Magick 101 # 6.1: Why the LBRP Mattershttp://www.llewellyn.com/blog/2011/09/magick-101-6-1-why-the-lbrp-matters/

THIS POST WAS WRITTEN BY DONALD MICHAEL KRAIG

ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

In previous “lessons” of Magick 101 I’ve given you some personal preparation and theory. In this first part of lesson 6 I’m going to talk about the first formal ritual, The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.

What? That ol’ thing?

Yes. That old thing.

Most of the time I see the LBRP performed it is done so perfunctorily that it is rather useless, just mumbling of words and finger pointing or dagger waving. On the other hand, some people seem to think it is the height of magick, turning a brief and powerful ritual into an overplayed, elongated, pompous ordeal. Still others think it is a useless and outdated part of the old Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and who needs that old stuff?

What You Didn’t KnowAbout the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

It is true that the LBRP, as we currently know it, was originally formulated by the Golden Dawn. In fact, there’s a secret about the Golden Dawn that most people don’t know: The Golden Dawn was never intended to be a magickal order!

What? But the book? All the groups? How can you write such a blasphemous comment?

The original concept of the Golden Dawn was of a three-part organization. First, there was the equivalent of a preparatory level. You really weren’t initiated as a full fledged member. That’s why the numeration of the Neophyte degree is 0=0. You’re not even part of the structure of the group (which is based on the Kabalistic Tree of Life). Next come the four “elemental” grades of the Order.

It is these five degrees that compose the Golden Dawn per se. The Golden Dawn or “Outer Order” was designed to prepare an initiate for magick. It was a training Order. It was not until you reach the second or Inner Order where you are taught and practice ritual magick.

In the Outer Order you learn lots of information (from the “knowledge lectures”) and work with other members, assuring mutual compatibility with other members. You learn breathwork and meditative techniques. However, excluding the initiation rituals (Which are actually empowered by members of the Inner Order who participate as members of the initiating crew. Members of the Outer Order of the Golden Dawn, members of the first five degrees, are only taught one ritual. That ritual is The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.

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Banishing and More

By it’s very name you can see that the LBRP is designed to purify your area. This is of great value because as you practice techniques including meditation, breathwork, Tarot, astrology, etc., you will find yourself more attuned to the astral and experience the growth of your aura. This will attract non-physical entities hungry for that energy. They can’t really harm you—which is why, in Modern Magick, I refer to them as “little nasties”—but they can be bothersome. The LBRP easily keeps them at bay, and practice will prevent unwanted incursions of stronger entities and energies later in your magickal career.

The original instructions for this ritual are incredibly terse, taking less than two pages. This is because the documents known as Knowledge Lectures that a Golden Dawn initiate receives—one of which includes the brief LBRP instructions—were not meant to be studied in a vacuum. They are, at best, “Cliff’s Notes.” The full details were expected to be given by your mentor in the Order. But even though your instructor might give you a great deal more about the performance of the ritual, there are some inner qualities to the ritual which is why it is still relevant and should not be overlooked.

Three Necessities of Magick

There are three things you have to master to be a good magician. First, you have to learn how to raise magickal energy (I know some magicians don’t follow the energetic paradigm of magick, but that’s another issue). There are two parts of this. First, you are using your internal abilities to generate magickal energy. Second, you are using your skills to grab and make use of external (spiritual or Divine) energy. Together these energies will power your magick.

The second necessity is closely aligned with the first. Once you have that energy raised, you have to do something with it. That is, you have to be able to manipulate the energy and direct it toward achieving your magickal goal(s).

The third necessity is the knowledge of where to direct that energy. You may be able to turn a car when you drive, but unless you have the knowledge found in a map, you can manipulate the car all you want and get nowhere.

So the three necessities are the abilities to raise and direct energy combined with the knowledge of what to do with it. The LBRP teaches all of these skills.

The LBRP & the Three Necessities of Magick

In the LBRP one of the first things you do is draw spiritual energy to you. This is exemplified by the first part of the section of the ritual known as the Kabalistic Cross. You begin by drawing the energy down through you. It is represented by the points on/within your body that when linked form a vertical line from above your head to below your feet. I’ll be covering this in greater detail soon.

In the following steps of this part of the ritual, you bring forth your own magickal energy on the physical plane. This is represented by the horizontal line that goes from shoulder to shoulder.

Finally, you unite these two energies at the heart. This is symbolized by uniting your hands at your heart and sealing the physical action with the magickal word Amen. I’ll be revealing that word’s inner meaning in the next part of this lesson where I discuss the Kabalistic Cross.

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The next section of the ritual is the Formulation of the Pentagrams. In this section you learn how to direct the energy using color, positioning in three-dimensional space, and sending that energy for protective purposes. So in just the first two parts of this ritual you practice raising/generating magickal energy and the direction of that energy.

Finally, the knowledge of how to do this, combined with the knowledge of banishing, working with archangels, knowing where the archangels are, symbolism in their appearance, and the opening of the senses to receiving them is the knowledge needed for magick, the third of the necessities.

Thus, the LBRP is incredibly valuable for any and all future magickal work, not merely because it is a good banishing ritual, but because, if you work with it, you will have the basics for the mastery of magick.

Secrets of the Kabalistic CrossPart 1

In my previous blog post I described why the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram remains a valuable rite. In this post I’m going to begin looking into the first section of the ritual, known as the Kabalistic Cross.

According to Regardie’s The Golden Dawn, the book responsible for originally revealing the LBRP to most people, here are the complete instructions for performing this part of the ritual:

Take a steel dagger in the right hand. Face East.

Touch thy forehead and say ATEH (thou art)

Touch thy breast and say MALKUTH (the Kingdom)

Touch thy right shoulder and say VE-GEBURAH (and the Power)

Touch thy left should and say VE-GEDULAH (and the Glory)

Clasp thy hands before thee and say LE-OLAM (for ever)

Dagger between fingers, point up and say AMEN

And that’s it. It doesn’t seem like there’s much there. In fact, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. How can I say this is an important ritual when all you’re doing is touching yourself with a dagger? And if you’re holding a dagger, what do you do with it when you clasp your hands? And then, how do you put it between your fingers? And how is reciting the last verse of the Lords Prayer in Hebrew while doing a version of the Roman Catholic crossing of oneself (and that’s odd considering the original Golden Dawn manuscripts said not to allow Catholics into the GD, but “with pity”) going to accomplish anything magickal?

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As I wrote in the previous post of this series, “The full details [of this ritual] were expected to be given [to you] by your mentor in the Order.” I don’t claim to be such a mentor in any GD group, but I believe I can share with you the concepts that help make this section important.

The Words

This final passage of the Lord’s Prayer first appears in the Gospel of Matthew in the Christian Bible. Modern versions of the Bible have this passage in parentheses. That’s because this passage is not found in the oldest copies of this book. It was added. So why is it there? Is it possible that some mystic—perhaps an early Kabalist—knew that by adding this to the prayer it changed the very tenor of the devotional from hope to a magickal act?

On the mundane level, there is a very important meaning to these words. The “thou” described in the English translation refers to the Divine—to God. To most people, even 125 years ago, there was the mundane, physical world, and “the house of God”: churches, synagogues, cathedrals, mosques, etc. In this ritual you identify the physical world everywhere, including right where you stand, as being part of the Divine. Since you can’t see, feel, touch, etc. this other “world,” it’s evident that there is something non-physical—a spiritual or astral world or “plane”—that intersects with our physical plane. Wherever you are can become spiritual because its nature is spiritual. You don’t need to go anywhere. You just have to recognize it. Therefore, one of the purposes of this passage on the mundane level is to open you to the greater reality—there is more than the physical world.

But what is this greater universe that belongs to the Divine, is non-physical, and is spiritual? How can we learn about it? For most, it is just an amorphous concept. But, if you were a traditional Kabalist (or a member of the Golden Dawn), you knew there was a map of the spiritual plane. It’s called the Tree of Life and has had many forms over the centuries. The current most popular version looks like this:

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If you can read Hebrew, you’ll see that the circle at the bottom reads “Malkuth” (pronounced mahl-koot) just like the second word of the ritual. The word in the circle in the center on the left is “Geburah,” the same as the third word in the rite (the “ve” means “and” or “and the”). An alternate for the word in the circle in the center on the right is “Gedulah.”

So what we’re doing is pointing out that the greater spiritual universe is not only without, it’s also within.

Sort of.

If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that the ritual seems to put these on the opposite sides of the body when compared to their positions on the Tree of Life. However, imagine you are backing into the image of the Tree of Life. You aren’t merely observing it (in psychology this would be called a “dissociated” experience). Rather, it is literally part of you (an “associated” experience). So on an inner, spiritual level, you are literally uniting yourself with both the physical, mundane world, and the spiritual, non-physical, world. Wow! This ritual is starting to look more and more important! And to that I say…

AMEN

We say “Amen” after most prayers. Look it up in most books and you’ll see that it’s supposed meaning is “So be it.” Spiritually and Kabalistically, however, the meaning goes far deeper.

As with many old magickal folk traditions, as well as traditions that evolved from folk magick, the Kabalah uses word and number codes to keep spiritual information out of the hands of the mundanes. One

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such Kabalistic system is that of using acronyms, creating new, magickal words from the first letters of a phrase of words. As a non-magickal example, the word NASA is an acronym for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “Amen” is such an acronym (in the Kabalah it’s called a Notarikon), too.

There is a traditional Jewish prayer that is quite old. Today it is performed as a call and response with the Rabbi making a statement followed by the congregation giving a repetetive phrase. That phrase is

Al Melech Ne’ehman

It means, “God [Al—pronounced "Ehl"] is a faithful [ne'ehman] king [melech].” The Notarikon for this phrase is AMeN (generally pronounced “ahh-mehn,” although different dialects and tradition have differences including “ahh-main” or “oi-main”). Therefore, when you say “Amen,” you’re saying that “God is a faithful king.” But faithful to what?

The concept goes to a third level of meaning for the word, beyond mundane or spiritual and all the way to magickal. It means that there are certain spiritual laws in the universe, and if you do something to follow those rules, even though God is free to do whatever God wants, God is agreeable to following the second part of the bargain: If you do X, God will do Y, not because God has to do this, but because God has given his word to do so.

Thus, if you perform this ritual, you will blend your magickal abilities with the authority and power of the Divine for the purpose of banishing your area and making it sacred.

Summary

In this section we’ve seen the outer, inner, and magickal meanings of the words of the first part of the LBRP known as the Kabalistic Cross. Its key points consist of understanding there are physical and non-physical or spiritual planes, and this ritual teaches you how to work with them, blending yourself and your energies with the spiritual, linking with the Divine and the energy of the Divine, and working with all worlds to make the area, right where you are, a sacred place.

In the next installment I’ll be going into how to sound the words, do the visualizations, and perform the physical actions to make this ritual highly effective.

More Secrets of the Kabalistic Cross

In my previous post, #6.2.1, I shared some background concepts of the Kabalistic Cross section of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. I would encourage you to read or re-read that post before reading this one. It gives a rather thorough understanding of what this part of the ritual means.

Visualizations and Actions

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In this post I’m going to share what you physically and mentally do when performing this part of the rite. I’m going to put the Golden Dawn’s original instructions, as they appear in Regardie’s book of that name, in red.

Take a steel dagger in the right hand.

There are two things to note about this instruction. First, you should optimally use a dagger made of steel. In the West, the use of steel as a weapon (superseding iron which itself had superseded bronze) took place in the 10th century c.e. It represents two things: 1) strength and power (steel is much stronger than either iron or bronze), and 2) since it comes from elements found in the ground, it represents the magickal element of Earth. This combination of the protective Earth element enhanced by power and strength make it an ideal protective tool.

Note that it does not say to use a knife. It specifically identifies the tool as a dagger. A true dagger is pointed and is sharp on both sides for all or most of the blade. It is also thicker at the middle (the “spine”) down its length. In the Golden Dawn you would eventually make a dagger to represent the magickal element of Air. Note that this is not the same tool. A separate dagger was used for this banishing.

One thing I have frequently talked about is the concept of “use what you have.” If you don’t have a dagger to use for this ritual, you can use your hand as a substitute. I have seen people do the ritual pointing with just the index finger, the index and middle finger, or the entire hand held flat.

So respectfully, I do not think you can use the excuse of “I don’t have a steel dagger” to avoid working this ritual. Use what you have, and if you’re reading this, I’m going to assume that you have at least one hand. Even so, I would strongly suggest that you spend some time obtaining a steel dagger. In my experience performing this ritual with the appropriate tool is different; not better, but different. It makes you feel different in a good way.

This second thing to note in this instruction is the use of the right hand. The right hand is considered the hand that sends energy while the left receives it. Therefore, since you are controlling and sending energy in this ritual, use your right hand. (I know that there is debate over this if a person is left handed, but this is considered a universal practice and not one specific to the individual.)

Face East.

East is the direction of the morning Sun. It’s where solar energy comes streaming into you, empowering you and this ritual. It’s also the direction where the Moon rises. Thus, you have a conjunction of external, spiritual forces coming into you, providing you with Deific energy for this ritual. As you’ll see in a moment, this rite combines external, spiritual forces with your own internal energies.

Touch thy forehead and say ATEH (thou art).

To put it bluntly, this is one of the most worthless instructions I’ve ever read! How can touching your forehead do anything? “Oooh. I touched my forehead. I’m a magickal adept! Walk in fear of me because I can touch my forehead!!!” Really? Is that what’s going on here? It’s like the person who does hatha yoga believing themselves to be spiritual because they can do the Downward Facing Dog asana (posture).

Downward Facing DogDoes bending over like this make you spiritual?

Really?

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The key to understanding what is going on here is to understand that this part of the ritual, the Kabalistic Cross, unites external spiritual forces, the Divine, with your own internal energies. The next instruction says that you should “Touch thy breast.” The two points at the forehead and breast (more on this in a moment) can be linked to indicate the position of a vertical line. This line represents the spiritual energies coming in to you, with your area being the center of the universe. Here would be a more appropriate description of this part of the Kabalistic Cross:

1. Stand and breath normally as you relax and clear your mind.2. Visualize* yourself beginning to grow until you’re bigger than the room or area where you’re

standing.

3. Continue this visualization until you can see the city or land small beneath your feet, but your feet are always firmly connected to the ground.

4. Soon, you are bigger than the planet. Then the solar system dances at your feet. Now, the galaxies swim around you. You continue to grow until the galaxies are tiny beneath you and you are surrounded by darkness.

5. Above you, you detect at a vast distance, a point of light. It is unbelievably bright, but so far away that it is safe to observe. If you were next to the source of that Divine light you would be instantly blinded, but at this enormous distance all you can see is a tiny bit of that overwhelming light.

6. That point of light emits a beam that comes down immediately above your head. There it forms a sphere about the size of a dinner plate. Point to the sphere with your dagger. Feel and visualize that you can actually control that impossibly powerful energy. Then bring it down into your forehead. Draw it down and into you.

The beam of energy pools above your head.Use the dagger to “grab” it and bring it into you.

Touch thy breast and say MALKUTH (the Kingdom)

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The energy comes from above and completely through you, past your feet and on to the center of the Earth. The two points indicate a line. Frankly, this forehead/breast never made much sense to me. I suggest a longer pair of points to indicate the movement of this energy. Instead of just touching the breast, point down with the dagger, your arm extended but centered over your body. Thus your hand covers your groin, associated with Yesode, the sphere that corresponds to the Moon on the Tree of Life. This sphere deals with the astral plane, so you are literally moving the Divine energy from the higher, spiritual planes, through the astral plane, and to the physical plane of the Earth. Pretty good symbolism, I think!

Touch thy right shoulder and say VE-GEBURAH (and the Power)Touch thy left should and say VE-GEDULAH (and the Glory)

These two points, at the two shoulders, indicate the formation of a horizontal line. They are at the midpoint of the Tree of Life and represent physical, human, magickal, energy—your energy. Visualize the energy extending beyond the shoulders in each direction to the ends of the universe.

Clasp thy hands before thee and say LE-OLAM (for ever)

Interweave the fingers of the hands and use the thumbs to hold the dagger against the fingers. The point of the dagger should be up. The hands should be in front of your heart.

For me, this is the key part of the Kabalistic Cross. For it is at this point that you are combining the spiritual Divine energy, as represented by the vertical line, with your own magickal energy, represented by the horizontal line. Let the energies merge and pool together, forming a sphere of pure white light/energy at your heart.

The uniting of Divine and personal magickal energies.

Dagger between fingers, point up and say AMEN.

As I wrote in my previous post, “Thus, if you perform this ritual, you will blend your magickal abilities with the authority and power of the Divine for the purpose of banishing your area and making it sacred.” Remember, the inner meaning of the word amen is that God is a faithful king and will help you with your magick because if you do this ritual properly that is what God promised to do.

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In my next post I’ll go into how to pronounce and vibrate the words in the Kabalistic Cross. I’d like to thank High Priestess for her images above. They were part of the original art and photos I used for the new edition of Modern Magick. You can see all of my original art and photos on my website through this LINK.

Bonus*The “Visualization” Bugaboo

In the above post I’ve used the term visualization. Often, it is at this point that many people give up. “I can’t visualize!” they wail.

Hogwarts! Er…I mean Hogwash!

Everyone can visualize. Everyone does visualize.

It’s night. You’re asleep at a friend’s house, but you awaken to use the bathroom. The room you’re in is totally black. You can’t see a thing. You get up, walk around the big chair, and easily find the door to the bathroom. How can you do that without bumping into everything? You visualized the room.

Even if you don’t remember them when you wake, everyone dreams. In your dreams you “see” things. That’s the ability to visualize. [Note: people who have become blind still visualize in their dreams. People who are born blind don't see images, but during dreaming that part of the brain associated with visual activity becomes active. Everyone dreams. Everyone visualizes.]

So, you should feel good that you have the ability to visualize and can use this ability in the ritual, right? Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. We use the term visualization because for most people, the visual sense is responsible for 80+% of their sensory input. But the word “visualization” is poorly chosen because it’s not what’s really going on.

Our physical senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, etc. allow us to interact with everything on the physical plane. Similarly, our astral senses allow us to interact with everything on the astral plane. The power of thought allows us to create on the astral plane. Think of something on the astral and it is there. Think of an action and it occurs. Think of being somewhere and you are there. How can you know it is taking place? By using your astral senses. With this understanding, the concept of visualization may become more clear:

Visualization is the process of creating on the astral plane.We become aware of our creation through the use of our astral senses.

Thus, when I write that you should visualize something, you are both directing the action and observing it. How can you direct the actions of the Divine? Because you’re following the laws set down by the Divine and “God is a faithful king,” keeping His word (see previous post and my explanation of AMEN).

Creation does not depend upon seeing on the astral plane, it depends upon your will. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if you cannot astrally “see” anything. You just have to be 100% sure—not hope, not wish, not kinda believe, but absolutely know, beyond any doubt—that if your astral vision were developed, you would be able to see the results of your astral creation.

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By the way, the visualization work in this ritual has the benefit of exercising your “astral eyes” so that with practice, those who currently do not have developed astral vision will be able to see on the astral plane.

Sounds of the Kabalistic Cross

The Challenge of Language

As readers probably know, there are specialized words in the LBRP, and in the first section of the LBRP known as the Kabalistic Cross, that are in Hebrew. There are many challenges with pronouncing them “correctly”:

1. Hebrew is at least 2,600 years old and its antecedents are much older. It has evolved over time in sound and appearance. Nobody knows exactly how ancient Hebrew was pronounced.

2. Different areas of the world and different communities pronounced words differently.

3. At least one author has proposed that some words were actually ciphers for other words.

4. Non-trained “linguists” made gross assumptions and errors that continue to this day.

So let’s go through the words and I’ll try to explain how they should be pronounced to the best of my knowledge.

Ateh: Well, at least that’s the way it’s spelled by the Golden Dawn. As a result of people trying to pronounce the English transliteration rather than going to the original Hebrew, I’ve heard people pronounce this word Ah-teh, Ah-tay, Ah-tay-yee, Ah-toh, and even Ah-tor. (How they came up with the “r” sound I’ll never know!). Since we don’t know exactly the way ancient Hebrew was pronounced, in my book, Modern Magick, I decided to go with the modern Ashkenazic pronunciation, as is spoken in the majority of Synagogues around the world. Because so many people use these pronunciations, they have developed a life and power of their own, and by using these pronunciations you tap into that energy. Therefore, I suggest using the pronunciation: Ah-tah.

Malkuth: The sticky problem with pronouncing this word is with the last letters, an English version of the pronunciation of the Hebrew letter Tav. The “th” is correct, but we rarely have this version of the th in English. It is found in Sanskrit, where, for example, the word Hatha, as in Hatha Yoga, is not pronounced “hath-uh” or “hawth-uh.” Rather, it is correctly pronounced “hot-ha.”

A completely English understanding of this can come if you look at the word “hothouse.” It’s pronounced “hot house,” not “hoth house” or something similar. So if you take the word “hothouse” and delete all of the letters other than the central “th” (hothouse), you get the idea (I hope!) of how this should sound. It’s like the sound of the “t” followed by a short exhalation.

In some forms of Hebrew it was pronounced like an “S,” and in one of his books Regardie suggested using that pronunciation. In modern Hebrew they get around all of these potentials by simply pronouncing it as a hard “T.” That’s why I suggest that the word should be pronounced: Mahl-koot.

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Ve-Geburah: This word is filled with challenges. The first letter, separated from the rest of the word by a hyphen, is the Hebrew Vahv. It sounds like a V…or a U or an O or even a W. Most Western Occult “scholars” see Vahv, think “V,” and that’s it. I have heard people pronounce the “Ve” Veh, Vee, Vay, or other ways. In fact, there is no vowel actually attached to the Vahv, so it is really just a short V sound. Picture V with an apostrophe after it. I spell it out “vih,” but the “ih” should be very short. That’s easy, isn’t it? Well, not exactly.

According to the rules of Hebrew grammar, it should be pronounced “Ooo,” as in the letter “u.” Sorry if I shocked you.

The next problem is the letter “b,” associated with the Hebrew letter Bet. Depending upon grammar and spelling, the Bet becomes a Vet and sounds like a “v.” And that’s what happens in this case. So according to modern Hebrew, it should be pronounced  Ooo-geh-voo-rah.

But so many people use a variation of the spelling seen in Regardie’s book, that in Modern Magick I depart from the correct form of modern Hebrew and blend it with the sounds Regardie wrote. I suggest you use Vih-G’boo-rah.

Ve-Gedulah: Once again, the beginning “Ve” should be “Ooo,” but to link to all the practitioners of this ritual, I prefer to use the “Vih” sound. Some people mispronounce the “u,” making it a “long” u (technically known as a diphthong). Thus, they pronounce it “ged-you-lah.” To pronounce it that way you’d have to add a Yud to the word, changing the spelling and meaning. In sum, I suggest you use Vih-Geh-doo-lah.

Le-Olam: Here the “Le” can be confusing, leading to people pronouncing the word “Lay-oh-lahm.” It should be: Lih-Oh-Lahm.

Amen: Is not pronounced “Ai-men.” I have also heard Jews pronounce it Ah-main, Oh-main or even Oi-main. It should be pronounced Ah-mehn.

So there you have it. I’ve discussed the meaning of the words previously, as well as what to visualize when working with them. Now you know the correct pronunciation. There’s just one thing left.

Vibration of Words

Vibrate words so the whole body throbs and the vibration goes to the ends of the universe.

According to Regardie’s The Golden Dawn, certain words of the LBRP “should be pronounced inwardly in the breath vibrating it as much as possible and feeling that the whole body throbs with the sound and sends out a vibration directed to the ends of the quarter.” To more fully explain this, I wrote the following in Modern Magick:

It has long been an occult secret that all matter and all energy is made of vibration. Today many scientists depend on this being a fact in their research. If we follow the assumption that all matter is vibratory energy, then magick becomes a type of science which allows a person to affect vibrations. It becomes very valuable for us to develop an understanding of how to control vibratory energy.

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There is a physical phenomenon known as “harmonic resonance.” This simply means that if one object vibrates powerfully enough, another object nearby will start to vibrate (or resonate) with the first if the second object has a natural vibratory rate in harmony with the first. As an example, if a violin note is played near a piano, the piano strings which have certain harmonic relationships to the violin note will sound without being touched; they will start to resonate. Thus, if you can control the vibration rate of one object, such as yourself, you will be able to cause certain reactions in other objects, such as those which exist on other planes of existence. Therefore, an understanding of how to vibrate words is essential for a magician.

There have been some incredibly complex ideas presented as the “secret” of vibrating words in the Kabalah. Some involve a convoluted system of bringing the sounds, through visualization, to different parts of the body. While nice, I have never found any practical use for this system, and it makes me think that it is one of the famous sets of ridiculous additions or “blinds” that have become attached to magick in order to keep the secrets away from those who either don’t have a teacher or don’t want to study and practice.

In my experience, and the experience of my many students, there are two really valuable methods of vibrating words, commonly known as the two vibratory formulae. The first is an internal (invocatory) formula. In this formula you cause a certain part of your body (actually part of your astral body) to vibrate. This is exemplified in the Kabalistic Cross part of the LBRP. Let’s just look at the word AH-TAH. What you should do here is fully inhale until there isn’t room for one more drop of air. Then use the entire exhalation to vibrate the word. Thus, the word is elongated: AAAAHHHHHHH-TAAAAAAAHHHH. It should be vibrated loudly in an almost chant-like tone of voice. The pitch is usually higher than the normal pitch of your voice. It is almost shouted. Most importantly, you should feel it vibrate or resonate within your head. Likewise, MAHL-KOOT should be felt in the groin, VIH-G’BOO-RAH in the area of the right shoulder, etc.

The second vibratory method is the external (evocatory) formula. With this formula the intent is to excite the atmosphere (actually the so-called astral plane) around you. This is exemplified in the Formulation of the Pentagrams section of the LBRP. The method is quite similar to the invocatory formula. You inhale fully, and as you exhale you loudly vibrate the appropriate words, in this case, God names. Here the God names are stretched out as: AAAAAAAHHHH-GLAAAAAHHH. You should use the entire exhalation in sounding the God name or words when doing the evocatory vibratory formula. The big difference between the two formulae is that in the evocatory formula you should sense that the entire universe in front of you is resonating in harmony with your vibration. Your entire body and the entire universe should be experienced as vibrating to your call. The invocatory formula causes your body, mind, spirit, astral body, aura, etc. to vibrate in resonance with your voice.

There are some minor variations on these two basic formulae such as seeing the words you wish to vibrate in flame before you and making the vibration charge and empower those flames.

Some student-magicians do not have the luxury of a place where they can loudly, firmly, and authoritatively vibrate the God names and words of power. In fact, they need to keep their work a secret. This is difficult to do if you live in an apartment with paper-thin walls!

If you find yourself in such a position, you may use what is disguisedly called the “Great Voice.” That is, you may do the vibratory formulae silently or very quietly, perhaps at the level of a whisper or quiet conversation. However, if you do so, you must still experience the vibratory phenomena. You must feel the various parts of your body vibrate when doing the invocatory vibratory formula. You must sense the

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entire universe resonating in harmony to your use of the evocatory formula. In other words, you must have the same results whether you vibrate loudly or in the Great Voice.

If you must use the Great Voice regularly, I suggest that you find a place to practice using your full, loud voice several times. Find a place where you can be alone to do this. When everything around you seems to “change” slightly, you will know you are vibrating the words correctly. These changes are not physical ones, but the area will “feel” different. If you practice by using the LBRP (a good idea) the area will feel cleaner and fresher. Some people notice an increase in the amount of natural, ambient light. You may also find that you will have to adjust the pitch of your voice either up or down in order to make everything vibrate correctly. When you hit the pitch which is correct for you, you will know it! Your voice will sound much louder and more commanding, and the air will seem to be alive with crackling energy. Then you will know what is meant when it is said that “the voice of a true magician is an awesome thing to hear.”

As a comparison, if you have ever been singing in a tile-covered shower stall, you will notice that your voice sounds normal, but at some pitches it suddenly booms out much louder and sounds fuller. That is the building literally resonating with your voice. That is the way you should feel when you vibrate a word.

With this I conclude the direct instructions in the Kabalistic Cross section of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

a·men ‘so be it.’

Understanding the Formulation of the Pentagrams

This is part of a continuing series of posts that form a Magick 101 class. I hope you’re enjoying them. Previously, I have shared a great deal on preparations. Most recently I’ve been going deeply into the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, beginning with why it still matters and then going into the first section of the ritual, The Kabalistic Cross.

The next part of the ritual is called the Formulation of the Pentagrams. It is here that you actually form your dual-purpose magickal circle. Due to the name, most people are familiar with the concept that this is a banishing ritual, clearing your area of unwanted magickal influences and keeping them out. But it also has another purpose. It forms a boundary to keep your energies contained within until you’re ready to let them out. By moving around the circle (fancy name: circumambulation), you generate energy forming what the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn referred to as a “vortex of energy.” While to build up energy requires several circumambulations, you begin to learn the technique within this ritual.

When I first began doing ceremonial magick work, some Pagans pointed to the magickal circle as being a difference between Pagans and ceremonial magicians: CMs used the circle to keep unwanted energies out, Pagans used the circle to keep desired energies in. The truth, in my opinion, is that the magick circle does both, no matter the system you use.

This part of the ritual has three aspects: forming the pentagrams, charging the pentagrams, and circumambulating the circle. In this post I’m going to be discussing just the first aspect.

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Forming the Pentagrams

Over the years, I’ve seen people draw the pentagrams in a variety of ways. I’ve seen large ones and small ones. I’ve seen them drawn in different ways (according to a group’s elemental associations) and I’ve seen them made in a circled form. All of the variation is due to a combination of egotism on the part of group leaders (“We have the real, secret knowledge!”) or what I call, “the  telephone sales problem.”

Telephone SalesYes, I’ve worked doing telephones sales. It’s very challenging and you have to be willing to hear “NO!” dozens of times or more just to make a sale. Have you ever wondered how it works? Here’s what happens:

When you’re hired, you’re given a script to read. A first, it’s uncomfortable and hard to make sound natural. I’ll bet you’ve heard people on the phone who aren’t talking to you, but are reading something. After a few days or a week or two, you become familiar with the script and your sales increase.

But something isn’t right. The words aren’t really you. So you change a few words in the script and your sales increase. You change a few more and your sales continue to increase. You keep doing this until your sales start to fall.

After a few weeks of this, your manager comes over and listens as you make your calls. After a few times the manager will have one thing to say: “Read the script.” You return to the original script and your sales go up.

So this is what can happen with magick. Small alterations may improve your results. Continued small alterations may eventually have the opposite effect. Further, just because a change works for you doesn’t mean it will work for others. If you try to do what works for someone else, you may not have success.

So what I’m presenting here is the magickal equivalent of the original script. Of course you can try other versions—you don’t need my approval or the approval of anyone else. But if it’s not working, come back to the original script. It has worked for hundreds of thousands of people.

Banishing or Invoking Pentagrams?Some people advise performing the LBRP twice daily. In the morning you should do the invoking form while in the evening you should do the banishing form. The difference is in the direction you draw the pentagram. The banishing form begins at the lower left and moves to the center top while the invoking form begins at the top and moves to the lower left. Each has its own energies.

The people who advise this invoking/morning, banishing/evening program can point to Regardie’s book, The Golden Dawn, and claim, “it says to do it that way in the text.”

Uh, not exactly.

What the book says is this:

“As a form of prayer the invoking ritual should be used in the morning [and] the banishing in the evening.”

[Emphasis added.]

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So if you’re looking to perform this rite as a prayer, and not as a powerful ritual, you can use this rite that way. Indeed, I’ve seen this ritual performed so perfunctorily and with such a total lack of energy and enthusiasm that it is presented as nothing more than a prayer.

In these lessons, however, I’m trying to share the way to make this a powerful magickal ritual that will prepare you to perform any other magickal rite. So for this purpose I suggest just using it in the banishing format.

Drawing the Pentagram

If you have the dagger described previously, you should continue using it for this part of the ritual. Otherwise, you can use your extended index finger, your extended index and middle fingers, your entire hand held flat, etc. To draw the Banishing Earth Pentagram, begin just outside of your left hip and draw a straight line above your head. From there draw a straight line outside of your right hip. Then go to just past your left shoulder, across to just outside the right shoulder, and end exactly where you began.

Try to get this as exact as possible. Make your lines straight and with power. You can draw on the walls a pentagram or the points of a pentagram and trace them. You can also mark just the start/finish point by your left hip. There are many ways to get this as precise as possible and feel free to use any system you like to achieve your goal.

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Why Banishing Earth?

Each of the magickal elements has an associated banishing and invoking form of the Pentagram. Each of the elements is also associated with a direction, so some people perform this ritual by using the form of the pentagram associated with the element of the quarter where you are standing or facing while forming the pentagram. That seems logical.

But the purpose of the ritual is to banish unwanted energies from the Earth plane: our physical plane. So I would suggest sticking with just the Earth pentagram.

The Color of the PentagramsAs you draw the pentagrams you should visualize them as a bright blue color. They should be the blue of a gas flame:

The color blue for the pentagramsOriginal photo by Arria Belli

Some people visualize the bright blue flame of the pentagram as if it were coming out of the end of their blade or fingers. Others visualize the blue pentagrams as already being there and all you have to do is trace them.

While you await the next post on this subject, you may wish to practice drawing the pentagrams that you’re going to use.

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The Names that Charge the Pentagrams

In previous posts I’ve discussed the value of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and its first section known as the Kabalistic Cross. In the previous post of this series I discussed how to form the pentagrams and the importance of circumambulating as part of the ritual. I’d like to clarify by pointing out that not everyone has the room to actually move around in a circle. Some people will need to simply face one direction and then pivot 90° clockwise while standing in position. This is fine, if you simultaneously visualize yourself moving in an actual circle in order to form the protective barrier and enclosing the vortex of power you are creating.

In the formulation of the pentagrams it is appropriate to vibrate the God names you use to charge and empower the pentagrams. I described this technique in a previous post. That leads us to a discussion of the meaning of these God names.

Uh, Wait a Moment. Isn’t There Just One God?

The Jewish Kabalistic/Magickal traditions, from which this ritual evolved, does, indeed, follow the Jewish belief in there being just one God. I’m using the traditional term “God,” however I need to make clear that to the Kabalist, this is not the immature and superficial old-man-with-a-long-beard-on-a-throne-in-the clouds. Rather, God is seen as being an inclusive term for a deity that is beyond gender, beyond time, and beyond our understanding. God is neither male nor female to the Kabalist, yet both and neither simultaneously. I realize that some people are offended because today the use of the term “God” implies a male deity as opposed to a female Goddess. However, this is a modern deconstruction based on the availability of a grammatical neuter tense in English that is lacking in Hebrew (as well as other languages). In Hebrew, the word yeled means “boy child” and yaldah means “girl child.” For plurals, -eem (often transliterated “-im”) creates a plural male word while -oht (often transliterated “-oth”) is used to create a female plural. Thus, “boys” in Hebrew is yeledeem while “girls” is yaldoht. But because Hebrew does not have a collective neutral gender such as in English, the word meaning a group of boys and girls is yeledeem, the same as the word for boys. Context determines whether a term is masculine or

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inclusive of both male and female. To the Kabalist, then, the word “God” is inclusive. So when I use the term “God,” here, please do not think of the old guy.

The next problem is how can God have multiple names? Unlike Christianity where there are three gods (well, one God composed of three persons, whatever that means), in Judaism there is, indeed, the belief in one ultimate deity. So how can this God have multiple names?

The answer is that we use different names to better relate to different aspects of the one God. As an example, imagine a man named John Smith

His wife calls him “Dear.”His boss calls him “Smith.”His son always calls him “Dad.”His co-workers call him “Smitty.”His mistress calls him “Honey-Poo.”

Those names represent the relationship each person has with John Smith. Use a different name to indicate a change in the relationship. Imagine the effect of his son saying, “Father, I’d like to talk with you.” Or imagine his wife saying, “We need to talk, Honey-Poo!”

In summation: This ritual works with one deity, called God, who is neither male nor female, but both and neither. The different names of this singular and unlimited deity represent the relationship between the ritualist and an aspect of God.

The First Name:The first name of God that is used is known as the Tetragrammaton. That’s a fancy Greek word meaning “four-lettered name.” (Wouldn’t it have been so much cooler if that word had a deeper meaning?) It’s composed of the Hebrew letters, Yud, Heh, Vahv, and a repetition of the letter Heh. In Hebrew, read from right to left, it looks like this:

Various scholars have assumed that this comes from or is a blending of other Middle Eastern deity names. However, although linguistically there may be a connection, there is no “smoking gun” showing that one evolved into this name. One translator of the classic Sefer Yetzirah claimed that it may have been a code for other letters or there may have been duplicate letters. As a result, Jews traditionally do not even attempt to try and pronounce it.

If you have ever been to a Jewish religious service, you will notice that some of the prayers are recited very quickly. In order to prevent even an accidental attempt to pronounce this ultimate name of God as worshipers run through the words, Jews added vowels (a system of points and lines around the letters of Hebrew) from the Hebrew word Ah-doh-nye, meaning “My Lord.” More on this later.

If you accidentally try to blend the two, you get (according to Hebrew grammar) Yah-Hoh-Vah or Jehovah, a complete misunderstanding of this word.

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So instead of trying to pronounce this word, simply say the letters: Yud-Heh-Vahv-Heh. Symbolically, however, they have a meaning. The first letter, the Yud (it’s the smaller one on the right in the Hebrew above) represents archetypal masculinity, or pure potential male influences. The second letter (the first Heh) represents archetypal femininity, or female influence in potential. The third letter, the Vahv, represents physical masculinity or the male aspect in action, while the second Heh means physical plane femininity, or the female aspect in action.

Thus, the inner meaning of this name is that God is a blending of all archetypal and physical male and female (positive and negative, magnetic and electrical, yin and yang, etc.) forces. Frankly, I think that’s a pretty good way of explaining the notion of  God in the Kabalah.

Oh, there’s a bit more, too. The small Yud represents potential masculine energy and the Vahv—masculine energy in action—is nothing more than an extended Yud, now standing firmly next to the window of feminine energy (Heh, as a Hebrew word, means “window”). This is a key to one type of magick which is more thoroughly explored in my book, Modern Sex Magick.

The Second Name:The name of God vibrated to charge the second pentagram that you’ll draw is Ah-doh-nye. It is usually translated as “lord,” but this is wrong. The -ay sound at the end is a possessive, making this word mean “my lord.” This is the use of a very personal term, pointing out that God is not simply separate from us and unapproachable, but is right here when needed. This is technically known as the philosophy of panentheism, that God is both approachable and beyond our comprehension, immanent and transcendent.

The Third Name:The name of God vibrated to charge the third pentagram that you’ll draw is Eh-heh-yeh. Associated with the topmost sephirah on the Tree of Life, it is usually translated as “I am,” even leading to a religious cult known as “The Great I Am.”

Eh-heh-yeh is the first word of the phrase Eh-he-yeh ah-shair-Eh-he-yeh. It occurs in the book of Exodus. Moses is at the burning bush and God tells him to go to Pharaoh and order that the supposedly enslaved Jews be freed. Moses, showing a limited conception of divinity and a big helping of hubris, asks who he should say sent him. Note the deep importance placed on names.

It is here that God replies, “Eh-he-yeh ah-shair-Eh-he-yeh,” usually translated as “I am that I am.” When I was growing up this made me think that God was actually Popeye, spouting “I am what I am and that’s all thats I am.”

Once again, the translation is in error. The verb tense is infinitive. Therefore, the correct translation should be, “I will be what I will be.” Now to me, that makes sense. Moses asks who God is and the reply of this transcendent and immanent deity is that “I will be whatever I damn well want to be.” God is saying that God is beyond the limitation of one name and can change to be whatever God wants to be whenever God wants to be it. To me, that’s very God-like.

The Fourth Name:The name vibrated to empower the fourth pentagram is Ah-glah. In a previous post I shared how the famous word amen was actually an acronym for three Hebrew words. Ah-glah is an acronym (in Kabalah it’s called a notaricon) for four Hebrew words: Atah Gibor Lih-oh-lam Ah-doh-nye. It means Thou (Atah) art great (Gibor) forever (Lih-oh-lam), my lord (Ah-do-nye).

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With the information above and the previous posts in this series, you now have the background information for performing this part of the ritual. I’ll share the full instructions in my next post.

The Formulation of the Pentagrams

To reach this point of the LBRP, you should have completed the section called The Kabalistic Cross. You end up facing East with your hands folded at your chest, the blade pointing up, and a powerful sensation of the blending of energy from the Divine with your own energy. In this part of the ritual we draw the magickal circle.

Step One:Go to the easternmost area of the magickal circle you are forming. If you cannot actually move to the physical east, imagine/visualize yourself moving to the edge of the area where your circle will be. Draw the pentagram in the air in front of you as previously described. See it as being brilliant, electric blue. Inhale, feeling/sensing/believing/knowing that with your inhalation you are drawing energy through your nose and mouth, going through your body and down to the center of the earth. At the same time, bring both hands to the side of your head by your ears, pointing forward with your left hand and either pointing forward with the dagger in your right hand or, if you don’t have a dagger, simply point forward.

As you exhale, you will do four things simultaneously:

1. Step forward with your left foot2. Thrust both of your hands toward the center of the pentagram hanging in the air

3. Vibrate the God name Yud-Heh-Vahv-Heh, charging the Pentagram

4. Visualize a torrent of red energy rising up from the center of the earth and through your body with your breath, exploding out your eyes, mouth, and down and out of your arms and dagger, through the center of the Pentagram and out to the ends of the universe.

Conclude at the end of the Vibration (i.e., when you’re out of breath) by returning to a standing position. If you have a dagger, keep its point up. Point firmly to the center of the pentagram and visualize a white light/energy coming off the tip of the dagger or your fingers. Move around the edge of the circle in a clockwise direction until you reach the south. If you don’t have room to make this movement, simply pivot clockwise by 90 degrees.

Step Two:Repeat step one with the following three differences:

1. You should be facing south2. You should vibrate Ah-doh-nye

3. At the conclusion, move to the west (or pivot in that direction)

Step Three:Repeat this pattern. In the west vibrate Eh-heh-yeh. At the conclusion, move to the north.

Step Four:Repeat this pattern. In the north vibrate Ah-glah. At the conclusion, return to the East, completing your circle.

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Step Five:Return to the center of your circle, facing east, as you were at the beginning of the Kabalistic Cross.

Step Six:This is the part of the ritual that is usually not included. To complete the protective and inclusive qualities of the circle, visualize the circle expanding, growing up and down, above and below you, forming an enormous protective and enclosing sphere.

Although called a magickal circle, it’s actually a sphere in space.

This concludes the 2nd section of the rite. If someone had good astral vision, at this point they would see you in the center of a luminous white sphere. Divine energy would be coming from above and joining your own energy in the center of the sphere, making you a sort of luminous egg of power. At the horizontal circumference the white color becomes even brighter. At each of the four directions is a large, electric-blue pentagram. From you in the center are four beams of incredibly powerful red light/energy extending to the end of the universe.

At this time, spend a moment considering what this looks like. Do you see why this can be such a powerful ritual? If you want to add an even bigger kick to this, as you vibrate the names, also visualize the names in Hebrew. They look like this:

Remember, they’re read from right to left. The top one is Yud-Heh-Vahv-Heh, the second is Ah-doh-nye, the third is Eh-heh-yeh, and the bottom one is Ah-glah.

As a variation, vibrate the God name of the quadrant as you draw each pentagram, finishing the name as you project the red energy through the central pentagon of the figure.

The Evocation of the Archangels

As a brief recap, so far you’ve performed the Kabalistic Cross and the Formulation of the Pentagrams. You now return to the center of your magickal circle (just east of the altar, if you have one) and face to

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the East. Filling you with energy vertically is spiritual energy from the Divine. Mixing with that is your own spiritual energy, moving horizontally. Around you is a sphere of white light that both protects from unwanted outside influences and contains your amazing combined energies. At each of the four cardinal points are large, electric-blue, banishing Earth pentagrams, working to protect you from unwanted energies and influences on the lower astral and physical planes. You may even see the names of God empowering those pentagrams hanging in the air.

Invocation vs. Evocation

The terms “invocation” and “evocation” are often used interchangeably by people who are either not magickally inclined or are consciously seeking to confuse their followers. However, they have specific meanings and it’s important to understand the difference.

Invocation means to bring something into you. When you invoke something, you are taking the qualities of what you invoke into yourself. For example, you might want to invoke elemental Fire to give yourself more energy and drive, or to help you stay awake and alert during long drives or all-nighter study sessions. A classic example of invocation is the Wiccan rite known as Drawing Down the Moon. In this ritual the Goddess is brought into the physical body of the worshiper and can then communicate with others and enjoy the physical world. A person working as a New Age type of Channel invokes one or more entities.

Evocation means to draw something forth. Thus, if you wanted to communicate directly with a spirit, angel, archangel, etc., you would evoke that spirit. Sometimes the evocation can be so powerful that you can see the entity evoked, or at least see it in a crystal, a magick mirror, or possibly in the smoke of incense. Even if it cannot be seen, it may be felt or experienced through another sense, such as through hearing.

The unanswered question, of course, is from where is such an evoked entity drawn forth? Some would claim that it all comes from within you. This is part of what I refer to as the psychologization of magick. Such a belief turns all magick into nothing more than mental tricks. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong—it’s only a belief, a map of reality, and as NLPers know, the map is only a representation of reality, it is not the actual territory. Others would contend that such entities exist on different planes or levels of existence and are drawn to you on or near the physical plane by the rite of evocation. If so, what is their nature? Of what are they made? By what means does the rite draw them forth? Some people give long, involved explanations of such a mechanism. Again, however, I don’t know if that’s accurate. It’s just a belief, a map by which we can better understand the way things work. Still others would contend that evocations are simply working with energy that congeals in a familiar form enabling our ability to work with that energy. I imagine there are other “explanation maps” of how evocation works. Although I don’t know the actual mechanism, I do know that evocation functions as if the entities come from another plane, so I choose to work from that basis. You may choose a different explanation.

The Four Archangels

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The concept of spiritual entities in the Kabalah is very formulaic and designed like an army with a pyramid of authority. At the top is the unknowable deity, usually referred to as the Ain, Ain Sof, or Ain Sof Or. Beneath the Divine are aspects of Divinity identified by the different God Names. Beneath them are the Archangels. Beneath them are the Orders of Angels. Beneath them are the individual Angels. In this rite we work with four of the Archangels.

Rah-fay-ehlis the Archangel of the East. This Archangel wears yellow robes. In the shadows of the robe is the color purple. Representing the element of Air, you may feel breezes coming from the direction of the rising sun. Rah-fay-ehl holds the mysterious caduceus wand, the same wand held by the Roman God Mercury, the messenger of the gods, and used as a symbol by physicians. Invoking Rah-fay-ehl can help with communications and healing.

Gahb-ray-ehlis the Archangel of the West. This archangel wears blue robes and in the shadows of the robe you will see hints of the color orange. Representing the element of Water, Gahb-ray-ehl holds a large chalice, perhaps of silver, encrusted with precious gems. There are waterfalls around Gahb-ray-ehl and you may even feel mists coming from the western direction. Invoking Gahb-ray-ehl can assist in calming the waters of emotions when they are disturbed and help you better understand the motivations of others and yourself.

Mi-chai-ehlis the Archangel of the South. Mi-chai-ehl wears a red robe with green in the shadows, and carries a fiery sword. Invoke Mi-chai-ehl for anything associated with increasing dynamic energy as well as anything even loosely associated with struggle and martial issues.

Ohr-ree-ehlis the Archangel of the North. Associated with the element Earth, Ohr-ree-ehl wares robes in earth tones: blacks, browns, and greens. Ohr-ree-ehl holds a sheaf of grains. Invoke for solidity, grounding, finances, etc.

Note that I have studiously avoided referring to any of the Archangels as “he” or “she.” They’re Archangels, not people. They do not have a gender. They are spirits. They may take on a gender when they appear, but that is for communications sake and not due to inherent qualities.

Also note that the names I’ve given show pronunciation. Mi-chai-ehl, for example, is usually spelled “Michael.” But when you vibrate this name you should not be using the Anglicized pronunciation of “Mahee-kull” as it bears little relation to the original Hebrew.

The Ritual

Hold your arms out to the sides, forming a cross, indicating the uniting of the Divine (vertical) energy with the personal (horizontal) energy. If you have a steel dagger in your right hand, it’s point should be facing up. In the following, vibrate the names of the Archangels.

Say: Before me, Rah-fay-ehl!Visualize: An enormous figure as described—standing just outside the magick circle and beyond the pentagram in front of you—towering over the protective sphere.Sense: If you can, sense air flowing to you. You may hear the “whoosh” of rushing air.

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Say: Behind me, Gahb-ray-ehl!Visualize an enormous figure as described—standing just outside the magick circle beyond the pentagram hanging there behind you—towering over the sphere.Sense: If you can, sense mists of water from that direction. You may even hear the splashing of water.

Say: On my right hand, Mi-chai-ehl!Visualize an enormous figure as described—standing just outside the magick circle beyond the pentagram to your right—towering over the sphere.Sense: If you can, sense heat and energy from that direction. You may hear the crackling of a fire.

Say: And on my left hand, Ohr-ray-ehl!Visualize an enormous figure as described—standing just outside the magick circle beyond the pentagram to your left—towering over the sphere.Sense: If you can, sense the coolness and solidity of the Earth. Perhaps you’ll even catch the scent of fresh, fertile soil.

[Optional: With your left leg only, step out to your left so your body forms a pentagram.]

Say: For about me flame the pentagrams…Visualize the four pentagrams becoming even brighter. Also visualize a flaming pentagram around you.Sense: The heat of the flames of energy and the increased energy of all the pentagrams.

Say: …and within me shines the six-rayed starVisualize a brilliant, golden hexagram within you at your heart, the place where the spiritual and personal energies meet. This is matched by the intersecting of the two triangles that form the hexagram.Sense: The combined forces of energy blended at your heart and totally controlled by you.

[Optional Advanced Work: At this point you can pause in the ritual and request any blessings, boons, gifts, etc. from the appropriate Archangel(s) or even directly from the Divine. Understand that they will only be gifts if given, so be humble in your request, not demanding. Humble does not mean self-effacing. Remember that you are more likely to receive things you deeply need rather than stuff you sorta want.]

Conclusion

If your left foot was extended, bring it back to the center and lower your left arm. Conclude by repeating the entire section known as the Kabalistic Cross, described earlier in this series:

Take a steel dagger in the right hand. Face East.

Touch thy forehead and say ATEH (thou art)

Touch thy breast and say MALKUTH (the Kingdom)

Touch thy right shoulder and say VE-GEBURAH (and the Power)

Touch thy left should and say VE-GEDULAH (and the Glory)

Clasp thy hands before thee and say LE-OLAM (for ever)

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Dagger between fingers, point up and say AMEN

Original art by Donald Michael Kraig

This ends the rite. Bask in the energy for a bit and let the visualizations fade, knowing that the resulting protective barrier remains in place even though you’re not focusing on it or seeing it. That barrier may stay with you or at the location where you performed the ritual. Performing at the same location and times can help the circle become stronger.

As was noted in a comment to an early post in this series, many people have tried to alter this ritual. I have seen Pagan versions, Greek versions, Egyptian versions, Chaos versions, and so many other versions that frankly, I’ve lost count. Personally, I’ve not experienced them as effective and am left with two questions:

1. If it’s so good that you have to copy it, why change it?2. Why don’t you draw from your own tradition to create your own banishing ritual instead of

copying this one?

In The Book of the Law (chapter II verse 5) it says,

Behold! the rituals of the old time are black. Let the evil ones be cast away; let the good ones be purged by the prophet! Then shall this Knowledge go aright.

Aleister Crowley, of course, was the prophet. It seems to me, therefore, that he was given the task to purge (i.e., eliminate) the old “black” (as in negative) rituals. That would include this ritual which he learned while a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Yet, in order to match the system he developed, even he simply modified the LBRP in the form of the Ritual of the Star Ruby. So did he follow the instructions given him? Thelemites will have to determine that for themselves.

Which brings up a final point to this post. Several times in my Modern Magick I describe how Dion Fortune wrote that there is no room for authority in occultism. By this she meant that the ultimate arbiter of what works must be you—not any book; not any teacher (and certainly not me!). So merely because I’ve not found something to be effective doesn’t mean that something won’t work for you. If you want to modify or adapt this ritual, try it out! Try out any variations that you discover. Give it several tries—do

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your very best—and see what happens. If it works, use it! Share your ideas with others. Just because something worked (or didn’t work) in the past doesn’t mean it will work in the future. Besides, if magick doesn’t evolve it will become static and moribund, dying out like the dinosaurs. If what you try doesn’t work, come back to the tradition. I know it works for me, and from the letters and email I’ve received, I know it has worked for thousands of others.

The Middle Pillar: Part 3—The Basic Ritual

In my previous posts in this series I described why The Middle Pillar is a valuable ritual and what this rite does. If you haven’t read them (and preferably, regularly practiced the LBRP), I suggest you review them, now.

In this post, I’m going to describe the basic ritual and how to perform it. Before starting this ritual, however, you should first calm yourself, focus on what you’re doing, and relax. One way to do this is with the Relaxation Ritual which I described in Modern Magick. Follow this with the LBRP. As part of this, during the first and second repetitions of the Kabalistic Cross, you visualize and energize a power center just above your head. This plays an important part in the following ritual.

The Middle Pillar Ritual

STEP ONE. When you finish the LBRP,

Stand behind your altar (if you have one) facing east. Your hands should be down at your sides.

If they’re not already, close your eyes.

Steady and relax your breathing.

Above all, try to get your mind into a still, quiet, and calm state.

STEP TWO. Focus your attention just above the top of your head. As a result of the LBRP there should be a sphere of white brilliance at this point. If not, visualize it. Take your time. Regard this white brilliance with a sort of awe: it is the spatial equivalent to the vital core of your being, your Higher Self, your link with the Divine. The result of this contemplation should be that the brilliance becomes even brighter. Now vibrate the God name, Eh-heh-yeh three or four times. The sphere should get brighter still.

STEP THREE. Visualize a slender beam of light descending from the brilliance above your head, through the center of your head, and stopping at the nape of your neck. Here the beam widens into a ball of light that is not quite as big as the one above. At this point you should be visualizing simultaneously the brilliant sphere above your head, the smaller ball of light at the base of your neck, and the beam of light connecting the two. Understand that this is the link between your conscious and your Higher Self, and the

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ball of light at your neck should grow in size and intensity. Vibrate the God name, Yud-Heh-Vahv-Heh El-oh-heem, three or four times.

STEP FOUR. Keeping the above in mind, cause a beam of light to descend from the ball of light at your neck, go down your torso, and light up the solar plexus (below the rib cage) in the form of a sphere. Understand that this represents your consciousness, and the ball should increase in brightness and intensity. You may feel as if you are being warmed by an internal sun. Vibrate the God name Yud-Heh-Vahv-He El-oh-ah V’dah-aht three or four times.

STEP FIVE. In the same manner, see the light descend to the area of the genitals and form a sphere. Here, regard yourself as master of your “lower” or physical self. The God name to be vibrated three or four times is Shah-dai El Chai.

STEP SIX. Again the light should descend to form a sphere which encompasses both feet and the ground; that is, the sphere should be half above the ground, covering the feet, and half below the ground, under the feet, linking you to the physical world. The God name to be vibrated three or four times is Ah-doh-nye Ha-ahr-etz.

STEP SEVEN. At this point there should be large spheres of light above the head, at the throat, at the solar plexus, at the groin and at the feet. Each sphere of light should be connected with the sphere above and below by a beam of light.

STEP EIGHT. Stay in this state for as long as you desire. Then, take a deep breath, and as you exhale, visualize the images fading and becoming invisible. They are still there, but they cannot now be seen. This completes the Middle Pillar Ritual.

If you do not understand the concept of “vibrating” the God Names, you’ll find information on how to do this in from my posts on the LBRP. Each vibrated word should be done so that you can feel the appropriate area of the body vibrating. If at any point you have trouble or difficulty in forming a sphere of light or a beam of light, do NOT struggle for minutes on end until you break out in a sweat. Rather, stop where you are and complete Step Eight with the progress you have made. Several things could have caused the problem. They are usually mental in nature, either from conscious or unconscious sources. By following the LBRP with the Middle Pillar on a daily basis you will eventually be able to overcome any problem in a very natural, gentle manner. Be sure to record results, feelings, experiences, etc., in your ritual diary.

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