Notes on the Ritual of Pentagram

There are many variations and methods for performing the Pentagram ritual, which we can explore in order to refresh and refine our own practice. One of my favorite variations is that the whole ritual is performed sitting in a chair, imagining yourself two feet in front of you doing the entire ritual, with all the details that would otherwise be present during the work. This work also dramatically increases the chances for spontaneous astral projection, in the case of Neophyte. This practice has two types that can be performed. The first is to open your eyes imagining you are in fact there, looking to your physical body with your new eyes, and doing the whole ritual from there, vibrating formulas from there and drawing a circle from there. If necessary, experience failure, but there, not here.

Another method, which can be run simultaneously with the first, is easier but no less interesting. You need to imagine your figure, which performs as a puppet in front of you the whole ritual. After a while, spontaneous projections are very common. I advise you to try, as this not only builds the ability to visualize but also works to strengthen your astral body. I will return to the diary. When I told you to write about yourself in the third person singular, this should be an excellent parallel. It seems much easier than it actually is. You should hear your voice differently than when you speak regularly; it is easy to determine difference when you hear yourself on audio recordings. It is the same with the plastic visual perception of you. For all your life you were watching the movements of other characters, and you are less aware of how you act in nature. This kind of technique where you imagine yourself as a puppet and look at yourself from another perspective, is very well accepted both as a method and as an achievement. Do not be mislead by those who claim that work on the astral plane could be dangerous and that there is the possibility that you will not return. Sometimes, I wish I could really experience such a long lasting stay on the astral plane, to worry about how I should return home. Silly thoughts. Your problem, as long as you’re alive, is, however, to remain there as long as possible. Your return is inevitable and unavoidable, so use your precious time there as best as you can. I deeply believe that mastering astral projection is extremely important, and I appeal to my students to experience it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, almost all techniques and methods of astral projection about which you hear or read are completely unusable. In a similar way as the ritual of Pentagram, those techniques and mechanisms which drive the process of Change are usually ignored, with attention given to unimportant things.

Let us return to the ritual of the pentagram. At the four corners of the world, we place Pentagrams and the Archangels. I will remind you about the text of the ritual. So you say: “in front of me is Raphael”, “Gabriel’s behind me.” I just want to ask, whom are you speaking to? I often hear Students quickly and hastily say: “in front of me…” and then inhale the air rapidly as if they will dive and start yelling the name of the Archangel. In case they truly exist, and Archangels actually watch that show, it would be quite strange for them the least. First of all, there is no need to yell aloud to yourselves what actually is in front of yourself, and you can feel quite silly doing that. Simply vibrate the name of Raphael, while imagining the corresponding element in front of you. Also, when you draw the pentagram it is usually stated that lines are to be made by Wand or Dagger. My personal opinion, since you are working with the formula of Tetragrammaton, relies on your own body. You have four fingers plus a thumb, such as the four elements of the formula plus a fifth for the spirit, so feel free to assign each finger with the corresponding element. We could talk endlessly about the variants, these were just some general observations that you can consider for yourself.

I personally use the thumb between the third and fourth finger, as “mano in fica.” There is a personal motive as much as a logical explanation for a thumb – if you’re observing the fifth element as the letter Shin in the middle of the IHShVH formula. Also, the fifth element could obtain the form of any other element, as desired. Most people use their index finger for pointing, and that finger can be assigned to the fire. But the index finger can also be assigned to the air. You show and signify something which you visually perceive, marking the path of your desire; therefore, the index finger, in this case, is assigned for air. Use the attributions which are right for you, do not let somebody else do this job for you. Sometimes what is logical and natural to you makes more sense than all others’ theories together. Also, make experiments. Which finger suits a particular situation? Select a tool by logic, a goal by intuition. I doubt that I could draw a pentagram with the fifth finger, while expecting the pentagram to be sturdy and strong. Therefore, real analogies do not exist. Authorities from the past made some analogies with the body parts and elements, but be assured that they too have used same laws of logic as you do.

You can modify any part of it, but pay attention to the form. I was changing the ritual of Pentagram during the whole of my life. It’s like sex: staying in one position would be unnatural and boring. In this small and short ritual, your creativity is allowed to develop to the fullest; it is easy to remember the form of ritual, so it is left up to your plastic imagination and creativity to deeply interact with the essence of the ritual. To dwell inside the core of it. Nobody can tell you what is ultimately good or what is ultimately bad. Furthermore, you’ve got to distinguish not only good from bad. You must distinguish good and bad from right and wrong.

The condition of progress upon the Path is a condition for progress in the ritual of the Pentagram. And the laws and rules which apply to the Pentagram ritual refer mainly to all the other rituals that you will ever perform. The Aspirant must loosen the conditions under which they define and perform their daily work, whether it is a ritual, meditation, or exercise. They must always focus more on perfecting their ability to perform the practice under all circumstances, rather than perfecting it in ideal conditions. For the Aspirant, greater success lies in performing an average Liber Samekh in their mind while driving, rather than performing the same ritual in the perfect silence of their apartment, listening to favorite music, and surrounded by familiar incense. The Aspirant must succeed through resourcefulness, more than through skill. You have nowhere to work, the house is full of family, and there is noise and chaos all around you. No worries, close your eyes and imagine the perfect temple for yourself. No time? Well, do it whenever, even surrounded by the noise of the thickest traffic – would not it be ideal to use that very noise and imagine the hustle and bustle of ancient Greece as you walk toward the temple of Pythia in Delphi, or perhaps the morning market chaos in Damascus, following the path to the Grail? Is not this a fantastic opportunity to practice Pranayama during lovemaking with your beloved, breathing more slowly with every inhale, or challenging yourself with an 8+8 cycle throughout the whole experience? How far can you go? How long can you last? Half an hour? An hour? Or more? How much more? You will be surprised by the magnitude of success and insight such a way of performing, such an attitude, can bring you. Before it, our mind has no immunity, as it does not expect something so different from the places where it is so well-accustomed, where it already knows how to handle what is entirely familiar and predictable, such as our usual work and routine. Learn to stop sometimes in ritual; see if everything is right, whether something is done too little or maybe too much. Pause simply to enjoy the break. Speak the name of God differently as if you are playfully teasing him. Skip one side of the world just to provoke it.

But if you plan the ritual days in advance, step by step, passing through each segment several times in your mind until you reach perfection, no matter how satisfied you are with the preparation, as soon as you utter the first sentence of the ritual, you will feel that something is missing. It is as if someone has completely frozen all enthusiasm with a fantastic blocker, extinguishing all the fire that was burning just minutes before the performance. Therefore, be flexible and prepared for short and very limited preparations, but invest more focus and dedication once the ritual begins. In fact, all rituals do not begin when the ritual begins, but much earlier. The entire effect lies in the time after the ritual, after we forget about it and start doing something entirely different, without any memory or focus on the meaning and purpose of the ritual. We can safely say that the weakest link in the ritual is the actual performance itself—everything that is important to us happens before and after the performance.

Let us do a wonderful exercise that involves the exhale in such a lovely way. Stand at the center of your circle, intending to perform your Pentagram ritual, but this time with one modification. The entire ritual must be completed in one single exhale. The entire Qabalistic cross, all Pentagrams and Archangels, all movements and vibrations must fit into this single exhale. This will make us exhale as long as possible, but the actions must also be performed quickly, while the vibrations must merge into a single sound, with numerous rapid changes of syllables. When performed, the Aspirant executes the entire ritual in one exhale, mumbling a single word that constantly changes, moving the mouth just enough for the mind to become aware of which vibration is being activated. The Aspirant must not concern themselves with form, but must remain relaxed, informal. This must be more of a free improvisation, like an artistic sketch, an incidental pattern or a glimpse of the ritual, which elevates the Aspirant more than the ritual itself, which is closed, expected, and shaped by repetitive conventions. This change will shock the Aspirant’s mind, which will be amazed by the efficiency of this execution; on one hand, by speeding up the movements, the Aspirant will seem to be on a fast track, which will affect their subjective acceleration of time. On the other hand, the slow exhale that brings the effect of compressing time will create a fantastic combination, one that simultaneously raises and lowers the sails of the ship on which the Aspirant’s awareness is navigating. When the Aspirant performs this, simply sitting in their chair, mumbling without opening the mouth at all, with one exhale they can perform the entire Liber Samekh, imagining it all in their mind, soaring beyond the form of the entire ritual, leaping through mental jumps, like Pan’s wild goat, flying far beyond logical and rational barriers that, in the entire concept of freedom, they had imprisoned and framed themselves in. There, far beyond the circle, beyond the reach of our expectations and understanding, lies our true ritual, our true performance. The ritual is merely a slight aphrodisiac and nothing more, for something that must follow without preparation, without learning or rehearsal. The true Mage acts immediately and without preparation; their true ritual is completed the moment they physically begin to perform it. Its realization is in the mind and the Will. In the circle, only the effect of thunder after the lightning happens, for something that has already been accomplished long before it was perceived and noticed by the limited mental apparatus. True LVX strikes the being with its flash before the ears can hear it, and before fear appears as a side effect of the Ego to the appearance of the light of illumination-because the Ego will never be able to reach that light by performing rituals, or by any technique or practice. That is why it fears every time it hears thunder, because it does not see the light somewhere far off, like the lightning that split the sky, because it keeps its eyes shut, frightened like a child, not understanding the nature of the Great Work, refusing to free itself in the execution of the ritual, finally realizing that there is nothing in the ritual that would lead it to the goal. This fantastic exercise can bring about a change in the routine and dull performance, so that the entire ceremonial magic in the life of an Aspirant begins to radiate a completely different light. Let the Aspirant perform the same approach with the Middle Pillar, or any other ritual or practice, and feel the exhilaration of their spirit, leaping from the impact of such a simple yet effective shift. This subtle change, born from the idea of completing an entire ritual in the span of a single exhale, will ignite a surge of energy, as if the very essence of the practice has been distilled into that one, unobtrusive moment. Let them fly across the vibrations, the signs, skipping some of them, skipping even whole sides of the world and the recitation of certain parts of the ritual, while holding in their mind only one single thing–the end of the ritual, not even the last word, but the period after that word, which resides in silence. Toward this, they must desperately chase, until all the air in their lungs is gone. Let them do whatever is within their power for this, even if they make mistakes and exclude entire stanzas and vibrations, while their lungs brutally empty, but let them only sing toward that primal ritual, under the threat of their life. This invention and method of performing the ritual during the span of a single exhale is not so much tied to Pranayama, but to the idea of changing our entire approach to the matter. But let the Aspirant freely, boldly, and independently explore other ideas, let them come up with their own variations, which will make their lungs breathe life itself, not just air.

You are directed to do practice, not parrot repeating, and there is an immense difference in this. Of course, most people know this theoretically but when it comes to practice it looks like everything halts. Never try anything, never perform, never practice, just do. Do not do by practice, but practice by doing. When you get used to parroting, it will be very hard to change that. A very similar thing is with playing an instrument or driving a motorcycle. Once a particular mould in mind process is established, it will be almost impossible to change it during the lifetime. Therefore, learn how to learn, learn how to improve and ultimately, learn how to do. The goal of ritual of Pentagram is not to perform a ritual of Pentagram. On the contrary, performance is the one which has the goal. And that is always and in every way the A∴A∴. Perform the ritual nice, gallant and subtle. Like on the top of your fingers. It is like you do not want to wake up the dormant world around you. Careful, but not fearsome. Look at the world as a sleepy beauty; your dance breaks the curse, but if she wakes up too early – she will die from shock. Also, learn to stop sometimes in ritual; look is everything right, whether something is done too little or maybe too much, stop just to enjoy the break. Speak the name of God differently as if you tickle Him, then feel it completely. Sometimes skip one side of the world just to tease it. The ritual is a living being so treat him like that. How you do for him, so will he for you.

Often, our mind is burdened by routine and the repetition of practices, the number of Middle Pillar exercises or Ritual of the Pentagram performed daily, weekly, and monthly. Do we need to fill the quantity of practice to be a good magician? What number would that be? 5, 10, maybe 1000? Have you discovered that all rituals in the world use the same letters of the alphabet, all rituals are therefore the same? If you learn to perform one ritual, you will know all of them. By doing more, it only shows your weakness in facing the One. It is easier for your being to devise new challenges and adventures, only to fail to achieve a single success. If you have not succeeded in one ritual, you will not in any other. Do you think that the experience is obtained by a number? The experience is obtained by success, not by the successes. And success is only one; failure is all the other.

Any ritual you do, you should do as it was your last action on earth. Pretend that after work, there is nothing; there is no next time. There is no next performance. Do not rehearse. Thy Pure Will is not to be rehearsed but to be done. Do not practice anything, but do it. Learn to act in this way. Can you, or should you, strengthen something which is endless by its nature? Let everything in, and let everything out from your Circle. Infinite remains the same, with or without your individual limitations. Infinite disharmony is of the same essence as infinite harmony. The Circle could protect you from “evil,” but what will protect you from your personal stupidity? Your own limitations? Your drawn Circle will always be a symbol of your limitation. Therefore, strive towards infinite, with devilish boldness, and the Circle will grow by itself.

Frater 273

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