#magick101

This post can also be viewed on my blog in an easier to read format here.

The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram is perhaps the most well known and most widespread magical ritual in existence. This rite was created by the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and has been part of most of the modern occult corpus since. Sadly, it has become known as a banishing ritual when in fact it is so much more than that and in the theory section I am going to highlight how it is not a banishing in the way many people think as well as why it is an essential regular practice. It does more than clean the area when done correctly. This post is purely practical, but in order to make the ritual work as brilliantly as possible the theory will have to be assimilated too.

So the first step is the perform the Qabalistic Cross as has been given in my previous post- you should begin and end standing east in the centre of the place you are working.

Approach the Eastern quarter- if you have to walk around the altar walk around it from the left so that it is a clockwise motion. Draw a generic banishing pentagram (See below) either with a banishing implement or your finger. (This pentagram is drawn in the same manner as a banishing earth pentagram but is not the same.)

You should visualise the pentagram in an electric blue colour, similar to the blue you find on a gas cooker. If you struggle with colour simple white will do. You may have to shut your eyes to visualise it at first- this is okay. Again, if you struggle to see, try and feel it then tune in with the vision.

Pierce the pentagram in the centre vibrate the God name “YHVH” (Yod hay Vav hay). On your inhalation breathe in force and pattern the god name into the breath. Upon exhaling release this breath in the vocal vibration of the God name.

Without dropping your arm trace a line to the southern quarter to the point in which the centre of the next pentagram you draw will fit in it. The idea is you are ending up within a circle of blue flame surrounded by interconnected pentagrams also in blue flames.

In the southern quarter repeat as before but vibrate ADNI (Ah-doh-nai),

Trace the line to the Western quarter and draw the pentagram as before but vibrate AHIH (Eh-He-Yeh).

Do the same in the Northern quarter but vibrate A.G.L.A. (Ah-gah-lah) OR (Attah gib-or lay-olarm, amen.) This word of power is a notariqon or abbreviation some sources believe you should vibrate the whole sentence and not just the name. I prefer the whole sentence.

Trace the final line back to the East so that the circles connect, go back to the centre of the working place behind the altar (if you have one) and move to this position in a clockwise manner.

Stand with your feet together and stretch your arms out to the sides as though you are making a letter T with your body. Take a deep breathe and say the following invocation vibrating the names of the angels in the same manner as you did the God names above.

“Before me Raphael,

Behind me Gabriel,

On my Right hand, Michael,

On my left hand, Uriel

For about me flames the Pentagram,

And in the column shines the six-rayed star!”

As you vibrate each archangel you should visualise them in each quarter towering over the area facing you at first and then turning to face outwards in the quarters upon invoking the next angel. There are multiple methods of visualising these angels, here are the forms I use I visualise them with wings, this is not essential:

Raphael- Yellow robes with a violet trim, fair complexion, masculine. Holds a sword.

Gabriel- Blue robes with orange trim, feminine complexion- soft features. Holds a silver chalice.

Michael- Harsh, masculine features, defined chin etc. Red robes with green trim. Holds a golden wand surrounded in flames.

Uriel- Black robes with white trim. Soft features. Holds a wooden disk with a symbol of the hexagram upon it.

The idea here is that these archangels represent the elements, thus the tools they hold all correspond to the traditional tools of elements within their respective elemental quarters. The visualised being is simply a vessel which the force of that being can inhabit. You are giving form for a force to inhabit.

Upon saying “For about me flames the pentagram” you can visualise the circle of flames about you- some like to visualise the symbol of the pentagram being around them. I don;t do this, but you can!

Upon saying “And in the column shines the six-rayed star” visualise a golden hexagram above and below you, shining golden light into your aura, also at your chest a flaming hexagram forms at the centre of the heart.

Finish the ritual by repeating the qabalistic cross.

Allow the visualisation to drop and do whatever it is you are doing.

Introduction.

So by now I hope you have been working with the qabalistic cross some more and have been not only visualising the key centres but also feeling the energy you are invoking. You will notice I have emphasised when to breathe. Breathing is important, it is a focal tool, but it is also the life force itself. Anytime you are invoking energy I recommend breathing in, when you are spreading or directing energy I recommend breathing out.

So lets get on with the theory. I urge you not to skip this post, knowing why you are doing an action adds intention to that action, which in turn gives the action power and will deliver greater understanding. All of these are important within magick. First lets start simple. You use the Qabalistic cross to invoke the energy of God-Head into the aura/sphere of sensation. You then activate certain points in your etheric body and create an atmosphere of a balance within your etheric body and aura as a whole. You are invoking balanced force and in turn balancing the forces within yourself. Think of it like balancing the internal elemental energies and allowing spirit/the higher Will of deity to direct them. All of that in a simple ritual!

Before we get into the theory proper please ensure you have a diagram of the qabalistic tree of life in front of you and you can see the Hebrew names of the spheres there is a good image here: http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Tree_of_Life.

Step by Step Analysis.

So my first instruction was to see yourself as the centre of the universe. This is important for many reasons, but essentially it is because it is true! The only reference point you have for the universe around you is within your mind. The entire world around you is decoded by your senses and encoded by your brain. In truth you are the only thing which is constant in your universe. This exercise is a centring exercise too- when used before other rituals it establishes you as the centre of the universe from which you can work to change it. In a Thelemic sense you are Hadit within the body of Nuit. That is you are an individualised component of consciousness born out of anti-consciousness and surrounded by All.

Next I asked you visualise a white light at your crown chakra centre. This light represents your connection to God-head. It is Kether on the tree of life. The position of the monad- or the consciousness of God which is expressed in unity of all things. You draw this light down into yourself and you are declaring a connection to this state of unity within yourself. You then vibrate Attah. This, and everything else in that post, is phonetically spelled. The actual spelling is Aleph, Tau, Heh (406). This translates to “Thou Art”, it is an expression of the singular expression of God within Kether on the Tree of life. God simply is.

Next you draw your hand down to the groin, note that in the original Golden Dawn instructions the actual instruction is to the chest. This may be due to establishing the kingdom in the heart centre and thus Tiphareth. Or it may be simply to make it a familiar movement to the Catholic sign of the cross. Either way, the groin is closer to Malkuth on the tree of life and directing into the Earth and focusing on a centre at the feet seems more appropriate. You are drawing the light above and balancing it with that which is below. Furthermore you are establishing a model of the tree of life into your etheric body. I would also like to note the groin is the seat of the creative powers of humans. Kether is Gods creative seed, the groin is the home of the human seed. This could be seen as a microcosmic expression of Kether. Here you vibrate “Malkoot” which translates to kingdom. Properly spelled it is Mem, Lamed, Kaph, Vau, Tau (496).

The middle pillar has now been established in your aura, you have invoked the light of Kether and fused it to Malkuth. The light of God has been brought down to Earth. The central column of the etheric body is alive with divine energy. But the Tree of life has two other pillars which require balancing in order for a perfect expression to be formed- a perfect balance which is the nature of Tiphareth. The pillars of Mercy and Severity.

You draw light from the heart centre to the right shoulder to the point on the tree of life which corresponds to Geburah- your body is perceived as though you have backed on to the tree of life. You are drawing energy from the zone of Tiphareth which is the epitome of balance on the tree of life and balancing the zone of Geburah. That is, bringing balance to your severity, your anger, your martial side, your passions. You say Vay Gay Voorah. Properly spelled in English ve-Geburah, which means and the power. Geburah being the name of the sephirah and Hebrew for power. In Hebrew this phrase is spelled Vau-Gimel, Beth, Vau, Resh, Heh (222).

Next we balance the left pillar- the sphere of Chesed on the tree of life, which represents Mercy. Unbalanced Mercy leads to being controlled, unbalanced severity leads to tyranny. Both aspects of Self need to be balanced. You say Vay gay doo Lah. Spelled correctly in English as Ve- Gedulah, which means and the Glory. Glory is a synonym for Chesed, or rather is an alternative title of Chesed. In Hebrew it is spelled Vau, Gimel, Daleth, Vau, Lamed, Heh (54).

Finally we bring our attention to the chest and assume a position of prayer visualising a golden light. This is the colour and light of Tiphareth the central sphere on the Tree of life representing the seat of Self and the Holy Guardian Angel. It is the position on the Tree of Life which is in perfect balance. You say Lay Olarm Amen. Or Le-Olahm, Amen. Which roughly translates as ‘Unto the ages, Amen.” You are here establishing that the HGA is your personal God, your connection to the divine spark which is represented by Kether. You can think of the HGA as a lower reflection, or a reflection on a lower plane, of that spark. Here you are finishing the ritual with a focus on the HGA which acts both as adoration of this force as well as an invocation of it. In Hebrew this phrase is spelled Lamed, Ayin, Vau, Lamed, Mem (176).

As a final note all of the above is accomplished but also to be noted is that the four elements within your aura/sphere of sensation are balanced. You invoke the light of spirit into your self. You then use this light, which is balancing and harmonising in nature, and balance the Earth element at Malkuth. You then balance the fire element at Geburah, and the water element at Chesed. Finally you establish the Air element in the centre of the chest at Tiphareth. This ritual invokes energy, invokes the HGA, balances the elemental energies within your sphere, and establishes the Tree of Life in the aura.

Thoughts on Potential Uses.

It can be used for multiple purposes including protection and as a preliminary invocation to lesser works. Before any divination reading I perform the Qabalistic cross, I sometimes don’t have the ability to do a full LBRP, doing the Qabalistic cross alone is a fine alternative for divination. It is also good to perform prior to meditation and prayer as well as afterwards. Any situation where you feel you need to invoke a small amount of energy, the influence of the HGA, or to centre and balance your energies is a situation in which you can use the Qabalistic cross.

Alternative Methods.

A note on alternative methods: The traditional Golden Dawn instruction had the Malkuth centre at the chest, this makes little sense to me personally in a practical sense, however, some people do still teach it this way. Crowley changed it and some modern groups have changed it to the groin centre. In practice I don’t think it matters too much, however, I personally don’t gel with the ideas behind it. Some have suggested it was a blind- false information, I don’t think that was the case but I cannot be sure.

Another alternative method for Thelemites is to pause at the heart prior drawing the light to Malkuth and visualising a sphere then and saying “Aiwass” (93) which is the name of Crowley’s HGA and the supposed intelligence which dictated the book of the law. Thelemites do this because they see Aiwass as a universal symbol of their own HGA, like a fill in. They also believe this tunes them into the so-called 93 current. The Thelemic current. I personally do use it in my current practice, however, as soon as my HGA gives me their actual name I will utilise that instead of the Aiwass name. I am a Thelemic magician, I use the name to tune into that current. If you are not, you have no need to and can simply ignore this entire paragraph. I visualise the sphere as white during the vibration of Aiwass and then see it turn gold upon completing the Qabalistic Cross.

Further Research.

I have left the numbers in for any advanced magicians to make some qabalistic analyses- there are some interesting gematria links to each of the phrases which I feel are important. If these interest you look up the numbers in Crowley’s Sepher Sephiroth as well as checking out Bill Heidricks fantastic gematria database here: http://www.billheidrick.com/works/hgemat.htm.