Using the Endless in banishing


Neil Gaiman's characters from the Sandman comic are useful godforms

One can substitute the Endless (Dream, Death, Destiny, Delirium, Desire, Despair, and Destruction) for the angels or elementals in banishings. My general outline for banishing follows the usual Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, Star Ruby, Wiccan elemental outline. If my descriptions here contain a lot of "this or that", it is because I adapt to the moment. ("People who need certainty are of no use to this Department.")

That said, I recommend picking one form and using it steadily for a month, especially if you are new to banishing. FireClown's comments in his Gnostic Pentagram or his Ruby suggest other exercises.

About exercises: Repeating magical practices until they are nearly ingrained is the sorcerer's equivalent of the beginning musician playing scales. I cannot overstate this.

Loose Banishing

I do the Cross QBL or the QBaLlistic Chaostar, or Pope Pete's vowel sounds (see FireClown's Gnostic Pentagram) -- whatever is appropriate for the moment. This is to center myself and open the ritual.

I start in the South, because that's what I do. At each quarter I draw a pentagram or hexagram or nothing, depending, and charge each in turn with xaos, nuit, eros, and psyche. These four work well, and work with my untraditional and tense placement of the elements (no further information will be available on that subject). Pick your own placement, or use the traditional.

I face South (my starting point), extend my arms, and call the Endless as my guardians, visualizing each in turn -- not only the physical form, but the essence of these anthropomorphic personifications of elements of human consciousness.

Like the call of the angels in the Ruby/LBRP banishing form, I say:
Before me, Death.
Behind me, Destiny.
At my right hand, Dream.
At my left hand, Delirium.

I bring my hands to my chest, like an Indian temple dancer, with one hand above the other. They change positions once or twice -- gracefully! -- as I speak the last:
Above me and below me are Desire and Despair.

I find that the visualization of which is above and below (Desire or Despair) tends to change like an oscillation. It's like those cards where if you hold it one way it shows the face of Jesus, and the other the Shroud of Turin. The two figures flash back and forth. Sometimes their energy forms a figure 8 that crosses right about the second to lowest chakra. This is not always a good thing, and should be treated with caution.

"For aroud me flame the [petagrams / hexagrams / symbols of the All], and within the pillar I am the six pointed star!"

As I say this, my stance is akin to the Woman stance of the signs of NOX, legs about shoulder width and arms raised, but not bent back or 'receptive'. I visualize the unicursal hexagram tracing over me, hands and feet, head and Malkuth (between my feet) making the points like this:

I!

(line from left foot to head)

...am...

(line from head to right foot)

...the...

(line from right foot to left hand) ...six!

(line from left hand to point between and below knees

Pointed!

(line from between legs to right hand)

Star!

(line from right hand to left foot)

Feel it, pulse it, the lines crossing near the solar plexus.

Then I either do, or do not do, the invocation to Pan. I dance this, usually, as FireClown describes in FireClown's Ruby.

If the banishing is used to make ritual space for some other purpose, this is where I do the other ritual.

Lastly, I close with the same cross, star, or sounds which were used in the beginning, and thank the Endless, visualizing each walking away.

They work really well, but unlike the angels in the usual LBRP form, I find it helpful to thank them when you're done.

Oh, and it's no mistake that Destiny is in the quadrant with eros. When I use Destruction, he is usually in the place of Destiny, and he's only there for a Purpose.



If you need something more lighthearted, but quite effective, try the Churche Ov Randomme EthickZ Super Secret Banishing.

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Death guard you. Dream wake you.
Delirium teach you. Destruction make you.
Despair love you. Destiny take you.
And Endless end: Desire break you.