The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

Introduced by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the lesser Banishing Ritual is a necessary preliminary to practically all higher forms of Western Magick. Done properly, it serves as a form of Yoga.

Note: Any image or figure traced in the air with the finger, dagger or other magical instrument, is to be imagined in brilliant scintillating white Light. In more advanced working, other colors may be used. Make sure that all images drawn are correct, as brilliant as possible, and complete. The beginning and end of a drawn Pentagram must come completely together.

Imagine a scintillating brilliant white Archangel in front of you and facing you. In his/her right hand is a magical Sword held with the point upright. The background is a pale, pure, bright yellow. Cherubs can be imagined near the Archangel. Imagine a gentle, refreshing breeze, cleansing and purifying the air.

Imagine a scintillating brilliant white Archangel at your right, facing you, and holding in their right hand a transparent scarlet red Wand with a scintillate pure diamond top. Waves of scarlet, red-orange and orange fire in the background. Also, SEKHMET, with a scarlet disk above her head, emerald green Uraeus, scarlet dress from just below breasts, tight-fitting, down to her ankles, is in the flames. She holds, in her left hand, a scarlet-red lotus wand. In her right hand, she holds an emerald-green ankh. Small black salamanders can be seen moving among the flames. Imagine you feel the heat and power emanating from the SOUTH.

Imagine a scintillating brilliant white Archangel at your left, facing you, and holding between their hands a Disk with a scintillating white Pentagram in the center. The ground is russet-brown, the leaves of the trees are olive-green, there are black shadows from the trees in a number of places, and the light is citrine (light yellow-green.) Feel the solidity of the Earth, and imagine the odor of the leaves and muskiness of the ground.

Note: The subject of the vibration of Names of Power is discussed at length in other sources. The Names 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 wave of vibration directed to the ends of the Earth, according to Regardie. Time and continuous practice of the Ritual, once in the morning prior to the Invoking Ritual, and once in the evening are standard recommendations, and will produce the desired result. There is no particular frequency or degree of volume that is suitable for every individual. Each person must practice to find the resonant vibration that will work for him/her. Some benefit can be obtained by listening to the chants of Tibetan Monks that can be found on cassette and CD. Other occultists assert that definite somatic effects will manifest when the vibrated Names are performed correctly, such as tingling in certain areas of the body. I believe it is important to vibrate the Names at the same time one imagines the Name in scintillate white Light, rushing upward thru the body and outwards toward the end of the Universe in the particular direction one is working with. It is important to pronounce the Names correctly and clearly and, according to Traditional Jewish sources, never pronounce the Names casually, but only in Holy or Theurgic Work. One is admonished to NEVER lower the hand or Magical Instrument while tracing the Circle or at any other time, unless specifically instructed to do so.

Further notes on the Pentagram Ritual

1. As a form of communion with the Divine, the Invoking Ritual should be used in the morning (preceded by the Banishing Ritual), and the Banishing in the evening.

2. As an exersize in concentration: Seated in meditation or lying down, formulate yourself standing in a Magical Robe, holding the Magical Dagger. Imagine yourself in this form to go to the EAST, feel yourself there by mentally "touching" the wall, opening your "eyes", stamping a "foot" on the floor, etc. Perform the Qabalistic Cross and Pentagram Ritual exactly as you would in physical reality, but perform it mentally, especially paying attention to vibrating the Names and holding images clearly in the mind. Observe the results in the Astral Light and, when complete, imagine your mental self to walk back and stand behind your physical body and will yourself to be reabsorbed into it.

3. As a protective barrier or to banish a negative force, obcessive thought or impure magnetism: Give a mental image [such as a hybrid being representing what the thought, force or entity feels like or how it affects you] to the force, obcessive thought, impure magnetism, or astral entity , project it with the Saluting Sign of a Neophyte (of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn), and when the image is about 3 feet away, prevent its return with the Sign of Silence. (See Regardies: THE GOLDEN DAWN) Then imagine the image or form in the EAST, before you, and perform the BANISHING RITUAL of the PENTAGRAM, seeing it dissolve mentally on the other side of the Ring of Fire, with the Pentagrams at the four Quadrants. If advanced enough, different Elemental Banishings appropriate to the Element associated with the thought, energy, or entity may be used, otherwise, the Earth Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is used.

4. The history of the Pentagram Ritual is somewhat obscure, according to recent occultists. No other operations like it devolve from antiquity, says Regardie, although some form must necessarily have been used for banishing. According to Regardie, Eliphas Levi makes the first reference to the Pentagram Ritual in TRANSCENDENTAL MAGIC: "The sign of the Cross adopted by the Christians does not exclusively belong to them. It is also Kabbalistic and represents the oppositions and tetradic equilibrium of the Elements. There were originally two methods of making it (the Cross); one reserved for the priests and initiates, the other set apart for the neophytes and profane. Thus, for example, the initiate, raising his hand to his forehead said: 'Thine is', then brought his hand to his breast, saying: 'the Kingdom', then, transferred his hand to the left shoulder saying: 'Justice', and finally, to the right shoulder, saying: 'and Mercy'. Then, joining his hands together, added: 'through the generating age'. TIBI SUNT MALCHUT ET GEBURAH ET CHESED PER AEONAS - a sign of the cross which is absolutely and splendidly Kabbalistic, and which the profanations of the Gnosis have entirely lost to the official and militant church. The sign made in this manner should precede and terminate the Conjuration of the Four". That Levi's work is the first place that Regardie finds reference to the Ritual is not surprising since, according to LEGENDA DES FRERES AINES DE LA ROSE CROIX: Levi was the 52nd Imperator of the Rose Croix, succeeding Lord Bulwar Lytton, 51st Imperator, author of ZANONI, and succeeded by W. Wynn Westcott, 53rd Imperator of the Rose Croix, Supreme Magus of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, and one of the founding Heads of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

5. Tradition, still used in Tibetan and Orthodox Jewish Kabbalistic circles, holds that Names of Power should be vibrated , not merely spoken. Occultists affirm that the student must discover this mode of pronouncing the Words him/herself, since no two individuals are alike and can produce the same vocalization. Some have used a high-pitched, even shrill voice, to appropriate effect, while others affirm a deeply resonated pitch or one that is slightly higher than ordinary vocalization is most suitable. Some individuals even vary the pitch during an Operation. Regardie, in THE MIDDLE PILLAR, affirms that each syllable should be evenly vibrated, no syllable being accentuated at the expense of another. A number of occultists claim that the test of the proper "vibrating of the Names" is that it should should be felt in every part of the body, particularly in the hands and the soles of the feet, where a distinct "tingling" sensation will be felt upon vibrating the Names and Words forcibly, but not necessarily loudly. Qabalistically, the manifestation of Power and Light emanating downward on the Tree of Life, begins in the Cardinal Signs of the Four Elements and ends in the Mutable Signs that rule over the furthest extension of each Elemental Power or Light in each corresponding Qabalistic World. In the Microcosm or Man, the furthest extension of the Light of each Element occurs in his limbs. Viz: Virgo, in the hands; Gemini, in the arms; Pisces, in the feet; and Sagittarius, in the thighs or legs.

6. Different imaging of the Archangels at the four Quadrants of the Universe have been described by various contemporary occultists. One has already been given, which uses background colors and imagery that is consonant with Hermetic and Rosicrucian Philosophy concerning the four Elements and their Inhabitants. Other imaginings involve the use of the Magical application of the Laws of vibrating opposites, such as imagining the Archangels to be clothed in garments of contrasting opposite colors that correspond to the Element of a particular Quadrant. Another imaging involves the analysis of the Hebrew letters that comprise the Name of the Angel, Archangel or other entity. For Raphael, the 1st letter, RESH, is attributed to the Sun, so that the head of Raphael has a Solar Glory about it; the 2nd letter, PEH, is attributed to Mars, so that the body of Raphael is Martial in appearance; and finally, the ALEPH-LAMED or EL which concludes the Name is attributed to Elemental Air and Libra. This indicates that, according to at least one occultist of note, the images should weild the Sword and the Balance, the Sword being the weapon of Air and the Balance attributed to Libra. Initially, the student should imagine only what he/she is capable of imaging clearly and brilliantly. At first, the forms will appear to be static, almost posterlike images, but will gradually take on a "living" quality of their own. Instead of seeing, for example, an Archangel robed in scarlet red and emerald green as if merely painted on a card, the student will perceive a feeling, a sensation that "a power, an intelligence" exists in the form he/she is imagining. The robes may move and scintillate like shot silk, having a peculiar vibratory appearance. The student may "feel" the Element of the Archangel to manifest itself: in moving breezes for AIR; the cool sensation of the Ocean mist, for WATER; the powerful heat and Light for FIRE; and the solidity, stability and muskiness for the EARTH Element. The inhabitants of the Elements may appear on their own, as Salamanders for FIRE; Undines or Mermaids for WATER; Sylphs or Churubic-like figures for AIR; and small Gnome-like beings for EARTH. Some of the techniques involve slight knowledge of Hebrew letters and their Qabalistic correspondences in the Tarot, which some esotericists assert to be the pictorial representation of the Tree of Life extended in the Four Worlds. These techniques can be used at a later time, and incorporated when one has mastered the Hermetic/Qabalistic knowledge found in various authors on Occult Philosophy. Manly Palmer Hall, although encyclopedic in his knowledge concerning the Hidden Wisdom, was very cautious when giving explicit instruction involving MAGIA. Regardie and authors connected to the secret teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, such as Dion Fortune, Paul Foster Case, Ann Davies, A.E. Waite, and others were at times suggestive, sometimes obscure, purposefully or otherwise, and sometimes quite open in revelation. A number of those authors were violating their Magical Oaths of that Order by disclosing certain Knowledge, others were intentionally veiling their knowledge, while others knew little but pretended to know much. The prudent student must be on their guard and practice skepticism in regard to much that has been published on "occultism". Other authors, sworn to secrecy at initiation into various Orders, such as Papus, Eliphas Levi, Stanislaus de Guita, and others, included intentional "blinds" to lead the profane or uninitiated away from true Gnosis.

To trace the Earth Banishing Pentagram, according to certain occultists, use a small, straight-bladed steel dagger, or index finger of the right hand, or a wand, bring the outstreched right arm over and down to the left side, to a point in front of the body corresponding to just about the middle of the thigh. Move the arm and hand straight upwards to a point directly above the head as far as the arm will reach. Descend straight down towards the right side of the body, coming to the point in front of the right thigh that would correspond to the same point on the left side of the Pentagram. These movements will have traced a large inverted "V", about 2-3 feet high. Move the outstreched arm over towards the left to slightly above the left shoulder, as far to the left as your arm will go. Then, trace it horizontally, straight across to a point just above the right shoulder and as far as the arm went to the left, but no further, trace the line to the right. And last, bring the arm and hand straight down, diagonally, to connect back to where you started from. This last part is very important, according to a number of occultists: that the complete connection of the beginning and ending of the lineal drawing of the Pentagram, both in the imagination, and as drawn by the Magical Weapon is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL. This is true of all lineal figures traced in the Astral Light.