#lbrp

There IS a lot of stuff in there.

And I'm sure I'm missing a ton since witchcrafts aren't really where my tradition comes out of. On sight this feels much more building than clearing compared to the LBRP. But I strongly suspect that what I'm missing would weigh in a lot on that.

For instance stone, glass, revelry, and siege perilous are not associations I know for the elements. I assume revelry and siege perilous to be fire and water respectively but I recognize that as an assumption of energetic revelry set against the imagery of the throne of the worthy seeker of the Holy Grail. So energy for fire and grail for water. But that's a guess at best. I'm only sure of glass meaning air because of her note.

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) is an occultist's bread-and-butter. It's a banishing spell meant to purify the space at the beginning of every rite. It comes from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's tradition of ceremonial magic.

The standard version is very Abrahamic, but it's a simple framework that can easily be modified. If you have a Wiccan background, you'll be familiar with the Circle Casting, which is a version of it. The “before me, behind me” formula is also genuinely ancient — it shows up in the Greek Magical Papyri (PDM xiv. 239-95) and in Babylonian magical texts. I'm not comfortable using the Abrahamic version, and I'm not really comfortable with the Wiccan version either, so I thought, why not create a Hellenic version?

There are a couple already in existence. Here's Israel Regardie's version. There's some things I like about this, but his Greek version of the Qabalistic Cross literally just translates the last line from the Lord's Prayer into Greek. IMHO no pagan rite should begin with that, in any language. And the names he chooses for the "before me, behind me" feel inconsistent. Then there's the John Opsopaus' version, the "Olympic LBRP." I like this one better than Regardie’s version, because it seems to be an actual adaptation of the LBRP and not just a translation of it. But it's very long-winded. It includes a lot of complicated visualizations, which are worth doing once, but I don't think they're necessary at the beginning of every ritual. I'd personally prefer something more streamlined.

Then there's this Orphic version by Ariadne Rainbird. There's things I like about this one, too. One interesting thing I learned from it is that, in the Pythagorean tradition, the Pentagram is called "Hygeia," which means "health" or "wholeness." The letters of the word in Greek act as an acronym for the five elements: Ύ for hudor (ύδωρ, Water), Γ for Ge (Γη, Earth), I for heiron (ἱερόν, holiness/divinity, Spirit), EI for heile (εἵλη, heat, Fire), A for aer (ἀήρ, Air). How convenient is that!

Pythagorean pentagram with the letters of "HYGEIA" arranged at its points (counterclockwise from top).

But again, the Orphic version is long-winded. As much as I love the Olympians, having a *twelve-*point circle casting is a little much. The advantage is that you can evoke all the Olympians without having to shoehorn them into four points, and it makes sense to do if you already evoke each of the Olympians separately at the beginning of every ritual… but I don’t have the patience for that as part of a quick and low-effort banishing rite. (I also don’t know what most of the words used to greet them mean, and I would struggle to memorize them. The less memorization, the better.)

So, being the lazy occultist that I am, I developed this short and sweet version. The “Pneuma, Psyche, Nous, Soma” is taken from Israel Regardie’s version, but the rest is my own adaptation:

Simple Hellenic LBRP

[I'm skipping the Qabalistic Cross entirely. I can't think of a way to adapt it, and you're basically doing the same thing three times anyway.]

Face East. Trace a pentagram in the air with your wand or athame, intone “AITHER.” Thrust your wand/athame through the pentagram and say “Pneuma” (noo-mah)

Face South. Trace a pentagram in the air, intone “PHANES.” Thrust your wand/athame through the pentagram and say “Psyche”

Face West. Trace a pentagram in the air, intone “OKEANOS.” Thrust your wand/athame through the pentagram and say “Nous.”

Face North. Trace a pentagram in the air, intone “GE.” Thrust your athame or index finger through the pentagram and say “Soma.”

Stand and face east. Say, “HERA before me, POSEIDON behind me, HESTIA at my right hand, DEMETER at my left hand, ZEUS above me, HAIDES below me, DIONYSOS within me. For about me flames the Pentagram, HYGEIA.”

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Feel free to take this format and substitute whatever divine names you like! Traditionally, each cardinal direction corresponds to a Classical element: East to Air, South to Fire, West to Water, and North to Earth. So, you may want to pick names that work with those correspondences.

I chose the names of four Protogenoi who embody those elements most directly. Aither is both the air and the literal substance of Heaven, the "astral light" or ethereal matter out of which gods are made. Phanes is the progenitor and the embodiment of life-force, who is usually described as being made of light or fire. Okeanos is the primordial waters that encircle the world, the birthplace of the gods in the Homeric conception. And finally Gaia is the earth we're standing on, the foundation of the material plane. So, by invoking these forces, I surround myself with the world in its most primeval state. I kept Regardie's use of “Pneuma, Psyche, Nous, Soma," which means “spirit, soul, mind, body.”

For the "before me, behind me" portion, I used the names of the six Children of Kronos, arranged according to their elemental correspondences. They represent all the same forces a few steps down on the Platonic ladder (more coalesced): Hera is the shining Queen of Heaven, and also the queen of the Air and all that moves within it. Hestia is the queen of Fire and governs its use during ritual, conducting prayers and offerings to the gods through it. Poseidon is the king of Water and the bounty of the sea. Demeter is the queen of Earth and the bounty of the land. The remaining two Children of Kronos are Zeus and Hades, who are both the Lord of the Universe in his (current) celestial and chthonic aspects: as above, so below. Finally, I added "Dionysus within," for a particularly Orphic flair, and because he's personally significant to me.

🜄

.................⛤..................

𓆩𓁺𓆪🜃⛤.✶.⛤🜁𓆩𓁺𓆪

.................⛤.................

🜂

I practiced it daily for well over a decade, I do not practice it so much anymore. I believe that chapter of my work is completed, or at least not my current chapter anymore. The way I practice magic these days is different, and I have had somewhat of a falling out with the Golden Dawn system. I may visit it once more, I may not. This being said I think I have a solid understanding of the rituals so I will offer my thoughts.

I agree with Farrell that people banish far too often. I disagree with the premise that banishing chases all beings away- the ritual is not that strong and does not effect true spiritual beings. It affects the lower astral only. The real issue with over banishing is that if that is all you are doing, you are not really changing anything. You are remaining at a base state. Invoking however invites spiritual force into your sphere of sensation, this is where development occurs.

The original Golden Dawn emphasised balance. I believe this is the correct way, invoke in the morning, banish at night. Invoking turns you on spiritually, it opens you up. You may wish to continue that at night, however, I personally believe that beginners should not allow themselves to be spiritually open (and lit up on the astral) at night whilst they sleep. You could run into problems.

Similarly people have noted losing energy from constant banishing. I can see why- it resets you every time you do it. Sometimes you want to build up energy- which is what the LIRP can achieve.

Farrel is also wrong that Crowley and the original GD folk did not banish before a working or only did so if working in weird areas. Crowley explicitly instructs that prior to a bigger working the temple is to be banished. He actually states that the LBRP doesn't really banish everything, but does a good enough job and can be used in most instances.

I believe once you get used to the ritual you know when to banish and when not to. If I come home stressed and filled with anger and need to perform a ritual, invoking isn't really going to help me. Banishing will allow a clean slate from where I can move to other things with more clarity. If I wake up in the morning refreshed, invoking would be more helpful because there is nothing within my self to banish. I also don't have lingering spirits that want to cause issues around most of the time- there would be no need to banish. I personally find ringing a consecrated bell has a banishing effect that is enough for my own needs. It clears the astral area- as I said I don't believe in demons hanging around in the corner.

The way I started to work towards the end of my practice was to banish by fiat- essentially ringing the bell and declaring the temple clear and set up. This clears the self and the environment of lower astral entities. Most people (and beginners should) would perform a banishing ritual now. But I believe the LIRP is better for beginning workings in environments you can trust e.g. a temple in your home. So long as you live in a peaceful home, there is not going to be much astral sludge in any room of your home more than likely, but that is down to you to judge. I then perform my rites and give the license to depart. I then either give the sign of silence and absorb all the energy of the rite, or I will banish if I feel a little off personally. If the energy invoked was for a talisman for example and it has left me feeling a certain way I don't want in my life, I will put the talisman away and perform a banishing- the LBRP is usually enough for anything.

LIRP = Switching on.

LBRP = Going on standby.

Between 2004 and 2006, I experimented with the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP). I’ve often compared it to having one’s psyche scraped out with a rusty teaspoon—in other words, effective but somewhat abrupt. This was well before any online discussion about whether using Kabbalah practices is cultural appropriation. I’ve already written extensively about cultural appropriation so I…