Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram - invoking vs banishing
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Regarding the "intersection of Peh and Samekh":
I've been imagining this as the point of stasis (not quite right that word - more like the area between 2 equal and opposite forces pushing or pulling in opposite directions which is both a place of non-movement and yet drastically different forces pulling). Basically I'm visualizing Peh as being Destruction and Samekh as being Creation.
I'm not sure that was Crowley's intent with those comments though (had seen that one before - was hoping for more juicy bits).
Would someone help me with better understanding the "intersection of Peh and Samekh": what that means, how to visualize it's relationship, etc.
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@Tinman said
"Would someone help me with better understanding the "intersection of Peh and Samekh": what that means, how to visualize it's relationship, etc."
For the purpose of this particular ritual, I think it's just important to know your symbolic location - and this strikes you however it does on a particular occassion.
But more generally discussing that intersection point - quite an essay could be written on this one location and its relationship to what has gone before on the Tree. (For example, it ties into the whole QShTh "bow / rainbow" symbolism, Path of the Arrow, Yesod as the Yod-Sod hand pulling the string etc. etc. etc.) Your word "stasis" is pretty good, in the sense of equilibrium, yet carries unfortunate implications of the static and rigid (which would not apply). Aside from the red/blue natures of the two individual Paths, note that this point (which is essentially the location of the critical point of the Portal ceremony - hence all this equilibrium) is perfectly balanced both horizontally and vertically. It is the point where the equilibrium of Netzach and Hod (and thus of the two pillars in general) intersects with the eqiulibrium of Yesod and Tiphereth (Moon and Sun).
The two Paths also share the number 800. This number is the value of Peh-final, and also of QShTh, qesheth, Hebrew for "Sagittarius."
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I never understood Crowley’s intent behind his instructions to stand “at the intersection of the paths of Samekh and Pe”, facing Tiphareth. Visually and logically it does not seem to be satisfying.
Compare his instructions to the Qabalistic Cross. In the latter the practitioner “backs himself” into the Tree, facing outward, head corresponding to Tiphareth, feet in Malkuth. The QC stance implies the right shoulder matches Hod (“the Power”) and the left shoulder matches Netzach (“the Glory”). There is a logical top>bottom and front>back position for the practitioner implied by the words of the QC. This upright position vis-a-vis the Tree is further attested by the fact that one is supposed to visualize a ball of white light descending from Kether down to the head before commencing the QC.
In contrast, Crowley’s new comments on the LBRP imply the Tree is visualized in a flat horizontal manner, like a diagram sketch on a floor, in which the practitioner stands at the Samekh/Pe intersection, facing Tiphareth and Malkuth behind him. I could go with that, but it still would not seem correct to ascribe “the Power” to Netzach and “the Glory” to Hod. If anything, the Power should be ascribed to the left side of the Tree, the Pillar of Severity, and the Glory should be ascribed to the right side of the Tree, the Pillar of Mercy.
Or am I missing something here?
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@he atlas itch said
"I never understood Crowley’s intent behind his instructions to stand “at the intersection of the paths of Samekh and Pe”, facing Tiphareth. Visually and logically it does not seem to be satisfying."
This didn't originate with him (though he did choose to perpetuate it).
Some thoughts: Remember that the Pentagram Ritual was created as a First Order ritual to operate in the sphere below Tiphereth. Though that isn't its full limit by any means, it is its "original mandate," so to speak. Also, as mentioned above, this is a very critical location on the Tree, and it is only location that explains the symbolism (which ties into the archangels) of being equilibrated between Tiphereth, Hod, Yesod, and Netzach (the archangels Raphael, Michael, Gabriel, and Hanael [for whom Uriel substitutes]).
The "orientation" question you asked is just one you have to sort out on the floor. The horizontal and vertical orientations of the Tree do differ. You are, so to speak, embodied as a Tree while standing on the Tree - think two Trees, not one. That should help sort it out.
And these orientations vary according to the ritual. In Liber Resh, one is again at the same intersection, but Netzach is in the south and Hod in the north.
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"And these orientations vary according to the ritual. In Liber Resh, one is again at the same intersection, but Netzach is in the south and Hod in the north."
Clarification: Isn't Nezach in the south and Hod in the north in the LBRP as Crowley described it above?
The combined correspondences as I am understanding them (perhaps incorrectly):
East - Air - Tiphareth
South - Fire - Netzach
West - Water - Yesod
North - Earth - HodIs that correct?
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@Frater LR said
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"And these orientations vary according to the ritual. In Liber Resh, one is again at the same intersection, but Netzach is in the south and Hod in the north."Clarification: Isn't Nezach in the south and Hod in the north in the LBRP as Crowley described it above?"
No.
Hod is in the south (your right). Its archangel, Michael, is placed there.
Netzach is in the north (your left). Though Hanael is the normally named archangel of Netzach, there are old Rabbinical traditions sometimes substituting Uriel.
But I see your point in the original. He did get them mixed up in this particular paper. I suspect he had Resh on his mind when he dictated that.
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@Tinman said
"So we begin this ritual facing Yesod (moon) with our backs to Tiphareth (sun) instead of how Crowley states it (which you are saying is a mistake in this case - but correct for Liber Resh)?"
The arrangement for the Pentagram Ritual is:
East - Tiphereth (Archangel Raphael)
West - Yesod (Archangel Gabriel)
South - Hod (Archangel Mikhael)
North - Netzach (Archangel Haniel; Uriel is substituted)But for Resh, see Crowley's marginalia in his personal copy of The Equinox. Where it says to give the sign of your grade, he wrote that if you "have no grade," then give the signs of 5=6 (Tiphereth) in the east, 4=7 (Netzach) in the south, 2=9 (Yesod) in the west, and 3=8 (Hod) in the north. There is a lot more built into these than you'll see unless you actual do them.
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@JNV33 said
"If I visualize myself backed into the tree then let the tree fall forward onto the floor, Tipareth would be in front, and Hod clockwise to my right etc. But this seems to confuse the elemental attributions."
Yes. This layout is not about attributions. It's about your position on the Tree. It's indifferent to the Element patterns.
This isn't unusual for the Pentagram Ritual. For example, the Divine Names at each quarter are not names attributed to those Elements either. It's a different scheme: the sequence of the Divine Names matters, not their location. The Divine Names and archangel Names aren't paired with each other except by coincidence of location.
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Jim, I'm absolutely sorry for asking this but I'm feeling low on brain fuel today and so somethings just aren't clicking.
Based on the notes you posted that Crowley wrote, I had been imagining that I take the normal TOL diagram that we're all used to, push it over so it's on the floor and stand at the intersection of the appropriate paths and face the sun (Tiphereth).
But based on the Hod is on your right, Netzach is on your left info you also passed along, it almost seems like I'm on the opposite side of the TOL diagram that I'm standing on the floor. Visualize me looking down at the TOL on the floor and seeing (as if standing on a mirror), me standing with feet to my feet, but upside down. That way I can still be facing Tiphereth with Yesod to my back, but the left and right attributions of Hod and Netzach match up to what you said about Hod being on your right.
???
"The arrangement for the Pentagram Ritual is:
East - Tiphereth (Archangel Raphael)
West - Yesod (Archangel Gabriel)
South - Hod (Archangel Mikhael)
North - Netzach (Archangel Haniel; Uriel is substituted)" -
It does sound confusing but I see what Jim is talking about. Basically when Crowley talks about facing Tiphareth at the intersection of Samekh and Pe, with Yesod behind you, you’re not standing on the TOL as you normally see it in diagrams. You’re basically standing on the backside of the Tree so the Left and Right Pillars are reversed. This way, if you visualize two Trees, one for yourself standing upright and one for the TOL diagram you’re standing on, the sephiroths and shoulders will align for both Trees.
Otherwise, if you visualize yourself standing on the TOL diagram as depicted normally, there will be a contradiction between the sephiroths/shoulders alignment in the QC and in the horizontal TOL diagram when performing the LBRP.
Still, it feels strange to visualize oneself standing on the backside of the Tree...the mirror side.
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You're description sounds much better - like suiting up and getting into one's Merkabah spaceship
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@Jim Eshelman said
"This isn't unusual for the Pentagram Ritual. For example, the Divine Names at each quarter are not names attributed to those Elements either. It's a different scheme: the sequence of the Divine Names matters, not their location. The Divine Names and archangel Names aren't paired with each other except by coincidence of location."
What is happening during the IHVH>ADNI>AHIH>AGLA sequence?
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@he atlas itch said
"You're description sounds much better - like suiting up and getting into one's Merkabah spaceship
"Yeah, I realize I was like the fourth person to describe the same thing... now...
Serious brain-lock on that one for a while...But I'm interested in the previous question as well - which I'll repost to make up for the interruption:
"What is happening during the IHVH>ADNI>AHIH>AGLA sequence?"
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That's one of the things I'm not at liberty to go into.
I received permission to freely state that the sequence is what matters, but not to go any further in public. This was one of the terms of receiving that particular teaching. I can only say that it is quite solid and based on exact instruction in one of the oldest (pre-Zohar) Kabbalistic works.
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Yes thanks for sharing that Jim - the two Tree solution was brilliant!
If I can take this opportunity to ask one final question on the LBRP:
When working with the elements of fire, water or air in the LBRP, do you use the* same sequence* of divine names as for earth - i.e. IHVH, ADNI, AHIH and AGLA? Or does each element have a different set of divine names?
Crowley gives a divine name for each element in the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram, but I'm not sure how to reconcile this information with working with different elements in the LBRP.
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@he atlas itch said
"When working with the elements of fire, water or air in the LBRP, do you use the* same sequence* of divine names as for earth - i.e. IHVH, ADNI, AHIH and AGLA? Or does each element have a different set of divine names? "
There are different versions of the Pentagram Ritual. For example, the Supreme Ritual of the Pentagram has different rules. Also, using a pentagram in isolation (outside of the Pentagram Ritual per se) would have different rules.
But one can do a Lesser Invoking Pentagram Ritual of the elements which is very effective (and sufficient for most work), and then, yes, the sequence of names is the same.
PS - Don't confuse the generic Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram with the Earth ritual just because it uses Earth pentagrams. It isn't invoking/banishing Earth per se unless you do other stuff (primarily intention, but also use of color etc.).
