Evocation

Evocation is the act of evoking, calling upon, or summoning a spirit, demon, deity or other supernatural agents, in the Western mystery tradition.

Comparable practices exist in many religions and magical traditions and may employ the use of mind-altering substances with and without uttered word formulas.

This article discusses mainly the original and primary usage, describing acts of a supernatural or paranormal nature.

The ritual was conducted in a military setting either as a threat during a siege or as a result of surrender, and aimed at diverting the god's favor from the opposing city to the Roman side, customarily with a promise of a better-endowed cult or a more lavish temple.

[4] Evocatio was thus a kind of ritual dodge to mitigate looting of sacred objects or images from shrines that would otherwise be sacrilegious or impious.