The Great Invocation, The Sword of God
Reprinted from the April-June 2010 issue of The Beacon
Deceptively, the Great Invocation is in its immediate appearance a gentle and simple composition of words, yet behind the words is the driving force of an immense potency of quite magical and awesome effect carried on the wings of thought and speech.
Wendy Boyd
THE MASTER JESUS SAID "I come not to bring peace but a sword". This is both an arresting and at the same time rather a challenging statement not least because the sense of expectancy associated with His reappearance rests mainly on the idea that it is most definitely peace that He will bring. In fact, many assume that it is His divine task to bring peace, to end world problems, and because of this humanity is exempt from all responsibility. Equally, there is a tendency to imagine His reappearance will manifest in the form He took before as Jesus of Nazareth. Whilst the appearance He will take is as yet unknown, it does seem reasonable that the first signs of this event will be of an awakening in human consciousness—that is, He will become present first in consciousness itself. As the human heart and mind discovers, experiences and increasingly expresses the Christ principle through right action and right human relationships He will reappear. One way in which this can be seen to be happening is through the thousands who have passed through the first initiation, the "birth of Christ in the cave of the heart". Therefore, the sword that He brings is worthy of examination for it has several implications both as symbol and energy.
That He alone and unaided will bring peace and solve humanity’s problems is not only a dangerous illusion, reinforcing apathy and dependency, it also encourages the glamour of seeing the Christ in a strictly astral form that is highly charged with emotional or aspirational fervency. There is then an important part that the sword is playing in first cutting out and uprooting the illusions and glamours surrounding the distorted thoughtforms of the Christ. The Great Invocation, like the sword of truth, points consciousness directly to reality—to the centres where the mind, the heart, and the will of God are known and experienced. The united invocation for His return to Earth in the second stanza is about the release of an essential energy, that of love, rather than the apparition of a divine form, no matter how remarkable. In this the Hierarchy have used words as a formula which instantly raise the heart and mind above the astral forms of Christ, thereby positioning awareness in an impersonal state, a truly group conscious state of mind and being.
Deceptively, the Great Invocation is in its immediate appearance a gentle and simple composition of words, yet behind the words is the driving force of an immense potency of quite magical and awesome effect, carried on the wings of thought and speech. One of the most rudimentary lessons the disciple must learn is that of the control of speech, not least because the wrong use of speech can open the door to the most harmful elements of astral force. In this context we are considering the power of words, symbols and images and how they can be used to invoke spiritual energies and create certain effects. In saying the Great Invocation we are clear, whether alone or in a group, that it is the highest forces of light, love and power that we wish to invoke. It is in a sense intuitive poetry in that the form and structure used promotes the four qualities of intuition, illumination, understanding and love. As it is being said it precipitates the effects it sets out to cause—to call forth reality through the intuition as the opposite of illusion.
The Word as the Sword
It is interesting to note that "sword" becomes "word" when the letter "s" is dropped and it might be said that through the Great Invocation we are wielding His word in the name of Christ as the divine representative of God’s Will.
The form the Great Invocation takes is based upon a series of words which serve as the energizing vehicle through which the encapsulated message of the plan can be delivered. Therefore, it might be said that any individual or group using the Great Invocation takes up the sword/word and aids in the "creative-destruction" of the obstacles barring the path of His return: On the one hand destroying the barriers and on the other cutting into etherised matter through the power of right speech to create the shape and form the path must take—a path sculpted from truth, love and united intention. The Great Invocation is training the heart and mind in the skillful art of wielding the s/word in spiritual combat so that the forces of light, love and power can emerge triumphant on Earth.
However, the sword, like Excalibur, has still to be pulled from the stone, the concrete boulder of the lower mind. The Great Invocation can be seen as the Excalibur that is released from the stone and comes to life for all who apply the will-to-good to use it—the sword in the stone waiting to be seized and fulfill its destiny, the promise of paradise regained. Although the Arthurian legend is beyond the scope of this piece, there are some interesting parallels between the key symbols of Excalibur/Arthur and the Great Invocation/Reappearance of the Christ. For example, one theme—the belief that Arthur is not dead and will return—remained rooted in the popular mind throughout the centuries. The earliest references come from Celtic areas—a Welsh poem which remarks cryptically, "A mystery until Doomsday is the grave of Arthur"; a mention of a fight which broke out at Bodwin (Cornwall) in 1113 because a Frenchman laughed at a local man who assured them Arthur was alive; allusions to an obstinate belief among the people that he would return. Additionally, Arthur became the embodiment of the ideal Christian knight receiving his death wound from Mordred his nephew, treacherous knight and betrayer, the Judas of Camelot who opened the door to evil. On the subject of words and symbols and their implications it is interesting to note that "evil" is "live" spelt backwards.
Arthur may be likened to sharing a similar role as the Christ principle in that his presence or appearance is key to unlocking the sword from the stone. In this context it is representative of the transition from the "stuckness" of the lower concrete mind to the higher rapier-like speed of the intuition, giving the Great Invocation a transformative effect upon the mental plane.
Legend has it that only Arthur of the very pure heart could pull the sword from the stone and this corresponds to the requirement of a purified and unfolding heart centre as an essential foundation to the use of the will aspect in relation to esoteric work. Likewise the Great Invocation, like Excalibur/Arthur, works more effectively when wielded by a pure heart and motive.
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