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The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram (or LRP) is a magickal ritual which originated in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn but which has come to be practiced by numerous other magickal schools. It is considered by many to be a basic preliminary to any other magickal work, so much so that it was the only ritual, beside initiation rituals, taught to members of the Golden Dawn before they advanced to the Inner Order.
The ritual is used either to invoke the four elements (the Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram) or to banish them (the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram or LBRP). The banishing form is used in many traditions at the beginning of most rituals, and has thus become the more commonly known form.
The Ritual
Equipment
Equipment for performing the LRP varies, and is generally considered to be optional according to availability. The Golden Dawn tradition recommends the following:- An altar in the centre of the ritual space, upon which are placed instruments representing the four elements.
- A tau robe or other suitable ritual garb worn by the magician.
- A steel dagger, which is used to gesture to the points of the Kabbalistic Cross, and to draw the pentagrams and the circle connecting them. If a dagger is not available, simply using the right index finger is a common and suitable alternative.
Procedure
The Golden Dawn LRP consists of three main parts, in this order:- The Kabalistic Cross, sometimes repeated at the end of the LRP. This is meant to construct an astral cross in the body of the magician, with points corresponding to Sephirot on the Tree of Life. While constructing this cross, the magician vibrates a Hebrew translation of the last few lines of the Lord's Prayer (Thine is the kingdom, etc.).
- The Formulation of the Pentagrams, in which a banishing earth pentagram (for the Banishing Ritual) or an invoking pentagram (for the Invoking Ritual) is drawn in the air at each of the four cardinal points and an associated name of God is vibrated (YHVH, ADNI, AHIH and AGLA for East, South, West and North respectively). This segment of the ritual is meant to banish or invoke the four elements (Air, Fire, Water and Earth respectively). The four pentagrams are connected by a circle, also drawn in the air.
- The Evocation of the Archangels, during which the magician declares the Archangels Raphael, Gabriel, Michael and Uriel (or Auriel) to be present, while visualizing them at the four cardinal points.
Some traditions, in order to distance themselves from the Judeochristian content of the ritual, replace the Kabalistic Cross, names of God and archangels with suitable substitutes - using, for example, the chakra system instead of the Tree of Life, mantras instead of God names, etc.
References
External Links
"Lesser ritual of the pentagram"