RITUALS

On the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is one of the chief rituals of Western Magick. It has been with us at least since the Golden Dawn of the nineteenth century, and it has penetrated into all the many Golden Dawn spinoffs, including Neo-Paganism. Yet there is still no widely available, clear instruction. The directions of the magical orders are mere mnemonics for those who are assumed to have personal instructors. To formulate my personal approach to the ritual, to aid any others who may be considering practicing the LBR, and to satisfy the idle curiosity of any gawking onlookers, I have put together this short discussion of the ritual and its symbolism and performance.

1. Intent of the Ritual

The real action of a magick ritual takes place in the mind. Ritual is a form of moving meditation. The effect is also primarily psychological.* The LBR is a tool to facilitate meditation.

[*Not all players would agree with this statement. Many would say that the effect of the LBR is a fortified and cleansed area on the astral plane, which they think is as real as Hoboken, if not more so. It doesn't really matter in practice.]

The experience of a proper LBR is pleasurable and soothing, yet energizing and empowering. One is made at home in the mystical realm, protected from lurkers and phantasms by strongly imagined wards. This solace from mundane experience is a precondition for more serious works of meditation or ritual, but it can also form a healthy part of the life of the mind by itself.

The Ritual

I'll just reprint the description of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram from Liber O, a publication of the occult order A.'.A.'.

1. Touching the forehead, say "Ateh (Unto Thee)."

2. Touching the breast, say Malkuth (The Kingdom)."

3. Touching the right shoulder, say "ve-Geburah (and the Power)."

4. Touching the left shoulder, say "ve-Gedulah (and the Glory),

5. Clasping the hands upon the breast, say "le-Olahm, Amen (To the Ages, Amen)."

6. Turning to the East, make a pentagram (that of Earth) with the proper weapon (usually the Wand). Say (i.e. vibrate) "IHVH" (Ye-ho-wau*).

7. Turning to the South, the same, but say "ADNI" (Adonai).

8. Turning to the West, the same, but say "AHIH" (Eheieh).

9. Turning to the North, the same, but say "AGLA" (Agla).

10. Extending the arms in the form of a cross say:

11. "Before me Raphael;

12. Behind me Gabriel;

13. On my right hand Michael;

14. On my left hand Auriel;

15. For about me flames the Pentagram,

16. And in the Column stands the six-rayed Star."

17. until 21. Repeat steps (1) to (5), the "Qabalistic Cross."

Politics of the Ritual

With practice, you will no doubt come up with your own style of performance, and your own different symbolism for ritual acts. Different people do rituals as differently as actors play parts, even though the lines and motions may be fundamentally the same. (The alternative is an authoritarian, dogmatic horror which is alien to the deep occult understanding of religion, but is still common in magical groups.) Slavish imitation will get you nowhere in Magick -- except, perhaps, to some high spiritual degree!

The Christianity -- or at least angelic monotheism -- of the ritual symbolism may give a start to some. Many of us involved in occultism have strongly negative feelings about Christianity. These are perhaps justified, but there are a few saving graces here.

First, as with any ritual, you should feel free to make it yours, to mess around with it. If you don't start to at least play with the styles of a ritual after a while, you are probably not doing it very well. It is perfectly legitimate to substitute cognate symbols at any time. However, the saying in the martial arts is that one first learns another's style, and after mastering it, moves on to create one's own. For a beginner, it will be easiest simply to use an existing ritual form in order to explore the meaning of a banishing ritual.

Given that experience, which transcends any mere set of symbols, one may devise a form more in keeping with the emergence of one's personal style. For instance, Neo-Pagans use a highly reified form of the same basic ritual in many of their traditions, but with non-Christian deities, spirits, and heros at the quarters. Aleister Crowley wrote a new version which made the performance more dancelike, and used the names of Thelemic deities and officers rather than monotheist gods and angels. My private version, called "Opening the Threshold", is entirely atheistic and philosophical.

In any case, of those people who so abhor Christianity, how many have looked at some of the practices of historical pagans in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas? No religion should ever be "accepted" by an occultist. When using any religion's symbolism, the adept should cut to its sacred poetical core and discard the political dross. By this standard, Christianity looks about as good as any other religion. Without this standard and by factoring in historical excesses and power plays, almost all known religions look just about as bad as Christianity.

In other words, someone who will happily use Norse gods, Arthurian heroes, Taoist immortals, Voudoun loas, or what have you in rituals, but will never touch a Christian angel, is guilty of the same narrowness he or she probably imparts to the Christians.

The Vibration of God-Names

In the LBR, the vibration of the god-names "charges" or "enlivens" the pentagrams in the air. This is difficult to describe, but easy to recognize. There is a feeling of presence in one of these charged warding images -- though not necessarily a feeling of true externality or separate intelligence. Weare told to "vibrate" the names. The description and illustration of the "vibration" given in Liber O have been known to mislead people into hilarious postures. What the picture most resembles is the skulking monster from the movie The Mummy. To the modern eye, it is remarkable how truly unclear a photograph can be. I didn't learn how to vibrate a god-name until I signed up with yet another occult order and was taught it in person. I wouldn't wish the ensuing experience on anyone, so here is a description which I hope will be adequate in print.

Vibration phase 1 -- The Sign of the Enterer (1-4)

1. Stand upright. Blow all the air out of your lungs. Hold your arms straight out at your sides.

2 a. Close your eyes and inhale nasally, imagining that the breath is the name. The exact nature of this imagination differs from person to person. Thus, you imagine yourself inhaling the name into your lungs.

2 b. As you inhale, sweep your forearms smoothly and deliberately up so that your fists rest on your temples.

3. Imagine the breath moving down through your torso slowly, and through your pelvis, your legs, and finally to the soles of your feet. (Don't do this so slowly that you are hurting for air when the name reaches your feet!)

4a. The instant the inhaled vibrational name hits the soles of your feet, imagine it rushing back up and out.

4b. Simultaneously, throw yourself forward, thrusting your left foot forward about twelve inches (or thirty centimeters) and catching yourself on it. Your hands shoot forward, together, like a diver. You bend forward at the waist so that your torso winds up parallel to the floor.

4c. The air in your lungs should be blown out through your nose at the same time, but imagine the name shooting out straight ahead.

Steps 3-4 are known as the Sign of the Enterer, or of Horus. This symbolizes powerful active energy. The Enterer should be something of a "rush". The vibrational name is projected outwards into more tangible manifestation -- in this case, in the pentagrams of the LBR, which are charged by the force of the projected god-names.

It is highly inadvisable to omit the portion of step(4b) which reads "catching yourself on it." But again, I have no desire to infringe on your freedom of choice.

Vibration phase 2 -- The Sign of Silence (5)

5. Finally, withdraw into a standing position, left arm hanging at your side, right forefinger on lips, left foot pointing ninety degrees out from the body.

Step 5 is called the Sign of Silence, or of Harpocrates. This Egyptian god was mistakenly believed (at the turn of the century) to pertain to silence, because his finger or thumb was touching his lips. This gesture is now believed to be a symbol of childhood; this correction appears in the World card of Crowley's "Book of Thoth" Tarot deck. Harpocrates was the god of the Sun at dawn, and so symbolizes wonder, beauty, potential, growth. So, step 5 may be done in this academically corrected light instead.

However, the "hush" gesture of the Golden Dawn Sign of Silence is adequate for the modern occultist, even if deprived of A Divine Identification. It is a common gesture, at least in the European culture, meaning silence. Silence perhaps balances the ultra-active Sign of the Enterer better than does the more scholarly positive/active "Sign of Harpocrates the Rising Sun", and silence is surely no alien concept to mystics.

The Invocation

The pentagrams are given form by the drawing, life by the vibration, identity by the four-part prayer of steps (x) to (xiv). Some people do very elaborate visualizations of angelic guardians on each of (xi) to (xiv). Because of my tragic personal deficiencies, I am content with strong feelings of presence, identity, and divinity in each of the four directions.

A horizontal cross is built up step by step as you say, "Before me Raphael", etc, with you at the center; and the position of your arms forms a vertical cross, a renewal of the Qabalistic Cross from the start of the ritual. You may feel a quite peculiar rising and expansion when both of these crosses are formulated. One has become the center of the geometry of the space, and it is like a little world in itself, cut adrift from the mundane currents of everyday experience.

Steps (xv) and (xvi) are when the real banishing takes place, during "For about me flames the pentagram, and in the column stands the six-rayed star." A great pulse of force is emitted during these steps, imposing the personal will on the space and clearing it of all hostile influences.

After this is done, the invoked "archangels" maintain the banishing effect, guarding in all four directions. Of course this talk of angels is all bullshit -- the importance lies in the psychological effect. Whether there "really is" an archangel standing there keeping out inimical spirits is not important. The "feeling of cleanliness" is what matters.

Concluding Cross

The final Qabalistic Cross is an affirmation of the completeness and symmetry of the ritual, and also a new self-consecration. This is more efficacious than the previous Cross because it is done in a banished environment.

One is now ready to do a formal invocation, an evocation, a meditation, or whatever the overall purpose may be. The LBR is a preliminary ceremony, although it has a beneficial effect in itself. It can profitably be done as a stand-alone ritual, but you should move on. The LBR should keep away the horrible ickies that turn so many novices away from Magick. Its mastery is a first step to adeptship.

Performing the Qabalistic Cross

A Brief Introduction--This is a very basic ritual, one of the very first that students learn. It utilizes the archetypal symbol of the cross, which has possessed a significance in magic that long pre-dates the Christian era. One very early use of the equal armed cross was as a kind of basic map, representing the circular horizon visible from a person's point of view divided into four quarters and four cardinal directions: North, South, East & West. It thus came to symbolize the condition of being oriented, of knowing exactly where you are. In the Ritual of the Qabalistic Cross, you will visualize a cross of brilliant light shining brightly within your body. This particular cross symbolizes a kind of spiritual orientation. It symbolizes the intersection of the two primal dimensions, worlds, or stages on which the drama of our individual destinies plays out: the dimension of Being, symbolized by the vertical line; and the dimension of Action, symbolized by the horizontal line.

The vertical line of Being, which is visualized emanating from a sphere of brilliant white light floating just above the crown of your head, moving down through your body, and entering another sphere of light encircling your feet, forms a connection between the Source of All (symbolized by Qabalists as Kether at the very top of the Tree of Life) and here: this place, this time in which you now find yourself (symbolized in the Qabalah as Malkuth, the lowest sphere on the Tree of Life.) Visualizing this line of power running vertically through your body is a ritualistic expression of the truth that you are a bridge between the Upper and Lower Worlds; a conduit through which the higher spiritual energies manifest here in the material world. Through performing the Ritual of the Qabalistic Cross, you form a conscious connection with these higher spiritual energies. .

The horizontal line of Action is visualized as a line of brilliant light running from a sphere of red light at your right shoulder (symbolizing Geburah on the Tree of Life of the Qabalah) through the top of your heart center into a sphere of blue light at your left shoulder (symbolizing the sephira Chesed or Gedullah on the Tree of Life.) The line expresses the Truth that you are a conscious being with the power to make decisions that are based on values. The red Geburah sphere at your right shoulder symbolizes your ability to make limiting decisions (e.g., the decision to say "No!" or "I will not…"). The blue Gedulla/Chesed sphere at your left shoulder symbolizes your ability to make expansive (or giving) decisions (e.g., the decision to say "Yes!" or "I will…") In the Qabalah, Geburah is also called Judgement or Power and Gedullah/Chesed is called Mercy or Loving Kindness, and through forming a line between them that intersects with the vertical line of Being at the center of your chest, you symbolically place yourself at the point of perfect balance where your decisions will be neither too harsh nor too lenient. You also symbolically locate your decisions (and the consequent actions which follow from them) at the point where they will be most greatly influenced by the higher spiritual forces flowing down from Above. .

The Ritual of the Qabalistic Cross is thus a magical method of gaining spiritual orientation, of affirming that you know exactly where you are spiritually and what you are going to decide to do. This is the perfect metaphysical position, the magical "High Ground" upon which to build the Holy City and from which to venture forth on Quests or to wage battle with the Dark Forces in order to make Conquests in the Name of the Empire of Eternal Light.

Performing the Ritual

Here are the simple steps of the Ritual of the Qabalistic Cross. It may be performed anywhere, at any time you feel the need to become spiritually centered. But, for learning purposes, begin by selecting a quiet place and time. As your power of concentration increases with practice, this will become less necessary. But for now, try to eliminate interruptions and distractions as much as possible.

Begin by standing (or sitting, if that works best) facing toward the East, the direction of the rising sun and the dawning light. You may either close your eyes or leave them open, whichever works best for you. Visualize a glowing sphere of white light, about ten inches in diameter, forming approximately 6 inches above the top of your head. Imagine that its light is blinding, like the sun at high noon, and that you can't look directly at it without squinting. Take time for this image to form clearly in your imagination and allow your thoughts to consider that this sphere symbolizes the Source of all created Being, infinitely high above your worldly worries and ambitions. Raise your right hand, place the tips of your fingers into this sphere of light, pull the light downward and touch your forehead, intoning the word "Ateh." This Hebrew word means "Thou art…" and acknowledges the Being of God.

In spite of the strenuous steps which he could execute and notwithstanding his overdeveloped thighs, Nijinsky’s body never appeared too muscular, but rather as a form light, graceful, even indolent. When not actually dancing, he moved lightly, hardly pressing the ground.

Now slowly move your right hand downward from your forehead and let it hover a few inches away from your chest. Imagine that the light is moving downward with your hand, and that it continues straight down through your body till it reaches the region of your feet. (Try to imagine that your body is semi-transparent and that you can see the line of light moving down through yourself.) Visualize another sphere of radiant white light forming around your feet to the height of your ankles, touch your chest with your right hand, and say the word "Malkuth." This Hebrew word means "The Kingdom," and the sphere at your feet symbolizes the here and now in which you find yourself, now perceived as filled with the Holy Light of the Divine. Allow this image to become clear and strong in your imagination, and let your thoughts consider that you are the bridge between the Upper and Lower Worlds, and that it is through your decisions that the Divine Light manifests here on Earth. Place both hands at your sides while visualizing the upright line of the Cross for a while. .

Now raise your left hand and let it hover a few inches away from your right shoulder. Visualize a sphere of burning red light, about ten inches in diameter, forming around and within your right shoulder. Allow this image to become strong and clear in your imagination. The red Geburah sphere symbolizes your power & vitality, your ability to define boundaries and defend them, your strength to resist harmful negative influences. Keeping all this in mind, touch your left hand to your right shoulder and say the words "ve Geburah," which are Hebrew for "the Power."

Still keeping your left hand on your right shoulder, lift your right hand and let it hover a few inches away from your left shoulder. Imagine that a line of light is streaming from the red sphere on your right into your left shoulder where a sphere of glowing blue light forms, again about ten inches in diameter, around and within your left shoulder. Allow this image to become clear and distinct in your mind, touch your left shoulder with your right hand, and say the words "ve Gedullah," which, in Hebrew, mean "the Glory." The blue sphere symbolizes your ability to be giving, loving, compassionate, and forgiving.

While keeping your hands crossed over your chest, visualize the horizontal line of light moving through your chest, connecting the red and blue spheres and intersecting with the vertical line of the Cross right in the center of your chest. The horizontal line represents the complete spectrum of your moral/ethical actions, and wherever your consciousness falls on this line will determine whether your decisions are made for the sake of your Self or Others, and whether they are harsh or loving. At the point where the two lines intersect, visualize a glowing sphere of yellowish-golden light forming. This symbolizes Tiphereth on the Tree of Life, the central sephira of Enlightened Consciousness, that perfectly balances influences from Above and Below, and from the Sephiroth on either side of it on the Tree. Imagine that the Tiphereth sphere is moving downward slightly until it is at the same level as your heart & now forming the base of a triangle with the Geburah and Gedulah spheres. See this clearly and vividly in your imagination, and watch as its light radiates from within you to surround you and illumine the room in which you stand. Say the Hebrew words "la olam," which are variously translated as "unto all the ages" or "forever."

 Conclude by clasping your hands together, as in prayer, and holding them against your chest at the place where the sphere of golden light manifests. Say the word "Amen." This expresses your conscious decision to elevate and shift your consciousness to a Center of Perfect Spiritual Balance.

Stand for a while and visualize the light of the spiritually orienting Qabalistic Cross glowing brightly within you. See the light radiate around you like a protective sphere, a Magic Circle of spiritual protection and illumination. Meditate on the symbolic significance of the ritual you have just preformed. You are now ready to go about your business from an altered point of view. This is a perspective that will put you more closely in touch with Higher Spiritual Forces, and make you more open to their positive influence.

Middle Pillar Ritual

This ritual builds up the middle pillar of the Tree of Life in your aura thereby awakening the higher currents within you. The exercise is well-known also from tantra and taoism where it balances sexual, loving and spiritual energies that are regarded as seperate by cultural conventions. The Middle Pillar Exercise should be carried out slowly and with great care, attention and devotion. Do not go on with the exercise until a powerful visualisation carrying a significant energy level has been achieved at the previous step. This may require several minutes of concentration on each part.

1. Stand upright facing west, hands to your side, eyes closed, inhale and expired your breath steadily. Let the mind be quiet, calm, and still. Perform the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.

2. Now visualise yourself standing in a Temple with the pillars of the Tree of Life felt right behind your back. There is a Black Pillar of Severity on your right, a White Pillar of Mercy on your left. You are the Middle Pillar, standing between them. Imagine that the Black Pillar of Severity is reflected in the right part of your body, and the White Pillar of Mercy in the left part.

3. Take a deep breath and raise yourself to your Kether, a sphere of pure brilliance emanating above your head. Breathe in deeply and vibrate the godname EHEIEH (pronounced "Eh-hay-yay", 'I am', 'I will be' or 'I am that I am').

4. See the light above your head flowing down through Daath, at the nape of your neck. Here it forms another flaming sphere of brilliant indigo, slightly smaller than the previous sphere. Now you inhale deeply and vibrate the godname YHVH ELOHIM (pronounced "Ye-ho-wah El-o-heem" - 'Lord God' or 'Lord of Gods' - which is in fact the godname of Binah as Daath is not truly a Sephirah).

5. Experience the light continue to Tiphareth in your heart into a sphere of clear pink rose as you vibrate the godname YHVH ELOAH VA DAATH (pronounced "Ye-ho-wah El-o-aah Vah Daard" - 'Lord God of all Knowledge').*

6. Let the light flow further down into Yesod in your hip and genital area forming a flaming sphere of fluctuating indigo. Take a deep breath and vibrate the divine name SHADDAI EL CHAI (pronounced "Sha-di el-chie" - 'Almight God of Life')

7. Finally, the light reaches Malkuth at the base between your legs (or even under your feet) where it forms a flaming sphere of brilliant yellow. Now vibrate its godname ADONAI HA-ARETZ (pronounced "Ah-don-i ha-aretz" - 'Lord of the Earth').

8. Now see the light ascending vertically behind your back along the spine, then feel it descend vertically in front of you, creating a dynamic circle of flaming light moving rapidly around you. Let another circle form itself around your waist, beginning from left to right in front of you, then running in a clockwise current. Feel the new life these currents are giving your entire aura. Observe them for a while, as they are circulating around the four brilliant spheres on a stream of light

9. Thank the powers that have been involved. Take a deep breath and feel the images fade to become invisible. Perform The Qabalistic Cross to balance the energy and close the ritual.