Evoke is a way of remembering. This verb is used in three different senses: to refer to the action of bringing a memory of the past to the present, to indicate that something reminds us of something else for some reason or to call a spirit.
The reference to times past
If a person experiences emotions or feelings that he has already lived in the past, this mental action is an evocation. In this sense, we remember sad or happy moments, specific episodes or any experience related to the past.
In any case, it is a way to relive or recall a memory.
A way to associate ideas or feelings
In the action of evoking, there can be a relationship of similarity between two different elements. The observation of a landscape can make us remember a certain moment, a person can make us think of a different person or an object we can relate to a specific episode. It is, therefore, an association of ideas, feelings or images.
From the cultural point of view, these types of links are frequent. Thus, the color red evokes the idea of passion, the white color reminds us of purity and pink can be related to the world of children. Certain smells are also evocative, because when we perceive them our mind remembers moments or sensations. The taste of a food or the touch of an object can also make us rescue a memory of something. Of course, words lead us to recall images and these lead us to words.
In the world of dreams there is also an evocation, since certain dream images are related to our past. Finally, literature, cinema and art in general have an evident evocative component, since through their manifestations our sensitivity and our ability to recover experiences from other times are activated.
In the world of spiritism
Those who practice spiritism perform an evocation when they call on a spirit to make itself present. From this point of view, a person capable of communicating with the afterlife can contact spiritual entities.
This practice is carried out through a ritual of evocation, as happens in the practices of Santeria or in the use of guija. Highlight that in the terminology of spiritism, evoke and invoke act as synonymous terms.
In ancient times, evoking the souls of the dead was a way for the deceased to respond for their actions or to speak out on a specific request.
Photos: Fotolia - zhukovvvlad / mangulica
