Simple LBRP for Hellenic Pagans
The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) is an occultist's bread-and-butter. It's a banishing spell meant to purify the space at the beginning of every rite. It comes from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's tradition of ceremonial magic.
The standard version is very Abrahamic, but it's a simple framework that can easily be modified. If you have a Wiccan background, you'll be familiar with the Circle Casting, which is a version of it. The “before me, behind me” formula is also genuinely ancient — it shows up in the Greek Magical Papyri (PDM xiv. 239-95) and in Babylonian magical texts. I'm not comfortable using the Abrahamic version, and I'm not really comfortable with the Wiccan version either, so I thought, why not create a Hellenic version?
There are a couple already in existence. Here's Israel Regardie's version. There's some things I like about this, but his Greek version of the Qabalistic Cross literally just translates the last line from the Lord's Prayer into Greek. IMHO no pagan rite should begin with that, in any language. And the names he chooses for the "before me, behind me" feel inconsistent. Then there's the John Opsopaus' version, the "Olympic LBRP." I like this one better than Regardie’s version, because it seems to be an actual adaptation of the LBRP and not just a translation of it. But it's very long-winded. It includes a lot of complicated visualizations, which are worth doing once, but I don't think they're necessary at the beginning of every ritual. I'd personally prefer something more streamlined.
Then there's this Orphic version by Ariadne Rainbird. There's things I like about this one, too. One interesting thing I learned from it is that, in the Pythagorean tradition, the Pentagram is called "Hygeia," which means "health" or "wholeness." The letters of the word in Greek act as an acronym for the five elements: Ύ for hudor (ύδωρ, Water), Γ for Ge (Γη, Earth), I for heiron (ἱερόν, holiness/divinity, Spirit), EI for heile (εἵλη, heat, Fire), A for aer (ἀήρ, Air). How convenient is that!
Pythagorean pentagram with the letters of "HYGEIA" arranged at its points (counterclockwise from top).
But again, the Orphic version is long-winded. As much as I love the Olympians, having a *twelve-*point circle casting is a little much. The advantage is that you can evoke all the Olympians without having to shoehorn them into four points, and it makes sense to do if you already evoke each of the Olympians separately at the beginning of every ritual… but I don’t have the patience for that as part of a quick and low-effort banishing rite. (I also don’t know what most of the words used to greet them mean, and I would struggle to memorize them. The less memorization, the better.)
So, being the lazy occultist that I am, I developed this short and sweet version. The “Pneuma, Psyche, Nous, Soma” is taken from Israel Regardie’s version, but the rest is my own adaptation:
Simple Hellenic LBRP
[I'm skipping the Qabalistic Cross entirely. I can't think of a way to adapt it, and you're basically doing the same thing three times anyway.]
Face East. Trace a pentagram in the air with your wand or athame, intone “AITHER.” Thrust your wand/athame through the pentagram and say “Pneuma” (noo-mah)
Face South. Trace a pentagram in the air, intone “PHANES.” Thrust your wand/athame through the pentagram and say “Psyche”
Face West. Trace a pentagram in the air, intone “OKEANOS.” Thrust your wand/athame through the pentagram and say “Nous.”
Face North. Trace a pentagram in the air, intone “GE.” Thrust your athame or index finger through the pentagram and say “Soma.”
Stand and face east. Say, “HERA before me, POSEIDON behind me, HESTIA at my right hand, DEMETER at my left hand, ZEUS above me, HAIDES below me, DIONYSOS within me. For about me flames the Pentagram, HYGEIA.”
___
Feel free to take this format and substitute whatever divine names you like! Traditionally, each cardinal direction corresponds to a Classical element: East to Air, South to Fire, West to Water, and North to Earth. So, you may want to pick names that work with those correspondences.
I chose the names of four Protogenoi who embody those elements most directly. Aither is both the air and the literal substance of Heaven, the "astral light" or ethereal matter out of which gods are made. Phanes is the progenitor and the embodiment of life-force, who is usually described as being made of light or fire. Okeanos is the primordial waters that encircle the world, the birthplace of the gods in the Homeric conception. And finally Gaia is the earth we're standing on, the foundation of the material plane. So, by invoking these forces, I surround myself with the world in its most primeval state. I kept Regardie's use of “Pneuma, Psyche, Nous, Soma," which means “spirit, soul, mind, body.”
For the "before me, behind me" portion, I used the names of the six Children of Kronos, arranged according to their elemental correspondences. They represent all the same forces a few steps down on the Platonic ladder (more coalesced): Hera is the shining Queen of Heaven, and also the queen of the Air and all that moves within it. Hestia is the queen of Fire and governs its use during ritual, conducting prayers and offerings to the gods through it. Poseidon is the king of Water and the bounty of the sea. Demeter is the queen of Earth and the bounty of the land. The remaining two Children of Kronos are Zeus and Hades, who are both the Lord of the Universe in his (current) celestial and chthonic aspects: as above, so below. Finally, I added "Dionysus within," for a particularly Orphic flair, and because he's personally significant to me.
From here, you can make it as complicated as you like, adding visualizations, or voces magicae, or chanting the Ancient Greek vowels, etc. The great thing about this ritual is how versatile it is. And I do recommend using it! It clears the space of negative influences, it puts you in the right mindset for ritual, and I've found that it helps to calm me down when I'm anxious. Even if you don't want to use this format, having an easy way to invoke the gods while dispelling bad stuff is recommended.
Over on r/Greco_Roman_esoterica, as a collaborative effort, we added back in the Qabalistic Cross using the Ephesia Grammata!
Here's the new, complete ritual:
Cross
Face east. Imagine a brilliant white light touching the top of your head. Reach up with your index finger/wand/dagger to bring the light down to your forehead. Touch your forehead and intone “ASKION” Touch your breast and say “KATASKION” Touch your right shoulder and say “LIX” Touch your left shoulder and say “TETRAX” Clasp your hands over your heart and say “DAMNAMENEUS” Point your finger/wand/dagger upward between your fingers, and say “AISION.”
Circle Casting
Face East. Trace a pentagram in the air, saying “AITHER.” Thrust your athame or index finger through the pentagram and say “Pneuma” Face South. Trace a pentagram in the air, saying “PHANES.” Thrust your athame or index finger through the pentagram and say “Psyche” Face West. Trace a pentagram in the air, saying “OKEANOS.” Thrust your athame or index finger through the pentagram and say “Nous.” Face North. Trace a pentagram in the air, saying “GE.” Thrust your athame or index finger through the pentagram and say “Soma.”
Invocation
Stand and face east. Say, “HERA before me, POSEIDON behind me, HESTIA at my right hand, DEMETER at my left hand, ZEUS above me, HAIDES below me, DIONYSOS within me. For about me flames the Pentagram, HYGEIA.”
“ESTO!”
