| The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is a foundation of ceremonial magick and widely used in many traditions. It is ideal for cleaning out energies in preparation for ritual and for creating sacred space. As a regular practice it is very helpful in spiritual development and magickal training. In this tape Judith Wise-Rhoads gives background, details and pronunciations, and then guides you through the complete ritual. Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram By Judith Wise-Rhoads Many already know this ritual, but it warrants the effort to make everyone aware of it. The Lesser Banishing Ritual is from the Kabala (also spelled Kabbalah, Qabalah, Kaballa just pick one). The Kabala is Hebrew mysticism, although I believe it is older than even their traditions. The Kabala came to the Craft during the Burning Times. In those days Witches and Jews would hide each other from fanatic mobs bent on burning them in the name of religion. In such intimate circumstances, exchanges of knowledge often took place. Most Witches seem to be eclectic in their beliefs. They may more rightly be called Witch-Magicians because they sometimes include ceremonial magick in rituals. Our own motto is if it works, use it but if it is not positive: DON'T! It is a good rule of thumb to keep you honest and out of trouble.1 The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is a big help in clearing all vibrations in you and your working area, not just negative vibes. This is good. If you last worked on getting a promotion and now you need a healing, this would be like scrubbing a pot before you use it again. Always begin with a signal, usually a knock on the altar with your athame. It can be 1, 2, 3 knocks however many you want, as long as you keep the number the same. If you use 3 knocks, always use 3 knocks. This is your signal to the Powers That Be that you are ready and starting the ritual or ending it, with the same number of knocks. This is a courtesy, do not neglect it. It is like saying hello and goodbye. The ritual dagger (athame) represents the extension of your Will into the higher realms. It is traditionally black handled. In some traditions it is double edged. In some traditions it is sharp. It is not required, though. Use whatever symbol works best for you. The most common alternative is to extend your first and second fingers, a blessing gesture, like the Pope. (Wonder where he got that from?) The Hebrew words in the text are spelled as you would say them. This is the best one can do when learning a ritual from print without a teacher to intone the words for you.* Just do your best. Practice vibrating the words. You know you are vibrating them right when your lips tingle. Go up and down the scale when intoning, when you hit your best volume and tone, you'll feel it. You will also use the gesture of The Enterer. Ritual gestures and movements are an important part of a great many spiritual traditions. Yoga is the most familiar example. Gestures convey a complete thought or meaning in a ritual, sort of ritual shorthand. That is why you may stand or face a certain place or raise your arms or step forward in a seemingly odd way. Remember that all gestures have meaning. The gesture of The Enterer represents opening and stepping through the Veil to the secret knowledge and higher realms beyond. The Lesser Banishing Ritual uses a special version of this gesture. It is combined with projecting energy into the forms that you visualize, to place them beyond the Veil. While inhaling one breath, bring your arms up from your waist, keeping them straight and fingers in blessing, till they are straight out in front of you. During the same inhalation, bring your hands back to your ears. Then vibrate the appropriate word while stepping forward with the left foot, thrusting forward both hands (still pointing forward in the blessing gesture) and visualizing the energy that you project from your eyes and exhalation. The Kabbalistic Cross Stand in front of the altar, which is in the center of the circle, facing north. Turn to face east and knock to open the ritual. Hold the dagger in your right hand, point to your:
forehead and vibrate
AH-TAH
root chakrum (groin) and vibrate
MAHL-KOOT
right shoulder and vibrate
VIH-G'BURAH
left shoulder and vibrate
VIH-G'DOO-LAH.
Clasp hands to chest in prayer and vibrate
LIH-OH-LAM, AMEN See light going through your body from point to point, forming a cross. See a rose in the center of the cross. This is the Kabbalistic Cross. End of the Kabalistic Cross Forming the
Pentagrams FIRST PENTAGRAM: Still in front of the altar2 and still facing east, draw a pentagram with your athame or first two fingers. Begin with the line from the lower left point to the top to invoke Spirit. See the pentagram as gas-jet blue flame. Inhale slowly through your nose while doing the following: Keeping your arms straight, slowly swing them straight up until they are straight out in front of you. Draw your hands straight back to your ears with first two fingers on each hand in the blessing gesture, pointing in front of you. Feel energy flow down through you, through your feet and into the Earth. Step forward with your left foot while thrusting your hands from your ears to the center of the pentagram and vibrating YOD-HEH-VAHV-HEH. Relax. Point to the center of the pentagram. Turn to the south while visualizing `drawing' a bright white line starting from the center of the pentagram in the east to what will be the center of the one you will draw in the south. SUBSEQUENT PENTAGRAMS:
In the south, repeat the above procedure, but vibrate AH-DOH-NAI.
In the west, repeat the above procedure, but vibrate EH-HEH-YEH.
In the north, repeat the above procedure, but vibrate AGLA. Continue the line to the east to close the circle. Invocation of the Archangels Facing east, spread your arms straight out to form the tau cross. Visualize in front of you a man on a hill dressed in yellow. Say, BEFORE ME RAH-FAY-EL! Visualize behind you a man in blue surrounded by waterfalls. Say, BEHIND ME GAHB-RAY-EL! Visualize to your right a man in scarlet with a flaming sword. Say, ON MY RIGHT HAND MIH-KHAI-EL! Visualize to your left a giant man in green and brown on a fertile landscape. Say, ON MY LEFT HAND OR-REE-EL! FOR ABOUT ME FLAMES THE PENTAGRAM AND WITHIN ME SHINES THE SIX RAYED STAR. Repeat the Kabbalistic Cross, but do not knock. You will close with knocks only after the final repeat of the Kabbalistic Cross at the end of the entire ritual. Middle Pillar Technique Stand hands at the sides, eyes closed, steady stomach breathing (rather than breathing with the chest); mind quiet, calm, still. Focus your attention just above your head. Visualize a brilliant white sphere (the Sephira of Kether). This may take some time. Regard the sphere with a type of devotion this is the spatial equivalent of the vital core of your being. This should make the light stronger, imbuing it with power. Now vibrate EH-HEH-YEH (the God Name for Kether) 3 or 4 times. See a beam of light coming from Kether to the nape of the neck (Dah-at). Here it widens into a ball of light (optionally purple or lavender-blue), not as large as Kether. Regard it as a link to your conscious and it will grow as above. Vibrate the God Name YOD-HEH-VAHV-HEH EL-OH-HEEM 3 or 4 times. The beam descends to your Heart Solar Plexus area (the Sephira of Tipheret). As you expand it into a ball of light (optionally green), feel a warmth, as from an internal sun. Vibrate YOD-HEH-VAHV-HEH EL-OH-AH VE-DAH-AT. The beam now descends to the center of your generative organs. Form the beam into a pulsing sphere (the Sephira of Yesod). Vibrate SHAH-DAI EL KHAI. Continue to your feet and visualize a sphere. (This is the Sephira of the Sephira of Mahlkoot, optionally black or dark-green. You may have felt a tingling here when you started.) Vibrate AH-DOH-NAI HA-AHR-ETZ. Circulation of the Body of Light After the Middle Pillar, refocus your attention on Kether. Visualize it sending a current of energy down your head to your left shoulder, down under the soles of your feet, up the right side of your body to the neck, head and back to Kether. Exhale as you send the energy down, inhale as it rises. Again concentrate on Kether. This time, send the energy down in front of you down your face, chest, abdomen, under your soles, up the back of your legs, up your spine to your neck, head and back to Kether. Repeat either process several times. This will produce wheels of power at the edge of your aura. Visualize the entire Middle Pillar. Focus your attention on Mahlkoot. From the upper right side of this sphere, visualize the energy curling in a tight spiral to the front of your left leg and then around back. This energy mummy wrap continues up your body to Kether. You should feel a whirling of spiritual power as the pure white light and energy rises up in spirals to Kether. Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram Analysis of the Keyword Face east, hands out to form a tau cross (dagger point up, if you have one) and say:
I. N. R. I. YOD NUHN RAISH YOD THE SIGN OF OSIRIS SLAIN. Form an L (right hand up), look at your left hand, head bowed, and say:
L THE SIGN OF THE
MOURNING OF ISIS. Form a V (both arms up 60), tilt head back, look up and say:
V THE SIGN OF
TYPHON AND APOPHIS Form an X (cross arms on breast, right over left), bow head and say:
X THE SIGN OF
OSIRIS RISEN Form all three signs in order as you say: L. V. X.: LUX Bow head, arms still in X, and continue: THE LIGHT OF THE CROSS Look forward, form the tau cross and say:
VIRGO, ISIS, MIGHTY MOTHER
SCORPIO, APOPHIS, DESTROYER
SOL, OSIRIS, SLAIN AND RISEN Gradually raise arms to form the V while saying: ISIS! APOPHIS! OSIRIS! As your arms reach the full V, throw back your head, look up and vibrate: IAO! (ee-ah-oh) Aspire to the Light, draw it down over your head to your feet. Then, as you slowly lower your arms back down to your sides, say: LET THE DIVINE LIGHT DESCEND. End of the Analysis of the Keyword Forming the Hexagrams Standing in front of the altar facing east, `draw' the Hexagram of Air in golden flame (always). Point to the middle of the common line and vibrate: ARARITA (ahr-ahr-ee-tah).
As with Pentagram ritual, draw a line of white line from the middle of the first hexagram to what will be the middle of the second in the south. Draw the hexagram of Fire. Point to the center of the base line of the upper triangle, vibrate: ARARITA.
Draw the white light to the west. Draw the Hexagram of Water. Point at the junction and vibrate: ARARITA. Draw the white light to the north. Draw the Hexagram of Earth. Point at the center and vibrate: ARARITA. Complete the circle of white light. Repeat Analysis of the Keyword. End the ritual with the Kabbalistic Cross and knocks. Further Study On the first reading this ritual may seem dauntingly complex. But once you are familiar with each part it takes only a little practice to put them all together. You will soon find that it only takes about ten minutes, even performing it slowly. I sometimes take longer because I like to feel the energy and strengthen it and keep the visualization going in the Middle Pillar. It is very enjoyable. There is a lot more about this ritual and others to be found in Don Kraig's Modern Magick. I highly recommend this excellent book for any library. * This ritual and further discussion are available on cassette for $9. See page 33 for more info. 1) Always err on the side of good karma. Remember, this lifetime is too important to mess up! This is the big one, the Great Purification, the jump to the next rung of the ladder. You make it or you stay back. We want to see all of you on the boat. 2) Optionally, you can step toward the edge of your Circle to draw the pentagrams. Then you will walk to each compass point rather than pivot to face them. You will end up standing at the east when you complete the circle. Return to the altar for the next step. | 
