The Wonderful Invocation of the Great and Terrible WIZARD OF OZ


Howdy, folks. As promised, is both my experience with the Invocation of OZ and (in full) the ritual that allowed me to summon him, so you can all go home and try it yourselves.

Well, maybe not. It was a little .. interesting, to say the least. But before we get into that, we better start with some context.

In short: I plan on invoking the WIZARD OF OZ (pictured). This involves him entering my own body, and me conversing with him.

(Invoking is becoming 'possessed' by a spirit, allowing it to speak through me and to me - often the deeper, more spiritual workings are invocations, as the focus is more on exploring the self. Evocations, on the other hand, involving the outside summoning of these beings; usually involving a magical circle all the the like, and often involves getting the god to do something for you. The terms are similar, but they're both pretty different. Invoking summons IN, evoking summons OUT.)

The rationale behind this, besides wanting to see how well the WIZARD OF OZ converts to magic, is that I'd rather wait until I've worked with him more - taking time to build up his power - before I evoke him.

In both the Wicked stage play and the Wizard of Oz movie/books, OZ is a fake, a charlatan, simply a technologically-minded human occultist from Earth who threw himself into the lands of OZ and then decided it was a fit kingdom to rule. He was a con-artist, a fraud who knew more about science then magic...

But the people of OZ worshipped him as a god. They believed he had powers even mightier than Glinda, Good Witch of the North, and Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West, the characters that dominated the Wicked musical. His power is highly guarded as universal, the omniscient God-Emperor of the Emerald City.

In reality, he hides behind a huge mechanical lion who bellows fire and smoke, bellowing commands in a truly harrowing tone. It's a huge, clockwork machine that the WIZARD hides behind, however - his abilities are actually rather feeble, magic-wise.

But he understands things. He understands how Oz works - hell, he understands the importance of language in the land, how it physically affects the animals, and uses it to his advantage. This kind of linguistic aggression is a vital element of the ontological warfare that magic is based on; sorcery relies heavily on language, after all.

The WIZARD OF OZ is the overseer behind reality, at least in Oz, and that gives him power. He's achieved apotheosis in this magical land, power enough to cause a cyclone that rips through space and time; but not power enough to ever return home. The Ruby Slippers, of course, were understood by Glinda the Good Witch.

So, then, I think I've got something to work with here.

Purpose

To summon OZ from the Emerald City, Oz, to Pakenham, Australia (another kind of Oz) - specifically, to channel his spirit and to converse with him. I will ask him the nature of reality, that secret to swapping worlds, the clockwork behind perception - I will ask him to divulge his secrets, because as much as a hack as he may be, he DID manage to hop between worlds.

Ingredients

-A small amount of tin (I butchered some from the can - it's to represent the tinman)
-A small amount of prosthetic fur (because real fur is expensive, and it's symbolic; the Lion isn't who he once was)
-A red shoe (to represent Dorothy; I stole on of Mum's, tell you the truth)
-A small amount of straw (to represent the Scarecrow)
-A copy of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz (or a substitute, such as a DVD of the film adaptation, or maybe even the expensive program from the Wicked stage play, or the novel that inspired that play)
-Salt
-A magical weapon (cup/mirror, wand/staff, knife/sword, coin/disk)
-An OZ sigil (see below)
-Finally, a bed placed within the temple room, or close to the summoning space
-Brown/dull workpants and a bright green shirt (this is our 'robe', so to speak)
-Four candles

The Sigil

This is a sigil - like a veve in Voodoo, or a magic circle to represent a demon - a powerful symbol used to represent THE WIZARD OF OZ. I devised it after reading parts of Baum's The Wizard of Oz and meditating on it, drawing it almost automatically after a brief gnosis. This was before the ritual and the banishing.

It is both deeply personal - I created it - and also quite public, so feel free to use it, though perhaps the best results would be to create your own.


The Ritual - Banishing

Banish how you will - laughter, Golden Dawn methods, whatever. As long as it works to get you in the mood for some magic, and cleanses all the psychic shit about you, there's really no problem.

I prefer to have my banishing themed, though - to warm up before the ritual. I usually use a simple technique that involves visualisation and calling on the powers of the four cardinal points, barefooted, while declaring my intent to the world. It works pretty well.

The personal touch seems to really get me in the mood for whatever working I'm doing. This is what I did for the banishing:-

0.0 -I get changed into my ritual clothes; dusty brown trousers, to link me with Kansas, and a bright green shirt, to link me to the Emerald City of Oz.
0.1 - I drew a circle of salt around me, took off my shoes, and figured out which way was East.
0.2 - I then took my magical dagger.
0.3 - I knelt, waiting for myself to get ready mentally, clearing my thoughts.
0.4 - As I kneel, I say, "My name is Nathaniel F. Robinson, the Magus, who summons the forces of the Great Witches to protect and guide me!"
0.5 - Standing up, dagger in hand, I point to the East. I imagine a crippled, but powerful sorceress, defending me with her cold logic. "I call the Wicked Witch of the East, she who rides on the clouds, she who bears the Ruby Slippers, to guard me with her scythes of logic! NESSA!" Then I draw a simple pentagram in the East.
0.6 - I point the dagger to the West. Imagine a green-skinned, powerful witch, clothed only in fire and darkness, protecting me. "I call the Wicked Witch of the West, she who is clothed in flame and darkness, she who bears the Grimmerie, to guard me with her blazing passion! ELPHABA!" Then draw a pentagram in the West.
0.7 - Point to the South. Imagine a white, beautiful sorceress building walls of stone about me. "I call the Good Witch of the South, who owns the Realms of Oz, who bears the Silver Wand, to guard me with her earthly might! GLINDA!" Then a pentagram in the South.
0.8 - Point to the North. Imagine an elderly, wise sorceress whose will surges around me. "I call the Good Witch of the North, who is wisest among magicians, whose wisdom is like a primal ocean, who bears the Shining Mark, guard me with her sweet compassion! LOCASTA!" A pentagram goes to the South.
0.9 - Repeat the statement said in 0.4, and kick the salt circle, breaking it. Then put your shoes back on and click your feet together, like Dorothy did, getting ready for magic.

Banishing rituals usually take this form, implementing a circle (or candles), a magic weapon and the four points - as well as heavy visualisation. It is often used before a ritual, to get a magician horny for magic (so to speak), and after, to ground him back to Earth. It also doubles as a cleansing which wards negative energies.
Incidentally, after feeling sick and fatigued for the whole day, after the banishing I start feeling much better.

The Actual Ritual

So, I'll list the ritual here - without any personal input, so it'll almost be like a cookbook - and then my results below, in 'results'. Just to separate theory from subjective experience, naturally.

'Chapter One'

1.0 - Gather the ingredients. Get dressed into the robe - bright green shirt, work pants. Banish if you haven't already.Make sure the temple space is completely clear. Say, "This is chapter one."
1.1 - Using pins or blue-tack, pin the straw to a candle, and place it to the East. This links the scarecrow, who desperately seeks a brain, to the Element Air (Intellect) and the Wicked Witch of the East (who I attributed to East and air in my banishing). Proclaim, "This is the East! This is the Mind! This is the Sky! This is what the scarecrow so desperately needs!"
1.2 - Now pin the tin to a candle, placing it to the South. This links the tinman - who desperately wants a heart - to the element of Water (Emotion), and the Good Witch of the South. "This is the South! This is the Heart! This is the Ocean! This is what the tinman so desperately needs!"
1.3 - Now, pin the fur to the candle, and place it to the West. This links the cowardly lion - who seeks courage - to the element of Fire (Passion, Courage), and the Wicked Witch of the West. "This is the West! This is Courage! This is the Flame! This is what the Lion so desperately needs!"
1.4 - Place the red shoe in front of the last candle, placing it to the North. This links Dorothy, that girl from Kansas, to the element of Earth (material world), and the Good Witch of the North. "This is the North! This is our world! This is the Earth! This is what Dorothy so desperately needs!"
1.5 - Light the candles. Point the magical weapon to the heavens. "I call you, OZ! I call you! Come to me, speak to me, in languages known and unknown - come!"
1.6 - Draw a magical circle, linking the candles. Place your gift to OZ - a copy of the book, DVD, whatever - in the centre. Go to your bed. "I, like Dorothy, must sleep to learn the hidden truths; I, like Dorothy, must dream of OZ!"
1.7 - Fall asleep. Try to sleep for a minimal amount of time - half an hour to an hour, perhaps. Enough so that you get that weary, 'I still wanna sleep!' feeling.

'Chapter Two'

2.0 - Wakeup, with that weary feeling in your body, and stumble into the magic circle. Wipe the sleep from your eyes, visualise yourself in Oz - use your imagination - and proclaim, "I am in Oz!"
2.1 - Start spinning around and around until you collapse with exhaustion or dizziness; this represents the cyclone that whisked Dorothy away. Keep at it until you achieve Gnosis; whirl and whirl and whirl, keeping the Sigil of Oz in your mind as you do so.
2.2 - Once you've achieved Gnosis, or collapsed, burn the sigil. Don't grab a candle or leave the circle - use the matches or lighter that you used to light the candles with. As you burn the sigil, chant nonsense in a sing-song tone; this mimics the Wicked Witch of the West's magic in the Wicked musical. Make sure you reach a variety of notes, and chant not until you burn the sigil, but until your energy recovers itself; ten minutes is good.
2.3 - After this, proclaim that 'Chapter Two has ended.'

'Chapter Three'

3.0 - This part is very simple. Repeat, constantly, these words from the first chapter of Baum's The Wizard of Oz - not reading from the book offered as a gift, as tempting as it may be:-

'Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her.

In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.'