Appendix V: Variations of the Lesser
Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram
While the LBRH (Exercise 20) represents another foundational stone in ceremonial magick, along with the LBRP, there are fewer variations of it available than there are of the LBRP. I think that pagans often are not as interested in hexagram symbolism as they are in pentagrams, and many do not understand the difference between the two banishing rituals, as oriented to the microcosm and macrocosm, or elemental and planetary formats. Many pagans omit hexagram rituals entirely because they feel the pentagram ritual cleanses and clears as much as is needed. Yet without the hexagram, they are missing the process of alignment to the heavens and planetary powers that will serve them later in their magickal career.
The Temple of Witchcraft LBRH
1. Perform the Temple of Witchcraft LBRP (see Appendix II).
2. Hold your wand or use your dominant hand in the drawing motions.
3. Alignment with the Triple Power. Hold up your arms in the Goddess position and say:
To the Maiden of the Moon, she who is above us.
4. Lower your arms until they are horizontal to the ground, forming a cross, and say:
To the Mother of the Earth, she who is with us.
5. Lower your arms further, with palms pointed down to the ground, and say:
To the Crone of the Underworld, she who is below us.
6. As you recite the words in each of the following three paragraphs, form the three signs of the Alignment with the Triple Power.
Heaven, Earth, and Underworld,
May your light guide me in all realms.
The Morrighan, Hecate, and the Norns:
Anu, Badb, Macha.
Artemis, Selene, Persephone.
Urd, Verdandi, Skuld.
Sisters, mothers, daughters.
The three who are one who are three.
Maiden, Mother, Crone.
Creator, Sustainer, Destroyer.
I-A-O.
7. Formulation of the Banishing Hexagrams. Face north and draw a banishing hexagram. I usually use the simple all-purpose banishing unicursal hexagram in golden light (Figure 87), and do not distinguish the element in the way that it is drawn, though I associate the element of water with the north. You might even perceive the pentagrams behind the golden hexagram. Vibrate: ARARITA. Point to the center of the hexagram with your tool, and draw one-quarter of the circle with a line of light, bringing you to the east, just as you did in the LBRP.
8. Face east and draw a banishing unicursal hexagram in golden light, with the element of fire in your consciousness. Vibrate: ARARITA. Point to the center of the hexagram with your tool, and draw one-quarter of the circle with a line of light, bringing you to the south.
9. Face south and draw a banishing unicursal hexagram in golden light, with the element of earth in your consciousness. Vibrate: ARARITA. Point to the center of the hexagram with your tool, and draw one-quarter of the circle with a line of light, bringing you to the west.
10. Face west and draw a banishing unicursal hexagram in golden light, with the element of air in your consciousness. Vibrate: ARARITA. Point to the center of the hexagram with your tool, and draw one-quarter of the circle with a line of light, bringing you back to the north, completing the circle.
11. Conclude with a repetition of the Temple of Witchcraft LBRP.
Star Sapphire
A complement to Crowley’s Star Ruby, the Star Sapphire ritual is his Thelemic hexagram ritual. It was found originally in Liber XXXVI of The Book of Lies, though you also can find a version with excellent commentary and explanation in Lon Milo DuQuette’s The Magick of Aleister Crowley. Some use the unicursal hexagram figure in the Star Sapphire. Though the unicursal hexagram is associated most traditionally with invoking and banishing the planets, as in the traditional hexagram rituals, some magicians associate the four smaller points with the elements, and draw toward the element, starting at the top or bottom, to invoke with the unicursal hexagram (figure 88). To banish, they start at the element and draw away, toward the top or bottom, reversing the invoking motion. With these hexagrams, you can create banishing or invoking Star Sapphire rituals.
