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I am currently in the process of trying to get my first book published. It is entitled Operant Magick and is essentially a textbook on ritual magick incorporating some of my own personal theories and research along with key concepts from the Western Esoteric Tradition. One of the key concepts that I introduce in the book is the operant field. I use this term all the time when discussing ritual work and it appears nowhere in any other published source on ritual magick, so here's a basic overview of the idea.
UPDATE: Operant Magick turned out to be a bust. First Weiser and then another publisher basically jerked me around for years. Weiser finally rejected it on the grounds that it was "too advanced" and they didn't think it would sell. I was upset about this at the time, not only because they had wasted so much of my time mulling the thing over but also because the focus on "beginner books" means that nothing "more advanced" ever gets published. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The thing is, statistically speaking, nobody is interested in magick. What I didn't understand then that I understand now is that if you can't get beginners to buy your book, it's very likely that almost nobody will.
Anyway, much of the material from the book has wound up on Augoeides since then. I've included some of this material in my published books on Enochian magick as well, since the method appears to be generally applicable to all forms of magick. In fact, I'm now convinced that one of the reasons the grimoire movement happened at all is that opening and closing Golden Dawn rituals with the LBRP/LBRH combination is ineffective because you basically kneecap your spirits the moment you shut down the ritual. Since working with your own power in addition to that of spirits is a more effective way to do ritual, the grimoire folks found that by eliminating the banish-banish they got better practical results. But the operant field method is the best of both worlds. It allows modern methods like those of the Golden Dawn and Thelemic schools to coexist with more traditional conjuring techniques.
The rest of the original article follows:
Most Western ritual magicians use variations of the pentagram and hexagram rituals. In the Golden Dawn tradition you have the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram and the Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram, in the Thelemic tradition you have the Star Ruby and Star Sapphire, in the Aurum Solis tradition you have the rituals for raising the Wards of Power, and so forth. The normal way this is taught is as it appears in Donald Michael Kraig's Modern Magick, one of the most popular and widely available books on Golden Dawn magick. Kraig says that you start off just using the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and then move on to using the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram followed by the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram at the beginning of every ceremonial ritual. The Golden Dawn taught both banishing and invoking forms of these rituals, but Kraig sticks to the banishing versions and a lot of ritual magicians are taught to do the same.
I started researching these ritual forms years ago and was confused by how little material was available on the invoking versions and when they should be used. In Aleister Crowley's Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae it is kind of a curious fact that he covers the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram followed by an explanation of the Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram. I went ahead and decided to try this combination out even though most writers will tell you that you shouldn't use the rituals that way. I was absolutely blown away by the result - all of a sudden my practical magical work got a whole lot better. I set up a number of objective tests and, sure enough, the LBRP/LIRH was amazing. I couldn't get anywhere near the same result with the LBRP/LBRH - even though the only difference between the banishing and invoking forms is the direction in which the hexagrams are traced. When I discovered this I asked around and, sure enough, most of the magicians who I knew who were able to get good results using the Golden Dawn forms had figured out the same thing. Other skilled magicians I know have tried the combination at my suggestion and also found that it just works better.
So what is going on here? I think that most modern writers don't understand how to use these rituals. From a Hermetic perspective the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram represents the psychological realm or microcosm and the Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram represents the physical realm or macrocosm. Together the rituals set up a space in which the relationship between microcosm and macrocosm is defined that I call a field. The four combinations of the banishing and invoking forms of the two rituals set up four different fields that are useful for specific magical operations.
Banishing Field (LBRP/LBRH): This is how most magicians begin their rituals when working with the Golden Dawn forms. It is, in effect, the "full shutdown" - it clears mental and spiritual forms from both the interior and exterior worlds. In can be used to completely cleanse a temple, banish spirits permanently, or neutralize a magical effect that is targeting the magician. What it also does, though, is shut down any ongoing spells that the magician has running unless they are bound to talismans or some anchor other than the magician's consciousness. If you are casting a spell that you want to work over the next week, don't end the ritual with this combination under any set of circumstances unless you're convinced you made a mistake and want to stop the spell. The effect that you just set in motion will be negated when the field goes up.
Invoking Field (LIRP/LIRH): This combination energizes all ongoing magical effects, and can be used to begin a ritual that you want to operate in both the interior and exterior worlds. A good example of this is a spell to get a good job. You want the spell to affect your psyche in such a way that you seem more confident and capable, but you also want it to shift probabilities in the material world so that the right opportunity will come your way.
Centering Field (LIRP/LBRH): This combination sets up a field in which the interior world is engaged while influences from the exterior world are neutralized. This field is ideal for exclusively psychological magical work of all sorts.
Operant Field (LBRP/LIRH): This is the one that I use the most. The field clears the interior world and then merges it the with the exterior world, setting up a space in which thought can more easily become material reality. All of the energy of a spell cast within this field is targeted on the macrocosm and the resulting probability shifts show that magick done this way just influences the outside world better - significantly better.
If you would like, try it out and see, and let me know how it goes. I think you'll be impressed.
UPDATE: Operant Magick turned out to be a bust. First Weiser and then another publisher basically jerked me around for years. Weiser finally rejected it on the grounds that it was "too advanced" and they didn't think it would sell. I was upset about this at the time, not only because they had wasted so much of my time mulling the thing over but also because the focus on "beginner books" means that nothing "more advanced" ever gets published. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The thing is, statistically speaking, nobody is interested in magick. What I didn't understand then that I understand now is that if you can't get beginners to buy your book, it's very likely that almost nobody will.
Anyway, much of the material from the book has wound up on Augoeides since then. I've included some of this material in my published books on Enochian magick as well, since the method appears to be generally applicable to all forms of magick. In fact, I'm now convinced that one of the reasons the grimoire movement happened at all is that opening and closing Golden Dawn rituals with the LBRP/LBRH combination is ineffective because you basically kneecap your spirits the moment you shut down the ritual. Since working with your own power in addition to that of spirits is a more effective way to do ritual, the grimoire folks found that by eliminating the banish-banish they got better practical results. But the operant field method is the best of both worlds. It allows modern methods like those of the Golden Dawn and Thelemic schools to coexist with more traditional conjuring techniques.
The rest of the original article follows:
Most Western ritual magicians use variations of the pentagram and hexagram rituals. In the Golden Dawn tradition you have the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram and the Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram, in the Thelemic tradition you have the Star Ruby and Star Sapphire, in the Aurum Solis tradition you have the rituals for raising the Wards of Power, and so forth. The normal way this is taught is as it appears in Donald Michael Kraig's Modern Magick, one of the most popular and widely available books on Golden Dawn magick. Kraig says that you start off just using the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and then move on to using the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram followed by the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram at the beginning of every ceremonial ritual. The Golden Dawn taught both banishing and invoking forms of these rituals, but Kraig sticks to the banishing versions and a lot of ritual magicians are taught to do the same.
I started researching these ritual forms years ago and was confused by how little material was available on the invoking versions and when they should be used. In Aleister Crowley's Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae it is kind of a curious fact that he covers the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram followed by an explanation of the Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram. I went ahead and decided to try this combination out even though most writers will tell you that you shouldn't use the rituals that way. I was absolutely blown away by the result - all of a sudden my practical magical work got a whole lot better. I set up a number of objective tests and, sure enough, the LBRP/LIRH was amazing. I couldn't get anywhere near the same result with the LBRP/LBRH - even though the only difference between the banishing and invoking forms is the direction in which the hexagrams are traced. When I discovered this I asked around and, sure enough, most of the magicians who I knew who were able to get good results using the Golden Dawn forms had figured out the same thing. Other skilled magicians I know have tried the combination at my suggestion and also found that it just works better.
So what is going on here? I think that most modern writers don't understand how to use these rituals. From a Hermetic perspective the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram represents the psychological realm or microcosm and the Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram represents the physical realm or macrocosm. Together the rituals set up a space in which the relationship between microcosm and macrocosm is defined that I call a field. The four combinations of the banishing and invoking forms of the two rituals set up four different fields that are useful for specific magical operations.
Banishing Field (LBRP/LBRH): This is how most magicians begin their rituals when working with the Golden Dawn forms. It is, in effect, the "full shutdown" - it clears mental and spiritual forms from both the interior and exterior worlds. In can be used to completely cleanse a temple, banish spirits permanently, or neutralize a magical effect that is targeting the magician. What it also does, though, is shut down any ongoing spells that the magician has running unless they are bound to talismans or some anchor other than the magician's consciousness. If you are casting a spell that you want to work over the next week, don't end the ritual with this combination under any set of circumstances unless you're convinced you made a mistake and want to stop the spell. The effect that you just set in motion will be negated when the field goes up.
Invoking Field (LIRP/LIRH): This combination energizes all ongoing magical effects, and can be used to begin a ritual that you want to operate in both the interior and exterior worlds. A good example of this is a spell to get a good job. You want the spell to affect your psyche in such a way that you seem more confident and capable, but you also want it to shift probabilities in the material world so that the right opportunity will come your way.
Centering Field (LIRP/LBRH): This combination sets up a field in which the interior world is engaged while influences from the exterior world are neutralized. This field is ideal for exclusively psychological magical work of all sorts.
Operant Field (LBRP/LIRH): This is the one that I use the most. The field clears the interior world and then merges it the with the exterior world, setting up a space in which thought can more easily become material reality. All of the energy of a spell cast within this field is targeted on the macrocosm and the resulting probability shifts show that magick done this way just influences the outside world better - significantly better.
If you would like, try it out and see, and let me know how it goes. I think you'll be impressed.
119 comments:
The Operant Field...
That is some very cool stuff.
Innovative and simple.
I'll give it a try asap.
Thanks mate!
www.gaiawriter.blogspot.com
You're very welcome. Let me know how it goes - more ritual data is always a good thing. So far everyone I know who has tried it has had good results.
Thank-you on your explanation of the various combinations of Pentagram and Hexagrams rituals. I have been recently pondering why Aleister Crowly placed the invoking form of the LBH in Liber O.
I really like this idea. Just to make sure that I have it right, I want to propose a scenario.
If I wished to build a relationship with a Planetary Intelligence, I would use the invoking form, followed by the Great Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram for the planet, correct?
How do you propose one ends such a ceremony? Using your theory, I would assume that I would not do a closing banishing at all... right?
Yes, that's how you would open your ritual - LBRP, LIRH, GIRH for the planet.
If you want the influence of the intelligence to continue to operate within your psyche, you probably would not want to perform a closing banishing. In cases like that I usually close with just the Qabalistic Cross to ground and balance the operation.
On the other hand, if you were calling upon the spirit of the planet for some practical end, you would close with the LBRP on its own. This releases the macrocosmic form that you just created or summoned to go forth and accomplish its objectives.
hello Ananael,thanks for creating this your web.
I need your useful help in that,i want to learn from you,-candle magic techniques,whereby i want use it for ALL POSITIVE THINGS.
Iam Fred Idowu Akerele,,Nigerian,practicing herbal and Reiki healing there,i want to learn how to use candle magic for- healing,love,progeny,abundance,prosperity,success,protection from psychic attacks,returning of negative energies to it's source,spiritual abundance and growth,other positive uses.
Till i read from you,happy new year in advance.
Fred.
Very good and clear understanding of the field conversions. It is great to see simplicity and clarity in the often clouded/veiled shennagins of summoning operations.
Ananael I just wanna ask, when is the best time to learn the Lesser rituals of the Hexagram?
Should it be after I've familiarized myself with the lesser rituals of the pentagram? Can I practice it alone? That is, without banishing.
What do you recommend?
~Beginning student
Sorry about the delay - this is one of the reasons I've added the "recent comments" gadget.
First learn the LBRP. Then, once you have that down, start working on the LIRH. The Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram should always follow the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram. Conclude your practice by repeating the Qabalistic Cross after the LIRH. Once you have that down, add the Middle Pillar or something similar. The basic daily practice sequence that I recommend to magicians working with the Golden Dawn forms is LBRP-LIRH-Middle Pillar-Qabalistic Cross. If you have the time, add in a session of meditation following the Middle Pillar.
Wonderful inspiration! Thank you.
I have a question. At this moment my standard practice ritual is a a pentagram ritual whereby I banish each element in its appropriate corner (using the GRP names and banishing pentagrams for each element) and so clear the space of all elements and leaving just spirit in the center.
Then when calling on the Archangels I feel the influx of the elements as blessings from these archangels.
I see this as a cleansing ritual. Banishing the mundane elements and invoking the divine elements.
What are your thoughts on this idea? Does it fit somewhere in your operant field theory? Or should I just skip this idea and stick with the basic LBRP?
p.s. The idea was inspired by reading:
http://hermetic.com/osiris/nbrp.htm
As I see it, such a ritual could fit into an operant field-type dynamic. However, there are two points that I think would help it work better.
The pentagram is the natural symbol of the microcosm, while the hexagram is the natural symbol of the macrocosm. Integrating the two symbols is part of what reinforces the field. The other piece is the elemental directions - between macrocosm and microcosm they switch. So to invoke macrocosmic elements, you want to use the zodiacal arrangement - East = Fire, South = Earth, West = Air, and North = Water.
The LBRP/LBRH combination integrates both these symbol sets. You could certainly use your ritual in place of the LBRP so long as you follow it with the LIRH and I would still think what you would get would be an operant field. Generally speaking, though, any sort of pentagram ritual by itself will define your rite as microcosmic.
You might be able to simplify the process by banishing the elements in the microcosmic order and then invoking the archangels in the zodiacal order within the same ritual. From a logical standpoint that should work, though I haven't tried it personally so I can't speak from experience.
Thank you for your reply! I'm experimenting with different ritual combinations to see how they feel and what works for what.
One thing in particular sort of alarmed me, the bit about the LBRP wiping out any current workings not tied to a talisman, for example. It led me down a path of further researching the purposes of the LBRP and LBRH and I'm wondering what your opinion of this is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxPttRJxBTg
I have met magicians who believed that, but in my experience once a talisman is created you need an LBRP/LBRH combination to really interfere with its operation. In fact, those experiments are some of the data points that went into the creation of the operant field model.
The one sort-of exception to this is that if you close the ritual in which you create the talisman with an LBRP, it seems like the talisman can sometimes be affected if you don't shroud it - that is, cover it with a cloth or something similar.
That effect isn't predictable, though. Sometimes the talisman comes out just fine and I haven't isolated all the possible variables yet. So I shroud my talismans when I close the ritual I use to create them, but otherwise I use the LBRP in their presence all the time with no problems.
What I’m wondering about is your experience with the effect of the LBRP on ongoing workings. If you have a working which has not yet manifested, a working for which you have not created a talisman or other physical tie, is it your advice to avoid the LBRP until the working has manifested, or until you've given up or until you don't care anymore whether it manifests? Or are you advising just that the LBRP not be used at the end of a working because placing it at the end of the ritual would interfere? What I'm trying to get at is whether you consider a daily LBRP to be ill-advised as it would interfere with unmanifested workings performed in the past.
No, in my experience the LBRP by itself is fine. My own regular practice includes the LBRP/LIRH operant field combination and I don't have any trouble with ongoing operations.
When using this method, the idea is to conjoin your personal consciousness with the macrocosmic realm, which is done using LBRP/LIRH. Then, you release the constructed magical form into the macrocosm by closing with the LBRP to disconnect from the field. So once the form is out in the world, the LBRP won't affect it.
At least, that's the basic idea, and it seems to hold up under every experiment I've run.
Thank you for that clarification, I think I was confusing opening and ending placement of the rituals, but it makes a lot of sense to me now and I'm going to give it a try.
You are welcome. One of the issues when working with the LRP is that there are a lot of people in the tradition who teach that it does actually banish macrocosmic spirits, which is not precisely correct. What it does in those cases is disconnect your field of consciousness from that of a spirit, but if the spirit is linked to anything besides you it still will be present. The way that I generally make talismans exploits this behavior - at the conclusion of the rite, the LBRP disconnects the spirit from me but leaves it linked to the talisman.
My heartfelt thanks for the work you've put into understanding and describing the operant magick model.
I'd like to ask if you could check my understanding of the types of fields. Could you give me some feedback on what's written below? It would help me to see what I'm getting right, and what I'm missing or misunderstanding.
(I've described this mostly in energy model terms, but I think it could easily be rewritten in terms of a spirit model without much fuss.)
It seems like the invoking pentagram opens the aura to external energy flowing into the magician's inner energy body. In the context of setting up a field, the LIRP configures the subtle body into a receptive/connective mode where it easily interfaces with the outside world.
The banishing pentagram operation seems to send LVX (which was invoked during the qabalistic cross) outwards through the aura, sort of like flushing the energy body out from the inside. In terms of the field, the LBRP seems to put the subtle body into a more projective, less connected mode. That makes it useful for ending rituals by sending the ritual out into the world.
Moving on to hexagrams-- the LIRH evokes LVX energy into the external environment, and its effect is to excite whatever energetic things are happening in the area. The LBRH does the opposite, dispelling energy and calming energetic phenomena.
As for the combinations...
Banish micro, banish macro: this combo is easy to understand. It cleanses the magician of external influences, then dispels them from his/her surroundings. It interrupts any ongoing spellwork.
Banish micro, evoke macro: a more complex operation! After flushing oneself clean, the magician evokes LVX into the environment. I say "evokes" because it feels weird to describe a hexagram ritual as an invocation. I don't get the impression that the energy is being channeled through myself. It seems to be summoned from the remote source, directly into the surrounding area. In fact, this particular field configuration won't allow the evoked energy to flow into the magician's subtle body at all, because the subtle body isn't configred to receive anything. It's in projective mode, making it well-equipped to send the magician's intentions out into that mass of excited energy. Said energy then goes out into the world and modifies probabilities in line with the magician's intention.
(Random note: While the banish/banish field is well equipped to purify a space, it's a bit of a blunt instrument, sort of like opening up a black hole to suck everything up. I've found it's sometimes preferable to open an operant field, then do a space-clearing ritual that removes the unwanted energies while leaving desirable ones to stay.)
Invoke micro, evoke macro: this one opens your subtle body up, brings in a bunch of LVX, and lets it flow both out to the world, and into you as well. Any spellwork will achieve its results both through changing you, and changing your circumstances. (This is my preferred setup for solar work. If I'm going to draw 28 hexagrams, I damn sure better feel hot, tingly, and charismatic by the time I'm done.)
Invoke micro, banish macro: This field would be good for working directly on yourself with invocative practices. You'd enter a receptive, energized state, and dispel any distracting/meddling influences in your environment. Then you could focus on some sort of fully microcosmic work, like perhaps the supreme ritual of the pentagram.
So, what's good, and what needs more work?
Thank you so much for posting this! I've been trying to create a dedicated daily morning regimen now that I be completed my new temple space. I've been using LBRP and Resh but I've felt something was missing in either my approach or lack of completeness...(?). I had a conversation with a Sister of ours, Soror Gimel, and she directed me here.
Your article made me blurt out "this is what I meant" and laugh with delight! Thank you ever so much brother for your insight and willingness to communicate with others.
Love
Frater Ted Nation
You're very welcome. What I do is LBRP/LIRH or Star Ruby/Star Sapphire followed by the Elevenfold Seal from Liber Reguli (which I like better than the Middle Pillar). Each piece serves a specific purpose:
1. LBRP - Microcosmic clearing and purification.
2. LIRH - Invocation of the macrocosmic elements.
3. Elevenfold Seal - Invocation of the macrocosmic divine.
The, during the day, Resh adds solar invocations. Crowley talked about how for "advanced" operations you could use Resh to draw power from the Sun. Try preceding your Resh with the operant field (LBRP/LIRH) and I think you will experience what he was talking about. I know that I did.
Of course, given work and such, it's not always possible to do something that elaborate at the proper time.
Hi :)
I don't see you mention LBRP/LIRP combination so I want to know what effect will it have,or what type or work suitable for that operant field?
According to the operant model, a field is a combination of a lesser pentagram ritual and a lesser hexagram ritual. So an LBRP followed by and LIRP is not a field. Rather, you do a microcosmic banishing and follow it up with a microcosmic invocation. That sequence doesn't do very much - effectively, you banish something and then invoke the same thing.
There is one case where it could fit, though I personally find that it's not very elegant. If you are working with the centering field (LIRP/LBRH), it's not always the best idea to lead off with an invoking pentagram ritual without doing some kind of banishing first. So to satisfy that principle, you could use the sequence of LBRP/LIRP/LBRH to open a centering field.
Following up further with that, a shorter banishing could certainly be used, like at the start of the Field Ritual here:
http://ananael.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-field-ritual.html
Right, that is how I would actually do it if I were opening a centering field as part of my own work. For that to work really well, though, I think that you need to have some proficiency at banishing before you switch to the method, if for no other reason than to be able to recognize when your "banishing by fiat" is working.
Oh, hey! Thank you for this very informative post! I wasn't aware that the LBRH could be used as a killswitch, that's a very good thing to know. This applies to sigils as well, I figure, right? Since they're only anchored on the magician's consciousness, I imagine one LBRH should easily shut them down. What about sympathetic magic involving material components, like a doll or a lemon or something? Would the LBRH shut it down as well or would you need to undo/destroy the material components first? Thanks!
You do want to use the LBRP/LBRH combo as a "kill switch," not just the LBRH. With anything anchored to your sphere of awareness, you need to shut down both the macrocosmic and microcosmic components. Consciousness is effectively holographic, so if you just use the LBRH it could "respawn," so to speak, without actually being shut down.
If, when you cast the spell, you explicitly anchor it on a material object - as in "Spirit xxx, I charge you to anchor your power upon this yyy to accomplish zzz!" - then you will need to destroy the material object first. Sometimes that does it on its own, and sometimes you then need to also use the banishing field.
This is NOT necessarily true if you are just using an object as a link. A doll or poppet, for example, usually just creates a link to the target that you can manipulate by taking action upon or directing focused attention upon. In that case, the spell is still anchored on your sphere of awareness.
Of course, if you used an object that you thought was a link and the banishing field doesn't seem to work, the next step would be to destroy the object and try banishing again. But that usually isn't necessary.
What are your thoughts about using the Opening/Closing by Watchtower for talisman rituals vs. LBRP/LIRH?
Also, can you discuss why you find it unnecessary to banish before invoking a specific macrocosmic element. For example, does it not make sense to perform LBRP/LBRH, then LIRH, in order to create a clear and intentionally designed Operant Field, first clearing any macrocosmic influences already present before invoking the desired planetary power, for example, that you are working with?
What my working group found when experimenting with the Opening by Watchtower is that if you have already opened with an operant field, the Opening by Watchtower doesn't add anything in terms of increasing the effectiveness of a ritual. It's longer and more complex, and it feels like more is happening, but the probability shifts are the same whether you do it or not. Used on its own, we found that the LBRP/LIRH as an opening got better results than the traditional Opening by Watchtower.
I came up with a modified version that worked about as well as the LBRP/LIRH at one point, but I was never able to assemble one that worked better. So generally, I just use the operant field these days and leave it at that. At the same time, though, if it works for you, it works for you. There's a lot of individual differences in terms of how well different rituals work with different people, and I only advocate the operant field method as much as I do because I have found a lot of people who agree with my results.
You could theoretically use a banishing field (LBRP/LBRH)followed by an LIRH if you wanted to shut down every concurrent spell you had going and focus your full intention on a single practical result. I have multiple spells running all the time, so I generally wouldn't want to work that way, but I expect there are some situations where it might prove useful.
This would also have the effect of clearing other magick from your general working space as you mention, but I don't find influences like that to be much of a problem very often. Usually the operant field is fine on its own. When you invoke all four elements in a balanced configuration in the LIRH, it tends to balance out any macrocosmic energies that might tend to distort your result anyway.
Do you have a place for the Watchtower Ritual in your work at all or do you find the LRP/LRH combinations more effective for all types of workings? For talismanic work, spellcasting, and other manifestion work, clearly the Operant Field is the preference but I'm wondering if you've found it equally effective for evocations/invocations, divinations, exorcisms (if ever necessary), etc.
These days I generally do not use it. This is the modified version here that my working group settled on years ago, which according to the experiments that we did worked better than Regardie's.
http://ananael.blogspot.com/2006/06/comselh-ananael-ritual-template-part-ii.html
Still, as far as we could tell, it adds a lot of complexity and no measurable additional functionality if you are already using the operant field. It was somewhat helpful in a group context because you could have different participants do each element rather than having the whole thing driven by a single officiant, but even then, any positive effect on ritual results was hard to discern.
But again, that's just what we found. If you have experience with the Opening by Watchtower, and you like it and it works well for you, I don't know that I would recommend changing your procedures to match mine. Jason Miller, for example, really likes it and swears up and down that it works better than any pentagram/hexagram combination. So not everyone out there, even on the blogosphere, agrees with me.
You're always better off experimenting for yourself. If you like the ritual and feel drawn to it, by all means practice it and decide for yourself. On the other hand, if the only reason for asking about it is that some other magician has told you that you have to use it or something like that, I probably wouldn't bother.
Thanks again for your thoughtful replies. The article on the Ananael ritual is insightful. I think you've convinced me to hold off memorizing the Watchtower Ritual for it's own sake. If I feel like something's not working with LRP/LRH combinations I'll go to it, but meanwhile I'll focus on other things. The discussions in the comments section has been valuable, I'm looking forward to the publication of this book.
This post is from many years ago, and I may have to self-publish it at this point. I spent years waiting while two separate publishers considered it, and neither was willing to move forward. It was "too advanced," or so one of them said. That is, it wasn't a book for rank beginners.
In the meantime, I found some success with my Enochian books, which do include the operant field methodology. So I've managed to sneak some of the material in. There's also a version of my modified Opening by Watchtower (the Enochian version) in Mastering the Great Table.
At this point the problem with Operant Magick is that all the science and brain research I talk about in it needs to be updated with the latest experimental results, which is a non-trivial undertaking.
I currently have a second novel in the works with Moonfire and am trying to get the Mastering the Thirty Aires manuscript done for Pendraig, which I feel like I'm way behind on. Once I get that done, though, I may go back and try to get an updated version of Operant Magick finished.
Well, if you decide not to go the traditional publishing route, I'd even be interested in just buying a PDF directly from you. It's a brave new world, after all.
My main concern right now is working on all the science stuff to make sure I'm not quoting research from, say, 1999 that is seriously outdated at this point. Plus, all the stuff I covered in my magical models series was not nearly as well-developed in the original manuscript.
If I decide to self-publish, I will just put it up on Amazon Kindle Direct and Smashwords. It really is not much more work to make the book generally available than it is to create a PDF, and if that's what you want, you would be able to buy it in PDF format off Smashwords along with a bunch of other ebook formats.
There also are a few other possibilities for publishers that I can look into now, ten years later, since I have a track record as an author these days and am not a total newbie. So we'll see how it goes.
I really appreciate the time you've taken to answer these questions. At the risk of pushing my luck, I'll ask one more. I've been a solo practitioner for a couple of years now and, as is the case for many solo practitioners, I've used Kraig's Modern Magick as an introduction to basic rituals. As you may know, he recommends 7 daily rituals, two of which are the LBRP and LBRH. I understand that MM is introductory in nature and at this point I have seen the need to make certain adjustments.
Based on your statement, "You could theoretically use a banishing field (LBRP/LBRH) followed by an LIRH if you wanted to shut down every concurrent spell you had going..." can I assume that you would recommend against this daily performance of LBRP/LBRH whose only intended purpose is to cleanse your ritual space (i.e., no particular working follows). If I have understood so far, this combination would not affect talismans (provided they've been properly shielded during the LBRP/LBRH) since the talisman would need to be destroyed to interfere with its work (I find this to be true in my case - I have performed the LBRP/LBRH daily, and my shielded talismans continue to be effective). If, as I assume, daily LBRP/LBRH is not part of your daily or regular riutual, is there a LRP/LRH combination you do use daily/regularly? The Operant Field seems like a good candidate, or perhaps a Centering Field.
I generally do not recommend the use of the banishing field except when necessary. It can be useful if something seems to be going wrong with an operation to shut the whole thing down. But I don't do it on a daily basis. I would go so far as to say that constantly banishing everything would probably slow your spiritual development, since some of those changes that you set in motion in your daily work can take longer than a day to manifest, and the banishing fields cuts them off every time you perform it.
As far as DMK and Modern Magick go, you can take a look at this link to read my back and forth with him and a couple of other folks.
http://ananael.blogspot.com/2011/04/wrapping-up-hexagram-controversy.html
What seemed most clear to me from that exchange - though you may draw a different conclusion, I can't really say - is that Kraig couldn't really explain what was wrong with the operant field method. He said that his "map is different" and that's about it. The sense I got was that he really didn't understand how the rituals worked that well. Even in Modern Magick, he basically says that the LBRH is like the LBRP, but "more." That's not helpful, and it doesn't show deep understanding of the function of either rite.
Still, what we could agree on is that the key is this - experiment! Do the rituals different ways, make observations in your diary, and refer to those to see if you can work out a pattern. The operant field might not work the same way for everyone, and I don't personally have a good sense of the degree to which different peoples' "maps" might diverge.
All that being said, though, I think if you try both methods out, based on my experiences working with other magicians you will find that the operant field works better.
My daily practice is currently this:
Operant Field
Elevenfold Seal from Liber V vel Reguli (the Middle Pillar works similarly)
Brief HGA invocation based on my personal work.
Setting my intent to "Set my True Will in motion, and bring me to the accomplishment of the Great Work, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness."
That last bit, my daily intent, is adapted from the closing benediction of Aleister Crowley's Gnostic Mass. It's a nice catch-all statement that outlines what my daily practice is working towards.
@Scott so even though you have achieved what's known as K&C with your HGA, you're still performing an invocation of it in your practice sessions? That's interesting. Is it also a preparatory work for future undertakings such as uniting with your godhead (if you haven't done that already, that is)? If this will be covered by your mystical articles - Malkuth - I'll wait until then.
Sorry to change topics all of the sudden.
Yes, because that is what you do. Seriously. I know that some of the material in the tradition is written to suggest that once you get it you are "done," but that's flat-out wrong and can lead to all sorts of bad assumptions. Everything in magick is an ongoing practice, and you are never done. Here's how it works in real life.
When you first "get" K&C, you open up a two-way connection between yourself and the angel. But that connection is not permanent and self-sustaining - it needs to be maintained on an ongoing basis or the link degrades. The HGA invocation that I do as part of my daily practice (1) keeps the link strong and (2) charges the angel with my intent - setting my True Will in motion and so forth. Remember, without an intent, you're not actually doing magick.
One of the most dangerous things I've seen in magick is when people make a breakthrough in their practice and stop working, thinking that they've "attained" something. It's not dangerous in the sense of causing you physical harm or anything like that, but every single person I have encountered who puts forth that attitude is invariably a total asshole. It seems to go with the territory.
You have to keep doing the work over the course of your life if you want to do it right, full stop. That's one of the most important lessons that any student can learn.
You're right. That's why I include a series of prayers in my daily practice, including your own. Adding the Operant Field before that really gives it a kick :D
This has been enormously helpful, thanks again. As a solo practitioner, I always wonder if I'm properly understanding what I'm learning. In the last year I happen to have made some adjustments to my set of daily rituals (based on the 7 in MM) which mirror what you've described and that makes me feel like I'm on the right track and can trust both my assessment of what I've studied and my intuition.
I posted a comment earlier from another device, but i think it didn't get through.
Here it is in similar form: if I am to cast on someone one day and perform the banishing field the following day, for whatever reason, will the BF affect the previous ritual?
The same goes for if I were to cast on myself and perform the BF the next day. I think it's totally different when casting on the self comparing to casting on another.
Thank you.
If the spell is anchored on you, regardless of whether or not it has an external target, the banishing field will shut it down. You need to either explicitly anchor it on a talisman, or explicitly anchor it on the external target if you want it to be immune to subsequent banishing fields.
The key is the anchoring. By defaults, spells anchor themselves to you. If you want the spell externally anchored, you need to specify that to the spirit as part of your charge. And, if you're using a talisman, you obviously need to construct it.
Got it, thanks!
This is one of the most useful posts and comment threads I've run across in my years of online magical research. Nice work!
This just hit me. I wonder what would happen if someone were to do an LBRP (operant field, even add a GIRH) around someone else, but the person doing it were on the outside. I mean Person A stands still. Person B goes to the East of Person A, faces West and starts tracing the pentagrams around Person A by going full circle E-S-W-N-E. Then they would call the archangels around Person A. Probably a dumb idea, but it kept scratching my brain so much that I had to say it :)
That is almost how you cast a field like that on another person, except that you cast "across" the same way you do with an altar.
So the person you're working on stands in the center. You start to the west of them facing east. Then trace the eastern pentagram "through" them - in effect, you're casting at their back but visualizing the pentagram on the far wall. Then you go to the north, facing south, and trace the south pentagram the same way. And so forth. Then you return to the west, behind the person, facing east and call the archangels - who wind up in the same positions relative to both you and the person you are working on or with.
That's also how you do it when you have a talisman or elixir on the altar. The altar goes in the center, and you work your way around always facing the altar and the material basis and casting across them. Or at least that's how I like to do it - I can't say for sure if it's objectively better than aligning the forms some other way without more data and a bigger sample set. It does work, though.
What you're talking about would probably work kind of like a barrier that might provide some protection to the person, but that's about it. The field always engages on the same "side" of the space as you. So it would leave kind of a "hole" in the middle of it where the person would be standing.
So if you wanted to use a field like this to clear/exorcise a person, would you want to use the banish/banish field? Or would the fact that the field anchors on the operator cause trouble?
Wow! The way you do it sounds even better! Especially since it's working. Yes, I was playing around with some thoughts in my mind and I wondered how I could do a fast uncrossing for someone (Banishing Field) if the circumstances ever call for such thing, without the field shutting down the rituals I did on myself. Thank you very much!:D
I probably would not use a banishing field for that. Instead, I would probably do something like open operant field on the person, and then use a Greater banishing ritual to banish whatever was afflicting them. Or, better still, call on a spirit to do it. Andrieh Vitimus has an uncrossing ritual that calls on Michael and the Sun, for example.
http://magicblog.andriehvitimus.com/2012/09/st-michael-uncrossing-wall-of-protection.html
(Although - he's telling you to spell out YHVH as Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh in YHVH Eloah ve-Daath. Don't do that, pronounce it as a word. Spelling weakens it.)
The point of the operant field is to get the magick to work in the first place. After that, you do whatever you are going to do and the field amplifies its effectiveness.
I came across this ritual before, but I forgot about it. It would be way easier for me to perform a Saturn or Mars operation on someone a be done with it. Or make the 6th pentacle of Mars for them. The reason I asked the above is that I was thinking on ways to do such things in the go, when I'm not at home. Say I'm on vacation and someone starts feeling awkward -I'm paranoid here haha- for no particular reason. It would be way easier to slam a pentagram&hexagram ritual on them, than to start searching for candles, holy water, incense and so on, and then to read Psalms and prayers etc. Thanks for your ideas! They're very welcomed :D
Oh, you were answering someone else. I saw that comment just now :)
Conjuring a spirit is still pretty fast, and you can do it without materials in a pinch. The issue with trying to use the banishing field is that even if you try to direct it at someone else, it still can affect other stuff you have running if you don't have those operations anchored on talismans and the like.
So it's a very blunt instrument for the problem. Also, anything with some degree of awareness like a spirit that is causing problems can just move beyond the edge of the field while you're casting and move back in as soon as you're done. So you might get an effect that would only last a couple of minutes, even if you did the rituals perfectly.
Conjure an angel like Michael, though, and it's a whole different situation. Angels can chase down other spirits and destroy them completely if necessary or drive them off for good. And it really is not that much slower. I can get through the whole thing in under fifteen minutes, and once you have a working relationship with spirits they're easy to call by name without sigils, talismans, and the like.
You're right, and it would be way easier for me to draw Auriel's sigil, call him in my mind. Then ask him to help the person while giving the sigil to the person.
Like last night for instance, when I performed an operation with the 4th pentacle of Saturn. The people in my household started feeling uneasy after those energies were activated, even though they were directed in someone else. Not only that, but I also felt them intensely, despite having my angel beside me. I called Auriel in my mind and asked him to shield the people in my household, and they stoped feeling weird after a short while.
So I guess I'll tag the above as just a wacky idea :)
With regard to Andrieh Vitimus' ritual, are you likely to perform the operation he describes or would you simply stick with your ritual template (https://ananael.blogspot.com/2017/10/my-latest-ritual-template.html)?
Also, do you know or can you speculate what the purpose of eliminating the QC at the end of the LBRP in his ritual is? My leaning would be to use the template (while perhaps incorporating some elements of his ritual) but I'm wondering if I can strengthen my rituals in general by eliminating the QC from the end of the LBRP and LIRH which establish the Operant Field, for example. I realize he's working in a different system which doesn't always respect the observances of traditional GD magick, but I'm wondering if this is one of those things I should have been doing all along.
Personally I would go ahead and use my template. As I said recently, I use it for everything. I just was using that as an example of how to do an uncrossing by conjuring a spirit, and to point out I'm not the only one who thinks that in general it's a better idea than using the blunt instrument of banishing fields.
I have experimented with a number of different variations of what you are talking about. You could, for example, shorten the operant field opening by eliminating the second QC and the second Keyword Analysis. I experimented with this variation for a while as well:
https://ananael.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-field-ritual.html
But as it turns out, the variations all just seem to open operant fields. You can compress a number of the elements together and make your rituals a little faster, but I never saw much in the way of an increase in my measurable probability shifts.
Scott,
Good seeing you the other night. Thanks for leading the ritual.
And thanks for posting this. I have a question. Could you please explain how/why you say that the elements (and lbrp) are associated with the microcosm and why the planets are associated with the macrocosm?
I'm confused because in his book Circles of Power, JM Greer says the opposite, that the elements concern the material/etheric worlds most and that the planets concern more the astral world.
I'm not trying to pit you against him. I am just confused about this topic and would like to hear the reasoning so I can understand better what each symbol set represents.
Thanks.
PJ
The actual deal is that both planets and elements have microcosmic and macrocosmic aspects. It has more to do with how you approach them. The elements are naturally part of your own body and the stuff around you. The planets are naturally "out there," so to speak. So the natural affinity of the pentagram for the elements and the hexagram for the planets have to do with this "resting state." Note that the operant field works with both the microcosmic elements (LRP) and macrocosmic elements (LRH).
Elements and planets also have both physical and astral/etheric correspondences. Physical world/astral world is a totally different distinction than microcosmic/macrocosmic. Microcosmic-astral would be the spiritual energy field corresponding to your sphere of awareness. Macrocosmic-astral would be what you experience when you use your body of light to remotely "visit" a location some distance away.
I think what Greer is talking about is the relative position of the elements and planets on the Tree of Life. Elements are attributed Malkuth, which is associated with Assiah, the material world. Planets are attributed to Yetzirah, the formative world, which is often associated with the astral world. That's correct as far as it goes, but it's not the whole picture.
I'll see if I have time to put together some examples later when I don't have to run off for the Office of the Readings. Or maybe I'll make that a Magick Monday post for this coming week.
Thanks.
Hi Scott,
I've experimented with some of the advice youve outlined here for practical magick purposes and I can definitely see better results. If you have a minute to spare id really appreciate your advice as I have a couple of quick questions.
I intend to go into a pretty intensive period of ongoing ritual and spell work but also continue with other alchemical work and i want to make sure that its bot going to interfere with my spellwork. Firstly just to clarify, would using the LBRH by itself shut down any ongoing spell work or does it need to be a LBRP/LBRH combination in order for it to shut down any spell anchored to the consciousness? Secondly, would the GBRH(Saturn, or any other planet) have the same effect as shutting down ongoing spellwork as the LBRH if used alone or after the LBRP? I'd appreciate a response if you have time as id rather not sabbotage my own work.
Many thanks.
Thanks! I am glad to hear that you are finding these methods useful.
First - the LBRH by itself can interfere with ongoing spellwork some of the time. I am not sure what all the parameters are, but it seems like if you have a spell linked to both your consciousness and the outside world it can sort of "respawn" from the portion anchored in your consciousness. It's hard to tell what spells will do this, though, and which ones won't.
Second - The Greater Ritual of the Hexagram used after only the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram calls on the microcosmic aspect of to planetary and zodiacal force. So no, it doesn't go macrocosmic unless you open a macrocosmic-level field with the LRP/LRH. The Lesser and Greater rituals don't exist on a spectrum where "Greater" is a bigger/better version of "Lesser." They do entirely different things. The Lesser rituals are used to set the scope of your operation, and the Greater rituals are used to work with specific forces within that set scope.
Hi Scott,
Thanks for the prompt responses.
Amazing. I guess I'll just avoid the LBRH alltogether at this point, and aslong as the LBRP/GBRH combination doesn't shut down spells by your reckoning I'll proceed with both lines of work.
On a side note:
There seems to be alot of repeated information out there and its become the generally accepted methodology that prior to performing the SIRP you would first perform the LBRP. From your understanding of the methodology you have presented here, Would it instead be more effective to perform the LIRP as opposed to the LBRP prior to SIRP for purely alchemical/psychological workings (vehicle building etc)? I noted that as far as what i have understood from your field models, that the LBRP shuts down affects on the microcosm and the LIRP opens it up to be better affected. Ive also purposely excluded mentioning the LBRH here alltogether because i intend to avoid the use of it and would instead be using the LIRP/SIRP in combination with the GRH/GBRH. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks once again.
SD
The nomenclature of Lesser, Greater, and Supreme is kind of a mess with the Golden Dawn forms. The "Supreme Pentagram" is a souped-up "Greater Pentagram" with additional components like the Enochian names, but the "Greater Pentagram" performs an entirely different function than the "Lesser Pentagram."
So an SIRP is used the same way as a GIRP - it just has some extra names and visualizations. The Lesser ritual set the scope of your operation, and the Greater (and Supreme) rituals are for use with specific forces. The version of the GIRP and SIRP with all four elements corresponds to Malkuth, which in Liber 777 is mapped to "The Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel or of Adonai." Technically, that vision is the only thing you would use a GRP or SRP with all of the elements for. The reason you see it all over the place has to do with Crowley's recommendation that his students start off doing nothing but HGA work. See Column XLV: Magical Powers (Western Mysticism).
Also, generally speaking, you want to use only one specific ritual (that is, Greater or Supreme) for each operation, based on what you want to do, especially when you are first learning these ritual patterns. Having both an SRP and a GRH in the same ritual will likely result in a confusion of the forces you are working with. The form for the microcosmic aspect of a planet is just LBRP/GIRH - Planet. Just like the form for the microcosmic aspect of an element is LBRP/GIRP - Element (or SIRP - Element, since the GRP and SRP do the same thing).
Hey Scott!
I've been working with the Operant Field technique for roughly 3 months and have found it extremely helpful and interesting. I've noticed that it's knocking me into a trance-like state by the time I've finished the LIRH. It's definitely enhanced the efficacy of my Middle Pillar work. As of late, I've been following the Middle Pillar with a 25 minute meditation session. This has yielded to some fascinating effects that I was hoping you may have some insight on. In the past, when I've attempted to meditate with closed eyes, nothing visual tends to occur. Ever since I've implemented it into the operant field routine, i'm seeing what is best described as a white floating orb-like thing that changes shape and occasionally pulses. I've had instances where the form has taken on what appeared to be number 5 and others where it seems like a face is developing. Sometimes it seems like it struggles to manifest at all, while other times it's vivid and defined.
Anyhow, I apologize for this being so long-winded but I was curious if you've ever experienced anything like this before? Is it an indication that i'm doing something right or i'm close to achieving something (ex. chakra opening, astral travel etc...)? I've tried to recreate this effect without preceding it with the Operant field and the results seem to be weak or non existent. I was able to recreate this effect recently using hemi-sync audio programs, which left me concluding that a particular state of mind was necessary for this to happen. Sorry if this sounds a little weird but I truly value your insight on this stuff. Thanks!
There are a number of things this could be. One thought is that it you might be developing your natural scrying ability. A kind of orb-like thing that changes into shapes suggesting faces, for example, is pretty much what dark mirror scrying looks like for a lot of people. Only a handful get detailed images like television programs.
That also might be supported by what you say here about the hemi-sync audio programs. I happen to be a not-very-good visual scryer, but my ability to do it is enhanced a lot if I run an alpha/theta meditation program on a light and sound machine which uses similar binaural beats along with light pulses to induce brainwave states. When I do that, I see blobby orby things in my dark mirror that sometime suggest shapes and sometimes other images like letters or numbers.
You might want to get yourself one of those dark scrying mirrors, meditate until you start perceiving the effect, and then open your eyes and look into the mirror. See if the image(s) persist, if they disappear, if they change, or whatever. It definitely sounds to me like you are inducing a particular state of consciousness, and it sounds very similar to states employed in scrying.
Scott,
Thank you so much for your response! I'm thrilled to hear that this could be an indication of an ability to scry. Having practiced the fundamentals and essential rituals for 5-6 months now; I'd been considering taking the leap into Trithemius's "The art of drawing spirits into crystals". Perhaps this is the right time to try it out. Seems like the preparation for that particular operation is easier than most of the other grimoires I've had an chance to read.
Thanks again for the advice and help!
P.S. I really enjoyed your article on intent. The object oriented programming metaphor was really clever! Currently on my final 3 month stretch of school for web development so it was cool to see that used in a magic article.
Best regards!
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law"
I am now trying your Operant Field way of working and have a question.
If i invoke by hexagram for practical reasons (LBRP/LIRH/GIRH ) and then simply banish by LBRP. Do i at a later date, perhaps a set date , go back and banish the forces invoked by hexagram?
Or do i just pile em up as i do more rituals? That is, say i had done a ritual for Venus at one point, banish by LBRP (or Star Ruby), and at a later date i do a ritual for Mars and banish the same way. Should i leave those forces indefinitely or should i revisit and banish them by the same hexagrams and hiearhchies when i feel "done"? I have been doing GD/Thelemic rituals for pretty much three decades but have gotten too used to the "banish/banish" model so often propagated . "Love is the law, love under will.".Fr:B Et V.
No, you do not banish those forces by hexagram unless you want to shut down your operation. Sometimes this is necessary if situations change and the like, but it should be uncommon.
Practical rituals should be set up with a termination condition. A success is an automatic termination, as is a time limit. I like to say "accomplish X within one month" or something like that so the rituals don't just run indefinitely. With a charge like that, they will terminate at either (A) successful fulfillment of your charge or (B) when the time limit expires.
You also don't need to go all the way up to the GBRH to shut down ongoing rituals unless you have several running and are trying to target a single operation. LBRP/LBRH is sufficient to shut down all running operations, because they work generally on your magical field as a whole.
However, if you have a Venus operation running and a Mars operation running and you want to shut down the Venus one, you would do LBRP/LIRH/GBRH - Venus. That would just stop the Venus operation and leave the Mars one running.
Does that make sense?
Thank you!
That makes perfect sense.
If one looks at my journals there are clear signs of frustration and me wondering if i imagined past successes in practical magick.
Obviously i am far better at kabbalah, alchemy and hermeticism today than i was 20 years or so back.
At times i have been thinking back and started to suspect that my successes was that i was "sloppier" with banishings back then. That is , i did not do what you call "undo" operations, banishing everything i had invoked by the same pentagrams, hexagrams, names etc.
Over the years i got "better" with that, and life started to move more and more backwards practically. In my journal i complain that life, the world and magick feels "empty" or "dead".
I even called it "overbanishing".
I decided to try your way, putting aside a special place in my journal for it.
I decided to try a number of operations, keeping them "open" for 7 days.
I liked the feeling (and results as far as it seems, or at least the weirdest coincidences in years) and decided to extend it to 11 days.
One of my first impressions was that everything (myself included) felt more "alive" and vibrant, even before anything cool happened.The world felt beautiful, magical and full of possibilities again. :)
Anyway, before i sound all "saved", i will keep working with this and keeping track.
I was actually partly prompted to try it by a quote of yours (in some video i think )i put in my journal quite a while back. Something like: "I your magick isnt making your life better, you need to stop, or do it differently".
Hope you visit my lodge sometime, or vice versa.
93 93/93
Fr: B Et V
Makes perfect sense.
Have you never had a feeling of the macrocosmic forces "bleeding over" so to say?
A feeling of getting "over energized" despite the LBRP?
93 93793
Fr: B Et V
Yes, I would say that the concept of over-banishing is a thing. A lot of people are trained that way.
My deal is that I studied experimental psychology, at least at the undergraduate level. I tweak things until they work right, and by work right I mean they make my life better overall. I suspect that this idea that the spiritual path is full of hardships and difficulties and so forth is because somebody somewhere doesn't have the tech right. Doing your will, which is what the practices are supposed to allow you to do, is supposed to make you happier and more fulfilled. The challenges of the path should simply be those of maintaining a discipline, not that of enduring suffering or whatever.
I find that when I'm doing the operant field for my daily work my intuitive magick gets better. You can do magick without ritual just by working with directed thought, it's just harder to get results and you can't shift things as much as you can with a full operation. So maybe that's "bleed-over" of macrocosmic forces. I certainly would say that I walk through my life with my macrocosmic awareness more engaged.
But I've never really had a problem with feeling over-energized by that. I do energy work so I practice doing circulations and the like, so maybe my channels are just clear enough or something. I credit a lot of that with doing Qigong work, which I find complements ritual magick quite well.
Hi Mr. Stenwick,
I've been reading your posts and the many comments regarding the daily practice and the operant field. I do have a couple of questions regarding application:
1. If under the influence of someone else's magick and you want to remove yourself from their influence (i.e., someone places a curse on you) would you still use the operant field or would you use the banish/banish combo?
1. A) How does one eliminate the effect of someone else's magick on themself while retaining the effect of their own? (I.e., not closing out their own working but dodging or negating the effect of someone's magical will which may be counter to their own?)
2. When linking a working to a talisman is it enough to speak over the talisman after opening the operant field? Or is there a specific "spell" needed?
3. When working with ancestral spirits, I usually call them in after the same manner as the archangels are called in (before me, behind me, ect etc.) However this is done after an offering is placed on the shrine. How could this be used within an operant field combination to amplify the effect of the magick?
Thank you very much in advance. You're an awesome teacher!
Hi Scott,
I also wanted to know what are the reasons you prefer the other exercise as opposed to the MP? And if there is a link where we can learn it?
Also what form of Qi Gong do you recommend?
I like the Elevenfold Seal because it works explicitly with the Thelemic deities rather than the Qabalistic godnames.
The version that I work with is five-element Qigong. But really, any version will help your magick, as will the more yogic-style exercises that Crowley teaches. The key is to combine some form of breathwork/energy work with your ceremonial forms. It makes a big difference.
For (1), the answer is that you invoke and conjure a spirit to do it. Trying to directly banish influences banishes everything - good and bad, your influence and the influence of others. You want to invoke a spirit whose sphere of influence corresponds to what you want to do. So if you're doing planetary work and you want to get rid of curses, for example, you would go with Saturn and Mars. It would require two separate operations because there are two kinds of curses, and you want to make sure you get them both.
For (2), you can empower a talisman using visualization and vibration and get it to work. But as with (1), a spirit will usually do a better job. Put the talisman in your table of art, conjure the spirit, and charge them to "empower this talisman with xxxx" where xxx is whatever you would charge the spirit to do if you were doing a regular conjuration.
For (3), you can integrate the operant field with any other magical operation. You do the LBRP/LIRH together before starting the procedure the way you normally do it and close with the Qabalistic Cross afterwards. That works for many different applications.
Mr. Stenwick,
Thank you very much for writing this, and for sharing your insights and experience. The Operant Field has made a positive, substantial improvement in my own practice and has really helped me to create an environment conducive to personal growth and beneficial change. Many thanks, your effort is much appreciated.
Thanks! I am glad to hear that.
Hi Scott, thanks for all of the great information on your site, I found it about a month ago and have been reading through all of the basics. Like many, I come from the DMK Modern Magick training which I started about 18mths ago. I was and still am unsure how far I want to go with Magick, but have enjoyed the basic daily rituals, which I can happily say I've been doing mostly daily for the past 18mths. LBRP/LBRH and at least a few times a week MP. After finding your site, I've changed things up to your operant field technique so LBRP/LIRH. I've also taken some of the other differences to test with such as differences in the God names and colors of symbols. I've found that there is a definite difference for me in in the LBRH vs LIRH. If the LBRH is the stillness after a plunge in icy waters, the LIRH is the opposite. Until reading your blogs, I'd never tried either a LIRP or LIRH, so this was very new to me. I have found every few days I feel the need to do a LBRH at the end of the day though, I've been finding myself getting more scattered in thoughts and emotions otherwise. But I'm wondering if it is just a period where my being is acclimating to the new energy/environment I'm bringing in with the LIRH? I did have a question about all of this though. While my wife doesn't practice any of this, she is aware of what I do and not opposed to it. She herself is more energy sensitive than I am as well. I've noticed we've been having more nights of difficulty getting to sleep and sleeping well lately. I do my rituals in my office upstairs, although occasionally I'll do a LBRP/LBRH downstairs as a house cleaning. My question is would doing the LIRH in my office upstairs bring in energy that would affect others in the house? When we are having trouble sleeping, she feels the energy as a crawling sensation all over her body, and she feels it very strongly. I just feel alert and awake like I've had many cups of coffee, but without the jitters. Either way, reading your blogs has given me the momentum to begin trying new things, so thank you for making all of this approachable ... Joe.
Some of what you are describing could have to do with acclimatization to the macrocosmic elements invoked by the LIRH. So I would say yes to your first question. I would expect it to settle down. I hardly ever do the LBRH any more, but I do the LIRH daily.
Doing the LIRH in your office shouldn't affect anything else in your house unless you are visualizing it that way - that is, extending your visualizations to include the whole building rather than just the room. You may want to look at how you are doing that. The operant field works fine in a confined space. That's actually kind of the point of using it - to create a defined space in which magick works better and more efficiently.
Otherwise it might not be the rituals themselves, but rather that you are doing them. They can trigger changes in your energetic body that sensitive people sometimes can feel. If that's the case, I would expect that effect to settle down along with the energy you are feeling from the rituals.
Thanks Scott. I was hoping it would be something like that. For the projection of the rituals side of it, I'm definitely not picturing the whole house, merely the static points of my office as I sign the symbols and trace the connecting lines. When I do a LBRP/LBRH downstairs, I do visualize a larger area since I'm not able to sign and walk the entire downstairs as a single circle. I'll continue on then as I've been doing and see how it all goes over time. So out of curiosity then, would someone coming into my office after I've done a LBRP/LIRH and staying inside of the ritual circle be getting the same effects? Or do those LIRH effects tend to be granted to those at the time of the ritual only? I've also wondered if when doing a banishing using LBRP/LBRH if the effects lasted for a while or if it was more of an instant effect that wasn't really expected to be persistent. Thanks again for the help.
In my experience the banishing field (LBRP/LBRH) is pretty much an instantaneous effect. It clears whatever is around immediately. The operant field can last up to a day or so, but that can vary a lot depending on the circumstances.
A person using magick can make use of an operant field created by another person, but it has to be a deliberate thing. A person just passing through the field won't necessarily notice anything. But if they are looking to perform a magical operation, it will likely work better in the space even if they didn't cast the field themselves.
Have you thought of self publishing with print on demand options? The Sangreal Sodality Press publishes high level Kabbalah books so they might be another option.
I am a partner in a small publishing company and have also self-published a couple of fiction books already, so sure. The problem isn't publication at this point, the problem is that the manuscript requires a massive rewrite based on key scientific findings over the last fifteen years or so. It's on the list, but I also have a lot of other projects in the works at this point.
Would the Centering Field (LIRP/LBRH) be best before the Middle Pillar exercise?
Sure, if you specifically want to work with the microcosmic aspects of the sephiroth without influence from macrocosmic forces. Basically that's what you use if you want to work psychologically - which, to be clear, can sometimes be exactly what you're looking to do.
I've been feeling like the current "LBRP is all, you can do anything with a LBRP, just banish banish banish" vibe most teaching seems to have lately is wrong, after noticing that the original GD materials present all the forms of the Pentagram and Hexagram rites with banishing right next to invocation, and even initially present the Lesser Pentagram as the invoking form, with a note about how it can be useful to invoke in the morning and banish at night.
The shape of my current (slightly-sporadic) practice is such that I mostly just occasionally create an Invoking Field; I think it is time for me to really knuckle down, assemble a few variants of the Hexagram Rite, find the one that works for me, and try out some Operant Field work.
Thanks a ton for doing the work to try out all the combinations of an invoking/banishing Hexagram within an invoking/banishing Pentagram, and documenting it!
I would not necessarily it is wrong to spend a significant amount of time banishing when you start out on the magical path, but it depends a lot on your circumstances. Most people don't need to do that. I generally recommend that my students start off doing invoking work and then revert to a more banishing-oriented regimen if problems arise. In my experience, though, they usually don't.
Banishing is very safe from a magical perspective, but you also don't make a lot of spiritual progress when that's all you are doing. It's the invocatory work that really develops you as a magician.
Hey Scott,
When it comes to doing a working for some kind of psychological development or change, would one continue to do the Invoking Field following the days after it's done, or could one just simply go back to the Operant field the day after?
Normally I would go back to the operant field unless using the invoking field for multiple days is part of your ritual design. For example, you might have a change for which you decide ahead of time to do the invoking field for a week to support it. In that case, you should follow the plan and do the invoking field for that week. Afterwards you would switch back.
I got into the habit of placing the aces of the Toth tarot in the elemental positions of the microcosm, and the Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers and Chariot in the corresponding macrocosmic positions around the table of art on m’y altar, in that way symbolizing the operant field so to speak. The aces forming an outer rings and the astrological majors, an outer ring. Do you think there’s any value to that, or at least that there’s no risk that the symbols might clash with the intent of my rituals ? I’m sure it’s fine for daily practice but maybe I shouldn’t use that setup for practical ritual (In that case I ofc add appropriate sigils, incense etc) ?
As long as you use a containment structure in the center of your altar, like the Trithemian Table I include in a bunch of the rituals here or the Sigillum Dei Aemeth from the Enochian system, there will be no conflicts.
There probably wouldn't be anyway, but you still want to have some kind of central focus regardless for practical work - like, say, the Major Arcana corresponding to the kind of work you are doing. Then you focus on that during the operation. For daily practice, you can keep the focus on yourself since you are working in a more general fashion.
The function of a containment structure is that it sets up a "pocket universe" in which your operation takes place. That separates it from any other tools, implements, Tarot cards, or whatever else you might have on your altar.
Thank you for your replies Scott! Btw I just ordered a gorgeous solid wood Sigillum Dei Aemeth on Etsy. I’ve been wanting this for quite a while, couldn’t be more excited! Starting to gear up for Enochian magick ;)
Hey Scott,
I don't know if you're familiar with Damon Brand but if you are, do you think would his Sword Banishing ritual from magickal protection interfere with any of the fields you presented here?
I am not familiar with that ritual. If it is kind of like an LBRP, I would think you would want to work out what a corresponding invoking hexagram ritual would look like and create your field that way. It might or might not work with the LIRH - that's hard to say without testing.
Is that how you're thinking of using it, as an alternative to the LBRP?
Hey Scott I have a question in regards to the banishing field. Would the banishing field affect concurrent manifestations that were set forth through impressing the subconscious mind? I know it would in regards to conjuring a spirit and setting it forth to do something but in terms of this it would have any effect? No right? Because the things manifested through the subconscious are just really a reflection of what is playing out internally, ones decault state of being. Just curious as what u have to say, thank you.
I would say that you should frame the question a little differently if you want to get a helpful response from me. I don't believe a "subconscious mind" even exists - our brains do some unconscious processing, sure, like conditioning loops, but those don't share any qualities with what we normally think of as "mind." They aren't coherent in any way, they don't perform cognition, and they don't do magick.
Now, if you are talking about magical operations to influence conditioning, the answer is a little more complicated than yes/no. If you perform an operation to modify your conditioning, the banishing field would shut down any external force acting upon that conditioning (like a spell cast with the operant field) but modifications to that conditioning accomplished by the operation before you cast the banishing field would remain in place. Conditioning has an intensity that can be "ratcheted down" by magick, and once the intensity drops, that drop remains as it is. But once the operation is stopped, it won't keep dropping.
Does that answer your question? It's kind of a complicated answer, unfortunately, but that's what I have observed in my practice.
Well, I meant more in the sense that the without is a reflection of what is within. The patterns our lives revolve around are based on what has been deeply conditioned in us over time. So what I meant by this is along the lines of changing a pattern by intentionally imagining a specific desired outcome while during a drowsy state. This, in the way I see it, bypasses the conscious mind, impressing it on the subconscious mind eventually leading to the superconscious mind which pushes it out into reality.
Either way, I think what you wrote did answer my question. It does apply to magickal operations that use external forces like spirits or angels to achieve the goal, but from what I am understanding, it shouldn't apply to what I described above as it is all internally done. It is kind of a complicated topic, especially trying to explain it through here but thank you for your response I appreciate it.
A question came up with a friend of mine and I wasn't sure of the answer. I've been practicing mostly daily for a few years now doing the Operant Field method and GIRP. The times where I've gone days without practicing and then resume I can tell an immediate difference in myself. A friend who knows what I'm about but is not a practitioner asked if he would get the same or at least some of the benefits if he stood or sat inside my circle as I performed the entirety of the rituals. While not self conscious about what I do, I've kept my practice private, so I'm not sure what the outcome would be. Would someone else get a similar benefit while just standing/sitting inside the circle or do they need to be active in performing the ritual to gain the benefit? Thanks!
A bystander might gain some small benefit since the operant field engages the macrocosm within your working space. But they won't gain anywhere near as much benefit as they would from doing the practice themselves.
Why don't they just learn the rituals? They're not that hard, and even if they don't do the rituals well at first, doing them at all is going to provide more benefit than sitting in with even a very advanced practitioner.
Thanks Scott. It was more of a curious type of question than something I was looking to really do much of. It made me think of kids for example, would they benefit from sitting in on something like that. Or if folks felt under attack and I wanted to do a full shutdown ritual within the circle, then would others benefit from being in there. Just started me thinking is all. Appreciate the feedback!
Good afternoon Scott, I am an aspiring magician who is still in the early stages of his development. I have just discovered your work and I love the idea of the field that you raise here, however when reflecting on how to apply it in my daily practice I have had some doubts. Most likely, they are the product of my misunderstanding of the subject, but I share them with you in case you want to help me clarify them. Thanks a lot!
- In the routine you propose, wouldn't it be better to do the LRIP and the LRBH and then do the Middle Pillar and make the most of it? I ask this because the Middle Pillar seems more like a microcosmic than a macrocosmic ritual as it integrates and circulates the mobilized energy in the body and psychic sphere.
- If I do the above and open a centering field (LRIP and LRBH) in my morning routine before doing the middle pillar, will the LRBH affect the effectiveness of the practical-physical rituals I am working with?
- If while I have a magical work with psychological objectives in progress I want to undertake another magical work with physical objectives, will not the LRBP that I do at the beginning affect the energies activated in my psychic sphere by the previous magical work?
1. That is the way that the Golden Dawn teaches it, and it doesn't work as well. I've tested it experimentally. Magick may not work the same way for you as it does for me, but the forms I publish here are the ones that I use. For me, LBRP/LIRH works way better.
2. Magick that works both microcosmically and macrocosmically in anchored in both the micrcosm and macrocosm, so as long as you have an invoking ritual in there you won't get the "shutdown" effect. So it probably is fine to do it that way, but I still contend that opening your Middle Pillar with the operant field works better.
3. The LBRP has no effect on physical operations, so you don't need to worry about that. If you are working exclusively psychologically, you might run into an issue - but it's not clear to me why you would want to do that. You can anchor operations in both microcosm and macrocosm to affect psychological issues. That's what I always do when confronted with something like that.
Thank you very much Scott!
I'll do my morning routine in the order you recommend using the operant field.
I planned to do some psychological work, for example to improve my memory, my imagination or my state of mind, should I then anchor these operations in the microcosm and in the macrocosm? For this I should do the Invoking Field (LIRP and LIRH ) right?
Thanks Scott!
The macrocosm includes the microcosm, so you can use the operant field in that context. But the invoking field should also work.
Great Scott, so I'll do it. Thank you very much!
Hi,
Thank you, this seems to me like a very good idea. I have just one problem with that. Its a little bit impractical. At least for me. I have to do a lot of practical magick these days.
Theodore Rose in his book states, that one should wait at least one hour after doing banishing before summoning any pagan gods. So my idea is, that the operation field might dissipate after a while. What do you think of it?
I do a general banishing at the beginning of my rituals, then a general invocation, then a preliminary invocation, then tune the space, then conjure. The whole ritual takes maybe a half hour if that.
I've never heard anything about having to wait for an hour after banishing to do anything magical. I certainly have never had a problem with any of my rituals being as short as they are. So I'm thinking it's probably spurious advice.
Thank you. I would be sincerely interest to find out more about your structure of rituals. But I am afraid we are not talking about the same thing. My point is, that in this article you are describing the Operant field, and you are suggesting that one should work on one kind of spell at a time. That means I am doing now a psychological spell, so I am doing invoking LBRP and closing Hexagram ritual.
My question is - at the same time, I would like to work on an outward spell, let say for money. So in this case I should have the other Operant field - closing LBRP, opening Hexagram. So I was wandering whether it would not be enough if I wait a moment, while the field dissipate, and then continue with another type of Operant field.
Theodore Rose derives his suggestion from what I see now is a kind of fashion, in which people are trying to go back before the Tree of life and Qabbalah magick, and somehow interact with pagan gods, that is demons, or pagan demons... directly, without any circle or banishing. I dont believe it much, comparing this to the Chinese or Aztec systems, where they do circle even though they dont have the abrahamic tradition. But it might make some sense that banishing discourage spirits generally...
Oh, you can definitely do more than one spell like that. Just close the first one and start up the second. They don't conflict with each other unless the charges conflict. Just the fields won't do that.
There are plenty of styles of magick that don't use forms like these, or use entirely different ones. Not all of them use circles or formal banishing rituals. The stuff I post here is the stuff I personally do, and I haven't worked with any of the systems you mention. But I do know they are out there.
This might be a stupid question but how come you do not use the LIRP at all in daily practice?
The LIRP is important if the LRP is the only ritual you use, because you want to both banish and invoke as part of your daily practice. That is where the recommendation to do LIRP morning and LBRP evening comes from. When you do both, you can make spiritual progress, whereas banishing clears stuff out but otherwise pretty much leaves you where you are.
Once you move from only knowing the LRP to knowing both the LRP and LRH, though, LBRP can be done for banishing followed by LIRH for invoking. So in that case, you can do both in a single sequence that can be done once per day. You can of course keep doing it twice per day if you want, but doing two sessions is no longer as important.
I use the operant field there because I want my intent for daily practice to extend into the macrocosm, which naturally includes the microcosm. Over the years I have found that to be the most effective and efficient method for both magical and mystical advancement.
I am very sorry, but I still have the same problem to understand it. It maybe that this is really too advanced (Ive been practicing for around 2 years now).
I would like to ask this question as plainly as possible.
Lets say I am doing a ritual for 33 consecutive days. Every day for 20mins. Before it, I am casting the LBRP and LIRH, its a typical macrocosmos spell.
But, I live (which is true) in a wild area, with a lot of psychological and spiritual toxicity outside. So when I come home I feel like doing LBRP and LBRH, because it simply "shuts everything down". But in the same time, lets say later in the night, I would like to do my 33 days ritual. If I have understood it correctly, this should be not a problem, right?
I am aware that I could do some other detox/protective rituals instead, but my experience (or at least impression) is that LBRP with LBRH is quite powerful for detox purposes.
I would expect that doing the LBRP/LBRH during a 33 day operation would interfere with it.
That being said, we don't have a general theory of magick that has been scientifically validated. Without such a theory, my predictions can only be guesses based on my own experiences and those of my students, who are a small group in terms of sample size.
So what that means is I don't necessarily know. I know what I think and what my experience suggests, but if this is the way you need to do your operation, I'm not going to tell you that you won't be able to make it work.
If you do go ahead and work this way, let me know how it goes if you feel like sharing your results. There's no substitute for empirical data.
Hi Scott. So I have been doing operant field, mostly -,+ for a couple of months. I was generating more energy and reality was probably more mending. Then it was too much, I felt, and I started contemplate about the concept once again. For a couple of months, I was just using different protection circles then hexagram, because hexagram aims at higher celestial entities and processes (as stipulated by you as well as our tradition). I made my protection better. However, I was still considering why so many magicians use hexagram so much. I did some rounds once suddenly and it was really a switch off experience. So then I made a plan - to do hexagram only between long=term spells. So lets say now I do one spell which usually takes a week, so I do hexagram on Sundays. And then I realized I do not understand one thing about your concept, still. If you do one spell everyday for a week, that I understand very well that hexagram will interfere. However, what about spells which you cast once, but it takes long to manifest? This is usually case with money magick or similar. Theoretically, because you are influencing macrocosmos, it could interfer in the spirits work. Do you have any experience with that? If not, I will continue experimenting and give feedback here.
If you close your rituals with an LBRH, you are banishing the macrocosm and even for spells you cast once it will interfere. You basically kneecap your spirits minutes after charging them to do something.
Opening with LBRP/LBRP doesn't interfere as much, but it also doesn't pull in as much energy. The result is that your probability shifts will not be as high as if you had used LBRP/LIRH.
For longer series of spells I use my regular method. LBRP/LIRH to open each ritual and just LBRP to close. The closing LBRP detaches you from the ongoing operation but does not banish any of the macrocosmic forces at work. This works for single spells as well as series, pretty much seamlessly.
Hi Scott, It's been days i've been thinking of asking you this it is in regards to the daily working sequence operant field - Middle Pillar - GIRP Kabalistic Cross - Meditation and so forth. What's your experience with spreading out the work throughout the day does it reduce the effiency of the work or is it not recommended? I need a full hour at the very least if not more to complete the entire sequence with Middle Pillar done right and slowly. I wake up at 6am to go to work there's almost no time then and get back pretty exhausted I was thinking what if I did the operant field as soon as I wake up and leave the middle pillar and GIRP for after work I'd love to hear your opinion on this if you or any of your student's have attempted this. Thanks so much.
I do not necessarily think there should be a problem with spreading practice throughout the day. Personally I am a complete mess in the morning and do all my practices at night before bed, so I totally get not having the time to do much when you wake up.
Question - when you say GIRP, you mean the GIRP for Malkuth, right? That's the version with all four elements. There is no general version of the GIRP. You are always doing a GIRP of something, whether it's Malkuth or one of the elements.
So I personally have not tried what you are suggesting here and I do not know of any students who have done it - if anyone on here has, feel free to chime in. I think it should be fine, though. Just remember to check your results, because the results you get from your practice are going to be a lot more accurate than my opinions about them.
Hello Scott, Thank you very much for your prompt reply. Correct I am doing the GIRP malkuth version with all the elements that is simplified and doesnt include the enochian names. I
havent attempted to do a GIRP and focus on a specific element for spellwork yet but I am very intrigued by the thought of it. I totally feel you I do everything when the day is done as well the other day I was so exhausted from work that I felt asleep while doing the light circulation of the middle pillar I do it laid on my back and that doesnt help when Im tired.
I'll try to spread it out to reduce workload from the "night shift" and see how it goes I will try to keep a memo. This blog and your work is a blessing you have helped me put some order in my practice I live in Athens, Greece the closest lodge is on the other side of the country and I am a solitary practitioner for the past decade or so. I began doing GD rituals compulsively out of necessity for protection and with time I sort of grew in it it's only in the last 5 years that ive put some order in my workings and I owe alot to this blog and your excellent and tested advice. Thank you very much.
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