A divine embodiment or godform refers to the visualized appearance of the deity assumed in theurgical, tantric, and other mystical practices. This process of ritual embodiment is aimed at transforming the practitioner, aligning them with divine powers for spiritual ascent or transformation. The concept is found across diverse traditions, including Western esotericism, Eastern spirituality, and mysticism, where it serves as a method for achieving personal enlightenment, union with the divine, or other spiritual goals.

In Western esotericism, divine embodiment is most commonly associated with theurgy, particularly in the works of Neoplatonists like Iamblichus, where the practitioner assumes a divine form through ritual or meditation to transcend the material world and reach higher spiritual realms. This concept was influenced by ancient Greek practices of invoking gods and embodying divine forces, seen in both the public cults and private rituals. The idea was later adapted and expanded in Hermeticism, particularly through the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where practitioners would visualize themselves as deities to channel spiritual power.

A similar method also appears in esoteric traditions in Dharmic religions, particularly in Tibetan and East Asian Vajrayana, where practitioners engage in deity yoga by constructing a visualization (Skt: samayasattva) of themselves as a deity, inviting the divine presence (Skt: jñānasattva, "wisdom being") to unite with this visualization. This process, rooted in Buddhist tantra, emphasizes the interconnection of mind and form, where the practitioner becomes the deity in both form and essence.

Other spiritual traditions, such as Jewish mysticism, also explore similar themes of divine embodiment, though with distinct theological frameworks. In Merkabah mysticism, for example, practitioners ascend to the divine throne through visualization and the use of divine names, embodying divine attributes along the way. According to psychology researcher Harris Friedman, these practices, while differing in terminology and belief systems, share the core goal of achieving spiritual transformation through the embodiment of divine forms, whether through deities, divine names, or sacred symbols.

The term "divine embodiment" broadly refers to the ritual, visionary, or experiential manifestation of a divine presence within or through the body, whether symbolically, literally, or mystically. While the English-language term is most common in comparative religion and Western esotericism, analogous concepts appear across religious, magical, and mystical systems worldwide, often under distinct names and ontological assumptions. Scholars such as Arvind Sharma advocate for a method of reciprocal illumination, where insights from one tradition help clarify or enrich understanding of similar practices in another.

The idea that the divine can take form—not only externally but within the human practitioner—challenges simple binaries between immanence and transcendence. In many traditions, this embodiment is not metaphorical but functional: it serves to channel power, generate insight, or establish communion with sacred realities. As Mircea Eliade noted in his study of shamanism, ritual embodiment of spirits or gods serves as a "technique of ecstasy", allowing practitioners to traverse and mediate cosmic realms.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, deity visualization is a core practice in which the practitioner generates the form of a deity through meditation. Two technical terms are used to distinguish the visualized form from the invited divine presence. The samayasattva (Sanskrit: समयसत्त्व) or "commitment being" refers to the deity as visualized by the practitioner as a symbol of their meditative focus and spiritual commitment. The jñānasattva (Sanskrit: ज्ञानसत्त्व), or "wisdom being", refers to the actual enlightened presence of the deity, which is ritually invited to merge with the visualized form. The union of these two aspects constitutes the embodiment of the deity within the practitioner’s subtle body. Similarly, in Tantric Hindu and Bhakti traditions, deities are manifested through mantra, visualization, and symbolic acts that allow the divine presence to enter ritual forms.

In Western esotericism, particularly in the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the related practice is known as the assumption of the godform. In this practice, the practitioner constructs and temporarily identifies with a visualized divine figure in order to channel its qualities or power. Drawing on theurgy, especially in the Neoplatonic tradition of Iamblichus, such rituals construct symbolic bodies for gods to inhabit, forming what scholars have called "ritual vehicles" or "animated symbols".