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Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

Similarly Empedocles, in a passage previously quoted, makes Strife (Neikos) and Love (Philotes), that is, Destruction and Growth, the two great motive forces of the Universe. He also says (DK 31B 17),

And these things never cease their continual interchange, now through Love all coming together into One, now again each carried apart by the hatred of Strife.

Compare also: Horus the Creator, Set the Destroyer and Shu the Mediator; Brahma the Creator, Shiva the Destroyer, Vishnu the Preserver.

In form and nature the Keraunos is a "Blazing Blossom" or "Fiery Flower," again representing Growth and Destruction. In the Second Olympian Ode, Pindar says (Houghton tr.):

And such as thrice have dared,
abiding either side of death,
To keep their souls aloof from evil doing,
Proceed the road of Zeus to Kronos' tower,
Where 'round the islands of the blest,
the Ocean breezes blow,
And the Blossoms blaze with gold ...

See Butterworth (Tree, 205, 224-225) on the Keraunos as an "efflorescence of flame." As such it is an androgynous symbol, for the Flame (or Jewel) is masculine and the Water (or Lotus) is feminine (Goldsmith 8-9).

Hera's Cuckoo-bearing Sceptre, which represents the Celestial Spirit nesting on the top of the World Tree. (Zeus first came to Hera in the form of a Cuckoo.)

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

xv. Now go thou to the East and make the Pentagram. ... Zeus's Keraunos (Thunderbolt) is a complex symbol, nearly identical in shape to the Tibetan dorje (Hindu vajra) thunderbolt. The round center represents the World Navel. The radiate branches at each end represent the two halves of the World Tree, the upper Branches growing from the Earth up to the four quarters of the Heavens, and the lower Roots growing from the Earth down to the four quarters of the Abyss. Thus it represents the power of the Twofold Path for Growth and Illumination. The center (cf. the Lotus or Bindu) represents the Earthly potential for Growth out of the Void, while the ends represent the power of Celestial and Chthonic Lightning, both illuminating and destructive. The reconciliation of the Celestial and Chthonic Paths was achieved in the 9th cent. BCE by the Olympian Movement (Butterworth, Tree, 130-133), and the Lightning + Flower combination is thereafter common is Greek art. The Keraunos was made for Zeus by the Kuklopes (Cyclopes), Underworld Masters of Fire, who are Giants who see from their brows (cf. the "third eye" or Ajna-Chakra). (See Butterworth, Tree, VI, IX; Goldsmith 100-105, 175.) The Growth and Destruction symbolized by the Keraunos is the Law (Logos) of the universe, governed by Zeus. As Heraclitus says, "Keraunos steers all things," and Hippolytus explains, "by Keraunos he means the Eternal Fire, ... and he calls it Need and Glut" (DK 22B 64, 65). Heraclitus also says (DK 22B 20), "The World Order -- the same for all -- no one of Gods or people made, but it ever was and is and shall be: Fire Everliving, being kindled in measures and in measures being extinguished." He says it is the basis of the Cosmos: "All things from Fire arise and into Fire resolve; all things come to be in accord with Destiny, and through opposing currents existing things are made a harmonia (structure)" (Diog. Laert. ix.7)

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

When it comes to intoning the name of the Pentagram, HUGIEIA is especially appropriate, since it is almost entirely vowels, and the G is easily extended as a velar fricative. The Latin version, SALUS, is not as good, but the sibilant S and liquid L are easily prolonged. For the English version, though SOUND and WHOLE both have five letters, they do not have five sounds. But WHOLENESS does (vowels: O, E; liquid: L; nasal: N; sibilant S), and corresponds better with HUGIEIA and SALUS, being a noun rather than an adjective.

I've kept the usual Earth Banishing Pentagram (lower-left to top) for this "Lesser" ritual, though I know of no ancient warrant for the usual association of the Five Elements with the points of the Pentagram.

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

II. Pentagrams of the Quarters
The pentagram and hexagram were both used for protection in ancient Greece (V cent. BCE). In Babylon, five-, six- and seven-rayed stars were all used. The Pentagram appears in the earliest writing of Mesopotamia (precuneiform pictographic writing), c. 3000 BCE, as the Sumerian sign UB. Its meaning in the cuneiform period (by 2600 BCE) seems to be a Heavenly Quarter and also the four Directions (forward, backward, left, right); the fifth direction was "above." The four directions corresponded to the planets Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn, with Venus the Queen of Heaven (Schekina) above. These are the "Smaller Planets" (omitting Sun and Moon). Ishtar (Venus) was represented by the Eight-rayed Star (Elam). See De Vogel (App. A) and Black & Green (s.v. Star).

Pythagoras may have become acquainted with the Pentagram during his sojourns in Egypt and Babylon (perhaps 554-533 BCE); in any case the Pythagorean Brothers used it as a sign of recognition (Iambl., Vita Pyth. XXXIII). They called the Pentagram "Hugieia" [(Ugi/eia], which is usually translated "Health," but has more the sense of Soundness or Wholeness. The Pentagram was still used with this meaning in Paracelsus' time (c.1493-1541). The Pythagoreans also used "Be sound/whole!" as their greeting (Scholia in Aristoph., Nubes 609; Lucian, Pro lapsu 5). In fact Bonner (p. 177) notes that Hugieia is a fairly common inscription on amulets, and that Perdrizet thinks it and similar inscriptions are Oriental in origin (the word, of course, is Greek).

The Pythagoreans apparently labeled the points or angles of the Pentagram with the Greek letters UGIEIA. Allman (p. 26) shows them on the points arranged counterclockwise from the top thus: U, G, I, EI, A. The fact that UGIEIA has six letters is an inconvenience, and Allman observes that the Pythagoreans wrote upsilon, gamma, iota, theta, alpha at the points, perhaps because an adjacent epsilon and iota look something like a theta. Chasles (1875, p. 478-479) likewise lists these five letters, quoting Alstedius (Encyc. univ., 1620) and Kircher (Arithmologia, 1665).

Budge (Amul. & Superst., 232-233), in an exhibition of remarkably sloppy scholarship, says that the "shield of Solomon" (i.e. the Hugieia Pentagram) is inscribed with the Greek letters IGIRA "meaning something like 'wholesome,' 'good for health,'" though there is no such Greek word. Looking at the figure in his book we see an upright pentagram surrounded by two rings; between the rings and aligned with the angles between the pentagram's points are Greek letters reading clockwise: UGI?A. The mysterious fourth letter is unidentifiable, but the figure is from Agrippa's De occulta philosophia (Lib. III, cap. xxi). The letter is still not entirely clear in my edition of Agrippa (Brill, 1992), but its appearance is consistent with a common medieval abbreviation for EI (which looks vaguely like a theta, but more like a dollar sign made without lifting the pen). (Francis Barrett translates the relevant part of Agrippa in The Magus, Bk. II, Ch. XVII, but does not include the figure.)

So we can conclude that the Pythagoreans labeled the Pentagram with the letters U, G, I, EI, A, reading clockwise (or perhaps counterclockwise), placing them on the points starting at the top (Alstedius, Kircher), or in the angles starting at the top right (Agrippa).

Now, of course, when one draws a Banishing or Invoking Pentagram of any kind, one does not visit the points in either a clockwise or counterclockwise order. One might suppose that some Great Secret is revealed when the Pentagram is labeled as above, but the letters visited in an invoking or banishing order. But if that is the case, I have not been able to penetrate the Mystery. The resulting sequences of letters do not seem to spell anything, let alone anything interesting. Therefore, I've decided that it's more meaningful, in a Banishing or Invoking Pentagram, to call off the sounds in their natural order, but other approaches might be worth some experimentation.

The singing of the sounds, especially the vowel sounds, creates compact entities in the Spectral Realm. The longer they are continued, the denser (more compact) their Spectres. Their Power is collocated in the Spectral Realm with that of all similar sounds, no matter when they were made, or where. Thus connections and causal relations are established across Space and Time. This is a consequence of the Mathematics of Harmony (Fourier Analysis).
xiij. This is the way thou wilt draw the Shining Pentagrams... xiv(a). In Greek the Pentagram hath the Name HUGIEIA... xiv(b). In Latin the Pentagram hath the Name SALUS... xiv(c). Though in English we label the Pentagram WHOLE or SOUND...

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

In the last part of the exercise, the Energy spirals upward around the Body, beginning in front of the Right Foot, spiraling to the upper left, until it bursts from the Head to flow down all sides to the Feet. This obviously corresponds to Circular Motion and to the Fifth Element (Spirit, Quintessence, Aether). Some versions do not have the Energy spiral, but simply rise vertically up the Spine, until it bursts from the Head, like Athena from Zeus's head. The basic pattern is still Circular (or Spherical), however, since the Energy flows back to the Feet on all sides. In both case you draw Sustenance from the Abyss and raise the Serpent Power to the Top of the Cosmic Tree, where its Abundance pours down again upon the World Navel.

According to Regardie (III.59-60), the purpose of the Circulation is to build up a three-dimensional Tree of Life with Five Pillars. However, as we've seen, the traditional Tree, in Qabalah and elsewhere, has three Pillars. Thus I've used the second part of the Circulation to open the opposite directions in the Moon and Sun Channels.

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

Circulation Through the Tree of Life
I'll digress briefly on a well-known exercise, the "Circulation through the Tree of Life" (Regardie, III.59-60), and its relation to the Elements and Ways. Aristotle (De Coelo IV, 311a-b) distinguishes three Simple Motions: Upward, Downward and Circular (Celestial Rotation). Upward and Downward Motion pertain to the Four Elements (the substance of the Mundane Spheres); Circular Motion pertains to Aither, the Fifth Element or Quintessence, the substance of the Celestial Spheres.

Downward Motion follows the sequence Fire, Air, Water, Earth, that is to say, the Practitioner's Head, Right Hand, Feet, Left Hand. This is exactly the opposite direction used in the first part of the Circulation exercise, which flows from the Head, down the Left Side, around the Feet, and up the Right Side. However, it agrees with Plato's Cycle: Fire condenses into Air, Air liquifies into Water, Water solidifies into Earth, and Earth sublimates into Fire. In this exercise we are drawing Power from both Extramundane Worlds. The circulation draws the Celestial Fire down the Sun Channel into the Way of Air, and it draws the Abyssal Water up the Moon Channel into the Way of Earth. Exhalation corresponds to drawing down, inhalation to drawing up. It will be helpful to see the Elements going through the transformations of Plato's Cycle, with the rotation driven by the streams of Heavenly Fire and Abyssal Water. This part of the exercise helps establish the Sun and Moon Channels. Upward Motion follows the sequence Earth, Water, Air, Fire, which in Plato's Cycle is: Earth dissolves into Water, Water vaporizes into Air, Air rarefies into Fire, and Fire condenses into Earth, known in Alchemy as the Rotation of the Elements (Burckhardt, Ch. 6; see also my "Rotation of the Elements"). We can make this correspond to the second part of the exercise, if we turn to our Left (North), so that the Moon Pillar is in front of us, and the Sun Pillar behind, then the order of circulation is: Chest, Feet, Back, Head. Exhalation corresponds to descent, inhalation to ascent. Again, it is helpful to visualize the transformations of Plato's Cycle, driven from Above and Below, as before. This further strengthens the Sun and Moon Channels, but facilitates the Journey on them (up for Sun, down for Moon), whereas the preceding circulation facilitated the Return (down for Sun, up for Moon).

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

Qabalah divides the Hebrew alphabet into three groups (Ponce I.2): Three Mothers, Seven Doubles (Dyads) and Twelve Singles (Monads). The Three Mothers are Aleph, Mem and Sin. These are traditionally associated with the elements Air, Water and Fire, respectively. Therefore we have the three Cosmic Planes: Fiery Heavens (Sin/Fire), Watery Abyss (Mem/Water) and the Upward Path between them (Aleph/Air), though the Downward Path (Earth) is either missing or assimilated with the Upward (as the single Axis). Alternately, since Aleph is the Mother of the Aspirates, Mem is the Mother of the Mutes, and Sin is the Mother of the Sibilants, we might expect Earth to be associated with a vowel that is the Mother of the other Vowels (which the Hebrew alphabet didn't write).

The shamanic cosmology is better represented by the Seven Dyads, which are: Beth/Gimel = Above/Below, Daleth/Koph = East/West, Pe/Resh = North/South, and Tau = Center. Thus we have Three Planes (Above, Center, Below) and Four Quarters (NSEW), which correspond to the Seven Ways of the Trivium + Quadrivium. Interestingly, Tau is the center, as in the Tau Cross. The remaining letters comprise the Twelve Monads, which traditionally correspond with Zodiacal Signs, though we may also expect them to correspond to the Twelve Paths generated by the Seven Ways. Certainly, more research is needed, especially to see how well these associations transfer to the Graeco-Roman Tradition.

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

Trivium & Quadrivium
Images of the Triple Hecate often show Her holding a Serpent (a Earth symbol) on one side and a Sword (an Air symbol) on the other. The Romans called Her Trivia, which refers to the threefold meeting of paths (Trivium). In Her triple images we can see the Cosmic Tree with its threefold trunk: the central Axis flanked by the Way of the Earth and the Way of the Air. Though one can't assume that left and right haven't been reversed in reproductions, the images I have of Hecate show Her holding the Serpent on Her right side and the Sword on Her left (though some have both on both sides).

The Trivium represents the three Ways we may go at any given time: the Celestial Way, the Mundane Way and the Chthonic Way, which correspond to the Three Planes on which we may move: Heaven, Earth and Hades (Overworld, Midworld, Underworld). The Three Ways correspond to the Three Principles of Alchemy: Sulphur (Anima), Salt (Corpus) and Mercury (Spiritus), respectively. (In other contexts, Mercury is the Active Mediator between Sun and Moon.)

Each Plane is divided into Four Quarters: the Four Quarters of Heaven, the Four Quarters of Earth, the Four Quarters of Hades. A crossroads or fourfold meeting of Paths is called a Quadrivium, and one Path leads to each Quarter. So the Trivium and Quadrivium together determine the possible Paths we can follow (Seven Ways total giving Twelve Paths in combination).

Interestingly, the traditional Pagan Curriculum (continued through the Renaissance) comprised the Trivium (Grammar, Dialectic, Rhetoric) and the Quadrivium (Arithmetic, Harmony, Geometry, Astronomy), yielding the Seven Liberal Arts. Their Planetary Patrons were as follows: Luna: Grammar, Mercury: Dialectic, Venus: Rhetoric; Sol: Arithmetic, Mars: Harmony, Jupiter: Geometry, Saturn: Astronomy. I will leave it as an exercise for the reader to establish the correspondences to the Worlds and Quarters.

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

Observe that, for most people, the Right is the Active Hand and the Left the Passive Hand, that is, the Initiating Sun and the Responding Moon. Further, if we face North, the Ascending Path is in the East and the Descending in the West, or if we face East, the Celestial Path is in the (warm, sunny) South and the Chthonic Path in the (cold, earthy) North. (On the other hand, the Paduka-Pancaka (v. 4, Avalon 490-491) puts the Fire Bindu in the South, the Moon Bindu in the Northeast and the Sun Bindu in the Northwest.) Finally, this orientation agrees with a Greek tradition that distinguished Left and Right Gods; the Left Gods are the Di Inferi (Lower Gods) and the Right Gods the Di Superi (Upper Gods), though apparently the Romans followed the Etruscans in reversing the associations (Weinstock 1946). In any case, I don't consider the issue settled, and readers should conduct their own experiments; all the correspondences stay the same, just switch Left and Right.

Re: The Olympic Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

Right & Left
There is a problem telling the orientation of Right and Left. Butterworth (Tree, 216-7) claims that when you look at the Tree, the Moon Path is on the Right and the Sun Path is on the Left, but that taking the Tree within you puts the Moon Path on the Left and the Sun Path on the Right. He says this agrees with the oreintation of Hatha Yoga, which is described from the Yogi's viewpoint and puts the Ida-nadi (Moon Channel) on the Left and the Pingala-nadi (Sun Channel) on the Right. (Actually the Sun and Moon Channels spiral around Sushumna -- the Spine -- but the Moon Channel terminates at the left nostril and the Sun Channel at the right. Kundalini Yoga may have been known in western Asia as early as the Second or even Third Millennium BCE; Butterworth, Tree, 166-167, 192) Butterworth also supports this orientation with artifacts, including the Lotharkreutz, but admits that other artifacts reverse the orientation, and in some cases it's not obvious what is the front and what is the back.

There are similar problems with Qabalah depending on whether the Tree is faced externally or visualized internally. Regardie (III.1) says that to the observer, the Pillar of Mercy is on the Right and the Pillar of Strength on the Left, but that when you internalize the Tree, your Right side becomes Strength and your Left Mercy. On the other hand, Ponce (137-141) argues that the Tree is properly applied to the Primal Man facing away from the observer, so that on the Left is the Pillar of Strength (Dark, Passive) and on the Right the Pillar of Mercy (Light, Active).

In the foregoing I have placed Left and Right so that the system of correspondences is consistent with Yoga as interpreted by Butterworth and with the Qabalah as interpreted by Ponce. So in the Tau Cross the Moon/Earth Path is on the practitioner's Left and the Sun/Air Path is on the Right. In this way the order of the Tau Cross (Heaven, Abyss, Moon/L, Sun/R) agrees with the triangle in the pericarp of the Sahasrara-chakra (Fire Bindu, Moon Bindu, Sun Bindu). Fortunately, this orientation also preserves the order of the Qabalistic Cross in the Golden Dawn Tradition (Kether, Malkuth, Gedulah/L, Geburah/R), since it's from the perspective of an observer facing an altar (Regardie III.94); though Regardie (III.2), inconsistently, and other sources gives Geburah/R, Gedulah/L, and still others have Gedulah/R, Geburah/L.