What appears below the fold is the most current incarnation of my personal Q-Cross and LBRP variant. Although it doesn’t make the earth move under my feet (Yet. It may later after it’s built up more momentum.), it doesn’t cause my saturizw to falter, either. It also interfaces with the world in a slightly different way. Overall, it follows the traditional structure, but there are some key differences.
I open with the Qabalistic Cross, including the Hebrew/Qabalistic invocations. It just seems to work better that way, and it allows me access to the power of the ceremonial/Golden Dawn current while my own builds up slowly.
Next comes the Pentagram portion of the rite. As discussed before, the banishing pentagrams just didn’t work out for me—magically or ideologically. You see, the whole “banishing” thing, when not ejecting a specific entity, force, or whathaveyou, is fundamentally based in the idea of a fallen world. The GD is pretty open about this, as are a lot of their derivative streams, and as much as it has become a feature of contemporary occultism, I haven’t personally seen any evidence that it predates them. As a witch and an animist, I utterly reject the idea of a fallen world. Are there nasty things out there? Sure. Do I want to keep them out of my space and Work? Absolutely, but that’s what my wards are for. The purpose of this ritual, then, is not to banish the world, but to attune to it … and, given the heavy influence of Wicca on my personal practice, that means conjuring the elements. And, because I worship Hellenic gods, those are the Powers I invoke at the center of that right.
Having established myself and the Circle with the Cross and Pentagram, I move to the body of the rite: the Middle Pillar, the Circulation of the Body of Light, and my daily Tarot. While I reject the idea of a fallen world, I have no trouble acknowledging that there are parts of the world (and, more importantly, parts of myself) that need help. Also, even more than the rest of the rite, this portion serves as the magical equivalent of an exercise routine: attuning one’s mind and aura to the cosmic forces one wishes to be interacting with. For the Middle Pillar, I’ve taken the English invocations from Regardie’s more accessible version* and replaced them with Attic Greek. And I do my daily Tarot during this stage because it just feels right to me.
The body of the ritual complete, my Wiccan roots and personal need for symetry require that I now release the forces. I have just conjured. I maintain the invoking pentagram because, again, I’m not trying to banish anything, just loose the forces I have yoked, which I achieve by moving counter-clockwise, as I do in my other Circle Work.
Finally, I center myself in respect to the primal forces of the natural world, represented here by Earth, Sky, Sun, and Moon in their Titan incarnations of Gaia/Ge, Ouranos, Helios, and Selene.
And because it’s the coolest thing I’ve seen in weeks: here is someone else’s Hellenic LBRP variant. Fucking brilliant. Some day I’ll be that awesome.
Part I: the Qabalistic Cross
Face your altar. (Mine is in the North) Visualize yourself growing to titanic proportions, the earth and the solar system vanishing beneath your feet and your head among the stars of the cosmos. Visualize one particularly bright star above your head – a beacon of Divine Light, burning brighter than all the suns together. Bring your blade up to that star then draw it down to your forehead, bringing the Divine Light with it. Touch your forehead with the tip of the blade and intone:
Ah-TAH
Bring your blade down vertically across your body until you are pointing at the ground with your hand covering your genitals. Visualize the shaft of light descending through your body with the mothion of your hand and into the Earth, into the star at the center of the Earth, and onward into infinity. Intone:
Mahl-KOOT
Bring your blade up and touch your right shoulder. Visualize a star at your right shoulder, and the vertical beam of light in your body extending out from your heart into the star at your right shoulder and out through infinity to your right. Focus on the beam of light and intone:
Vih-G’boo-RAAH
Bring your blade horizontally across your body to your left shoulder. Visualize a star at your left shoulder. Visualize the horizontal beam of light now extending to the left star and infinitely to the left. Focus on the beam of light and intone:
Vih-G’Doo-LAH
Clasp your hands together over your chest with the blade pointing up, held between your knuckles. Vizualize a glowing golden light in your heart. Vibrate:
Lih-Oh-LAHM
Ah-MEN
Part II: Pentagram Invocation
Face East. Draw the Invoking Pentagram of Spirit. Starting with your arm and blade stretched out and up above your head, draw a line in vibrant yellow down to the left of your hip, then up and to the right, level with your shoulder, in a straight line across your chest past your left shoulder, down to the right side of your hip, then back up above your head where you started. Inhale deeply as you hold your hands up beside your head, and exhale as you perform the Sign of the Enterer, pushing the blazing yellow pentagram to the east point and feel an answering billow of wind in your face. Point your blade to the middle of the pentagram and draw a white line with it as you make a quarter turn to your right.
You are now facing South. Draw the Invoking Pentagram of Spirit. Starting with your arm and blade stretched out and up above your head, draw a line in burning red down to the left of your hip, then up and to the right, level with your shoulder, in a straight line across your chest past your left shoulder, down to the right side of your hip, then back up above your head where you started. Inhale deeply as you hold your hands up beside your head, and exhale as you perform the Sign of the Enterer, pushing the fiery red pentagram to the south point and feel an answering blast of furnace-like heat in your face. Point your blade to the middle of the pentagram and draw a white line with it as you make a quarter turn to your right.
You are now facing West. Draw the Invoking Pentagram of Spirit. Starting with your arm and blade stretched out and up above your head, draw a line in glowing blue down to the left of your hip, then up and to the right, level with your shoulder, in a straight line across your chest past your left shoulder, down to the right side of your hip, then back up above your head where you started. Inhale deeply as you hold your hands up beside your head, and exhale as you perform the Sign of the Enterer, pushing the bright blue pentagram to the west point and feel an answering rush of water crash into your face. Point your blade to the middle of the pentagram and draw a white line with it as you make a quarter turn to your right.
You are now facing North. Draw the Invoking Pentagram of Spirit. Starting with your arm and blade stretched out and up above your head, draw a line in shimmering green down to the left of your hip, then up and to the right, level with your shoulder, in a straight line across your chest past your left shoulder, down to the right side of your hip, then back up above your head where you started. Inhale deeply as you hold your hands up beside your head, and exhale as you perform the Sign of the Enterer, pushing the vibrant green pentagram to the north point and feel the living earth rise to your call. Point your blade to the middle of the pentagram and draw a white line with it as you make a quarter turn to your right.
Facing East again, your circle is complete. Hold your arms out to either side and stand with your feet a little outside your hips. Feel the circle come together, filling with pure power and light. Invoke the gods of your elemental directions, visualizing them as you do so.
0Iriv
(A young woman in a modest white chiton and wielding a caduceus stands in front of a rainbow.)
“Iris before me …”
Dionusov
(A young man of crushing beauty, with long curling dark hair, clutches a thyrsos and stands in a sea of wine, under which are cloaked the waters of the Abyss.)
“Dionysos at my back …”
9Hfaistov
(A man with mangled legs wears a leather apron and wields a hammer and tongs, standing before a forge at the heart of a volcano.)
“Hephaistos at my right hand …”
Reia
(A queenly woman in rich robes reclines with two lions deep beneath the mountains of the earth.)
“and Rhea at my left.”
When you can see and feel them continue, visualizing yourself at the center of a flaming five-pointed star:
“Around me flames the pentagram…”
“and within the six-rayed star.”
As you invoke it, the star glows golden out of your heart.
Part III: Middle Pillar
The pentagram invocation complete, remain facing north.
Visualize the shining light of Kether, the Source, descending into your Crown. Manifest two rings of energy spinning around your lighted crown, one turning clockwise and the other counter at ever-increasing speeds. Intone three times:
e1imi
EI-mee
(I am)
Let the light and the spinning rings descend from your crown to your throat. Intone three times:
le/gw
LE-goh
(I speak)
Let the light and the spinning rings descend from your throat to your heart. Intone three times:
filw=
phee-LOH
(I love)
Let the light and the spinning rings descend from your heart to your loins. Intone three times:
poiw=
poy-OH
(I create)
Let the light and the spinning rings descend from your loins to below your feet. Intone three times:
eu11xomai
YOU-cho-mai
(I pray)
Part IV: Circulation of the Body of Light
With your aura freshly charged by the Middle Pillar ritual, stand with your arms stretched out to the sides and with your feet planted a little outside your hips.
Feel the divine light of Kether pouring down from the cosmos and into your aura through your Crown. It flows down the left side of your aura—maybe close to your body, maybe at the edges, whatever works best for you—below your feet and back up your right side. Feel your whole aura move with that flow of energy.
With the light still flowing along the one axis, feel another stream pour down the front of your aura, run below your feet, and up your back to your crown.
Your whole arua is moving, growing, becoming stronger.
Staring at your feet, the two streams begin to intermingle, drawing on the power of Malkuth. They twist together, forming a double-helix that flows up your body, re-establishing the Middle Pillar and invigorating your centers of power.
When you feel you are done, you may let the streams taper off or leave them open, depending on your purpose.
Part V: Daily Tarot and/or other rituals as needed
If this portion isn’t self-explanatory, you need to find a new hobby. If you are only doing the ritual as a part of your daily practice, let the flows of the Circulation of the Body of Light taper off and turn to your daily Tarot. If you are beginning ritual or other magical work, leave the streams open and pour that power into your intentions.
Light incense, pour libations, or whatever your daily rituals and taboos require.
Part VI: Pentagram Deconstruction
Begin facing North. Draw the Invoking Pentagram of Spirit, as before, and make the Sign of Silence: raising your left index finger to your lips and stamping your left foot.
Turn left to face West. Draw the Invoking Pentagram of Spirit and make the Sign of Silence.
Turn left to face South. Draw the Invoking Pentagram of Spirit and make the Sign of Silence.
Turn left to face East. Draw the Invoking Pentagram of Spirit and make the Sign of Silence.
Turn left again and end facing North.
Part VII: the Titan’s Cross
Stand with your feet together and your back straight. Visualize yourself standing on a broad, flat stretch of earth under the vast, clear sky. The sun is at your right and the moon is at your left.
Point your ritual blade downward, with your hand over your loins. Reach your will toward the dark, rich, fertile earth and intone:
Gh
(Ge)
Bring your blade up to your brow. As you do so draw the energy of the earth your middle pillar and out into the sky. Intone:
0Ouranov
(Ouranos)
Draw your blade down to your heart, than over to your right shoulder. Feel the blazing golden sphere of the sun at your right. Intone:
9Hliov
(Helios)
Move your blade horizontally across your chest. Feel the cool, silver light of the moon at your left. Intone:
Selhnh
(Selene)
Bring your blade back over your heart and clasp it between your palms. Feel power flowing into you from earth and sky, sun and moon. Vibrate in tune with the primal elements of the world.
Exhale slowly, grounding out the excess energy.
You are done.
ED: See, this is why I’m not published professionally yet. I sometimes submit unfinished documents to the internet. Could any of you have looked up the Circulation of the Body of Light on your own? Sure. But that’s not the point
*SOURCES
I have now looked at so many versions of the Qabalistic Cross and the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram that I can no loner name them all. My primary sources are Donald Michael Kraig (pages), Christopher Penczak (pages), and the Interwebs at large.
My Middle Pillar ritual is derived from an Israel Regardie variant included in Penczak’s appendicies (Page citation), and some old techniques I was reminded of by Soror A.I.
Kraig, Donald Michael.
Penczak, Christopher.