The next exercise to master before moving on to more complicated practices, such as astral projection, is the Qabalistic Cross. In fact, it’s the first step of the next major practice — the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram — which is also known as the “Philosopher’s Stone” of ceremonial magick. However, the Qabalistic Cross is more than the first stage of an advanced technique. As a stand-alone practice, it offers a number of benefits on its own:
• It centers our consciousness and helps us focus.
• It breaks us out of habitual patterns of anxiety and stress.
• It stabilizes and balances our aura.
• It clears debris from our energy centers and prevents stagnation.
• It preps us to receive an influx of divine energy.
• It protects us from any negative energy we encounter in the environment.
In other words, the Qabalistic Cross comes highly recommended.
Most people are familiar with the sign of blessing made by Catholics around the world — the right hand touches the forehead, moves to the chest, and briefly lands on each shoulder to make a cross. Before we begin, I want to acknowledge that some of you are going to feel a little weird or resistant to making this sign. That’s perfectly understandable. If anybody can relate to that particular discomfort, it’s me. However, that internal struggle eased up a lot for me when I learned that the cross symbol predates Christianity by thousands of years, showing up in Neolithic cultures long before the cross came into regular usage in Egypt and Babylon. In its usage prior to Christianity, the cross symbol was associated with balance — of the elements, the seasons, the cardinal directions, and so on — and that’s how we still use it in magick. For us, the cross represents the absolute balance of all aspects of the psyche. When we attain perfect balance, it’s quite difficult for anything outside us to cause any disturbances or influence us negatively. So practicing the Qabalistic Cross is a way to remain steady, calm, and peaceful — no matter what’s going on all around you.
The Qabalistic Cross is a way to remain steady, calm, and peaceful.
Here are the Hebrew mantras you’ll use in the Qabalistic Cross, as well as a quick explanation of what the words mean:
Ateh: Thou Art
Malkuth: The Kingdom
Vegeburah: The Power
Vegehdula: The Glory
Le Olam: Forever
Amen: So Be It
So again, when we vibrate these words of power, we’re announcing to ourselves and the universe that we are an aspect of the whole — of God, the creator, the universal consciousness, and so on. In magick, this is our way of reminding other forms of divine intelligence (for example, angels) that we are Divine and that they are tasked with assisting us when we ask for it, just as if the source of divinity had personally made the request. It’s also our way of reminding ourselves that we are children of creation, no matter how we interpret that. As such, we have a particular responsibility and authority regarding the physical plane of existence.
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pprentice magicians in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn were instructed to perform the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) practice twice a day — once at the beginning of the day and once at the very end. Doing this practice in this way has changed my life profoundly, and when you have arrived at this point in your relationship with magick, I strongly suggest practicing the LBRP at least once daily. If things aren’t just right, that’s okay — just go ahead and do the practice the best you can. That’s much more important than missing a day here and there.
There’s a lot of new information to introduce here, so I’m going to take my time and lay out some things as clearly as possible before we get started. The LBRP is quite a bit more complicated than the practices you’ve done before, but it’s more than worth it. Among countless other benefits, here’s why the LBRP is such an important part of high magick:
• Aura Hygiene As you go through the day, you accumulate all sorts of energetic debris, and this refuse clings to your aura in the same way dirt and grime do in the physical world. You pick up some form of energy from every person you come in contact with, and you also litter your own energetic field with various memories and thoughts. For example, let’s say that you remember a heated argument you had with someone years ago. Even though it was a long time ago, you feel a fresh surge of anger, and that burst of negative energy is released directly into your aura. Or maybe you recall a silly mistake you once made that brought up a lot of embarrassment for you. Has this ever happened to you? You remember something like this and you feel a wave of embarrassment all over again? Well, stuff like that gets stuck in your aura too, and the LBRP is an incredibly powerful way to cleanse yourself of all types of negative accumulation. As one of my teachers once told me, the LBRP is the energetic equivalent of showering or brushing your teeth. If we don’t do these activities regularly, we build up all kinds of unwanted, smelly gunk.
• Energetic Protection I guess a better metaphor here would be something along the lines of waxing your car. Washing your car regularly keeps it clean, but there’s also a way to make sure it doesn’t collect so much dust and grime in the first place. In a similar way, the LBRP gradually strengthens and hardens the perimeter of your energy field so that you gain more protection against future contamination. So the LBRP is also something akin to calisthenics for your aura — do it regularly, and your energetic field will grow more vibrant and powerful.
Mental Clarity and Focus Another benefit of the LBRP is that it removes the random thoughts that flit through your mind in order to bring you into a state of single-pointed concentration. As I’ve said elsewhere, you send energy in the direction of your thoughts, so it’s a good idea to get rid of unnecessary mental activity and have a clear idea of what’s going on in your mind. When you’re in the middle of a ritual to magnetize as much energy as possible in order to manifest a particular desire in the physical realm, the last thing you need are stray thoughts bouncing around and confusing the picture. The LBRP helps keep your mind as focused as possible.
• Environmental Purification In addition to your aura, the LBRP also cleans and purifies the environment you find yourself in. Energy left behind by other people can accumulate and have an undesired effect on the magick you wish to perform. Even if this energy isn’t necessarily negative, it still might not be compatible with your desired results, so the LBRP is a good way to sterilize and rinse your immediate environment of unwanted energies.
• Subconscious Awakening We’ve all heard the old monotheistic phrase “Man is created in the image of God.” Well, this doesn’t mean that God has a body similar to our own; rather, it means that our consciousness resembles that of God’s. This is one meaning of Psalm 82:6 of the Bible when it states, “Ye are gods.” We all have the same ability to create worlds, and we are directly responsible for the universe we call our life. When we perform the LBRP, we banish all the energy from an area and create a bountiful void in the middle where we stand. It’s like something from Genesis, or the primordial nothingness that is said to have existed prior to the Big Bang. In the center of this void, we are the creator, and we can call whatever energies we require into being. The LBRP wakes us up to our own centrality and power. And because the deepest parts of our psyche don’t communicate with words, we use powerful symbols in the LBRP to send the message that it’s time to wake up to our own potential and become a co-partner in the constantly unfolding act of creation.
• Evocation Primer The LBRP also introduces us to evocation. There’s a section of the ritual where we call in archangels or other powerful forces to stand guard over the space in which we perform our magick. In the beginning, we might just imagine these beings as some form of visually interesting pictures — somewhat sparkly, but two-dimensional creatures of some sort. After a while, however, these forces actually gather and respond as we request, and it doesn’t take too many times of performing the LBRP to feel something actually happening. When I started out, it took about three weeks of doing the LBRP every day until I felt that something had responded to my call. And I could feel these forces long before I was able to see them.
1. Raphael represents the intellect, specifically logic and reason.
• Direction East
• Element Air
• Season Spring
• Tarot Suit
Swords
2. Gabriel stands for the psyche, particularly intuition and the unconscious. Dreams, emotions, and love are all associated with the archangel Gabriel.
• Direction West
• Element Water
• Season Autumn
• Tarot Suit Cups
3. Michael is probably best known for his pivotal role in Catholicism. He represents courage, strength, and willpower, as well as ambition and sex drive. Many people call upon Michael for protection in times of need.
• Direction South
• Element Fire
Season Summer
• Tarot Suit Wands
4. Uriel represents the physical realm and is therefore associated with matters such as one’s health and finances. Additionally, Uriel is the patron archangel of magick and magicians.
• Direction North
• Element Earth
• Season Winter
• Tarot Suit Pentacles
CREATING THE PENTAGRAMS
1. Now it’s time to generate the pentagrams (four in total) in each of the cardinal directions. Begin by letting your arms rest at your sides and stepping toward the eastern side of the space you’ve chosen for this ritual.
2. Facing east, inhale and visualize that all of the energy in the universe passes through your body and moves down into Earth itself. The entire planet fills with white light. Hold to the count of four.
3. Extend your right hand toward the east in the sword mudra. Per the instructions outlined earlier, trace a flaming blue pentagram in the air before you. This is known as a banishing pentagram. You aren’t drawing it with your own energy, but with the energy you brought in from the universe. It rushes back up from the Earth, up through your body, out of your hand, and into the pentagram.
4. Once you’ve finished the symbol, inhale again. Just as before, draw in all of the chi of the universe and move it into Earth below you. It fills Earth and then comes back into your body and out of your hand. Thrust your extended fingers through the center of the pentagram.
5. The pentagram lights up and blazes in incredibly blue flame, similar to the color of a pilot light, but infinitely brighter.
6. Now you’ll vibrate the first mantra. Instead of vibrating inside your body as you did with the Middle Pillar practice, as you vocalize the mantra, visualize the pentagram vibrating and glowing as strongly as you can make it do so. The mantras associated with each pentagram are different Hebrew names for the Divine. The mantra for the first pentagram is YHVH , ( YOD- HEH-VAV-HEH).
7. Know that the power of the mantra infuses the pentagram. In front of you now is a thoughtform in the shape of a star that’s charged with divine energy. Nothing — no outside energy of any sort — can pass through the barrier. Now you are shielded and protected in the east.
8. Stomp your foot lightly. This is to seal the energy in the pentagram and make sure it does its job.
9. Inhale again, and watch as energy from all parts of the universe comes rushing into your body, out through your feet, and down into the center of the earth. The entire planet fills with light.
10. Now all of that energy shoots back up into your body and into your hand. Still using the sword mudra, draw a line of white light that begins in the center of the eastern pentagram and moves in a circle to your right until it reaches the southern side of your sacred space.
11. Now you are facing south. Inhale as you did before, pulling in energy and filling the earth with light. Hold to the count of four.
12. Now trace another banishing pentagram made out of blue flame in the south.
13. Take another in-breath, bringing in chi from all corners of the universe, moving it down through your body, and filling the earth with that light. Then the energy rushes back into your body and into your hand, and you place your fingers into the center of this new pentagram.
14. Watch as the southern pentagram grows incredibly bright with blue flame.
15. Now you’re going to charge this symbol exactly as you did before, only this time you’ll use the mantra ADNI (Adonai) , pronounced (ah-don-eye). This is another Hebrew word that means “Lord.” Watch as the pentagram vibrates, and know that you have infused it with incredible energy.
16. Stomp your foot again to seal the energy.
17. Inhale and envision the light coming into you and filling the earth. Hold as before.
18. Now, as the energy rushes back into your body, use the extended fingers of the sword mudra to draw a line of white light from the center of the southern pentagram around to the western side of your sacred space.
19. Facing west, inhale and fill the earth with the energy from the universe that passes through your body. Hold to the count of four.
20. Now trace another banishing pentagram made of blue flame in the west. You now have three pentagrams connected with a line of blinding white light.
21. As you breathe in again, bring energy back into the earth and see the entire planet fill up with white light. Once more, the energy floods back into your body and into your hand as you place your fingers into the middle of the flaming blue pentagram. Again, the pentagram glows incredibly bright.
The mantra for the western pentagram is AHIH , or Eheieh (pronounced EH-HEH-YEH). You’ll recognize this as one of the divine names you vibrated during the Middle Pillar practice. This mantra reminds you that part of you is always connected to the source of divinity, the source of creation, and that chain can never be broken. Keep this in mind as you say this mantra and see the pentagram vibrate.
23. As before, stomp lightly to seal the energy into the western pentagram.
24. Inhale again, pull in energy from the universe, and fill the earth with that chi.
25. Exhale, and see the white light rush back up through your feet, through your body, out your arm, and into the sword mudra. Draw another line made of brilliant white light connecting the center of the western pentagram to the northern side of your space.
26. Facing north, you’re going to do exactly as you’ve done before: inhale, pull in energy, hold, and draw another flaming blue banishing pentagram.
27. Breathe in again, fill up the earth with energy, and visualize all of that power reentering your body and moving into the extended fingers of your sword mudra. Place those fingers into the center of this final pentagram, and watch as it blazes an incredibly bright blue.
28. Now vibrate the northern pentagram with the mantra AGLA (ah-gay-la). Again, this is a Hebrew acronym that stands for the source of all creation. As before, you are infusing the pentagram with the power of this holy name. You are programming the flaming symbol such that it will protect you from any external energy that tries to interfere or make its way into your sacred space.
29. Stomp your foot, seal in the energy, and inhale to pull energy back into the earth from all corners of the cosmos. Hold to the count of four.
30. Exhale. The energy comes back into your body from the earth and moves out of the extended fingers of your hand as you complete the circle of white light from this last pentagram back to the original banishing pentagram in the east.
31. Stand in the center of your sacred space. In your mind’s eye, look all around you. In front of you there’s a flaming blue pentagram, and there’s also one behind you and to either side of your body. They are all connected by the circle of white light through their middles that goes all the way around the room. Try to visualize all of this that you’ve created at the same time: four blue stars and a brilliant white circle.
32. Inhale and see everything glowing even more brightly than before. Hold and watch it all flame brightly.
33. Lastly, exhale. All of the air leaves your body, but all of the energy stays in.
