LBRP & The Great Work
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Crowley Insists that the LBRP is MUCH more than just a banishing ritual.
I have a few questions and comments, as I am trying to figure out if I am on the right path here.To me, while we invoke the four archangels they exist here in malkuth simultaneously in higher densities of existence. When we perform the ritual we create this channel that allows manifestation. We can invoke higher vibrational energies ("as above") and they will manifest here in malkuth ("So below"). The archangels are a vibrational match to the energies we are invoking.
The original intent of the Order was to bring LVX here to earth. I believe we are doing this with the LBRP. And this is the essence of the great-work.
We can invoke harmonics of LVX when we are working from a non-judgemental space (the heart) to bring forces to manifest a certain desire. I.E scoring a job, winning a prize, etc. And so long as it is a harmonic of LVX, the universe will manifest it in a way that brings no harm to anyone, WHILE bringing the light to earth. Hence we are performing the great work while creating observable magickal effects.
This is how I am starting to understand the ritual, and specifically my duty to humanity as an initiate of the order. Has anyone else arrived at similar conclusions?
I'm also wondering why is it that we stand at the crossroads of sameckh & peh when performing this ritual? LVX comes from Kether, does it not?
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I'll tell you one of the things I learned about the LRP. Those four Divine Names you vibrate represent the four different levels of Consciousness of YHVH.
You've heard of "confusing the planes"? Well this is naming and ordering the planes, and standing the most appropriate Intelligence as go between you and you experience of that plane.
Just for instance, the fourth "name" is not even a name. It's a statement of relationship that requires an entirely different perspective than that of the state of consciousness of "Adonai." Like that.
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Why did AC declare to involve often (from Abramelin originally), surely to use the invoking ritual of the pentagram more regularly would be more important? Only using the banishing in order to clear spaces when required and invoking in order to connect to the divine?
Banishing can make you feel drained and empty, whilst invoking adds to your spiritual strength and focus.
Wondering if anyone can enlightened me additionally. -
@ptoner said
"Why did AC declare to involve often (from Abramelin originally), surely to use the invoking ritual of the pentagram more regularly would be more important? Only using the banishing in order to clear spaces when required and invoking in order to connect to the divine?
Banishing can make you feel drained and empty, whilst invoking adds to your spiritual strength and focus.
Wondering if anyone can enlightened me additionally."You mean "Why did AC declare to invoke often?" And yes, it comes originally to the tradition from Abramelin's instructions.
Taken literally to represent the specific concept of magickal ritual, that can seem daunting. But he says "often," and not "constantly," so there is time for invoking calories, and invoking herbs, and invoking songs, and in-vocating.... as I see fit.
Taken not so literally, it means that I should bring inward often.
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@Jim Eshelman said
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@ptoner said
"Banishing can make you feel drained and empty"Then you're doing it wrong. (Really wrong.) The effect should be quite the opposite."
I did say "can", I have heard other friends saying that it drains them but I have never had that effect at all.
Quite the opposite in fact. I took what these, experienced adepts said and thought i had been wrong all these years.
So please excuse my basic sentence earlier.So is it just the Golden Dawn that has issues with the LBRP being used regularly then?
As for using the Lesser invoking ritual of the Pentagram, when should it be used? -
@ptoner said
"So is it just the Golden Dawn that has issues with the LBRP being used regularly then?"
Who says the GD had such an issue? (I may have lost track of something in the discussion above, and you may have made this clear.) Routine GD counsel was quite the opposite, i.e., regular (e.g., daily) performance.
"As for using the Lesser invoking ritual of the Pentagram, when should it be used?"
This has been discussed many times on this forum. I shy away from drawing hard lines in the sand, and your "should" invokes those. But a few remarks:
First, the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" rule: Don't invoke anything until you can banish. More broadly, at the beginning one should IMO spend an extended time (a month? varies...) doing only the banishing. This ritual has great capacity to balance/equilibrate the aura, stabilize one's relationship to the ritual and its many layers, etc. Also think of it as a ceremonial equivalent to "purifying the nadis" in pranayama.
But then the invoking should be incorporated. Once one hits a stride, the most routine recommendation is to do each daily, though this is by no means a hard rule. There are different views on the particulars of time of day etc. For example, the traditional recommendation is to invoke in the morning and banish in the evening; however, this runs entirely contrary to my sense of the nature of the rituals. In simple terms, the invoking prepares one to move inward, into spiritual work e.g. into a prepared temple space, and a banishing (among other elements) prepares one to go back out into the world. It's easier for me to argue for banishing in the morning and invoking at night than the other way around.
More generally, one performs the invoking to ready oneself for other work. Whether or not to precede this with a banishing depends on many things, such as whether you are working in a temple or other space set aside for magick, or whether you are working in a space that has normal comings and goings of a family's life. In other words, does the space need clearing to be brought to zero, or does it persist around the clock as a reserved space?
One protocol, then, might be something like: Banishing in the morning. Then, in the evening, a set-aside period of an hour or two for work, which you begin with a generic banishing and then invoking, perform the other work, write the diary, and close with a final banishing.
Probably for many years, you will banish far more than you invoke. In general, you won't want to "walk around" in a post-invoking state throughout your day (at a job, doing the business of life, public or private transportation, etc.) anymore than you might want to routinely walk around on LSD throughout your day (and for much the same reasons).
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"Who says the GD had such an issue? (I may have lost track of something in the discussion above, and you may have made this clear.) Routine GD counsel was quite the opposite, i.e., regular (e.g., daily) performance."
Just a Youtube Video I watched recently from Nick Farrell in relation to GD LBRP myths. Should have just pressed the ignore button them Jim!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxPttRJxBTgAs for the invoking response, that is exactly what I have been looking for. Many thanks.
@Vadox said
"Well if rituals drain you, then you are doing to much of them. I found that the simplier i do the more steady, slow growing and more grounding energies are."
Thanks for the tips Vadox.
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Yeah.... I may start going with Jim's prescription.
Call it what you will, I personally tend to be naturally turned on, and banishing at night is typically necessary just to turn it all off, which is a blessing.
But I've been invoking in the morning, which turns it all on all day long. And that gets crazy busy, internally speaking, distracting from work and normal-people life.
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I'd say too that if rituals are leaving one feeling drained it could be an indication that the performance is - I don't want to say "incorrect" but - maybe not as efficient as it could be.
As an example, for many years I had used the technique of vibrating divine names in the Pentagram and Hexagram rituals in section III of Liber O - forcefully using the sign of the enterer - before I came on here and read James Eshelman's thoughts on this as a seperate technique as "Vibration by the Formula of the Middle Pillar", and his suggestion to rather touch the centre of the Pentagram / Hexagram and intone the divine name.
Now I'm aware that many Thelemic magicians and writers go with the former practice / interpretation of Liber O, but from having had quite a few years of experience of using both methods, I opt for Eshelman's version, for the simple reason that - in my opinion - the forceful vibration of divine names using the sign of enterer, which is supposed to "entirely exhaust (one's) physical strength" and "cause (one) to grow hot all over, or to perspire violently, and it should so weaken (one) that (one) will find it difficult to remain standing", simply requires far too much energy / "energised enthusiasm" to be practical. The alternative of simply touching the centre of the Pentagram / Hexagram and vibrating (intoning) the name is a lot more efficient, and doesn't take away from the efficacy of the ritual, in my experience.
Considering that one may well be doing a ceremony which requires a LBRP and LBRH at the start, followed by a GIRH and finishing with a GBRH, forcefully vibrating every divine name with the sign of the enterer method is going to be an incredible test of stamina!
As already said, a LBRP should not leave one feeling drained. Also make sure you are closing the Pentagrams correctly when drawing them, and that you are using the correct colours in visualisation / intention (i.e. don't be banishing Earth over and over when you are just trying to do a generic banishing).
When it comes to invoking in the morning and banishing in the evening, or vice versa, experimentation in this regard is worth undertaking. I've done both and my preference would be for banishing in the morning and invoking in the evening (I don't want to frontload anyone's experience but this had a definite and remarkable particular effect on my night's dreaming anytime I did it). The "crazy busy" energy and also a general sensitivity / vulnerability in mental / psychic terms matches my own experience when invoking in the morning. I have found that general invocation is very useful at the start of a session of meditation, with a general banishing to close the session. Also this indicates the importance of always banishing if one has invoked. As far as I know, the only invocations that don't require a likewise banishing are the invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel and the Middle Pillar ritual (provided one is using the Queen Scale colours or only white light) including the circulations of light (being a general invocation but with the circulations being able to strengthen the aura and in some cases forming an astral shield).
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@ptoner said
"Banishing can make you feel drained and empty, whilst invoking adds to your spiritual strength and focus."
This is wildly inaccurate in my experience.
Invoking tends to ramp up the energy no doubt and at it's peak leaves one experiencing a greater degree of aliveness (depending on the energy that is invoked. I'm referring to the general LIRP). But as time goes on, one's capacity to contain, focus and direct the energy declines exponentially which leads to symptoms such as feeling physically ill, mentally scattered and emotionally drained. These symptoms indicate the NEED to banish and an extreme example of this experience is the NEED to inhale after one has held their breath for too long. So it's actually quite the opposite of what you said.
Also, I'm a fan of Invoking at night and Banishing during the day. As BDC pointed out, the effect invoking has on my dreams is incredible. I seem to sleep deeper and harder, which makes waking up in the morning a little more difficult. But since I work in a high populated area and deal with high stress situations ever hour, invoking in the morning renders me more useless than useful.