From: markk@cypress.West.Sun.COM (Mark Kampe)
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject: a lesser banishing
Date: 31 Oct 1994 16:45:34 GMT

The words are widely known, but it occurred to me that I've never seen 
a discussion of the melody and harmonies that give them meaning.  Surely,
like the Tao, "the tune that can be told is not the true tune".  None,
the less, I thought I would try to describe some of the experiences that
have accompanied some of my attempts at a LBRP.

P.S. ...  For those who know the words, 
		please sing along, and tell me how the tune works for you.
	  For those who have your own tunes, 
		would you consider trying to share one?
	  For those who don't haven't tried the song, 
		this may not make much sense at all.
	
======================================
0.

	I begin with receptive silence, first bringing the room into 
	order, then bringing my body into repose, then my breathing
	into measured rythm, and finally my thoughts.  I cannot begin 
	this work until I have ceased doing other things.

1. 

	Using my father's dagger I trace the circle, and the cross, 
	addressing myself to the ritual.  It seems a bit like an 
	introduction (to the One "who needs no introduction" :-).  
	The real purpose, however, is to remind me where I am, and 
	why I have come here ... and it does that pretty effectively.  
	Establishing my relationship to the power is indeed an important
	preliminary to the remainder of the ritual.

2. 

	Facing the rising sun, I inhale and look for the word that
	brought about the creation.  I gaze through the letters that 
	symbolize the ne-plus-ultra and try to find the sound that
	they represent.  This is the word I need to trigger my own 
	creation today.  When the Yod becomes clear, I am the Heh 
	that receives it, and the Vau they become wells within me,
	giving rise to the Heh that I return to the cosmos, and
	in so doing, animate the first sigil.

	I pause, as the light kindles, to experience the resonance
	between the ultimate power of creation, and the power of
	creation within myself.

3.

	Turning from sunrise to the sun at full Zenith, I reflect on 
	the awesome majesty of creation, and the power that permeates it.  
	As I contemplate the inconceivable wonder of the universe 
	(with all of its myriad worlds and souls), I search for the 
	name of its Lord ... so that I may trace my next sigil in 
	celebration of Hir glory.
	
	Once again, I pause to wait for the channel to come to
	life and savor my small glimpse of the almighty.

4.

	Turning towards the setting sun, I reflect on the glory
	I have been privileged to behold.  I note my breathing,
	and the implicit continuous prayer it offers in praise to
	the spirit of life.  "Ruach" means both "breath" and "spirit",
	and in our breathing we speak the holy name more perfectly 
	than words ever could.

	I seek to make each breath a more ardent and perfect prayer, 
	and an act of communion.  When my breath has become the
	name of life, I carve a sigil into which that principle can 
	be enshrined, and welcome the spirit of life into my circle.

5.

	Turning to the north, I see nothing, and so confront myself - 
	body and spirit, ego and instrument of divine will, animal 
	and god.  What am I and what am I to become?  How am I to 
	resolve a myriad of aspirations and urges?  The answer is not 
	in allowing myself to become a battleground for a thousand
	balkanized aspects of my own nature.  The answer lies in 
	finding purpose and becoming an instrument of that purpose.

	And so I acknowledge my need, and my inescapable obligation
	to understand and serve the divine will.  As I speak the oath
	that binds me to that will, I carve the sigil that must be
	simultaneously the instrument of my destruction and the key to 
	my salvation.

6.

	Turning again to the rising sun, and standing in the 
	center of these channels, I look forward to find the
	spirit of guidance.  My needs and aspirations have
	been anticipated, and provided for.  I need not want
	for guide or teacher.  I have but to open my eyes and
	see them.

7.

	The power of life swells behind me and within me, 
	compelling me to action and empowering me to achieve.  
	Life is that which does, and that which becomes.  
	I am life, and the power is within me ... or perhaps 
	more properly, I am a manifestation of that power.

8.

	On my right, I reach out to the light that vanquishes all 
	darkness.  I find therein perfection, protection and a power 
	beyond that of life.  I recognize it for what it is.  I 
	recognize that it is always there, and that I can always draw 
	upon it (if I have but eyes to see it).  I open myself to the light.

9.

	On my left, I reach out to a world bathed in divine
	light and see its richness, beauty, and perfection.
	It shames me to recognize how seldom I see the world
	so illuminated, and I am grateful to be reminded again
	of its true nature.

10.

	I stand surrounded by, and attuned to, four open 
	channels for divine energy.  Standing naked in the
	focal point, I reach out, simultaneously, to each.
	As the four streams of light converge in me, each
	carrying its own energy into me, I feel the parts
	of myself that are being brought into resonance.
	
	Finally, like a laser, pumped at the right frequency, 
	I burst forth with a nova-like brilliance, now a source
	of light myself ... and unlike the sigils through which
	this energy was channeled, I am wholely of this world.  
	I am the connection point between heaven and earth.  I am
	the vehicle through which the divine Will achieves worldly
	manifestation.

...

	Having obtained what I came for, I again affirm/acknowledge
	my relationship to the source.  (I occasionally feel like 
	offering thanks ... but that would be missing the point :-)