Ritual · “Repetition Rewires”
The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
To centre and ‘clear’ oneself and one’s space through a structured ritual of breath, gesture, vibrated names, and visualized symbols — establishing a calm, defined, sovereign state before any further work.
LBRP in 6 lines: Qabalistic Cross (touch forehead-chest-right-left-clasp, vibrating Atah / Malkuth / ve-Geburah / ve-Gedulah / le-Olam Amen). Face each quarter E-S-W-N, draw a banishing pentagram, vibrate YHVH / Adonai / Eheieh / AGLA. Call Raphael before, Gabriel behind, Michael right, Auriel left. Repeat the Cross to seal. Vibrate slowly on the out-breath, see every symbol, do only banishing as a beginner, daily.
What it is
The LBRP is the foundational daily ritual of Western ceremonial magick, and DuQuette teaches it as the first thing a practitioner should learn and the thing they should keep doing for life. He describes quietly performing it in his own living room before any serious magical work.
It combines four elements: the Qabalistic Cross (a centring gesture with vibrated Hebrew words), drawing four banishing pentagrams to the cardinal directions with vibrated god-names, calling the four archangels around you, and repeating the Cross to seal.
DuQuette’s signature contribution is his disarming, anti-pompous framing: it is a tool for clearing your own head and your room, and you should understand what you’re doing rather than parrot it.
The Method
A. The Qabalistic Cross (centring)
- Stand facing East. Touch the forehead, intone “Atah” (Thou art).
- Touch the chest / lower abdomen, intone “Malkuth” (the Kingdom).
- Touch the right shoulder, intone “ve-Geburah” (and the Power).
- Touch the left shoulder, intone “ve-Gedulah” (and the Glory).
- Clasp hands at the chest, intone “le-Olam, Amen” (for ever, Amen). Visualize a shaft of light through your body and a cross of light at your heart. B. The Four Pentagrams
- Face East. With arm/dagger trace a large banishing earth pentagram (start at the lower-left hip, up to the forehead, and complete the five-pointed star). “Stab” the centre and vibrate “YHVH” (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh).
- Turn South, trace the same pentagram, vibrate “ADNI” (Adonai).
- Turn West, trace, vibrate “AHIH” (Eheieh).
- Turn North, trace, vibrate “AGLA”. Return to East, completing a visualized circle of flame linking the four stars. C. The Evocation of the Archangels
- Facing East, arms outstretched as a cross, say (in essence): “Before me Raphael; behind me Gabriel; on my right hand Michael; on my left hand Auriel. For about me flames the pentagram, and within me shines the six-rayed star.” Visualize each archangel as a vast presence in their quarter. D. Seal
- Repeat the Qabalistic Cross (steps 1-5) to close. DuQuette’s emphases: (i) Vibrate the names — intone them slowly and resonantly on the out-breath so you feel the sound in the body, not whisper or shout them. (ii) For the first months, do only the banishing form — beginners stir things up and the priority is knowing how to clear, not invoke. (iii) See the symbols as vividly as you can; the imagination is doing the work. (iv) Do it daily, morning and/or evening, until it is second nature. (Sourcing note: the LBRP is a standardised Golden Dawn ritual; the structure, Hebrew words, pentagram form, and archangel evocation are the traditional text. The framing — daily living-room practice, banishing-only for beginners, vibrate-and-visualize, understand-don’t-parrot — is DuQuette’s pedagogy in The Magick of Aleister Crowley and Low Magick. Faithful paraphrase; the archangel formula is the well-known short form, not a long reproduction.)
Source & Lineage
The LBRP originates with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (late 19th c.), passed through Aleister Crowley into Thelemic practice.
DuQuette → is among Crowley’s clearest modern interpreters; The Magick of Aleister Crowley is widely used as the friendly on-ramp to these rituals, and Low Magick gives his personal, lived account of using them.
The Qabalistic Cross derives from the closing of the Lord’s Prayer rendered into Hebrew Qabalah.
The Traditions' versions
Golden Dawn / Crowley original — the source text DuQuette transmits.
- Middle Pillar ritual — companion energy/centring exercise from the same lineage.
- Casting a circle (Wicca) — directional, elemental space-clearing with parallel structure.
- Smudging / space clearing — the “reset the room” intent in folk form.
- Centring prayer / sign of the cross — the Qabalistic Cross is a direct Qabalistic relative.
- Grounding & box-breathing routines — the secular skeleton: posture, breath, attention, reset.
Common refinements
Rushing or mumbling the names. The slow, resonant vibration on the out-breath is half the effect; gabbling it skips the down-regulation and the focus.
- Skipping the visualization. Going through the motions with a blank mind hollows it out — see the light, the pentagrams, the archangels.
- Jumping to invoking too early. DuQuette: master the banishing form first, for months.
- Treating it as superstition to be parroted. His core teaching is to understand each part; comprehension is what turns rote into practice.
- Inconsistency. It is a daily conditioning. Once or twice does little; the value compounds.
- Self-consciousness. Done alone, drop the embarrassment — that resistance is part of what the practice dissolves.