Introduction
This article is mainly about the various banishing rituals using the pentagram symbol which are handed to the initiates in the occult order known as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. This ritual forms the core part of a very complicated initiatory tradition. It is one of the basic rituals and is attributed to have the ability to take the student through all of the orders grades without any other practice except doing this ritual alone. Despite being a basic ritual, it is composed of complicated intricate parts with many interpretations. I am trying my best to write here how to interpret the ritual and practice it in as thorough a way as possible. I will cite sources to back up my many assertions hopefully making this the more informed and accurate interpretation available.
I originally started writing this article in March 2014 and I am still adding to it now in March 2020. I have read many attempts to write this article, but most failed to even scratch the surface and posited different meanings over the ritual which don’t fit neatly. I tried to include these views, but state why I don’t like them.
This article is a little unorganised and I keep trying to write more into it until 3 am so I’m sorry if I get a little muddled, confused or repeat myself. I am doing my best to make it compliant with the 7 Cs of communication, but if it is confusing then please forgive me and suggest revisions using the Contact Us form. This has been quite a journey and certainly my view of the ritual has changed a lot in the last 6 years.
In order to do this ritual effectively, first we must determine the purpose of the ritual. What is the lesser pentagram ritual meant to do. How else can we measure its effect without first figuring out what effect it attempts to achieve. Most practitioners regard the ritual as a method of clearing the magician’s space of negative spirits or energy and calling upon powers to aid him. However it is often suggested by people who herald themselves to be higher magicians that there is more to the ritual than just this.
The LBRP Banishes
For the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn magicians, this ritual is important because it is an invocation of the deity to prevent forces which oppose that deity’s will from entering the space. It gets rid of spirits whom God determines are demons. If the magician’s will is allied with that of the deity, then nothing which opposes the magician’s will can enter the space, in which the magician resides. On the other hand, if the magician wants to go against the will of God then it will prevent him from achieving that because any spirits which would help him would be blown away by the ritual. Some Whare-Ra materials elucidate ways around this, but I have very limited access to them. Perhaps Nick Farrel might include them in a book soon.
Alternatively, for Aleister Crowley the ritual was also important because he viewed the deity as a remote part of the magician’s own mind and therefore it should only banish forces that are opposed his own divine will. This divine will is not the same as the magician’s normal will, but it is a bit like your higher soul’s desire. The LBRP would be a ritual to banish anything which stands against your divine will. I might go on more about the Will in a separate section devoted to Thelema (the religion created after Aleister Crowley believed the universe had revealed itself to him in the Book of the Law, Liber Al vel Legis). For now I will choose to say that, according to Thelema, the divine will is our purpose in life, our raison d’être and the reason we decided to incarnate.
In conclusion, this ritual could prevent anything, which goes against “God” or your divine will from working in your space.
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn group known as the Temple Whare-Ra left some notes suggesting how one could do this banishing and allow negative spirits to exist outside of the circle by simply drawing an inverted pentagram there but it would be necessary to hold a sword on the bottom point of the pentagram the entire time the spirit was there. I believe there is more to it than this and not something to mess with.
LBRP More Than Banishing
Even those who completely disagree with Aleister Crowley will quote him saying, “those who regard this ritual as a mere device to invoke or banish spirits, are unworthy to possess it. Properly understood, it is the Medicine of Metals and the Stone of the Wise.” (from from Palace of the World in Temple of the Holy Ghost in Crowley Collected works Vol.1) What Mr Crowley is trying to say here is that, this ritual is about more than just summoning powers and clearing a space. It is designed to enable a magician to achieve the great work; to evolve himself in to a more spiritual being. The reference to “medicine of metals” is most likely the medical learning of alchemy. “The stone of the wise” was an alchemical idea popularised by Arabic Alchemist Jabir. The stone of the wise (also known as the philosopher’s stone) was something that could instantly transmute base metals, mercury and sulphur into Gold. It also produces the elixir of life, granting immortality. This is an alchemical allegory. The story of the stone might resemble the attainment of divine light and perfection of the self.
Lesser and Greater Rituals of the Pentagram
The title of this article is the Lesser Ritual of the pentagram, but a quick note on the difference between the lesser and greater.
Following extensive research I could not come across an author able to write a convincing argument for the difference between the two rituals. I had seen some say that the lesser occurs lower on the Tree of Life, but in my experience this is an argument frequently put forward by people who believe that the four directions are the directions of the four siphroth on the tree of life that surround the intersection of the Semekh and Pe paths. This interpretation ends up putting Michael unfortunately on the right where Netzach would be, instead of on the left in the space that is his sphiroth, called Hod. Also Auriel appears instead of Hanael the angel of Netzakh.
Looking into the works of Agrippa we might conclude the angels are different. His major work, “3 Books of Occult Philosophy” was plagiarised by Francis Barrett in the Magus. The Magus was a major source text for members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden so this is likely to have been read by the creators of the order. The four Angels mentioned in the LBRP the angels of the four corners. This is why Auriel is included and not Hanael the angel of Netzach.
For an initiate to experience higher planes on the tree of life, like Tiphereth for example they would have to be experiencing a state of union with the divine which is often symbolised by the Hexagram. The hexagram by its composition symbolises union. It is a symbol of two triangles united. It makes sense with the divine name for the Hexagram ritual because the word is ARARITA which is a Notariqon (an abbreviation) for the Qabalistical phrase “Akhad Rosh, Akhdotho Rosh, Yekhodo temurito Akhad” which means “One is the head, his uniting is the head, his unique order / permutations are one”. So maybe the Greater Pentagram ritual was simply higher, but couldn’t be as high as tiphereth which must be symbolised by the hexagram. It is suggested in interpretations of Agrippa’s work that 5 is the number of wedlock (union) and 6 is the number of reproduction.
It is possible that the pentagrams for the greater ritual are invocations of the sphiroth while the angels are to place the spell on the ground contained within the four corners of the circle.
I have heard people say that that the Greater rituals is just a greater frequency vibration, which frankly stinks to me of the massive oversimplification of the spiritual path into different frequency vibrations. People who practice this often give themselves a headache trying to force themselves into high and high vibrations without doing the hard self-work that goes into spiritual realisation.
I have also read Israel Regardie suggest that the Lesser Ritual was something very simple given to lower initiates so they could practice pulling toward them spiritual forces and pushing spiritual forces away. The greater ritual was the real deal. (I’d guess this was in Golden Dawn by Israel Regardie). I disagree with his opinion because of the attitude given to this ritual would tend to suggest otherwise. For example the quote from Aleister Crowley saying “this ritual … is the medicine of metals and the stone of the wise” was a reference specifically to the Lesser version of the ritual. When Aleister Crowley felt comfortable revealing the Greater ritual of the pentagram in Liber O vel Manus he still felt a need to include the LBRP as well. There must be something more important about it.
I’d like to note that the greater ritual of the pentagram incorporates the active and passive pentagrams which indicates a uniting of active and passive, this for many is part of reaching to and uniting with the divine which is often associated with tiphereth (6th siphrah) and anahata (often drawn with a 6 pointed star in it). It also incorporates the elemental pentagrams so it is possible for us to assume that the lesser pentagram ritual includes the directions, but not the elements and the Greater ritual is the same ritual, but occurring on all elemental planes as well as incorporating the directions. This enables us to equate it with the path leading up to Tiphereth without trying to overlap the directions with certain paths on the tree of life that might not fit.
It is also worth noting that there is a “Supreme” version of the pentagram ritual probably written by Israel Regardie. You will find this version in Israel Regardie’s Golden Dawn. It includes the god names for the elements that appear in the 4 enochian tablets followed by the Hebrew names for good measure.
Air: Oro Ibah Aozpi
Fire: Oip Teaa Pedoce
Water: Empeh Arsel Gaiol
Earth : Emor Dial Hectega
Also before the intonation of the divine name for the Active or Passive pentagram the relevant line from the Tablet of Union is intoned Exarp Hcoma Nanta Bitom is intoned (Air, Water, Earth and Fire respectively). This is probably to unite the powers of the tablets together.
This ritual demonstrates the intertwining of the Rosicrucian Magic of SRIA with the Enochian Magic that seemed to occur in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. This is probably invented much later and was simply for using the Enochian spirits in the tablets together to affect change.
Understanding the Symbols
So how do we determine the true purpose of the ritual? Through understanding some of the symbolism in it.
I have tried to explore the symbolism in as much depth as possible. Since I have been practising magic for a long time now, my understanding of the symbolism often takes a long time to convey and is very difficult to remember where I got half of the information from. I don’t mean to boast but I have been practising magic for over 20-25 years and I didn’t write down all of my learning or where it came from. I will try my best to give you the most thorough elucidation of the symbolism with references. Sometimes you will have to just trust me.
I’ve had fellow students tell me that they don’t believe magic is about mathematics, but much of Qabalah is about Maths. Whether they want to believe it or not, it’s often a numbers thing. Pythagoras was a massive mystic and the relationships between numbers is science we don’t fully understand yet.
I don’t expect you to remember the entire of this article, but hopefully it will be something which is worth referring back to again and again. I will certainly refer back to it myself. I already have.
If you’re new to magic then I ask you to skim through the interpretation of the symbols and work on the ritual itself to begin with. Magic is powerful and when we practice it. We often find our own understanding of it in ways we cannot explain or write down. A acquaintance of mine was one of the most devoted priestesses for the OTO in the UK. Her experience of the Thelemic deity Nuit was entirely gnosis! She doesn’t intellectually understand her goddess or who her goddess is in her mind, but she knows her goddess in her heart. She can’t put in to words or reason what she knows about Nuit, but simply knows her. Other people who have an intellectual understanding couldn’t tell the difference between the feeling of Nuit’s spirit and the feeling of Nut’s spirit. Get your own gnosis through interpretation of your own experience, but remember that unverified psychic impressions will rarely be accurate to anyone else but you. So an article like this is meant to bring together multiple people into a shared experience.
If you have had your own experience and have been doing magic for some time I recommend you read more of the interpretation below. You should also have some ideas, which are similar to these, depending on who your teacher is, but most practitioners today struggle to produce anything like this amount of interpretation.
We’re about to go on a journey through symbol interpretation and it’s worth saying here, “As long as you can find some authority for your belief in the symbols, you could derive very different meanings for it and still be correct!” Often ceremonial magic groups encourage initiates to interpret things for themselves in their own way. All I am giving you here is a book worm’s view. If you do not like this view, I’m afraid you’re going to have a hard time finding a better interpretation that can be shared with others elsewhere because I’m pushing you to explore the books which the authors of the ritual were reading when they wrote it.
Pentagram
I separated this out into a separate article. Click here.
Square and Circle
I separated this into a separate article. Click here.
4 Directions
What do the 4 directions means when I do the ritual?
I separated this into a separate article. Click here.
Divine Names
There are four names of god which are intoned during this ritual to invoke the powers of the Force. These names of god are in classical Hebrew and each name has four letters. Hebrew is an unpointed language which means vowels are not written down. (The same is true for Arabic, Persian and Ancient Egyptian.) Nowadays you will often find little notes under each letter so say what vowel follows that consonant. There are some consonant which seem like vowels. Aleph for example is used at the beginning of a word when that word begins with any vowel. For example Eesh (which means man) is spelt Aleph Yod Shin. Yod is usually the sound of the “y” in the word “yes” but occasionally can be used to make an “ee” sounding vowel longer. The letter called vav (waw in old Hebrew pronunciation) is normally a v (or w) but can be used to make an “o” vowel or an “oo” vowel longer. Ayin often looks like a vowel too but it is mere the sound of pronouncing a vowel deep in the through and in modern Hebrew hardly makes a difference. Everything else is a consonant.
If you’re interested in how to read the Hebrew letters I recommend using the Ancient Hebrew Research Centre’s website. Their course introduces the letters 2 at time with a little bit of grammar and vocab so you can understand bits of the language and this will be very useful for anyone wanting to do Qabalah. If you actually want to read Hebrew texts then I recommend Biblical Hebrew Grammar as the vocabulary is extensive enough to allow you to read most texts but remember that most Qabalah is written Aramaic a very similar, but different Semitic language and this is way beyond the requirements of any LBRP practitioner.
When it comes to Qabalah that is used in ceremonial magic there is a huge difference between the Qabalah of the Jews and the Qabalah of ceremonial magic. The Jews wrote philosophical texts that argued and asked questions about the nature of the universe and some contained basic meditation techniques to invoke aspects of the divine in to one’s practice but essentially Qabalah of the Jews was a collection of very different beliefs from a wide range of authors.
The early medieval Grimoire users were Christian and were afraid of the esoteric power of the Jews and sought to include some of their power in their own rites and rituals. There had little understanding of the various Qabalistic Jewish sects and tried to incorporate the bits they could understand anyway. This means that the Qabalistical tradition that arose in ceremonial magic was very different to the philosophical qabalistical literature of the Jews.
The people using the Grimoires noticed a specific qabalistical idea which had come from a 16th century Jew called Isaac Ben Luria
The divine names which are intoned are:
- Aheyah (AHYH) which means “I am” and is the name of the Force associated with its highest yet least manifest nature of the Force.
- Yod Heh Vav Heh (YHVH) which is considered the oldest and most divine name of the Force which symbolizes the Force poured out in to the universe thereby creating it.
- Adonai (ADNI) which means “my Lord” and is the name the lowly and unspiritual can use to call upon deity for it is deity in this physical realm.
- AGLA which is an acronym for Atah Gibor LeOlam Adonai which means “You are great forever, my Lord”.
The first three of these names are found in Latin around the triangle in the Goetia which is used to acquire spiritual energy and give it form, so it is quite possible that these names are designed to bring in spiritual power down from the divine and give it form. They all appear on the middle pillar of the tree of life and so could potentially be used to secretly indicate the descent of power in to the reality we live in.
The greater ritual of the pentagram uses the names:
The names intoned over the active and passive spirit are the names associated with the highest sphira of kether and by virtue of AGLA containing Adonai the lowest sphira Malkuth.
El is the divine name associated with the sphirah Chesed and the name associated with the sphira that seems to mirror Chesed, Geburah is Elohim Gibor which contains Elohim. The remaining names are associated with Tiphereth and Malkuth. So these names appear to be focused on balancing opposites on the tree of life. These match with the sphiroth of the rivers of eden. In this knowledge lecture, mentioned earlier Adam is described raised up on the tree of life, so perhaps this is an invocation of that adam raised up on the tree of life in a state that would be the pre-fall Adam when Adam still had access to the tree of life. Maybe with the fiery sword’s power bound up into a pentagram.
I have expounded some of the mysteries behind the names here:
Angels
There are four angels evoked. They match neatly with a prayer written down by Rabbi Hirsch which says
“By the name of God of Israel: Michael be at my right hand, Gabriel be at my left, Uriel be before me, Raphael be behind me, and over my head, the spirit of God.”
These names also appear in Agrippa’s 3 Books of Occult Philosophy as the Angels of the four directions as written in the 2nd book of Occult Philosophy on the section about the permutations of the number 4. The Life of Adam and Eve also known as the Apocalypse of Moses list these 4 angels among the 5 Archangels including Joel.
The one thing I have never been able to figure out is why the placement of the angels in the directions. If we turn to Agrippa’s commentary on the 4 angels we notice that Fire and Michael are in the East, Air and Raphael are in the West, Gabriel and Water are in the North and Auriel and Earth are in the South.
In the Talmud book known as Rabba (which means Numbers) Chapter 2 it reads as follows:
As the Holy One, may he be blessed, created four winds and four banners (for the army), so too did he make four angels to surround His Throne —Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael. Michael is on its right, stands for the tribe of Reuben; Uriel on its left, stands for the tribe of Dan, which was located in the north; Gabriel in front of him, stands for the tribe of Judah, Moses and Aaron who were in the east and Raphael in the rear, who stands for the tribe of Ephraim which was in the west.
Again Raphael has changed from front to back and Gabriel stand in front rather than behind.
Raphael
I moved Raphael to this article.
Gabriel
I moved Gabriel to this article.
Michael
I moved Michael to this article.
Uriel
I moved Uriel / Auriel to this article.
Efficacy
When performing the Lesser Ritual of Pentagram, success is determined by a number of factors. The most important factors are:
- Confidence
- Faith in the divine words and the ritual
- Thorough visualization
- Thorough understanding of the symbols involved and the powers they represent
- An understanding of how the symbols interact with each other
Confidence and faith go a long way in this business. Most people will tell you, “if you do not believe it, it would not work”. This is based on the idea that the magician is the sole power in the ritual and his belief alone empowers the ritual. If he believes in the symbols, they will work for him. If he does NOT believe in the symbols then they will NOT work for him.
It is also possible that the words and symbols used represent pre-existing spiritual forces in the world whose existence is not dependant on the belief of the magician. They could potentially be spirits, gods and forces of nature whose power is not affected by the mind of the magician. Even if this is the case faith is important.
If a magician uses the divine words as if they are meaningless and without faith in the forces he is invoking, will they still support his wishes? Do they understand faith? Do they know whether one believes in them or not? It has been recognised since the time that Jesus was written about, that faith is the key to miracles and working with spirits.
There is a wonderful ability that most human beings have to create spiritual forces through belief. This is most evident in Christian creation of saints. Many saints are derived from prior existing pagan deities but some appear in places where no pagan spirit ever existed and the works of many saints are now regarded as myth rather than fact.
How then can we explain the strong experiences people have at the shrine. Either they are entirely delusional or the belief of that saint existed there in the shrine, some how created it. This view is often shared by many magicians who recognise that beliefs can be given form and begin to exist. If one believes in a saint, god or force of nature which does not have a spiritual existence, that spirit, god or force of nature begins to form an existence out of energy in subtle reality.
How does this help us understand the efficacy of this ritual? I recognise that there is a chance that the spiritual forces invoked do not pre-exist the magician, but I believe that he could create them or even possibly tap in to the forces that have been created by the belief of the magicians of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and those that have borrowed from their rituals.
Because of the nature of energy work and it’s ability to affect what the magician experiences. Thorough visualisation can make the magician experience all the aspects of the ritual and understand its effects on a deeper and more profound level. It could also create forces which do not already exist. When the magician invokes the forces involved in the ritual, he should be able to feel whether those forces are present in the ritual through his ability to experience energy otherwise he should repeat the step with more thorough visualization until he knows he has successfully called upon the correct force.
It is my experience that people who do not understand a symbol often have difficulty summoning the power it represents. So it is important to understand the meaning behind all the symbols in the ritual, so I have included here as much information as I could about the symbols, angels and words involved in the ritual. It is important that you focus entirely on only summoning their energy when calling or else you might get something else.
Origin
By establishing the origin of the ritual, we can determine it’s authenticity, genuineness and the meaning of the symbols found in the ritual.
This ritual was invented as part of the teaching in Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and although there are claims it came from an earlier Rosicrucian Order, there is no evidence of its existence before the Golden Dawn.
This ritual consists of saying names which are considered divine and holy, drawing symbols and using energy. I am writing this text because I see so many expensive books which only repeat the steps of the lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram and the words but give little advice concerning the energy structure and the feeling of the ritual.
The ritual draws upon a number of components found in earlier texts. For example, Eilphas Levi talks about the importance of drawing upon the symbol of the cross before and after the invocation of the elements which encouraged the existence of the Qabalistical Cross before and after the pentagram rituals in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
There is also an invocation of angels during the ritual which is clearly drawn from a Jewish prayer documented by R. Samson Raphael Hirsch in The Hirsch Siddur, where is says: “In the Name of God, the God of Israel: may Michael be at my right hand, Gabriel at my left, Uriel before me, Raphael behind me, and above my head, the presence of God.”
Getting Rid of the Opposition
This ritual is very unique and specific to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. This does not mean it cannot be used by student of other traditions, however it is very important that they understand the reason they are drawing upon the power of this ritual.
Qabalistical Cross
My analysis of the qabalistic cross can be found here.
Books Referenced in this Article
The following book has a full description of how to perform the lesser ritual of the pentagram with a good guide on some of the symbolism involved. It also contains a number of other rituals which are important to thelemites
The following book is written from a non-thelemic perspective and focuses more on the mental exercises that build a ritualist up to doing the pentagram ritual.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0738700002
The following is a major must have for any Occultist or ceremonial magician.
The following is a difficult read I don’t recommend except for researchers. Aleister Crowley’s Completed works I-III
I really recommend this book. David Rankine is a very competent researcher. He presents very good information on Qabalah in this short and concise book. Climbing the Tree of Life
Okay Crowley’s Liber ABA (Book 4) is known to be a great read on how to do practice magick and an incredible reference. This book is often ridiculously and it’s huge (not portable). There’s a reason it is called the blue brick in thelemic circle, but this version has sooooo many commentaries added and so many notes that make it much easier to work the system for a novice. Try not to spend more than £50 if you can help it I got mine for that so it is possible.
Probably the source book of loads of HOGD magic. When they weren’t getting it from Agrippa / Barnett
People will tell you there’s no such thing but if you’re going it alone… Note I don’t think this book helped me write any of this article.