A prayer communicates with a superior being, often giving thanks. An invocation is a calling down. There have been many invocations down the ages, each specific to a particular religious faith. The Great Invocation is designed to have universal appeal. It is a ‘world prayer’ and ‘a selfless prayer’ voicing humanity’s ‘basic needs’. The Tibetan Master DK describes it as ‘a great method of integration’, linking spiritual, soul and personality aspects, and relating ‘the will of the Father (Shamballa), the love of the Hierarchy and the service of Humanity into one great Triangle of Energies’. RI p757-8
DK gave out the Great Invocation in a series of stanzas between 1936 and April 1945. The invocation evolved in those nine years, from its original form given to the New Group of World Servers. Here is the original:
Let the Forces of Light bring illumination to mankind.
Let the Spirit of Peace be spread abroad.
May Men of Goodwill everywhere meet in a spirit of cooperation.
Let Power attend the efforts of the Great Ones.
Om Om Om[i]
In March 1936, two additional stanzas were given:
Let the Forces of Light bring illumination to mankind.
Let the Spirit of Peace be spread abroad.
May Men of Goodwill everywhere meet in a spirit of cooperation.
May forgiveness on the part of all men be the keynote at this time.
Let Power attend the efforts of the Great Ones.
So let it be and help us do our part.[ii]
Those stanzas were used in Triangles meditations for nine years. Then, a magnificent transformation occurred, and what had been poetically somewhat flat in the English language at least, took on a transcendent quality that rendered this prayer worthy of the word ‘great’.
In 1945, the Great Invocation became:
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men –
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.[iii]
(May Christ return to Earth refers not to a Second Coming but rather to the externalisation of the Hierarchy; a reappearance, as the Christ or ‘Coming One’ has never left us.)
The Great Invocation was composed to have broad appeal to all peoples of all cultures and beliefs, and seeks to invoke an outpouring of love and light to help establish on earth the divine Plan, ‘to be accomplished willingly by humanity itself’ through the fostering of right relations. Two broad purposes are contained within the prayer, to ‘seal the door where evil dwells’ and to ‘let loose…the Plan of Love and Light.’ Light is knowledge and wisdom.
So central and fundamental is the Great Invocation, that it has become the cornerstone of esoteric meditation for all practitioners in the Ageless Wisdom tradition. Everyone who recounts this prayer in the English language experiences the elegance and definite rhythmic quality of the verses. The aesthetic aspect might not often be noticed, but on some level, it is always appreciated. The juxtaposition of those early versions shines a light on the finely tuned masterpiece which the invocation became.
Following the Ageless Wisdom tradition, Twelves involves a series of four groups of three Triangles who practice the Triangles meditation including the Great Invocation every day.
Isobel Blackthorn