I remember when I first started out with the Great Work my cats where always around, but not anymore till as I say, it is finished. Yet as soon as I finish the ritual I am doing they suddenly show again near myself and the closed down circle. My cats are always around just before I start the ritual, however once I have got under way with the LBRP and BRH they are no were to be found. If you have a better answer than mine, please hop over to Jason Miller's blog and tell it to him. I know the answer to the former, but not the latter. Then again, one wonders how the Modern Magick community have ignored Kraig's examples. Of course, one wonders how the people who showed me Our Arte and Craft overlooked the fact that most of the Regardie examples start off with the Lesser Rituals of Banishment. I learned practical magic by observing actual people doing the work, therefore I picked up a different set of habits. If you see a hundred outlines saying that the Lesser Rituals of the Pentagram and Hexagram is the proper way to start, and only one that says otherwise, you tend to go with the majority opinion. Given the fact that most are learning from reading books and other material, it is natural for them to think of this as the proper way of doing things. (There is Enochian in the Openings, but not this particular ritual.)Īs for the greater Golden Dawn/Ritual Magick community not using the Opening by Watchtower more often, I would venture the guess that they are taking their cue from what they see other people doing. Therefore, I do not spend a lot of time working with it. The kicker is that the Opening by Watchtower is not part of any of the Golden Dawn Openings that my Order uses. (The use of the room by the cats do not count.though occasionally I do wonder what they are doing with the simple Enochian Chess set.)Īnd most of my rituals start with the proper Opening of the Grade that I am working in. But I teach that if your ritual room is used for something else, then one really should do the Lesser Rituals of Banishment.
So here is my personal answer, I generally skip the LBRP and LBRH in my own workspace it is used for lodge and ritual related work mainly, so I only occasionally have to clean up after a non-ritual use. For that matter, I am not sure if I am in the context that he is talking about. I am not sure that I have a good answer for him. (For the sure-to-stumble-upon-this-post newbie: LBRP-Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram LBRH-Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram Modern Magick is the title of a book by Donald Michael Kraig, which has became the core textbook for a lot of people.)
Jason Miller, over on his blog, just asked why all the ritual outlines we see tend to start with LBRP or LBRH, and not the Opening by Watchtower, when doing practical magic in the Golden Dawn/Modern Magick context.