Invocation

Origin

Middle English invocacioun, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French invocation, from Latin invocation-, invocatio, from invocare

• 14th Century

Definitions

• 1a : the act or process of petitioning for help or support; specifically often capitalized : a prayer of entreaty (as at the beginning of a service of worship)

b : a calling upon for authority or justification

• 2: a formula for conjuring : incantation
• 3: an act of legal or moral implementation : enforcement

Description

As a supplication or prayer, invocation implies to call upon God, a god or goddess, a person, etc. When a person calls upon God, a god, or goddess to ask for something (protection, a favour, his/her spiritual presence in a ceremony, etc.) or simply for worship, this can be done in a pre-established form or with the invoker's own words or actions. An example of a pre-established text for an invocation is the Lord's Prayer.

All religions in general use invoking prayers, liturgies, or hymns; see for example the mantras in Hinduism and Buddhism, the Egyptian Coming Out by Day (aka Book of the Dead), the Orphic Hymns and the many texts, still preserved, written in cuneiform characters on clay tablets, addressed to Shamash, Ishtar, and other deities.[1]

See also

• Incantation