The Middle Pillar

by Israel Regardie

  Levi states that:The Pentagram signifies the domination of the mind over the elements, and the demons of air, the spirits of fire, the phantoms of water and ghosts of earth are enchained by this sign.10

  Elsewhere Levi reiterates that “The elementary spirits are subservient to this sign when employed with understanding....”11 He continues:If it be asked how a sign can exercise so much power over spirits, we inquire in turn why the Christian world bows before the Sign of the Cross. The sign is nothing by itself and has no force apart from the doctrine of which it is the summary and the logos. Now a sign which summarizes, in their expression, all the occult forces of Nature, a sign which has ever exhibited to elementary spirits and others a power greater than their own, fills them naturally with respect and fear, enforcing their obedience by the empire of science and of will over ignorance and weakness. By the Pentagram is also measured the exact proportions of the great and unique Athanor necessary to the confection of Philosophical Stone and of the Great Work. The most perfect alembic in which the Quintessence can be elaborated is conformable to this figure, and the Quintessence itself is represented by the Sign of the Pentagram.12

  Here Levi gives us clues about the numerical dimensions of the pentagram, for by it is “measured the exact proportions” of the athanor, the alchemical oven which is used to obtain the Philosopher’s Stone—a symbol for spiritual illumination and expanded consciousness. What is so important about the proportions of the pentagram?

  Through the number five, the number of points on this figure, the pentagram is connected to the sphere of Geburah on the Tree of Life, and to its corresponding planet, Mars. The pentagram represents that fiery, purifying power of the divine that takes the name of Pachad or “fear,” one of the titles of Geburah, whose other primary title is “strength.” Another higher function of Geburah is that of Din meaning “justice,” “judgment,” or “severity.” The divine name of Geburah is Elohim Gibor or “God of Battles.” According to Iamblichus, a Neoplatonic philosopher-magician of the fourth century C.E., “The pentad is highly expressive of justice, and justice comprehends all the other virtues.”13 In his book Numbers, Their Occult Power and Mystic Virtues, W. Wynn Westcott states that the pentad is called “the Unconquered.” Westcott also states:Proclus on Hesiod gives two reasons for its semblance to Justice, “because it punishes wrong, and takes away inequality of possession, and also equalizes what is less, to benefit. ”14

  Thus the number five provides us with the ideas of fear, strength, severity, power, and justice. The awesome energy of Geburah can strike fear into the minds of negative powers and those who do not understand its harsh, purifying, and equilibrating power. Eliphas Levi tells us that the pentagram is a potent sign that extends its power over the elementary intelligences that inhabit the astral realms:The Pentagram... exercises a great influence upon spirits and terrifies phantoms.15

  However, to the magician who uses it with a divine intent, the pentagram is a potent symbol of strength and justice.

  The pentagram has always been misunderstood and feared by those who do not comprehend its sacred meaning:We proceed to the explanation and consecration of the Sacred and Mysterious Pentagram. At this point, let the ignorant and superstitious close the book; they will either see nothing but darkness, or they will be scandalized. The Pentagram, which in the Gnostic schools is called the Blazing Star, is the sign of intellectual omnipotence and autocracy. It is the Star of the Magi; it is the Word made flesh...The Sign of the Pentagram is also the sign of the Microcosm, and it represents what the Kabalists of the book Zohar term the Microprosopus. The complete comprehension of the Pentagram is the key of the two worlds. It is absolute philosophy and natural science.16

  As will be seen, all Mysteries of Magic, all symbols of the Gnosis, all figures of occultism, all kabalistic keys of prophesy are summed up in the Sign of the Pentagram, which Paracelsus proclaims to be the greatest and most potent of all signs.17

  Gematria of the Pentagram

  One way to study the pentagram is through the use of gematria or Hebrew numerology that is concerned with the numerical value of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.18 Words and images that have the same value are thought to be related. By its number, five, the pentagram is connected to Geburah and to the Hebrew letter Heh, a symbol of creative power. Through the letter Heh, the pentagram becomes a symbol of intuition and understanding. But it is also a symbol of sight, which is the sense attributed to Heh. Therefore it is the magical symbol of true vision. The letter Heh is also connected with the sign of Aries, the warrior-protector, and the tarot card of “The Emperor,” who is the ruler and executor of the divine law. In human physiology, Aries is especially referred to the head (symbolized by the uppermost point of spirit in the pentagram). Aries is ruled by Mars and its exaltation is the Sun, the symbolic source of all light. This again leads us to ideas of strength and protection through the warrior energy of Mars-Aries, as well as solar light and health.

  Another word associated through gematria with the number five is bahbah, meaning “gate.”

  The Fifth Key of the tarot is the card of “The Hierophant,” who is the teacher, the expounder of the mysteries, and the channel for spiritual instruction.

  There are other numbers associated with this figure as well. Refer to the diagram of the pentagram and its enclosing pentagon (see Figure 12, p. 189). The pentagon is a figure that is implied, if not actually traced, when drawing a pentagram. In length every line of the pentagon is composed of thirteen units. The number thirteen is associated with a multitude of occult references: twelve spheres are needed to surround a central (thirteenth) sphere; Moses and the twelve tribes of Israel; Jesus and the twelve apostles; the sun and the twelve signs of the zodiac. In addition, many important Qabalistic words have the numerical value of thirteen, including achad , “unity” and ahavah , “love.” Other words tied to this number include gahah , “healing” or “health”; ziv , “glory”; and hegeh , “to separate,” or “to imagine.”

  The Thirteenth Key of the tarot is titled “Death,” and it is attributed to Scorpio, transformation, and change. The Thirteenth Path of the Sepher Yetzirah, an important Qabalistic text, corresponds to the tarot card of “The High Priestess” and is attributed to the Moon. This path is the primary conduit by which the higher, divine consciousness flows down to lower levels. It is also a path of change.

  Interestingly, thirteen multiplied by two is twenty-six, the value of YHVHand kabedh “to honor.” The Twenty-sixth Path of the Sepher Yetzirah is attributed to the tarot card of “The Devil,” to which is assigned the powers of material force and generation.

  Thirteen multiplied by three is thirty-nine, the value of YHVH Achad or “YHVH is One.” Thirteen multiplied by four is fifty-two, the number of YHVH spelled out.19 It is also the value of Aima , the Supernal Mother and Ben , the Reconciling Son.

  Finally, thirteen multiplied by five (the number of lines that comprise the pentagon) is sixty-five, the number associated with Adonai . It is also the number formed by the Latin letters for “light”—LVX (L = 50, V = 5, X = 10). The whole of the figure can be described as a sigil of the name of Adonai or the light of LUX.

  Sixty-five is also the number associated with the Hebrew words hekel , meaning “temple or palace” (the Zohar tells us that Adonai is the palace of YHVH); has , “to be silent,” dumiah , “silence”; and gam yechad “together in unity.”

  The long segment of each line of the pentagram is eight units in length. The number eight corresponds to the Sephirah of Hod, the sphere of intellect, communication, words of power, and magic. It also corresponds to the Hebrew letter Chethwhich means “fence or enclosure,” pointing to further protective qualities. The Eighth Key of the tarot is titled “Strength,”—it is a fiery path which leads to the sphere of Geburah. Through gematria, the number eight is associated with the word agad “to bind.”

  The shorter segment of each line of the pentagram is five units in length, affirming once again the same
ideas stated above.

  The actual pentagram is composed of five lines which are each twenty-one units in length. The Twenty-first Key of the tarot is called “The Universe,” and it is the completion of cosmic manifestation. Twenty-one is the value of Eheieh , the divine name of Kether. Eheieh is one of the highest names that is associated with the act of creation.

  Figure 12: The Pentagram and Pentagon.

  Other words that correspond to the number twenty-one are hagig, “meditation” and khezev , “vision.” The Twenty-first Path of the Sepher Yetzirah is called “The Wheel of Fortune” and it is attributed to the planet Jupiter. In addition, the mystic number of Tiphareth is twenty-one.

  The total length of all lines on the pentagram (twenty-one multiplied by five) is 105, which is formed by adding all the numbers from one to fourteen. The Fourteenth Key of the tarot is “Temperance,” the card of the HGA or higher self. The Fourteenth Path of the Sepher Yetzirah is attributed to Daleth, the “door” of initiation. Fourteen is also a number associated with the Hebrew words atad , “thorn, the piercer”; debach , “sacrifice”; gaye , “rising earth”; dai , “abundance”; david , “beloved”; habhab , “sacrificial offering”; hadah , “to direct with the hand”; yod , “hand”; and zahav , “gold.”

  Other words associated with the number 105 are hepek , “to change or transform”; pekeh , “to flow or pour forth”; and tziyah20 , “to glow, to burn or to glitter.”

  So what does all this mean? In tracing a pentagram, the magician invokes the power of Eheieh. This is a glittering, glorious power that pours forth abundantly; pierces and binds all negativity; encloses and separates the pure from the impure; opens and closes gates or doors between different worlds; gives rise to meditation, visions, love, unity, and healing; and to the magician who silences the chatter of his mind, sacrifices his lower desires, and aligns himself with the divine will, it can be employed with justice as a potent force for transformation, generation, and change (particularly on the material or earth plane) which can be directed by the hand and used to obtain spiritual “gold.” Through the number five (the creative Heh, and the five elements), Eheieh, as asserted through the tracing of a pentagram, is an expression of the five-fold existence of the power of the divine self and the light (LVX) of Adonai, who is the palace of YHVH. It is that which created the cosmos and which rules over it with justice and strength, permeating every aspect of creation. Everything in the universe is composed of the one true self which is both the power that transforms and the object of the transformation.21

  Divine Hebrew Names Associated with the LBRP

  The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is said to be most effective in the Qabalistic realm of Assiah—the physical, active world that is associated with the tenth Sephirah of Malkuth. This is the realm in which we live and function. Malkuth is said to contain the four elements of the manifest universe. This is why in many drawings, Malkuth is shown divided into four sections. The sub-elements are: air of Malkuth, water of Malkuth, fire of Malkuth, and earth of Malkuth. But for our purposes it would be better to refer to them simply as air, fire, water, and earth—the elements of our physical plane.

  With respect to the entire Tree of Life, Malkuth is the only Sephirah to which is assigned the element of earth. This is why the banishing earth pentagram22 in particular is used throughout the LBRP. However, in this instance it would be better to refer to the pentagram used in this ritual as the lesser banishing pentagram to avoid confusion.23

  All of the divine Hebrew names intoned in the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram are composed of four letters. And the specific names used are attributed to the four sub-elements of Malkuth. The name of YHVH, the Tetragrammaton, is vibrated after the pentagram is drawn in the east, the direction attributed to elemental air. Tradition tells us that YHVH is a symbol for the highest, most divine name of God. Therefore it is appropriate that this name is vibrated in the east, the place of the dawning of the light. YHVH is our sunrise, our source of life.

  The east symbolizes elemental air which has further correspondences with Mercury, the highest of the three alchemical principles. Alchemists often refer to Mercury as spirit. All of this is in keeping with the idea of the “highest name of God.”

  Adonai, meaning “lord,” is the name vibrated after the figure is traced in the south. This name is particularly associated with Malkuth, whose complete divine name is Adonai ha-Aretz. The name “lord” carries with it connotations of high rank, especially power, rulership, and dominion.24 Here the name is associated with fire and the south, the direction of the sun’s greatest strength. This is a reminder that here on Malkuth, our immediate symbolic link with the lord of light and strength is through the life-giving rays of the sun.

  The name of Eheieh is vibrated after the western pentagram is drawn. Eheieh, meaning “I am,” is the divine name of Kether. The west is the place of sunset, the completion of the sun’s journey across the sky. It represents rest and peace. To the ancient Egyptians, Ra, the Sun god died each night when he entered Amentet (the west). The west is a symbol of the completion of the soul’s journey and the goal of spiritual growth. Therefore the west is an emblem of Kether, the goal which we seek throughout our incarnation on earth and which we hope to reach at the end of life, when we (like Ra) journey to Amentet. The name Eheieh vibrated in the west suggests that the goal of all esoteric work is the magician’s complete identification with the true and eternal self of Kether.

  After the northern pentagram is drawn, the word Agla is vibrated. This is not really a word but rather a notariqon which uses the first letter of each word in a sentence to form a single word. In this case the sentence from which Agla is formed is Atah Gebur Le-Olam Adonai. This means, “Thou art great forever, my Lord,” which is a powerful invocation—clearly calling upon all the might of Adonai to aid and guide us through the darkness of things unknown. Agla is vibrated in the north because that is the direction of the greatest symbolic cold, darkness, shadow, illusion, and the unfamiliar. It is “the place of Forgetfulness, Dumbness (silence), and Necessity, and of the greatest symbolical Darkness.”25 It represents all the dormant and unmanifested forces of the universe, as well as those which are hidden or veiled to us. These are forces which we are largely ignorant of. However, all things, manifest or unmanifest (light or dark), exist then, now, and always under the rulership of Adonai. This we affirm by the phrase “Thou art great forever, my Lord!”

  How to Draw a Perfect Pentagram

  Refer to Figure 13, p. 194, the diagram of the pentagram.26

  1. With pencil and straight edge, draw a straight horizontal line on a piece of paper.

  2. Place two points on this line that will be known as A and B. (AB will be the length of the line between the earth and fire points of the pentagram.)

  3. Find the center of line AB and mark it with another point. We will call this point O.

  4. From O, draw a line perpendicular to AB. We will call this new line OH.

  5. Starting with point O, mark off a section of line OH that is equal in length to AB. The new point will be called C.

  6. Draw a straight line from B to C, and continue the line well past point C.

  7. From C, measure off a portion of the new line that is equal in length to OA and mark it with another point. This will be point F.

  8. The next part will require a compass. Starting at point B as the center, with line BF as the radius, draw circle FKD, bisecting line OH at point D. (This is the spirit point of the pentagram.)

  9. Draw a line connecting A to D. Draw a line to connect B to D.

  10. Adjust the compass so that the radius is equal to the length of line AB.

  11. With B as the center, draw a semicircle toward the upper right-hand corner of the paper.

  12. With D as the center, draw a semicircle toward the lower right-hand corner of the paper. This semicircle will intersect the previous one at point E. (This is the water point of the pentagram.)

  13. With A as
the center, draw a semicircle toward the upper left-hand corner of the paper.

  14. With D as the center, draw a semicircle toward the lower left-hand corner of the paper. This semicircle will intersect the previous one at point G. (This is the air point of the pentagram.)

  15. Draw lines to connect A to E, B to G, and G to E.

  Figure 13: Drawing a Pentagram.

  Uses of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram

  In addition to its psychotherapeutic uses, this simple yet powerful cleansing ritual can be used as a protection against the impure magnetism of others. It is also a method for getting rid of negative thoughts or emotional distress.

  As a magician, you can make a mental image of a particular thought or disturbance and visualize it before you. One way of doing this is to project it out of your aura with the Projection Sign of a Neophyte (also called the the Attacking Sign; see Figure 14, p. 198). When the unwanted energy is away from you, you can prevent its return with the Sign of Silence (or the Sign of Protection). Then imagine the negative form in the east and perform the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. See the form dissolving on the outside of your ring of flaming pentagrams.