A Theologian's Technical Manual

The first step to engineering a successful invocation is the careful selection of thoughts, words and gestures. It is this stage which is most fundamental to the process, due to the inherent risks of the technical process.

If you, reader, are still in training as a Natural Theologican, we highly recommend that you continue to practice using pre-existing frameworks and templates for invocation, and continue your studies.

Even if you are fully qualified in the science of Theology, the inexperienced are advised to start small in your ambitions. It is not worth the risks, and many promising young Philosophers on the cusp of greatness have been expunged from this earth through carelessness.

## Quality

The construction of invocations is comprised of two facets.

First: Quality. This is the easier notion to understand, but must be carefully managed. A misinterpretation of the Invoked’s quality, or of the Target, can cause catastrophic results.

As a result, invocation must be preceded by a series of analytical study of a subject, both through research into Historical Precedent and careful analysis of both Target and Invoked – or failing the Invoked itself, i.e. in the case of a God or other Divine Being, an analysis of their Realm.

For example, in invoking Suradan, one must first have a clear understanding of His Realm through careful research and experimentation on its denizens – Trees, fruit, animals, fish, living rocks, the waters of the seas and the natural cycles of the land. A clear understanding of the nature of the Natural Philosophy of such things can aid significantly in the invocation of His Work.

It is also important to understand the nature of their existence over time, and the changes in how they are worshipped. For example, the changing nature and significance of gods such as Yvir and Paramac, from their early days as monolatrous chief gods of the nations which first discovered them, to their modern existence as a component of the Many, can improve the focus of an Invocation’s Deixis – which we will discuss later.

Indeed, many theologicans, including the great Salus Ancorus, found understanding of the nature of Heresies to be a significant aid to the invocation of deities; not because of what they Are but of what they Are Not.

Likewise, in the invocation of a Saint, Folk Hero or other entity of a similar nature, it is important to have a clear understanding of their nature – Their existence historically; the myths surrounding them, the distinction between the two; and their changing meaning to people and the wider world over time.

## Deixis

The second facet of Invocation is Deixis.

Deixis is the precise use of words, thoughts and gestures to reference a specific time, place, or person in context. In linguistics, this typically refers to such words ‘tomorrow,’ ‘there,’ and ‘they,’ which provide a specific locus being expressed, such as who the subject is, where the subject is, and where.

This notion of Deixis is on the surface similar to the concept as it appears in Theological discussion; however there are complexities which mere linguists do not have to concern themselves with.

In order for an Invocation to be deixic, the meaning must be fixed objectively, rather than in general terms. This relates to the other facet of Quality – to precisely target subjects deixically, it is important to have a precise understanding of the context surrounding these things. In more grounded terms, it is the same principle that means that one cannot measure the distance to Point B without first determining the initial starting place for measurement at Point A.

This is known as Relativity, as outlined in Aquilian’s Laws of Relativity, which in concise terms dictate that not only must time, place and person must be precisely known, but that none of them can be known without relation to each other. Furthermore, the impreciseness of one thing can affect the focus of the Invocation upon the other factors. For example, Aquilian notes that the speed of a target may have a direct relation to the nature of the time progressing around it.

In his famous pocket watch experiment, Aquilian noted that time seemed to slow down when people were going to work, and sped up when they finished. Wishing to analyse this phenomenon, the great Philosopher placed a pocket watch in a wooden box, in the Pembleton industrial district as factory workers were returning home from work for the day. Meanwhile, he retained a second watch, perfectly synchronised with the first, in his possession.

He kept the first box at home, unobserved, and stood with the second the next day as the factory workers returned, before returning to compare the two watches upon his return home. He noted that the watch in the box had continued to tick slower than the one he had held in his possession, losing around fifteen minutes of time compared to the watch he had held with him, as if the 'relaxed' metapsychical condition that he was in when he had left it had caused it to maintain a slower pace.