Ritual · “Repetition Rewires”
The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP)
Clear and protect one’s psychic/ritual space, center the practitioner, and establish a balanced foundation before further magical or meditative work.
LBRP in brief: Face East.
(1) Qabalistic Cross — touch forehead/chest/right shoulder/left shoulder/clasp hands, vibrating Ateh, Malkuth, Ve-Geburah, Ve-Gedulah, Le-Olahm Amen, seeing a cross of light.
(2) Draw a banishing pentagram at each quarter, vibrating YHVH (E), Adonai (S), Eheieh (W), AGLA (N), joined by a circle of flame.
(3) Archangels — Raphael before, Gabriel behind, Michael right, Uriel left; “about me flames the pentagram, within me shines the six-rayed star.”
(4) Close with the Qabalistic Cross. Vibrate the names and visualise vividly throughout.
What it is
The LBRP is the foundational ritual of Western ceremonial magic — the first practice taught to initiates of the Golden Dawn and a daily staple for occultists ever since. “Banishing” means clearing: you use rhythmic gesture, vibrated divine names, drawn pentagrams, and vivid visualisation to sweep your space (and psyche) of unwanted or chaotic influences, center yourself between the four directions, and establish a clean, balanced, protected field in which to meditate or do further magical work.
Practitioners describe it as “psychic hygiene”: a way to mark sacred space, settle the mind, and create a reliable ritual baseline. Whether one reads its effects as objectively banishing spirits or as a powerful psychological self-regulation rite, it is performed essentially the same way.
The Method
The Golden Dawn LBRP has three movements bracketed by the Qabalistic Cross. Stand facing East.
- The Qabalistic Cross (opening). Touching points on the body while vibrating (intoning) the words, you trace a cross of light: - Touch forehead: “ATEH” (Thou art). - Touch chest/solar plexus: “MALKUTH” (the Kingdom). - Touch right shoulder: “VE-GEBURAH” (and the Power). - Touch left shoulder: “VE-GEDULAH” (and the Glory). - Clasp hands at chest: “LE-OLAHM, AMEN” (forever, Amen). Visualise yourself growing to fill the universe, a cross of light through your body.
- Formulation of the Pentagrams. Facing each quarter in turn (East, South, West, North), draw a banishing earth pentagram in the air, “stab” its center, and vibrate the associated divine name: - East — YHVH (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh). - South — ADONAI. - West — EHEIEH. - North — AGLA. Visualise each pentagram blazing in blue flame, connected by a circle of light traced between the quarters.
- Evocation of the Archangels. Returning to face East, arms outstretched as a cross, call the four archangels at their quarters and visualise them: - “Before me, RAPHAEL” (East / air). - “Behind me, GABRIEL” (West / water). - “On my right hand, MICHAEL” (South / fire). - “On my left hand, URIEL” (North / earth). Then: “For about me flames the pentagram, and within me shines the six-rayed star.” 4. The Qabalistic Cross (closing). Repeat step 1 to seal the working. Throughout: vibrate the names sonorously (feeling them resonate in the body), move deliberately, and see the light, pentagrams, and figures as vividly as possible. (Sourcing note: a faithful description of the standard Golden Dawn / Regardie LBRP; Hebrew vibration words are traditional and attributed.)
Source & Lineage
The LBRP was assembled by the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (founded 1888 — Westcott, Mathers, Woodman), drawing the pentagram work from the order’s “Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram,” the Qabalistic Cross from Christian/Kabbalistic sources, and the archangel evocation from a traditional Jewish bedtime prayer invoking Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael for protection.
It became widely available through Israel Regardie’s publication of the Golden Dawn material (The Golden Dawn, 1937-40) and was carried into 20th-century practice by Aleister Crowley’s Thelema and countless later traditions. → (Golden Dawn / Regardie / Crowley nodes), (related Golden Dawn technique).
The Traditions' versions
The same move — mark and purify sacred space, orient to the directions, invoke protection before working — is near-universal: - Casting the circle (Wicca / modern witchcraft) — calling the quarters and elemental guardians to create sacred space.
- Godform assumption (Golden Dawn) — the complementary invoking practice of taking on a divine form.
- Smudging / space clearing — using smoke or sound to cleanse a space across many indigenous and folk traditions.
- Candle / intention ritual — establishing a focused ritual frame before intention work.
- Liturgical opening rites — processions, censing, and invocations that “set apart” sacred space.
- Centering / grounding meditations — the secular cousin of the Qabalistic Cross’s “axis of light.”
Common refinements
Flat, mechanical recitation. Mumbling the names and skipping the visualisation guts the practice; the vibration and vivid imagery are the engine.
- No visualisation. Going through the motions without seeing the light, pentagrams, and archangels makes it an empty drill.
- Sloppy geometry / wrong pentagram. The banishing earth pentagram has a specific starting stroke; getting the form and direction consistent matters for the practitioner’s sense of precision.
- Treating it as occult armour against real danger. It is psychic/ritual hygiene, not protection against physical or practical threats.
- Skipping the closing cross. Leaving the rite “open” undercuts the sense of completion and seal.
- Forcing it during acute distress. If intense imagery is destabilising, ground with simpler embodiment first.
Source
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (synthesised from earlier Western esoteric and Jewish sources)