Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram - invoking vs banishing
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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.).
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@Jim Eshelman said
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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.)."This why I believe it was probably o.k. where the G.D. placed it...
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I'm still quite new to ritual work, and all the various attributions to direction still have me confused.
I'm still getting in the groove of performing the LBRP daily. Should I (1) focus more on the elemental attributions to the quarters, along with attempting vivid color imagery? OR should I (2) focus more on the idea that I'm standing at the juncture of Peh and Samekh on the Tree and not focus so much on the elemental attributions? OR should I (3) simly do both and not worry that the Tree symbolism and the elemental symbolism are indifferent to one another?
I had started working on the basis of the third option, but my mind keeps trying to find associations between the elemental colorings and the spheres I'm pointed toward. I'm unsure of whether I'm supposed to be making those associations, and it's got me blocked.
Thanks.
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You're going down the right path IMO. You need to finish shaking off the common misconception that the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram is presenting a single framework. It is a much more sophisticated ritual than that.
Because the ritual is a sequence of steps, you don't need to do every piece of it at the same time. In fact, doing so can lead to misunderstanding. For example, as I've mentioned previously, the Divine Names and the archangels are two different kinds of information and not one-on-one connected to each other. To address your specific points:
@Frater LR said
"I'm still getting in the groove of performing the LBRP daily. Should I (1) focus more on the elemental attributions to the quarters, along with attempting vivid color imagery?"
The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram is not primarily an elemental ritual. The only time you need to focus on the elements at all is in the invocation of the archangels; and, even there, you don't need to think of the quarters in this regard except incidentally. The main point is to see and conceive of the archangels themselves correctly. Their colors and other attributes will tend to inpute an elemental quality to where they stand.
[qipte]OR should I (2) focus more on the idea that I'm standing at the juncture of Peh and Samekh on the Tree and not focus so much on the elemental attributions?"
Don't keep concentrating on this point. Just notice it as you start. Put the focus on the Paths themselves ("There I was, standing at the intersection of Red and Blue, waiting for the Light to change..." <g>). By noticing the Sephiroth in passing, you probably contribute to aligning the main cerebral cortex regions (forebrain, hindbrain, right hemisphere, left hemisphere). Then let it go and don't worry about it.
"OR should I (3) simly do both and not worry that the Tree symbolism and the elemental symbolism are indifferent to one another?"
That's the right track. By all means, don't try to match those up. It's a misattribution of symbolism.
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A: Thanks very much for your response. It felt forced the way I was starting to do it.
B: I understand you at the very beginning of the ritual, and I understand you at the end. The middle - I think I understand, but please indulge me in confirming. So... at the point in the ritual when I'm actually drawing the pentagrams in the basic LBRP, I don't imagine anything specific "behind" the pentagram itself unless I'm specifically using the LRP format in a way that focuses on implementation of the elements - in which case it would be the elemental coloring. Is that correct?
Thanks again.
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@Frater LR said
"So... at the point in the ritual when I'm actually drawing the pentagrams in the basic LBRP, I don't imagine anything specific "behind" the pentagram itself unless I'm specifically using the LRP format in a way that focuses on implementation of the elements - in which case it would be the elemental coloring. Is that correct?"
At the time you are drawing and charging the pentagram (yes, we are talking specifically about the generic Lesser ritual), the whole of your attention should be on the pentagram.
If you were using the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram to invoke a particular element, then the differences are primarily intention and visualization (and a particular form of the pentagram). That is, you know what you are invoking a specific element, and you use different colors to accomplish this. We recommend that you visualize the background in the King Scale elemental color, and trace the pentagram and circle on it in the flashing color. Thus, to invoke Air, you would draw violet pentagrams on a yellow background.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"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."
Jim, without giving too much away, has the kabbalistic work you refer to been published in an English translation?
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@nashimiron said
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@Jim Eshelman said
"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."
Jim, without giving too much away, has the kabbalistic work you refer to been published in an English translation?"
Yes.
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Thanks Jim that will make it a bit easier!
Now, I wonder if it's already sitting on my bookshelves....
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@Jim said
"East - Tiphereth (Archangel Raphael)
West - Yesod (Archangel Gabriel)
South - Hod (Archangel Mikhael)
North - Netzach (Archangel Haniel; Uriel is substituted)"Jim (and/or others who have studied under several different schools), I was wondering how absolute these archangelic attributions are considered according to sephira and direction...? I've heard other opinions, rearranging the order a little, and they make sense as well. But I don't know how to settle the issue for myself. I don't do much else as of yet, and I'd like to perform correctly at least the one main thing I do. Suggestions are welcome.
Thanks.
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@Frater LA said
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@Jim said
"East - Tiphereth (Archangel Raphael)
West - Yesod (Archangel Gabriel)
South - Hod (Archangel Mikhael)
North - Netzach (Archangel Haniel; Uriel is substituted)"Jim (and/or others who have studied under several different schools), I was wondering how absolute these archangelic attributions are considered according to sephira and direction...? I've heard other opinions, rearranging the order a little, and they make sense as well. But I don't know how to settle the issue for myself. I don't do much else as of yet, and I'd like to perform correctly at least the one main thing I do. Suggestions are welcome."
There are at least a couple of sub-questions here.
One sub-question is: How certain is the attribution of these archangels to their respective elements. The answer is that they have been solidly established with strong concensus over many centuries. (Insert standard caveats about absolute opinions, etc.)
The other sub-question is: How certain are we about the orientation of the elements? The answer is that there are multiple ways of doing this.
A third sub-question is whether the archangelic distribution in this particular ritual is elemental, sephirothic, or other. My view is that they are both - the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram is almost unique among personal rituals in the way it consolidates many simultaneous elements into one delivery.
For the pentagram ritual in general, the archangelic distribution is from a rather ancient Hebrew children's prayer, "Before me Raphael," etc. The tradition, therefore, is quite old. (Insert usual caveats about how neither antiquity nor newness confirms fact per se.)
