, sometimes not. In almost every circumstance the practitioner is advised to be as familiar as possible with the deity whose form they are conjuring.
4. Vibrate the name of the deity while focusing on their name, sigil, number, or some other identifier. Keep the image of the Godform in your mind while doing this if at all possible.
5. Step into the Godform, or allow it to fall over yourself and overlap you. Ideally at this point you should be able to see the Godform over top of yourself, and you are fully engulfed within it. When you move, the Godform moves, when you speak the Godform speaks.
6. Ultimately all good things come to an end and you dismiss the Godform. Sometimes this is done with prayers and offerings, sometimes not, and typically this is followed by a banishing (which is just in general good Magickal hygiene.)
So there you have it, a very basic and super simplified outline of how to create a Godform. While an important component, that is not really what I want to talk about today, however.
Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, I want to get into the more controversial bits. Let's start with personal or individual divinity.
In almost every Magickal system the theological underpinning of personal divinity exists. In my opinion Magick as a concept really doesn't make much sense without it. In a nutshell it goes like this: Simple flesh and blood creatures that exist only on the material plane, can only interact with the material plane, and only do so through methods that employ the material plane. In order for a creature to wield the cosmic forces of creation, or manipulate energy across the multiple planes that constitute our reality, those creatures must exist on all of those planes, and be made up of all of those energies. In short, if humans can interact with Magick, the force of creation and divinity, then humans are divine creatures that embody that embody that Magickal force.
In most religions we see this concept in one form or another. In Christianity we have the Holy Angel, the aspect of God that dwells within us, in Buddhism we have Nirvana, a state that can be achieved by human beings where we transcend the material world and connect with our divine nature, in Thelema the foundational premise is the divine and individual Will that exists inside everyone, and the list goes on.
So what does this all mean for us in an everyday practical sense?
The theological implications are too numerous to explore in the proper level of detail they deserve, but for the purposes of today's post this indicates that each of us posses our own shard of divinity, and in a sense we are Gods of our own little slice of reality. As such we have our own Godforms that can be assumed.
(Don't beat me up for that last paragraph. Please. I know this topic is going to rile some people up, for a huge variety of reasons. Like I said at the beginning, hear me out and try the technique, if you don't get results then you can beat me up.)
But what would the purpose of assuming a personal Godform be? We are already ourselves, becoming ourselves to perform a ritual doesn't seem that beneficial at first glance, does it?
We use traditional Godforms to interact with the Magickal realm in enhanced or amplified ways. That is because those beings mostly exist on those levels of existence, in those spaces and spheres where we are trying to influence change. As human beings, while we do possess that divine spark and exist on those planes as well, a huge portion of our individual existence is down here, in Malkuth, on the physical plane. If you want to effect a powerful change here in the physical realm, and you want it to affect you individually, then your own Godform is far and away one of the best tools for the job.
Let me frame it within a specific circumstance so you can see what I mean, and how the technique might actually be used.
Mark is a pretty regular guy. He works in middle management at some company, somewhere, doing something. Mark wants to move up at his job, do better, earn more money. So, Mark reads this post and decides to try the technique. He gathers energy, focuses it, and visualizes a Godform of himself. Not just himself as he sees himself in the mirror, but an idealized, divine version of himself. The version of himself that he would be if he was Mark, the God of Business and Middle Management. Mark, the God who Demands a weekly Tribute of Performance Reports and daily offerings and libations of Coffee and Spreadsheets. Mark might visualize this version of himself in a navy blue suit with a killer tie. He might visualize this version of himself with a confident smile and perfect hair.
If Mark wanted to use this technique correctly, he would assume the Godform of himself before important meetings, and performance reviews. He would use it prior to giving presentations, or speaking with major clients. Possibly he would just use this technique a few times a week until he started exhibiting the characteristics of his Godform in his everyday life. Moving with more confidence, giving better presentations, nailing every project. Ultimately the goal of an operation like this is to move you as an individual closer to the ideal you who you want to be.
I know there are loads of self help 'visualize the better you' techniques out there already, but by using the existing framework of calling up a Godform you can empower this transformation much more rapidly, and much more powerfully than you can with more simple visualization techniques.
Try it.
No, seriously. If you don't have a preferred method of calling up a Godform already, go out and find one and experiment with it until you can do it without undue difficulty, then try this technique with calling up a better version of yourself.
If you already have a familiarity with Godforms, then give it a shot. If it doesn't work, feel free to rip me apart, but I can assure you that if you put any sort of meaningful energy into this, you will get a result.
