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Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

xij. But the Wise know that the Way Up and the Way Down... At one time the two approaches were in conflict, but they were later reconciled by the Olympian Movement (Butterworth, Tree, 130). It is interesting that the Bull, Lion and Eagle were all associated with the Serpent Power (Butterworth, Tree, 152- 153). This association recalls the Four Sacred Animals (Bull, Lion, Eagle, Man) of the later esoteric tradition. Perhaps originally the Four Sacred Animals were the Chthonic Bull and Lion, and the Celestial Eagle and Winged Horse. After 1000 BCE Babylonian amulets are found with a cross indicating the four directions (see below); a symbol is in each of the angles (De Vogel, 294). Shaman staffs, such as Hermes' caduceus, often have a cross bar. The staff probably symbolizes the Tree of Life, and the crossbar its branches (Butterworth, Traces, 150). Hermes is, of course, the Psychopompos, the Spirit Guide, and is found in the vicinity of both Calypso's and Circe's caves at the Navel (Butterworth, Tree, 118). He visits with equal ease the Heavens and Hades. Orphic grave tablets tell the "Child of Earth and Heaven" that to the left and right are both a cypress-tree and a well. On the supplicant's left is a white-cypress, associated with day and the Sun; to the right, a dark cypress, associated with the Moon. (Butterworth, Tree, 215-216) The order of the Tau Cross is: Fiery Pillar (top-bottom, center), Moon (left), Sun (right), back to center. Similarly, in meditating on the triangle in the pericarp of the Sahasrara Chakra, the Yogi begins with the Fire Bindu in the center, follows the Line of Fire to the Moon Bindu (left), follows the Line of the Moon to the Sun Bindu (right), and follows the line of the Sun back to the Fire Bindu (Avalon 490-491). This structure is also preserved in the Crucifixion on the back of the Lotharkreuz in Aachen. See Butterworth (Tree, pp. 175, 215-223, pll. xxix-xxxi).

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

When he visits Prometheus, Odysseus takes the Twelve Best of his companions, and Butterworth (Traces, 130; Tree, 167, 174- 175) observes that a Master with Twelve Disciples is a traditional size for covens and other mystical groups.

Interestingly, Pausanias (II.xxiv.3-4) describes an ancient wooden statue of Zeus at Argos, said to have been brought from Priam's Troy, which shows Zeus with a Third Eye in His forehead. Although we normally associate Zeus with the Celestial rather than the Chthonic Path, Butterworth (Tree, 170-171, 177) observes that this figure represents Zeus Chrysaoreus, who rules both the Heavens and the Abyss (and so corresponds to both the Olympic Zeus and Poseidon); this deity is equivalent to the mysterious Chrysaor, who emerged with Pegasus from the severed neck of Medusa, a shamanic figure. (Pausanias suggests that the Three Eyes correspond to the Three Worlds, which we may call Heaven, Earth and Abyss.)
helela

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

xi. And learn thou this about the Way of Descent. ... The description of Scylla and Charybdis is in Odyssey XII.73- 110. The Sacred Fig Tree (ficus religiosa) symbolizes Life, and so it is the Tree of Life, the Cosmic Tree. Its three- lobed leaves symbolize the male and its fruit the female. The Sign of the Fig, which can be seen as representing either the male or female genitalia, is still a common apotropaic (warding) sign around the Mediterranean. Recall also that the Buddha meditates, conducts rituals, and is enlightened beneath the Bodhi Tree (Tree of Knowledge). I need hardly mention the Serpent-entwined Tree of Knowledge by which both Eve and Adam are enlightened (to the displeasure of the ever-jealous Yahweh). Prometheus is befriended by Black Shamans: Oceanus and His Daughters and Herakles. Herakles is a Black Shaman, as shown by the animal form he adopts: the Lion. We recall also that He replaced Atlas (who is a Black Shaman, like His daughter Calypso, who lives at the Navel of the Sea) in His station at the Axis Mundi. Herakles' club is a dead limb from the Tree of Life, which grows on the cliff over Charybdis, the Way Down. He uses his bow and arrow -- common symbols for ascetic discipline -- to slay the Eagle that torments Prometheus. Further, when Herakles went to get the Oxen of Geryon, he raised his internal heat by his ascetic practices (tapas), and then took his bow (Mind) and shot his arrow (Self) at the Sun (Celestial Illumination). During this same Labor he raised the Twin Pillars (N.B.) of Herakles. (Butterworth, Tree, 9- 10, 133-134, 201-207) Similarly, Tantalus was a Black Shaman stuck in the Underworld (unable to return from trance?) and unable to reach the Tree of Life (Butterworth, Traces, Ch. IV). The Kuklopes (Cyclopes), who are known as Sons of Poseidon, seem to be like Zen Masters. They see from their brow (the Ajna-Chakra) and visit the Underworld. Note that "Cyclops" derives from kukl-ops = wheel-eyed = chakra-eyed; they are Giants (Macranthopoi), like all Shamans. Recall that Odysseus visits the Cyclopes after his stop at the Land of the Lotus- Eaters. Odysseus and his comrades are unwilling to put up with the "soul-devouring" discipline of the Polyphemus, so they close his brow-eye with wine, and extinguish his illumination. When Odysseus called himself "Nobody" (Outis) he may have been mocking the Cyclopes practice of uniting their Ego with the World. They made the Keraunos (Thunderbolt), which they later turned over to Zeus; it represents the (originally Chthonic) powers symbolized by the "Blazing Blossom" (the Lotus) and perhaps Lightning issuing from the Earth. The Cyclopes were later the assistants of Hephaistos, the Master of the Fiery Discipline (cf., tapas). (Butterworth, Tree, 130-133, 172-178)

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

x. For learn thou this about the Way of Ascent. ... The Shaman Prometheus journeyed to Heaven to retrieve Celestial Fire in a hollow stem, that is, He gained the Fiery Heat of Kundalini in the Susumna (Central Nadi). For this accomplishment He later suffered by being held to the Pillar on the Cosmic Mountain, which towers over the Abyss, and by being tortured by His Guide Animal, the Eagle (or Vulture). These are the Pains of Ascesis, for Mystics must often subject themselves to suffering; it may also refer to the difficulty of arousing oneself from trance (Butterworth, Traces, 137-145; Tree, 98; David-Neel, 141-166). (See Butterworth, Tree, 47-49, 189, 201-207; see below for Prometheus' redemption.)

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

For the Dioskouroi and Helen see Butterworth (Tree III, V). The Dioskouroi were represented by the dokona [do/kona], two pillars connected by two cross-beams (Burkert 213), which could easily symbolize the Two Ways on the Tree of Life. Burkert thinks it may have been used as a Gate of Initiation. Sometimes the Heavenly Twins are Herakles (Black) and Apollo (White).

It is interesting to note that in the ancient tradition there is no fixed association between the two sexes and the Two Ways. For example, we do not find that Celestial Gods associated with Priests and Chthonic Gods with Priestesses; there are numerous exceptions to both. Nor do we find that only women tread the Way of the Earth, or only men the Way of the Air. Often the Two Ways are associated with two males (the Dioskouroi) or two females (Ashtar and Ashtart = Ishtar). Finally there is an absence of association of positive qualities with one Way and negative qualities with the other. This is all in marked contrast to the Qabalistic Tree of Life, with its strong gender associations. Of course, we may choose to consider the Sun's side male and the Moon's side female, but there seems to be little ancient evidence for this in Graeco-Roman antiquity, and it may lead us toward unwarranted gender assumptions.

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

The Snake entwined around the Middle Pillar (of three) is seen in Babylonian/Assyrian art. The Serpent is a symbol of Life, Sexuality and Sensuality (as anyone will understand who has ever allowed a Snake to explore them); it is associated with both sexes (with males by phallic association, with females by earth/water associations). The Snake also represents Wisdom, Power and Eternity, and was associated with Athena, Aesculapius, Hygeia and Hippocrates. (Goldsmith VI)

Typhon, the son of Gaia and Tartaros, is obviously a Chthonic figure; he is a Giant, taller than the mountains and able to reach from sunrise to sunset, who has snakes for legs and a hundred serpent heads on his shoulders. He was defeated by Celestial Zeus, with the complicity of the Chthonic Aigipan (Pan the Goat). Similarly, Python was a son of Gaia, who lived in a Cave by a Spring, or wrapped around a Laurel Tree (N.B), and was later the Oracular Serpent at Delphi and coiled around the Omphalos there. Celestial Apollo slew, not Python, but Delphyne, a female womb-serpent (delphus = womb) also at Delphi. (The Kundalini Serpent is also female.) Another Chthonic figure with serpent connections is Erichthonios, son of Gaia and Hephaistos, and foster-son of Athena; he stands beside Her shield in Phideas' statue. (Kerenyi, Gods, 26-28, 125-126, 135-137)

Other Goddesses, besides Helen, associated with the Middle Pillar include Artemis, Hecate, Cybele, Demeter, Tyche and Athena (Butterworth, Tree, 102-107).

The image of Three Pillars is common to many cultures, including the Egyptians, Jews, Hindus, Druids, Mayans and Incas. Frequently they are associated with a Triad of Gods, and with a Trio of Qualities such as Wisdom / Strength / Beauty, or Wisdom / Power / Goodness; recall the Three Pillars of the Qabalistic Tree of Life: Might (Geburah or Boaz), Mildness (Shekhinah) and Mercy (Hesed or Yachin). Mycenaean art frequently features Sacred Pillars and Trees, often in threes (see Evans, Myc. Tree & Pillar Cult). (Goldsmith IV, XIX)

The "Black Shaman" and "White Shaman," which correspond to the Chthonic (Telluric) and Celestial (Uranian) Paths, are known from many cultures; see Eliade (Sham., 184-189) for a discussion. There is in general no implication that the Black Shaman is evil and the White Shaman is good. (However we do have the Myth of Er in Plato's Republic, 614b & seq., wherein we have two Celestial Openings and Two Chasms in the Earth, but the Bad Souls go down to the left and the Good Souls go up to the right.) Recall also Raphael's School of Athens, where we see Plato, on the observer's left, pointing to the Heavens and Aristotle, on the observer's right, indicating the Earth. Although there is no evidence either engaged in ecstatic practices, we still have the distinction between the Celestial and Chthonic Ways. Pairs of figures, with one pointing up and the other pointing down, are found in Egypt as early as the Sixth Dynasty (Butterworth, Tree, 46-47)

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

viij. Thou standest upon the Sacred Mountain ... ix. Divine Helen, Leda's Daughter, with large breasts... Most of the iconography is from Butterworth (Tree, passim) and Eliade (Sham., 259-279). For a description of a very similar scene, see Nonnos (Dionysiaca XL.443-573). An appropriate altar is, of course, an Omphalos (in the form of a dome or a truncated cone), which is always on a square base representing the four corners of the Earth. It would also be appropriate to have this surmounted by a symbol of the Cosmic Tree or Pillar (such as a Caduceus). Since at least the Fourth Millennium BCE, two or more concentric rings or dots are a standard symbol for the Omphalos, and for the magic power of the Enlightened, who work at the World Navel. Often this symbol is shown with a truncated cone, a representation of the Omphalos from the side. For fanfares, use a keras (a goat or ram horn trumpet, Hebrew shofar), representing the Cornucopia or Horn of Amaltheia (the goat who nursed Zeus); it dispenses the Sacred Sound (see below). An appropriate ritual chalice is an Omphalos Patera [phialê omphalotê], a shallow dish with a nipple in the center; it may be filled from the keras. (Butterworth, Tree, Ch. II) Butterworth (Tree, 113-114) argues that the Horn above the Cosmic Tree produces the Sacred Sound, the Om or Aum of Eastern Traditions, which is the mystic nourishment produced continually by the Sun. This sound can be produced by the Horn of Amaltheia. Higgins (I.106-8) traces the connection between Sanscrit Om, Greek Omphê (the Voice of God), and Omphalos (the Navel), where oracles were delivered. Further, Donnegan (s.v. omphalos) records that some etymologists connect Omphalos with Ompê (Fruit of the Earth). Thus we have the navel as the place of mystical communion, in both sound and substance. On Gnostic gems is found the sacred name IAO [)Iaw] of the Sun, which the Greeks took to be the name of the Jewish God, since the Tetragrammaton YHUH (using U for the semivowel wau) was often pronounced IAO. The Tetragrammaton has several other interesting connections with Greek religion. For example, it has been claimed that YHUH, pronounced YAUO or YAOU, is just IAO with a definite article. This in turn is Jove, which is pronounced YOUE (Jupiter is a contraction for Jove Piter = Jove the Father). The connection with Zeus (pronounced DZEUS) is harder to see, due to the retention of the initial consonant, but it is apparent from the hard pronunciation of J (as in Jehova), which is phonetically equivalent to DZH. Thus DZEU (Zeu, voc.) = DZHEU (Jeu) = DZHEUO (Jeuo) = DZHOUE (Jove), etc. Finally, consider the ecstatic cry of the Bacchantes, Io Euhoi [i)o eu)oi(/], which is phonetically YO EUHOI. Dropping the vowels yields YUH, which is three fourths of the Tetragrammaton. The Tetragrammaton YHWH could be vocalized Yohewhoi (YO HEU HOI), which is nearly identical to the Bacchantic yell. These similarities may reveal a Sacred Sound (a "Secret God-Name") common to many cultures. (See also Godwin, Vowels, Ch. 8.)

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

The Four Elements
The four termini of the cross correspond naturally to the four elements. Their use in this ritual is not anachronistic, since the four elements appear already in Empedocles (c.495- 435 BCE), the Greek Magician-philosopher who promises (DK 31B 111):

You shall learn all the potions [pharmaka] that there are for ills and defense against old age, since for you alone will I accomplish all this. And you shall stay the force of the unwearied winds which sweep over the Earth and lay waste the fields with their blasts; and then, if you wish, you will bring back breezes in requital. After black rain you shall cause drought for men in due season, and then after summer drought cause air-inhibiting tree-nourishing streams. And you shall bring from Hades the strength of a dead man.

On the Elements, he says (DK 31B 6):

Now hear the fourfold roots of everything:
Enlivening Hera, Hades, shining Zeus
And Nestis, moistening mortal springs with tears.

Theophrastus (372-287 BCE) explained (DK 31A 33) that Zeus is Fire, Hera is Air, Hades (Aidoneus) is Earth and Nestis is Water (although even in antiquity there was disagreement over which was which). Thus, Zeus corresponds to the Heavens, Nestis to the Abyss, Hera to the Way of Air, and Hades to the Way of Earth. Elsewhere (DK 31B 17) Empedocles says,

I shall tell a twofold tale: at one time they grew to be One alone out of Many, at another again they grew apart to be Many out of One -- Fire [Pur] and Water [Hudor] and Earth [Gaia] and the immense height of Air [Eer], and cursed Strife [Neikos] apart from them, equal in every direction, and Love [Philotes] among them, equal in length and breadth.

(Strife and Love are discussed below.) The Two Oppositions of the Four Qualities (Hot/Cold, Moist/Dry) also appear in Empedocles (DK 31B 23), and before him in Heraclitus (533-475 BCE), who said (DK 22B 126),

Cold warms up, warm cools off, moist parches, dry dampens.

There are also allusions to the Four elements in other fragments of Heraclitus (DK 22B 31, 76). In the De Gen. & Cor. (Bk. II) of Aristotle (384-322 BCE) we have the Canonical Doctrine of the Four Elements and the Two Oppositions, which persists in the Magical Tradition. So the Doctrine was established by the Fourth Century BCE and probably at least as early as the Sixth. (See Kirk, Raven & Schofield, Chh. VI, X.) (More on the fundamental potencies of the Elements can be found in my "Rotation of the Elemenets".) The original form of the Caduceus, Hermes' Wand of Shamanic Travel, was a Tau Cross supporting a Solar Disk and a Lunar Crescent, much like the familiar astrological sign for Mercury. See also John Dee's description of his "Hieroglyphic Monad," which places the Caduceus on a twofold symbol of the world (indeed, his diagram is a schematic of the astral configuration accomplished above). Compare also the Ankh. The Tau Cross is Thor's Hammer, His vehicle of travel (recall how He throws it and hangs on). The ancient Mexicans called the Tau Cross the Tree of Life, the Tree of Our Flesh and the Tree of Nutriment. (Goldsmith, 40-43)

At the World's Navel the Sun and the Moon always stand stationary (Butterworth, Tree, 1, 93).
vi. Feel thou the Sacred Tau Cross that blazeth inside... vij. As thou makest this gesture the Moon and Sun...

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

I. The Opening Tau Cross
i. Close thine eyes, and by thy breath fan thou the Fire... Controlled breathing is one kind of askêsis (practice, training; cf. the Yoga practice of tapas) that can generate intense internal heat and awaken the Python (Kundalini Serpent). The serpent and the eagle are two of the most common spirit guides. (Butterworth, Tree, 77, 88, 134-137, 198; Eliade, Yoga, 106-111; Eliade, Sham., 412-414) The connection between Qabalah and Yoga is well documented in, for example, Ponce (Pt. II, Ch. 1). On the transformation of the Shaman to the Macranthropos (Giant), see Butterworth (Tree, 178) and Eliade (Yoga, 235-6). The Corpus Hermeticum (XI.20b) says: "If then thou dost not make thyself equal to the God, thou canst not know the God; for by like is like known. Leap thou clear of everything corporeal, and make thyself grow to a magnitude like that magnitude which is beyond measure; rise above all time, and become eternal; then wilt thou know the God." v. Direct thou the beam from thy heart through thy right... ij. Draw thou down the Fire of Heaven into thy Heart ... iij. Guide thou the bright Beam downward... iv. Direct thou the beam from thy heart through thy left...

The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

Preface
The following is an adaptation of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram to the Graeco-Roman Tradition, and so it is called the "Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram." Such a "translation" is possible because the LBRP is an enactment in a Qabalistic framework of certain shamanic practices that are nearly universal. Once the underlying shamanic cosmology has been identified, it's relatively straight-forward to reexpress the ritual in the terms of another cosmology, such as the Graeco-Roman. That is, many magical operations are evolved forms of shamanic practices that are nearly universal, at least in the Europe and Asia, but probably also elsewhere. Therefore, if one can recover the original shamanic practice underlying a magical operation, it is relatively straight-forward to "translate" that operation between magical systems or between cultural traditions.

Since constructing this ritual, I've become acquainted with Godwin's Light in Extension (pp. 29-38) which, on the one hand, recommends against using Greek God-names in the LBRP, but on the other gives a Greek analog to the LBRP which makes use of many of the same associations as mine. I think Godwin's arguments against constructing a Greek LBRP, based on incompatibility of the systems, lose their force once one sees through the ritual to the underlying shamanic cosmology and practice. Although, as he says, there is no direct evidence that ancient Greeks used anything like the LBRP, it is nevertheless a basic shamanic technique for establishing sacred space and the Cosmic Axis (Eliade, Sham., 184-279), which must have been familiar, in some form, to ecstatic practitioners in ancient Greece and elsewhere.

The text of the ritual is accompanied by full annotation and refences to sources. This information should make clear which aspects of the ritual follow from ancient tradition, which come from more recent magical traditions, and which are a result of my speculation or arbitrary choice; such information is all too often missing from Neopagan reconstructions. A slightly abridged version of the annotated ritual was published in The Caduceus: The Hermetic Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 15-34. The original LBRP can be found in Israel Regardie's Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic (Vol. III, pp. 68-70, 94-95) and in many other books.

I would welcome criticism of this ritual, especially from Qabalists and Ceremonial Magicians. Criticism/correction of my Latin and Greek composition will also be appreciated. Finally, I beg readers to forgive the Early Modern English, which I've used to add dignity to the text.

Gratias vobis ago,
John Opsopaus
[email protected]