summoning

Summoning is the act of calling forth a person, entity, or thing from one location or state to another. In religious and occult contexts, summoning refers to attempts to evoke or conjure spirits, deities, angels, demons, or other beings, often through ritualized speech, gestures, or objects. The practice is typically distinguished from invocation, which is a request for presence, and evocation, which stresses the presence of the summoned entity in a space or form.

Across cultures, traditions describe various aims for summoning, such as protection, guidance, or gaining knowledge, power, or influence. In many folk beliefs, spirits or ancestors are summoned by priests, shamans, or mediums through established protocols and symbolic tools. Ceremonial magic in the medieval and early modern periods developed complex systems of correspondences, circles, and names, intended to control or restrain other beings during contact. Scholarly study treats summoning as a religious or mythological motif rather than a literal universal practice.

In contemporary fiction and popular culture, summoning appears as a common device in fantasy literature, films, and role-playing games, where a summoner may call forth creatures or allies with varying degrees of autonomy or power. The term is also used in gaming to describe mechanisms that bring characters, units, or effects into play.

Ethical and legal considerations arise in both real-world and fictional contexts, with debates about cultural representation and safety concerns in ritual practice.