Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram

[DeTerminator]

Hello Wizard Forum folks!

This is my first post, and thankyou for allowing me to ask a question! My question is concerning ritual magick, of which I have been studying and practicing daily for 4 months by reading books and watching YouTube videos, and applying that information. My main book starting out is the Modern Magick book by Donald Michael Kraig, as well as reading and watching mostly Damien Echols books and videos. I've been doing the LBRP, LBH, and the Middle Column and Distribution of Light exercises every day lately. Now I'm at the point where I've been doing the LIRP for a few weeks in the morning, or at least I believe it to be that. I'm making the reverse direction LBRP Pentagrams of Earth, by starting from the top of the Pentagram (Spirit), in all four quarters, and performed otherwise the same as the LBRP. My question is, is this how I invoke the Earth element, or do I need to add to the ritual by maybe starting out facing the North, and proceeding from that point, instead of beginning in the East, as usual? I saw that Mr. Echols has his students invoke the Earth element in the beginning of their early learning for a few weeks or so, then proceeding with the other elements as they progress. So I would like to know if I am continuing down the best path for me. Then the question becomes as I invoke other elements after spending a few weeks or so on each one, do I then follow the other invoking Pentagram directions for that element? Example: invoking fire by starting at Spirit, then down to the lower right corner, and continuing drawing that Pentagram in the four Quarters? Other colors could also be used in the Pentagrams, instead of the usual electric blue as is the usual for the LBRP. Example would be yellow for the Air element, red for Fire, green for Earth. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Post automatically merged: Jan 8, 2025

It just hit me when I started my daily practice a few minutes ago that I had written Middle Column instead of Middle Pillar....Eh, Moon is now heading for a sextile to Saturn.

 

[HoldAll]

My own experience is with the LBRP (which I've been doing twice daily for almost a year now), not with the LIRP but I'll describe my own perspective concerning the distinction between those two rituals at the end.

• Directions: I read somewhere that it's traditional to begin facing East simply because of the originator of the LBRP, i.e. the Golden Dawn - you face East because that's where dawn happens every morning, not because of some other arcane reason. I started out facing East as well but after a while felt stupid because that meant starting out with a view of a huge bookcase (even with my eyes closed) standing in the room I perform the LBRP in, so I switched to South where the window is, which seems to be a better solution.
• 
  
• I'm forever grateful to Damien Echols for pointing out that the four directional/elemental angels are not the same as the big heavy-hitting archangels of the Bible or the Kabbalah and of a rather inferior rank instead. Nevertheless, I think it is a mistake to ignore them completely. Evoking Uriel for earth in every cardinal direction would be hard to process for me from a common-sense standpoint - so where is that angel now, East, West, North or South, all over the place, what?
• 
  
• I don't have time right now to research what Damien Echols, Donald Michael Kraig or Foolish Fish or the original GD documents say, for me it's Michael on my right, Gabriel on my left just as in the old Jewish prayer (we even have a book called "On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture" in our Library - link updated); I put Raphael in front of me in the South and Uriel in the North because this way the Earth literally has my back and provides firm support and stability. A better beginner's approach would be to sense differences between the philosophical elements and the personalities of the angels right from the start, in my opion.
• 
  
• I personally leave the pentagrams coloured electric (or 'gas-flame') blue and imagine them turning burning red when I push them out (yeah, I know, some people pierce them, there are all kinds of variations) and imagine them to become activated as a result. That colour change was and is still difficult to picture in my mind's eye for me, colouring them according to the elements would be next to impossible for me at that stage but if you can pull it off, sure, why not?
• 
  
• Here is the most important point I will try to describe, and mind you, it's highly subjective and personal and is in no way meant to be dogmatic: The way the pentagrams are drawn by the operator strike me as completely arbitrary. I have trouble imagining earth, for example, to be banished by an upward movement which symbolizes some invigorating or exhilarating effect for me, like a plane taking off. And do I really want to 'banish' Earth? After all, I'll subsequently evoke Uriel, does that mean I'll have to banish that angel as well? An orthodox GD mage would consider those questions heresy but I just can't wrap my head around it, and more and more people seem to use 'LRB' instead of distinguishing between the LBRP and the LIRP.

One last thing: I'm very very paranoid about deceiving myself (see my signature line). Whenever I read on the internet that the LRP is supposed this or that, that you're supposed to sense this or that 'energy', etc. I always ask myself: Do I really feel that? If not, would it be useful to employ autosuggestion and thus somehow induce the most appropriate sensation? That's what e.g. I currently ask myself about the Middle Pillar I've recently begun to include in my daily practice - all by itself, the visualizations and those Hebrew words do next to nothing for me yet, so should I gently nudge myself into feeling warmth coming from above, for example? Again, that's just me and my fear of fooling myself; other more gifted sensitive people won't need to hynotize themselves into feeling the effects of a given ritual - thick occult me does.

Post automatically merged: Jan 9, 2025

There is also a whole little book on the LBRP which @Taudefindi was so good to reupload:

Book – PDF - Frater Abiyah - LBRP: The Genius Child of the Golden Dawn

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is one of the jewels in the crown of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Created in the late nineteenth century, and drawing on ancient Kabbalistic, Jewish and Biblical roots, it has become one of the most popular and significant rituals of...

wizardforums.com

 

[DeTerminator]

My own experience is with the LBRP (which I've been doing twice daily for almost a year now), not with the LIRP but I'll describe my own perspective concerning the distinction between those two rituals at the end.

• Directions: I read somewhere that it's traditional to begin facing East simply because of the originator of the LBRP, i.e. the Golden Dawn - you face East because that's where dawn happens every morning, not because of some other arcane reason. I started out facing East as well but after a while felt stupid because that meant starting out with a view of a huge bookcase (even with my eyes closed) standing in the room I perform the LBRP in, so I switched to South where the window is, which seems to be a better solution.
• 
  
• I'm forever grateful to Damien Echols for pointing out that the four directional/elemental angels are not the same as the big heavy-hitting archangels of the Bible or the Kabbalah and of a rather inferior rank instead. Nevertheless, I think it is a mistake to ignore them completely. Evoking Uriel for earth in every cardinal direction would be hard to process for me from a common-sense standpoint - so where is that angel now, East, West, North or South, all over the place, what?
• 
  
• I don't have time right now to research what Damien Echols, Donald Michael Kraig or Foolish Fish or the original GD documents say, for me it's Michael on my right, Gabriel on my left just as in the old Jewish prayer (we even have a book called "On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture" in our Library - link updated); I put Raphael in front of me in the South and Uriel in the North because this way the Earth literally has my back and provides firm support and stability. A better beginner's approach would be to sense differences between the philosophical elements and the personalities of the angels right from the start, in my opion.
• 
  
• I personally leave the pentagrams coloured electric (or 'gas-flame') blue and imagine them turning burning red when I push them out (yeah, I know, some people pierce them, there are all kinds of variations) and imagine them to become activated as a result. That colour change was and is still difficult to picture in my mind's eye for me, colouring them according to the elements would be next to impossible for me at that stage but if you can pull it off, sure, why not?
• 
  
• Here is the most important point I will try to describe, and mind you, it's highly subjective and personal and is in no way meant to be dogmatic: The way the pentagrams are drawn by the operator strike me as completely arbitrary. I have trouble imagining earth, for example, to be banished by an upward movement which symbolizes some invigorating or exhilarating effect for me, like a plane taking off. And do I really want to 'banish' Earth? After all, I'll subsequently evoke Uriel, does that mean I'll have to banish that angel as well? An orthodox GD mage would consider those questions heresy but I just can't wrap my head around it, and more and more people seem to use 'LRB' instead of distinguishing between the LBRP and the LIRP.

One last thing: I'm very very paranoid about deceiving myself (see my signature line). Whenever I read on the internet that the LRP is supposed this or that, that you're supposed to sense this or that 'energy', etc. I always ask myself: Do I really feel that? If not, would it be useful to employ autosuggestion and thus somehow induce the most appropriate sensation? That's what e.g. I currently ask myself about the Middle Pillar I've recently begun to include in my daily practice - all by itself, the visualizations and those Hebrew words do next to nothing for me yet, so should I gently nudge myself into feeling warmth coming from above, for example? Again, that's just me and my fear of fooling myself; other more gifted sensitive people won't need to hynotize themselves into feeling the effects of a given ritual - thick occult me does.

Post automatically merged: Jan 9, 2025

There is also a whole little book on the LBRP which @Taudefindi was so good to reupload:

Book – PDF - Frater Abiyah - LBRP: The Genius Child of the Golden Dawn

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is one of the jewels in the crown of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Created in the late nineteenth century, and drawing on ancient Kabbalistic, Jewish and Biblical roots, it has become one of the most popular and significant rituals of...

wizardforums.com

Thanks for your reply, HoldAll! It turns out that facing East works out well for me. There is a former fish tank stand there, which serves as an altar of sorts, and also holds up a large mirror. I can choose to have my eyes closed, or open to use that way to aid in visualization as needed.

From what I understand from reading Damien Echols book, Angels and Archangels, the names of at least some of the Archangels is to be considered like being a first name, or a hint at what their powers or abilities are. So an Archangel named Michael can refer to other angelic beings besides the Biblical Michael, having similar duties/skills as that one, as you had mentioned. Yes, it would be difficult to place one elemental Archangel in the other elemental directions. I ask about the LIRP because there does not seem to be much information on it in the material that I have seen. The directions in which to draw the invoking Pentagrams are listed, but then that seems to be the extant of using that knowledge. Maybe that Black Brick by Regardie goes into it further, or other books written by the Cicero's. I don't have those at the moment.

I have used the same directions of the Archangels as you use, but not in the current Ceremonial Magick that I'm learning now. Michael was in the South (right side), Gabriel in the North (left), Urial in the East (in front), and Rafael (behind) in the West. This I got from other books that had information on Archangels. I had used them to construct a ritual that involved going into a dark closet that had a mirror and a candle in it, and basically talking to them and other angels (well, in my head anyway), as well as deceased family members. I had my mother and brother pass away within three months of each other, which led to many strange events happening. This got me involved in attempting to learn and do as much as I could to establish contact with them as well as the angelic beings. I was going for my own version of a psychomanteum (

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Doing this type of daily ritual lasted about a year, and then I eventually dropped the practice after getting whatever I needed to get out of it. But yes, I did use those placements of Archangels as you do. Now I do what is recommended by the Golden Dawn type of practice.

It might be too early in my practice for me to feel the distinctions of variations that I could implement in doing the rituals. I have made slight changes, as far as which arm to draw the Pentagrams/Hexagrams and trace the circles and so forth, due to a right shoulder problem involving holding up that arm for extended periods. But I'm basically sticking to what others with more experience and expertise have to say.

Thanks again, HoldAll! I appreciate what you have had to say, and taking the time to do so.

DT

Post automatically merged: Jan 11, 2025

" Evoking Uriel for earth in every cardinal direction would be hard to process for me from a common-sense standpoint - so where is that angel now, East, West, North or South, all over the place, what?"

The above statement comes from what HoldAll (who was kind enough to respond to my request for more ideas on doing the LIRP (Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram), had to say about my own ideas on that topic. I looked a bit closer at the book that Damien Echols had written on Angels and Archangels, and he does comment on the LIRP ritual on the bottom of page 185 of that book. He mentions there about invoking the elements by using the Archangels that embody those elements. Also suggested is his idea of using just one of those four Archangels in each of the directions, if one of them appeals to you, or if there is a specific need in mind. As an example, he uses invoking Gabriel in all directions, not just in the West, of there is a need to heal emotional trauma. The use of the various directions for drawing invoking/banishing Pentagrams is not covered in this book, aside from the usual invoking Pentagram of the Earth element, by beginning that drawing at the top point (Spirit) down to the lower left (Earth). It is assumed that that particular Earth-invoking Pentagram is used in all four quarters, which is what seems to also be what Mr. Kraig alludes to in his Modern Magick book. There is still confusion in my mind how the different element-invoking Pentagrams are put to use in the LIRP, if they are used for that customarily. Or how Mr. Echols goes about doing a version of the LIRP by using the Archangels representing the elements that you wish to invoke. I'm beginning to think that each practitioner has to come up with their own way of constructing an element-invoking ritual, unless the step is made to do the Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram instead. I was hoping to find out the ways to do the LIRP, and put the various invoking Pentagrams to use, since I think it is the next step in my development. That step might mean devising my own version(s) of the LIRP. Thanks for reading this far!

DT

Post automatically merged: Jan 11, 2025

Thanks for your reply, HoldAll! It turns out that facing East works out well for me. There is a former fish tank stand there, which serves as an altar of sorts, and also holds up a large mirror. I can choose to have my eyes closed, or open to use that way to aid in visualization as needed.

From what I understand from reading Damien Echols book, Angels and Archangels, the names of at least some of the Archangels is to be considered like being a first name, or a hint at what their powers or abilities are. So an Archangel named Michael can refer to other angelic beings besides the Biblical Michael, having similar duties/skills as that one, as you had mentioned. Yes, it would be difficult to place one elemental Archangel in the other elemental directions. I ask about the LIRP because there does not seem to be much information on it in the material that I have seen. The directions in which to draw the invoking Pentagrams are listed, but then that seems to be the extant of using that knowledge. Maybe that Black Brick by Regardie goes into it further, or other books written by the Cicero's. I don't have those at the moment.

I have used the same directions of the Archangels as you use, but not in the current Ceremonial Magick that I'm learning now. Michael was in the South (right side), Gabriel in the North (left), Urial in the East (in front), and Rafael (behind) in the West. This I got from other books that had information on Archangels. I had used them to construct a ritual that involved going into a dark closet that had a mirror and a candle in it, and basically talking to them and other angels (well, in my head anyway), as well as deceased family members. I had my mother and brother pass away within three months of each other, which led to many strange events happening. This got me involved in attempting to learn and do as much as I could to establish contact with them as well as the angelic beings. I was going for my own version of a psychomanteum (

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Doing this type of daily ritual lasted about a year, and then I eventually dropped the practice after getting whatever I needed to get out of it. But yes, I did use those placements of Archangels as you do. Now I do what is recommended by the Golden Dawn type of practice.

It might be too early in my practice for me to feel the distinctions of variations that I could implement in doing the rituals. I have made slight changes, as far as which arm to draw the Pentagrams/Hexagrams and trace the circles and so forth, due to a right shoulder problem involving holding up that arm for extended periods. But I'm basically sticking to what others with more experience and expertise have to say.

Thanks again, HoldAll! I appreciate what you have had to say, and taking the time to do so.

DT

Post automatically merged: Jan 11, 2025

" Evoking Uriel for earth in every cardinal direction would be hard to process for me from a common-sense standpoint - so where is that angel now, East, West, North or South, all over the place, what?"

The above statement comes from what HoldAll (who was kind enough to respond to my request for more ideas on doing the LIRP (Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram), had to say about my own ideas on that topic. I looked a bit closer at the book that Damien Echols had written on Angels and Archangels, and he does comment on the LIRP ritual on the bottom of page 185 of that book. He mentions there about invoking the elements by using the Archangels that embody those elements. Also suggested is his idea of using just one of those four Archangels in each of the directions, if one of them appeals to you, or if there is a specific need in mind. As an example, he uses invoking Gabriel in all directions, not just in the West, of there is a need to heal emotional trauma. The use of the various directions for drawing invoking/banishing Pentagrams is not covered in this book, aside from the usual invoking Pentagram of the Earth element, by beginning that drawing at the top point (Spirit) down to the lower left (Earth). It is assumed that that particular Earth-invoking Pentagram is used in all four quarters, which is what seems to also be what Mr. Kraig alludes to in his Modern Magick book. There is still confusion in my mind how the different element-invoking Pentagrams are put to use in the LIRP, if they are used for that customarily. Or how Mr. Echols goes about doing a version of the LIRP by using the Archangels representing the elements that you wish to invoke. I'm beginning to think that each practitioner has to come up with their own way of constructing an element-invoking ritual, unless the step is made to do the Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram instead. I was hoping to find out the ways to do the LIRP, and put the various invoking Pentagrams to use, since I think it is the next step in my development. That step might mean devising my own version(s) of the LIRP. Thanks for reading this far!

DT