BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Pagan Article - Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

This week's article is a how-to of the LBRP or Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. It originates in ceremonial magic but has become popular with others as well.

Let me know if you have any questions. I wanted to do a LBRP FAQs article since questions tend to come up but I haven't gotten to it yet.

Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

Just a question, why would I draw a cross, and call on the archangels in a pagan ritual?

Unless, maybe, you are performing as a christo-pagan?

Just curious. As I have never heard of doing this particular ritual, I have definitely heard of cleansing or protection rituals, but this one is decidedly different from anything I have heard of, and I am interested in learning more.

Hi Wendy,

This isn't strictly a Pagan ritual, although it has Pagan elements. It comes from Hermetic ceremonial magic traditions, namely the Golden Dawn, which combines techniques from freemasonry, grimoire magic, alchemy, Christian and Jewish belief, and Rosicrucian (rose cross) orders. They attempt to combine what they believe is the best of different traditions in order to reach enlightenment. I would call them eclectic mystics, though I don't know if they would refer to themselves that way.

The symbol of the Golden Dawn is the rose cross and there are definitely mystic Christian aspects to their order. Not in the sense that you have to believe in Jesus or go to hell, but they do believe in the Christ consciousness as one path to enlightenment, in that it can be an attainable state for all of us.

They also use a great deal of Egyptian symbolism and the god Osiris, as the dead and then resurrected god, is believed by some to be equivalent to Jesus. In fact, this dying/resurrected god myth is one of the mysteries they study.

The pentagram was used by magicians long before it came to be associated with Wicca or Paganism. I believe it actually is Greek in origin. I've read that early Christians used it to symbolize the 5 wounds of Christ, but I don't have a citation to back that up. But it is also an alchemical symbol embodying the "as above, so below" concept.

Also, the archangels are considered by the Golden Dawn to be more ancient than Christianity or possibly Judaism.

The LBRP is probably practiced more by occultists than by people who consider themselves strictly Pagan, but the two cross over so much that I thought it would be good to have a how-to article on this for the site.

I hope that helps a bit. I will do my best to answer any more questions you might have.

Blessings,

I only asked because I head up Native American, Wiccan, and Pagan sub-forums at a religious forum I am on.

You are very correct in that xtians used the pentagram for the 5 wounds of JC, some still do in fact.

Now if only I could find a reliable source as to why the goats head got put into the upside down pentagram. And no, it isn't because goats are evil. haha.

From what I've read, the goat represents the Egyptian god Baphomet, and the connection with the god and the pentagram was made famous by Eliphas Levi. I know we aren't supposed to trust Wikipedia, but believe it or not their current article has some good references (I know, I'm shocked) :
Baphomet

Yup I have definitely seen that, however because even though he most likely is of Egyptian origins, no one is quite sure of exact origin.

We have fundies and converts of other religions that find this type in information fodder for ripping apart.

Yes, and with his horns, that makes it easy for them to make assumptions. With people like that though I doubt anything you tell them will give them an open mind.

this I know all too well, however one in particular likes to contradict himself left and right daily.