Daily LBRH Practice
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Yes, it falls in the "hygiene" category - when you're ready for it. (And only you will know when that is.)
More as I have time to answer... just wanted to start this off and get myself on the thread so I get reminders.
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I've been wondering what others think of this theory here.
ananael.blogspot.com/2007/11/operant-field.htmlI've never personally tried it, but I'm wondering if others have used a similar formula and gotten similar results.
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The Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram can have its place in daily regular work at a certain point of one's development, though unless this is preceded by an extended period - at the very least six months and ideally more than a year - of using the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram (and daily meditation - frankly, the practice of Magick is pretty pointless unless one also practices regular meditation, half an hour daily is good) I wouldn't advise it (not for any spooky reason, just that one will be unlikely to discern its effects from that of the Pentagram ritual).
My personal recommendation for daily work - and what has worked for me (I am a solitary practitioner, if one is working within a specific organisation of course follow their directions)- would be as follows (each of these are for an extended period as above):
LBRP + Meditation (or LBRP after meditation, a bit of experimentation in this regard is worth trying - there's generally no need to do the LBRP more than once a day **, I haven't mentioned performance of Resh or Middle Pillar + Circulation of the Light since this thread doesn't concern them, briefly I consider them essential techniques worthy of daily practice - do give it a little time after mastering the LBRP before the Middle Pillar, and start that with a period of using white light, after that shift to the Queen Scale colours [don't use any of the other scales])
LIRP + Meditation + LBRP (Don't invoke without banishing after, starting a meditation with an invocation with give you a good feel for the invoked current. Opinions differ on whether one should try invoking in the morning and banishing in the evening, or vice-versa. I found invoking at the start of the day gave daily business a little more intensity than it really needed to have [there's a kind of vulnerability that comes from that] and I didn't have any issues with invoking at night or banishing in the morning, one result I has was that dreams were incredibly vivid and very "obvious" in their meaning [I have heard that some found it difficult to sleep after invoking, but I didn't find that myself])
LIRP + LIRH + Meditation + LBRH + LBRP (This is a good way to step things up a little and experience a further refinement of the invoked force. Ideally you would have been familiar with the practice of all forms of the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram and meditation - for a year at the very least - before starting this work with the Hexagram ritual. Some familiarity with working with the specific elemental forms of the Lesser Pentagram ritual would be very beneficial to have under one's belt by this point, and I would definitely strongly recommend the practice of Resh by this point, as things will have a real Solar focus... Indeed, magickal attention should be solidly focused upon the goal of the Solar HGA)
Outside of this, the only time I use the LBRH is at the beginning of a ceremony involving working with a specific planetary energy (usually involving the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram as a specific invocation). In that case, the ceremony will start with the LBRP + LBRH to establish a magickally clean environment for the working.
The information on that blogspot post seems ok, but I have to stress again that one must banish after invoking (i.e. if you do a LIRH, be sure to conclude with a LBRH).
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Basically the first year i practiced daily as advised. I saw it as an actual initiation.
Then the second year i practiced only when i thought i "needed" it, using mostly specific rituals for specific purposes. I didnt see the point to drill further as i thought i was "initiated" into what they are supposed to initiate into. But it was a mistake, at least for me.
Now in the third year i started to practice a lot more, several rituals at least 10 times a day, sometimes 20, 30 or more. About half physically and half astrally. I practice it with great discipline. But i see it as an art. I focus on beauty, and try to keep high yoga state during it. I try to make the basics more and more tight, like it is done for the mastery of any thing. I think i'm starting to discover my own style of magick through this practice and an art i love practicing. Verily it is the "yoga of the west" and verily an art if it is your will to practice as such. Seeing it that way seems also very efficient spiritually because it helps getting read of lust for results.
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Hi...They say you should do a LBRP before doing the LBRH...I was wondering if replacing the LBRP with the Star Ruby would work alright?
If anyone could look at this thelemic LBRH that I came across here www.thelemicgoldendawn.net/documents/hexagramrite.htm and let me know what you think about it, I would appreciate it . I'm thinking a may experiment with it.
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@raven27 said
"Hi...They say you should do a LBRP before doing the LBRH...I was wondering if replacing the LBRP with the Star Ruby would work alright?"
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This is a great question! Personally, I would stick with the LBRP at first. Crowley calls the Star Ruby, "a new and more elaborate version of the Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram..." In my experience, the Star Ruby is very expansive in clearing out the way for working. This could be beneficial or not, depending on what you're doing. For instance, performing the Star Ruby may bring more energy into your space, something that may be distracting if doing a meditation. Although, a bit of experimentation is necessary in finding what works for you. I would suggest keeping track of what you do and what the results are.@raven27 said
"If anyone could look at this thelemic LBRH that I came across here www.thelemicgoldendawn.net/documents/hexagramrite.htm and let me know what you think about it, I would appreciate it . I'm thinking a may experiment with it."
Some of the terminology is a bit antiquated. And ARARITA is an acronym. I'd highly recommend checking out the Hexagram rituals detailed in James A. Esheleman's books, 776 1/2 and Pearls Of Wisdom. The ritual can also be found in Black Pearls, the College Of Thelema's periodical from the 90's. That series can be downloaded here:
www.thelema.org/publications/bp.html
Hope this helps and it'd be great to hear the results!
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Hi Aurea, thanks for responding. Do you know Which volume of Black Pearl it is in? I found the pentagram ritual but could not find the hexagram one. I tried the ritual hexagram from the link ...it felt weird to me to say IAO Iacchus, Asi, Orus. I am used to Virgo being Isis and femenine and not father which is masculine, do you know if that makes sense to be calling Virgo father? I thought about how Lucifer is associated with Venus and so is Virgo. Iacchus is a Greek deity, I don't know what Asi and Orus are I guess they could be Greek too.
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The hexagram article never appeared in BP. It was going to be in No 6, which was already oversized, and then was going to be up No 12, which never appeared. The only place tye article has appeared in full is in Pearls of Wisdom.
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@raven27 said
"Hi Aurea, thanks for responding. Do you know Which volume of Black Pearl it is in? I found the pentagram ritual but could not find the hexagram one. I tried the ritual hexagram from the link ...it felt weird to me to say IAO Iacchus, Asi, Orus. I am used to Virgo being Isis and femenine and not father which is masculine, do you know if that makes sense to be calling Virgo father? I thought about how Lucifer is associated with Venus and so is Virgo. Iacchus is a Greek deity, I don't know what Asi and Orus are I guess they could be Greek too."
If it "feels" weird with those words you may consider not doing it. It is a planetary ritual and you want to make sure you feel good and confident about it. This is the sequence for the Analysis of the Keyword: INRI, Yod, Nun, Resh, Yod; Virgo, Isis, Mighty Mother; Scorpio, Apophis, Destroyer; Sol, Osiris, Slain, And Risin; Isis, Apophis, Oisris, IAO.
@Jim Eshelman said
"The hexagram article never appeared in BP. It was going to be in No 6, which was already oversized, and then was going to be up No 12, which never appeared. The only place tye article has appeared in full is in Pearls of Wisdom."
Alas, it is not in Black Pearl. Sorry about that. I've been referencing 776 1/2 for rituals. Pearls of Wisdom expounds even further upon this ritual and others, including a vastly expanded exposition of the Star Ruby and Star Sapphire. Also, Lon Milo DuQuette has a good book entitled, "The Magick of Aleister Crowley: A Handbook of the Rituals of Thelema" which further explains this and other rituals.
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Then I will want to get one of those books, or both.
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The chapter on the Hexagram ritual in Pearls Of Wisdom also has an alternative Analysis Of The Key Word created by James Eshelman which replaces the old aeon elements with a Thelemic one.
All due respect to Lon DuQuette - I love many of his books and have had the pleasure of attending excellent workshops and lectures by him - but his Magick Of Thelema book contains same versions of the Pentagram and Hexagram rituals that one will generally find in print elsewhere which are little more than the Liber O "crib notes" which lack a certain amount of explanation on some details. Namely, in the case of the Hexagram ritual, the macrocosmic elemental attributions and the use of the notariqon / acronym ARARITA (as with AGLA in the case of the Pentagram ritual). I still think it's a book worth reading, but do so along with Pearls Of Wisdom. Also I highly recommend experimenting with these different versions of the rituals and seeing what works best for you.
Regarding Thelemic versions of the Pentagram and Hexagram rituals (also Middle Pillar rituals) which have been developed by different individuals and groups, the Analysis Of The Key Word in the Hexagram ritual is about the only thing in any of these rituals which can be called "old aeon" and could be at all considered by any stretch "un-Thelemic". Even then, I think that would be a little a bit over the top to say. It still has value for the Thelemic practitioner up to a certain point. James explains it, and alternative options, in the relevant chapter of Pearls Of Wisdom. In most circumstances, and especially for one early in the path of their magical practice, the use of the classic Analysis Of The Key Word isn't going to be of any hindrance to the efficacy of the Hexagram ritual. But again, read up, and experiment, and see what works for you.
As for everything else in the Hexagram ritual, Pentagram rituals, and Middle Pillar ritual, there is nothing un-Thelemic about anything to do with them. Indeed, generally all that's need to transform the standard Pentagram ritual into a Thelemic Pentagram ritual is the vibration of Aiwass at the heart centre during the opening and closing Qabalistic Cross. I've seen many, many new versions of Pentagram, Hexagram and Middle Pillar rituals - especially online - which replace the Hebrew words and names with those from the Thelemic pantheon, and while these are interesting to read, one could take away the very mistaken belief that the Hebrew Qabalistic god-names are somehow antithetical to Thelema and to be avoided. Pretty much all of Crowley's ceremonial magical work, and the ceremonial magical methods and tools he taught, are based on Hermetic Qabalah.
I understand that some Thelemites see YHVH in a ritual outline and are concerned by connotation that it's Judeo-christian / old aeon and therefore un-Thelemic. However, that point of view is - imho - mistaken since the formula of YHVH appears throughout some of the most Thelemic of texts and rituals. Also, if an individual Thelemite magician is so hung up on being opposed to Judeo-christianity then that resistance / reactiveness will have to be confronted and worked through at some point in their path (just as the potential reactiveness of one from a christian background will encounter within Thelema when confronted with the use of archetypes, ideas and names of Satan, Beast 666, Baphomet etc... it works both ways).
I'm aware of some Thelemic groups who practice the Star Ruby in place of traditional banishing Pentagram rituals and Reguli in place of traditonal invoking Pentagram rituals. That's fine, no problem with that, but I would argue that the Star Ruby is somewhat different in effect from the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, and that Reguli is considerably different in effect from the Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram. Once again, only the individual's own experimentation and prolonged work with these rituals will reveal what is best for them.
Finally, a point to consider on this topic, if the Pentagram and Hexagram rituals were un-Thelemic, why would Crowley still continue to use, teach and recommend them long after he received and accepted the Law of Thelema? To my knowledge (looking at the editorial notes in Liber ABA / Book 4) he was still recommending the use of the Pentagram ritual in the 1940's, long after he had created the Star Ruby. -
@raven27 said
"I am used to Virgo being Isis and femenine and not father which is masculine, do you know if that makes sense to be calling Virgo father? I thought about how Lucifer is associated with Venus and so is Virgo. Iacchus is a Greek deity, I don't know what Asi and Orus are I guess they could be Greek too."
Virgo corresponds to the Hebrew letter Yod, hence the Father and Iacchus. Asi is another name for Isis. Orus is a variant of Horus. IAO.
The triple repition of 'holy' in the keyword represents H.H.H. These three letters are said to conceal the three Mother letters, Aleph, Mem, and Shin. Add them to IAO (17, IAV) and you get 358 which is MShYCh, Messiah, and NChSh, Serpent.
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"Virgo corresponds to the Hebrew letter Yod, hence the Father and Iacchus. Asi is another name for Isis. Orus is a variant of Horus. IAO.
The triple repition of 'holy' in the keyword represents H.H.H. These three letters are said to conceal the three Mother letters, Aleph, Mem, and Shin. Add them to IAO (17, IAV) and you get 358 which is MShYCh, Messiah, and NChSh, Serpent."
Ah, very interesting . I was hoping for someone to explain it like that.
Thanks.
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@raven27 said
"Ah, very interesting . I was hoping for someone to explain it like that."
This is just suposition, but I'm guessing that the specific order of the signs given at the end of the analysis is to balance IAO with OAI.
The keyword begins Iacchus, Asi, Orus and ends Orus, Asi, Iacchus. IAO-OAI.