Why I think that the LBRP is not a substitute for a physical circle.
There has been a trend in modern occultism to find shortcuts in magical techniques, sometimes out of ease, sometimes out of laziness, sometimes both. I first learned about evocation in Donald Michael Kraig’s “Modern Magick” in it he suggests that the LBRP is sufficient for evoking Goetic spirits and that it provides enough protection. I took him at his word and I experimented, I won’t go into detail, but shit hit the proverbial fan! I have seen this claim elsewhere since, that the LBRP was born out of grimoiric circles and one can be interchanged for the other. I have also seen claims that any old circle will do, as it is all just symbolic, a piece of rope tied and laid out will suffice. I do not believe and have not experienced that this is the case.
One thing I think I need to express here is that just because someone else has had a brilliant experience with a spirit and no longer needs to use a circle or cast one to work with it, does not mean that your experience will be the same. ALWAYS use protection until you know there is nothing to fear.
So why wouldn’t the LBRP be sufficient? The LBRP does not, like many people believe, banish everything nor does it keep everything out. Some magicians will have currently dropped their coffee and spilled it all down their armchairs. The people who believe one must banish before and after every working are ignorant of practices outside the Western Mystery Tradition. You do not. Frankly, sometimes you are doing more harm than good. I think the LBRPs main use is not even banishing!
Evocation is the process by which you summon a spirit and seek to anchor it as close to the physical plane as possible. It does not just occur on the astral, it occurs on the lower etheric and can manifest to some degree on the physical plane. You are inviting this spirit into your temple and giving it some physical medium through which to manifest. The LBRP only effects the etheric and lower astral plane of existence. There is no physical medium for the LBRP to manifest. There is no physical boundary. When you are working with magick you need to approach it from the same plane you are effecting, in this case it is usually the physical plane. You can go in thinking that just because you understand the circle is a symbolic representation of the universe and the influence of the magician, that the dagger is the intellect, and the wand the Will that you will be fine, but we are not working with the psyche in magick. Now the Crowley and Regardie fans have dropped their coffee.
The magick of the grimoires is old. It is potent. It is alive. The spirits are very much so real beings and they can wreak just as much havoc as they can bestow blessings. The grimoires are not part of the Modern pick and mix occult market; they are specific recipe manuals to be followed to the letter until you are a head chef yourself and can create your own recipes. If the grimoire says draw a physical circle, draw a physical circle. Alternatively, you can also buy one. The physical circle is necessary because the danger you face is not just spiritual or psychological. This being is now on your plane of existence, or close to it, if you have not anchored spiritual protection to this plane by physically demarcating a circle then you are in danger. The God names surrounding a circle are talismanic in and of themselves; they hold power over the spirits. They anchor the divine influence of the deity behind the names to the physical space you are standing in and they offer protection on ALL planes. The LBRP offers protection on the astral and lower etheric only.
Another thing to remember, even if you banish after a working there is no guarantee a spirit has gone. To banish something you normally have to name it directly and name a being or spirit which has power over it. The four God names and Archangels of the LBRP do not necessarily have potency when it comes to spirits from another tradition. For example, trying to use the LBRP to banish an Enochian senior would be ridiculous. The LBRP was never meant to banish individualised spirits; it rather clears the debris and lesser beings. It can certainly offend other beings who are there simply minding their business, but it is about as powerful when it comes to banishing as a feather duster. Its main use, in my humble opinion, is banishing aspects of the Self, which are unbalanced and have clung on to the true light of self, and for establishing a harmonious, balanced space in which LVX is invoked.
So whilst I believe a physical circle can in fact replace the LBRP when it comes to spiritual protection, I feel as though the LBRP falls short in replacing the physical circle when it comes to evocation.
All of this is my opinion feel free to disagree accordingly. This is just what I think based off the experience I have gained thus far and it is certainly subject to change!
