tables of practice
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I've been reading blogs and things by people who practice older systems of Western esotericism, and one remark I read is that creating a Table of Practice for one's altar, such as this one from Trithemius's Art of Drawing Spirits Into Crystals http://docs.google.com/File?id=dddfsnkx_287grzdm or the one from the Ars Paulina in the Lemegeton, obviates the need for penta/hexagram rituals, performing all their functions on its own. Can anyone else deny/confirm this?
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I'm sceptical - unless you do something particular to charge and delineate the design to take care of that. Even then, I would expect it to need periodic refreshing.
Plus, you probably aren't on the altar top.
Plus, the pentagram and hexagram rituals accomplish a great deal more than simply banishing. They make changes in the magician that help set up the right conditions for success in most ceremonies.