Back in the early days I was initially in the Office of Imperator, but when Fiat Lux died I succeeded him as Demonstrator, and so I am particularly familiar with the God Form of Isis. She is, of course the Isis of Nature. In Assiah, she is the Bride, the Animus Mundi of the World, the generative principle of Life. She is shown in one form in the Universe Tarot Trump, but she is also the High Priestess, and as the god form of the Demonstrator, she is also an aspect of the Shekinah, thus linking the Demonstrator with one of the principle Officers in the Higher Grades.
The core paper given for instruction on god forms is the Z3, where they are described in general and rather grandiose terms. From a copy by Quis Separabit 1926 from a copy by Quaero Lucem 1909:
‘Let him, remembering what particular God or Goddess he representeth exalt his mind into the contemplation thereof, and let him think of himself as a vast figure, standing or moving in the likeness of that God or Goddess; colossal, his head lost in the clouds with Light flashing round it from the headress of the God; his feet resting upon the earth in darkness and thunder, and rolling clouds; and his form wrapped in flashes of lightning the while vibrating the Name.”
The link to the technique for Talesmatic Images is obvious.
Like many occult actions, all of the hard work is front loaded.
It starts by painting a set of (largish) God Forms and meditating on them individually, while practicing building up each form in the imagination. On the reverse of these paintings sigils and other symbols associated with the God Form can be added to help with your understanding of the force being represented – in essence an application of Bruno’s Art of Memory.
This should be done until the form can be readily visualised, in colour.
Next practice vibrating the names, once the God Form has been firmly imagined, as a ‘key phrase’ to help trigger the formation of a link with the desired force. This is all the better done in full Temple, and ideally one that is permanent, so that the link to the Astral Temple (which is always present in a permanent Temple) and the stations therein is more easily made, with less strain.
By the time this work has been done, the Hierophant should be able to quickly build up (i.e. acknowledge) each God Form by simply vibrating each name internally. There is always a period of silence before commencing a Ceremony and this is the best time for an experienced Hierophant to establish the God Forms as the physical Temple is at that time and place an exact image of the Astral Temple. The initial knock from the Hierophant serves to bring both Temples to order (alignment), once he or she has completed with acknowledging the God Forms.
Fiat Lux told me that once ‘set up’, the God Forms largely look after themselves. I can confirm this from my own experience. There are, of course, pertinent parts of each Ceremony where a more active assumption of God Form occurs.
The Dias Officers maintain their own God Forms (or rather links to the Astral forms present), and assist generally with the “passive” God Forms, while the Hierophant mainly focuses on the God Forms for the their Office and the Floor Officers, the “active” God Forms where needed, and most importantly of all, on the Candidate.
One word of warning. Fiat Lux mentioned that on one occasion, in his early days as Hierophant at Whare Ra, that at a certain point in a Ceremony he felt like he was doubled up, or compressed under a force acting on him. He discussed this with M.C., who on finding out that he had not completed making his 5=6 Implements instructed him to do so with urgency. It seems that this imbalance was causing the force to come through unevenly.
Make and Consecrate your Implements before experimenting with God Forms!
Kasmillos
Note image attached with this post is from Fiat Lux’s copy of the God Form for the Demonstrator.
