CHAPTER 4: THE LESSER BANISHING RITUAL OF THE PENTAGRAM

(A Tutorial for the Absolute Beginner)

In this chapter, we will be drawing primarily on the following sources:

Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae sub-figura VI. “Instructions given for elementary study of
the Qabalah, Assumption of God forms, vibration of Divine Names, the Rituals of
Pentagram and Hexagram, and their uses in protection and invocation, a method of
attaining astral visions so-called, and an instruction in the practice called Rising on the
Planes. Equinox II, p. 11 and Magick appendix VI.”

The Palace of the World, a poem within a poem (The Holy of Holies) within a small book
of poems (The Temple of the Holy Ghost) originally published in 1901. It was included in
Volume I of The Collected Works of Aleister Crowley (1905), where he added extensive
footnotes, in which the ritual was published for the first time. From here on this will be
referred to as “Palace.”

Notes on the Ritual of the Pentagram. This was one of two sets of papers sent to Karl
Germer in 1946; however, it was more than likely written between 1905 and 1910,
perhaps as an afterthought to Liber O. It was passed down to Grady McMurtry and
Phyllis Seckler in 1947, but was not published until 1973 in the first issue of Seckler’s
periodical In The Continuum. From here on this will be referred to as Notes.

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. This is the second paper sent to Germer in
1946. It was most likely to have been written between 1920 to 1923 during the Cefalu
period at the Abbey of Thelema. Partly published by Frater Orpheus in 2020, it obviously
influenced Seckler’s In The Continuum commentary on the ritual. From here on it will be
referred to as LBRP.

Let us begin with Liber O:

The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram

(i) Touching the forehead say Ateh (Unto Thee).
(ii) Touching the breast say Malkuth (The Kingdom).
(iii) Touching the right shoulder, say ve-Geburah (and the Power).
(iv) Touching the left shoulder, say ve-Gedulah (and the Glory).
(v) Clasping the hands upon the breast, say le-Olahm, Amen (To the Ages, Amen).
(vi) Turning to the East make a pentagram (that of Earth). Say (i.e. Vibrate) I H V H.
(vii) Turning to the South, the same, but say A D N I.
(viii) Turning to the West, the same, but say A H I H.
(ix) Turning to the North, the same, but say A G L A.
(x) Extending the arms in the form of a Cross say:
(xi) Before me Raphael;
(xii) Behind me Gabriel;
(xiii) On my right hand Michael.
 (xiv) On my left hand Auriel;
(xv) For about me flames the Pentagram,
(xvi) And in the Column stands the six-rayed Star.
(xvii-xxi) Repeat (i) to (v), the Qabalistic Cross.

“This ritual was given to Neophytes in the Order of the Golden Dawn.” [Palace] We learn
from The Equinox of the Gods and The Book of Thoth that Crowley was initiated into the first
grade of the Golden Dawn (Neophyte 0○= 0○) in November 1898.
In LBRP, the Qabalistic Cross was modified as:

1. Touching the forehead, say ATEH (Unto Thee)

2. Touching the breast, say AIWASS (Spirit)
3. Touching the generative organ, say MALKUTH (The Kingdom)
4. Touching the right shoulder, say VE-GEBURAH (and the Power)
5. Touching the left shoulder, say VE-GEDULAH (and the Glory)
6. Clasp hands upon the breast, dagger point up, and say LE-OLAHM, AUMGN!
(To the ages, AUMGN)

Also in LBRP, Crowley elaborated that one specifically begins by facing East before making
the Qabalistic Cross, as if to correct clarify his previous instructions from Liber O. One still
faced East (rather than “turning to the East”) when making the first Pentagram. Between steps
(ix) and (x) one returns to face the East, after the fourth Pentagram is traced and the fourth “God-
name” is Vibrated. Then, “without any effort on your part the Hexagram or sixfold star appears
both above and below you.” [Notes] That is, you are “thus in a cube of 4 Pentagrams and 2
Hexagrams...” [Palace footnote 18] From here the practical components will be elucidated in
stages. For stage one you will want to just go through the physical motions of the ritual in order
to cultivate body memory, until the words and the gestures are perfectly memorized, and the
performance goes smoothly from each component to the next.

This ritual opens and concludes with the Qabalistic Cross. It is generally assumed that Golden
Dawn co-founder Samuel Liddell Mathers composed the ritual, but it is well known that the
Qabalistic Cross was borrowed and modified from Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. The
modified Qabalistic Cross in LBRP is confirmed in Betty May’s autobiography Tiger Woman,
where she describes this version that she experienced firsthand when she and her husband Raoul
Loveday visited the Abbey of Thelema in 1923. Although her spelling was mangled, she tells us
that the words were intoned as such:

“Artay I was Malcooth — Vegabular, Vegadura, ee-ar-la — ah moon.”

The last was a high-pitched note in contrast with the rest of the chant.

Crowley seems to have gotten this notion from a Golden Dawn Adept ritual in which the
Hierophant exclaims: “Unto Thee, O Tetragrammaton, the Kingdom and the Power and the
Glory to the Ages, Amen!” [For AUGMN see Magick Chapter VII.]
Since early 1984, I adopted my own version as follows: Touch forehead saying Ateh, touch
genitals saying Malkuth, touch right shoulder saying ve-Geburah, touch left shoulder saying ve-
Gedulah, clasp hands together over chest saying le-Olahm, Amen. Obviously, I just did away
with saying Aiwass; and this so simply for the fact that I preferred to make the vertical line as
one straight line in one single motion, rather than break it up in halves. Also, I retained Amen,
since the word is found in The Book of the Law. It would be decades later that I came to learn
that several other Thelemites had conceived of this very same version all on their own, and had
also been practicing it for many years before our first contact. Basically, it is just the easiest
compromise between Liber O and LBRP versions.
Whichever version you choose, simply chant the words as you touch the corresponding points
on your body. Magicians who were raised Catholic would certainly have the advantage in
adapting this, familiar with the basic rhythm. When you say the Hebrew words, say them in the
same way you would if you were speaking English. It might even help if you practice with the
English first: “Unto Thee — the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever. Amen!” There is
a current trend to “vibrate” the words of the Qabalistic Cross based on what Israel Regardie
called a “tradition.” I can’t imagine where he got this tradition from as it is not an original
Golden Dawn teaching. If you look at how the words are broken up in Betty May’s account, you
can see both the continuity and the significant pauses between the first three words (Ateh Aiwass
Malkuth) and the second three words (ve-Geburah ve-Gedulah le-Olahm) and then the high-
pitched AUMGN. Therefore, it is extremely doubtful that Regardie got this tradition from
Crowley.
Now, before you get hung up on pronunciations, keep in mind that Hebrew was a dead
language for about 2,000 years. That is, although it continued to be used as a literary language to
fulfill liturgical functions and to discuss legal matters, it was no longer spoken until its revival in
the 19th Century CE. And even today Hebrew has at least five different variations of
pronunciation. I generally pronounce my chosen version of the Qabalistic Cross as: “ah-teh
mahl-kooth veh-geh-boo-rah veh-geh-doo-lah leh-oh-lahm ah-mehn.” If you choose to use
Aiwass, it literally sounds like “I was,” but perhaps maybe ending with a hard s instead of z.
(Crowley’s alternate spelling was Aiwaz so maybe “I was” would actually be fitting.) All the
same, your choice of pronunciation in all of these is completely up to you.

Publication for Probationers, “Issued by authority of the Master Therion” and distributed by
Frater Progradior (Frank Bennett), included instructions on how to make the Banishing
Pentagram of Earth. [Publication for Probationers states that the Lesser Invoking Ritual of the
Pentagram was only suited for a “higher grade”; that is, not until at least a year later from first
learning the banishing form.]

To make the Pentagram, act thus:

Bring the right hand, with forefinger extended, towards the outer side of left hip.
(a) Sweep it upwards till vertically in front of centre of head.
(b) Sweep it downwards towards outer side of right hip.
(c) Sweep across and upwards towards the outer side of left shoulder.
(d) Straight across towards outer side of right shoulder.
(e) Across and downwards towards outer side of left hip, or starting point.
Thus, that symbol of Great Power, the Five Pointed Star, is traced in the air. In doing
this figure, the arm must be kept quite rigid throughout; and in turning to the Cardinal
points a straight line must be drawn from Pentagram to Pentagram, by keeping the arm
pointed straight outwards.
 While “outer side” of hips and shoulders is technically correct, this might be misleading as to
how accurate it is upon reading. My placement of the Pentagram over the famous Leonardo da
Vinci image of Vitruvian Man (below) gives us a better idea of what exactly we are aiming for.
Vitruvian Man is also significant in the sense that this is basically a good representation of the
“cube” mentioned by Crowley in Palace. Based on Notes and the footnote from Palace, your
feet stand upon the Hexagram below and the Hexagram above forms somewhat a flat six pointed
halo at the level of the very top of your head. Each line of the Pentagram would approximately
be about three feet or so. We could assume that the same is true of each line of the Hexagram. It
is in between the parallel Hexagrams that a hexagonal column of astral light is formed from their
inner six lines that passes around the main trunk of the body, slightly larger than the lines
marking the shoulders of the Vitruvian Man. “You are thus standing in a Column...” [Notes]
Hence, the words, “...and in the column stands the six-rayed star.”
Perhaps “the arm must be kept quite rigid throughout” should be ignored, as this would
literally just give you a Pentagram slightly slanted inward about six inches at the bottom. To
adjust this, one would have to pivot the shoulders and move back and forth from the hips. It
would be better to bend the elbows and wrists a little; there will still be motion from the hips and
shoulders but this will minimize exaggeration of movement from any one part of the body.

Of course, no one can expect to trace perfect Pentagram without a lot of practice. And it will
take a lot of practice. One suggestion is to try practicing in front of a large mirror. Another is to
make the frustrating effort in marking a blank wall, with extreme care, the proportionately
accurate points of a Pentagram at the level of the top of your head (rather than “in front of centre
of head”), and using 0.7 inch masking tape to connect these points. Back when I tried this
experiment, I would stand as close to the wall so I could trace the Pentagram without actually
touching it. Again, this is to cultivate muscle memory; it also helps with developing the
necessary focus required.
Crowley tends to alternate between the terms “God-names” (beginning with 777 Column V)
and “Divine Names.” He uses both in Liber O. The technique for the Vibration of God-names in
Liber O is as follows:

(b) Breathe in deeply through the nostrils, imagining the name of the God desired
entering with the breath.
(c) Let that name descend slowly from the lungs to the heart, the solar plexus, the navel,
the generative organs, and so to the feet.
(d) The moment that it appears to touch the feet, quickly advance the left foot about 12
inches, throw forward the body, and let the hands (drawn back to the side of the eyes)
shoot out, so that you are standing in the typical position of the God Horus, and at the
same time imagine the Name as rushing up and through the body, while you breathe it
out through the nostrils with the air which has been till then retained in the lungs. All this
must be done with all the force of which you are capable.
(e) Then withdraw the left foot, and place the right forefinger upon the lips, so that you
are in the characteristic position of the God Harpocrates.
 Notice that I omitted “(a) Stand with arms outstretched.” [This is known as “the Sign of Osiris
Slain” which will be used later but one time only.] In the Magick reprint of Liber O, Crowley
footnotes this point with “This injunction does not apply to gods like Phthah or Harpocrates
whose natures do not accord with this gesture.” He himself eventually seems to have done away
with this gesture altogether, as it was not included in LBRP. Instead, stand with your arms
loosely at your side, palms facing your outer thighs. LBRP instructs us to “draw the arms toward
the body at the same time drawing in the breath…” This I have personally interpreted as slowly
bending the elbows and bringing the hands up along the side of the body, so that when the breath
is brought all the way down to the feet, both hands will be at the side of the head resembling twin
cobras ready to strike. When the name just touches your feet and your hands are at the side of
your eyes, and just before you take the step with your left foot, pivot the right foot from the toes
so that the heel moves in about 75 degrees. According to Notes, “the right heel in the hollow of
the left foot...” Then the hands shoot forward with the upper body thrown forward from the
waist. This is shown in the photo Blind Force on the previous page [originally from Equinox I];
the pivoted foot helps one from being thrown off balance and nearly falling over, which still may
tend to happen often, and is awkward. This is the Sign of Horus, also known as the Sign of the
Enterer. Note that the fingers will be at the level of the center of the Pentagram, as your upper
body is sort of thrust through it.
The God-names are pronounced Ye-ho-wau or yeh-hoh-wah-uh (wah-uh being one syllable
ending with a slight accent), Adonai or like the English words odd own eye, Eheieh or eh-heh-
ee-yeh (heh-ee also one syllable with an accent), and Agla or ah-guh-lah (guh is much shorter
than ah or lah).
After you Vibrate the name, then step back, “always recovering after each forward step so that
you remain in the centre.” [Notes] Then make the Sign of Harpocrates, also known as the Sign of
Silence, exactly as described above. “Success in vibrating the divine names is indicated by a
tingling in the palms and soles of the feet, and often the outbreak of sweat.” [LBRP]

When I first began to practice this ritual, there was one particular thing I was not quite certain
about; “breathe [the God-name] out through the nostrils...” For years, I interpreted this as
vibrating the names mentally, while physically being silent. Although, I still enunciated them
very loudly in my head but without physically vocalizing it at all. Of course, if you live with
other who are unlikely to indulge your aspirations, this can only come as a boon. However, even
as early as 1985, a few other Thelemites were more than eager to demonstrate their versions for
me. And by “their versions” I mean the version they learned from Israel Regardie’s The Middle
Pillar. As I mentioned before, he teaches that it was a “tradition” to also Vibrate the words of the
Qabalistic Cross. I have to admit I was completely mortified upon witnessing these. The first was
a devoted adherent of Regardie, and his vibrations were very high-pitched and nasally. I assumed
this was his interpretation of “you breathe it out through the nostrils...” It didn't help that his
facial expression while vibrating was similar to an adult film actor on the verge of ejaculation.
Another Thelemite vibrated like a choir boy singing falsetto, as if he was in a high school play in
the role of a saint communing with an angel. And this was only with the Qabalistic Cross. Their
method of Vibrating the God-names seemed worse, and drawn out a lot longer than I thought
was necessary. In both these and other displays, I just was not impressed with what seemed both
fake and forced to me.
It wasn’t until decades later that I was granted the privilege of access to Crowley’s LBRP. Here
we are instructed to “intone the name, imagining that it rushes forth with the breath,” and again:
“Vibrate this name with a strong voice, imagining that the voice carries to infinity...” Ever since
reading LBRP, my method of vibrating was modeled after the following example: Imagine that
you saw you saw a friend across the street, but they were looking the other way and about to
walk away in that direction; but you needed talk to them right then and there, so you called out to
them with a sense of urgency. I found that yelling out the names in this manner made an
incredible difference. But then again, if you live with others, this might not be the most
convenient approach to take. Perhaps you might prefer to just vibrate mentally for all of stage
one. Another thing that makes all the difference is the space available to use as a “Temple.”
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, it was very typical of Thelemites, Wiccans, and a variety of
other occult practitioners to use their own bedrooms as their magical working space. On
occasions, even their living rooms if and when they were allowed an hour or more of solitude
and privacy. Very few would actually dedicate an entire room to the Great Work, even if they
had it. Unfortunately, for the best results one requires at least 9 feet of open space to perform this
ritual properly.

As Frank Bennett’s Publications for Probationers points out, “in turning to the Cardinal points,
a straight line must be drawn from Pentagram to Pentagram, by keeping the arm pointed straight
outwards.” From a perspective looking down on you from above, this straight line will look as if
one was tracing a quarter of a circle from one Vibration to the next. After tracing the fourth
Pentagram and Vibrating AGLA, one completes the circle from the center of the North back to
the East.

“(x) Extending the arms in the form of a cross...” This is where you make the Sign of Osiris
Slain. Perhaps Crowley eliminated this gesture from the Vibration technique so as to avoid
overkill.
Raphael is pronounced as is usually common. Michael: like the English words meek eye yell.
Gabriel also similar to that commonly known but begins with gehb instead of Gabe. Auriel: Ohr-
ee-ehl. But again, feel free to pronounce any of these names according to your own preference.
Whatever works best for you.
. . .

Once you have memorized all the words and gestures, and spent enough time physically
practicing the ritual smoothly from start to finish, stage two involves active visualization and
intense focus.

“In formulating the Qabalistic Cross, imagine that each part touched is a living, coruscating
sphere of light, and that a line of light flows down and across the body, forming a brilliant
cross.” [LBRP] Imagining seeing the sun in the daytime reflected in the glass window of a high
rise building: this is how I imagine the coruscating sphere of light, except the sphere is about an
inch in diameter. In touching the forehead, this sphere appears in the middle of the brain, just
below the skull. In touching the genitals, this sphere is centered at the prostate or Skene's gland,
just above the perineum [I personally touch the spot where my pubic hair meets the penile base].
Likewise, both points from shoulder to shoulder create a line that goes through your body, just
inside the surface. Touching each of the surface points is like pushing the on button on a lamp,
whereas each sphere is like the light bulb. “In your being is the Cross of Light...” [LBRP]
Visualizing your Cross of Light might take a lot of practice on its own; you might need to
practice it repeatedly as a stand-alone ritual. It might even help to begin this practice by touching
the points on the body and visualizing the spheres and lines of light without saying the words at
all. Once the visualization becomes easier, the words can then be added.

“The pentagrams should be formulated in golden, fiery light, and a line of this fire should
follow [the point of your finger] so that the effect is that of four fiery stars at the four quarters of
a flaming circle.” [LBRP] This is corroborated with “[this ritual] should be practised until the
figures drawn appear in flame, in flame so near to physical flame…” [Liber O]
It has become a bizarre modern trend among Regardiean Thelemites to insist that the
Pentagrams are supposed to be traced in blue flame or bluish-white light. This has no real
precedence within the original Golden Dawn teachings. To speculate, on the very first day that
Regardie met Crowley: “A taxi got us quickly to his apartment where we had coffee. While we
talked, he brewed it himself in a small Cona glass apparatus rather like what we would call a
Silex coffee maker — heated by a diminutive alcohol lamp. I had never seen one before; I was
impressed.” [The Eye in the Triangle] As we all know, burning alcohol tends to produce a blue
flame. While I am personally the first to admit that I love the beautiful blue flame that comes
from Cherries Jubilee or flaming Mexican coffee, I have always thought that blue flame was
wrong for the Pentagram rituals. James A. Eshelman, a prominent Regardie apologist, claims
that blue light is associated with the astral plane. But Crowley himself would disagree. In The
Confessions of Aleister Crowley Chapter 46, he writes:

Looking about me, I saw that the King’s Chamber was glowing with a soft light which I
immediately recognized as the astral light. I have been accustomed to describe the colour
as ultra-violet, from its resemblance to those rays in the spectrum — which I happen to
be able to distinguish. The range varies, but it is quite noticeably beyond that visible to
the normal human eye. The colour is not unlike that of an arc lamp; it is definitely less
coloured than the light of a mercury lamp. If I had to affix a conventional label, I should
probably say pale lilac. But the quality of the light is much more striking than the colour.
Here the word phosphorescence occurs to the mind.

Ironically, this is how my Pentagrams first appeared to me in my first few years of trying to
produce Pentagrams “in flame so near to physical flame”: somewhat of a dull and blurry glow
whose color could easily be described as pale lilac. A few years later, it was a little brighter but
the substance of it was so much like a white fire opal, rainbow specks and all. And then a few
years after that, I was able to produce a sort of light as if it reflected off of a tarnished brass
surface long before I achieved the golden fiery light I was aiming for. As with every aspect of
this ritual and Magick in general, it all takes lots of practice.
In LBRP, Crowley instructs us to imagine the God-name in the middle of the Pentagram. These
each should be imagined as being written in Hebrew letters, right to left, in brilliant white light.
In Vibrating the God-names for stage two, “It is a sign that the student is performing this
correctly when a single ‘Vibration’ entirely exhausts his physical strength. It should cause him to
grow hot all over, or to perspire violently, and it should so weaken him that he will find it
difficult to remain standing.” [Liber O] Also, “As you vibrate the Divine Name the angels, as
given in the ritual, appear (note that they should appear and if the ritual is properly performed do
appear)... the Divine Being will not appear, in the ordinary course of events, for such slight
cause.” [Notes] That is, upon making the Sign of Harpocrates for each Vibration, the archangel
should appear immediately after. However, at stage two, there is no need to expect too much. At
best, they will appear almost like a mirage, often more easily “felt” than seen clearly. In time
they will become more distinct and brighter.
Now, in the same way that the archangels come as a direct response to the God-name Vibrated,
at the moment in which the final curved line closes the flaming circle back in the East, the
Hexagrams above and below also automatically appear. “You are thus standing in a Column
which is protected by your microcosmic invocation. Get well into your mind the realization of
this Column with its surrounding pentagrams and its hexagrams above and below you.” [Notes]
. . .

It is in stage three that one really begins to explore and work out the “Telesmatic Images” of
the archangels, but first one must have become completely familiar with the Holy Qabalah as
taught in The Book of Thoth and a few of Crowley’s other writings. The easier version is given in
LBRP as such:

In the East, Raphael, archetype of the powers of Air, prince of the winds, lord of the
whispering zephyr and the roaring hurricane.
In the West, Gabriel, angel of Water, the murmur and shout of the sea, the song of
rivers, whisper of rain, and voicelessness of mist.
In the South, Michael, angel of Fire, bearing the flaming sword, defender and lord of
creating, destroying fire.
In the North, dark Auriel of Earth, mountains and desert, and all things that sleep or
wake under the earth are his domain.

Notes gives a slightly fuller version: “You can figure out for yourself the forms of the angels,
or rather archangels. For instance, Raphael, commencing with an ‘R’ will have a head of solar
glory and the Peh which follows shows that the rest of him is martial: the ‘AL’ which concludes
the name (in the case of most angelic beings) indicates that they wield the sword and the
balance.” This follows an article that Mathers wrote for Golden Dawn adepts titled: Telesmatic
Images and Adonai: “The termination AL always gives to Angelic Forms the Wings and
Symbols of Justice.” In this case, AL refers to aleph and lamed. Aleph corresponds to the
element Air and the Fool of the Tarot. Lamed corresponds to the zodiac sign Libra and the Tarot
card Justice.
Unfortunately, all this can get rather complicated and perhaps a little bit convoluted.
In Hebrew, Raphael (“God Heals”) is RPAL, or Resh-Peh-Aleph-Lamed: the Sun, Mars, Air,
and Libra. Michael (“God’s Likeness”) is MIKAL, or Mem-Yod-Kaph-Aleph-Lamed: Water,
Virgo, Jupiter, Air, Libra. Gabriel (“God’s Warrior”) is GBRIAL, or Gimel-Beth-Resh-Yod-
Aleph-Lamed: Moon, Mercury, Sun, Virgo, Air, Libra. Auriel (“God’s Light”) is AVRIAL, or
Aleph-Vau-Resh-Yod-Aleph-Lamed: Air, Taurus, Sun, Virgo, Air, Libra. In every case here, AL
means “God.”
Likewise, Peh is martial, but so is GBR in Gabriel, as it is connected to Geburah, the Sephirah
of Mars. Auriel is “dark,” but AVR means “light”; Aleph is Air even though Auriel is the
archangel of Earth. Mem is Water even though Michael is the archangel of Fire. If you spend a
lot of time contemplating all this, it may just end in a philosophical reconciliation where the
opposites and complementary elements are well balanced, but for now, this may be impractical.
Best to just imagine that each archangel is a being of transparent light, each holding a sword in
their right hand and the balances in their left hand. Likewise, all four archangels will generally
resemble the famous 1635 painting of Michael by Guido Reni in that they will all have wings
and some sort of armor over a tunic. The difference will be slight, but more or less pronounced.
Around Raphael will be an aura of bright pale yellow, Gabriel a deep blue, Michael a glowing
orange scarlet, and Auriel the rich green of young spring leaves on a sunny afternoon.
Ultimately, figuring out the forms of angels and other entities is little more than a Qabalistic
mental exercise. It is better left as a side project as it can be very useful for future magical
operations. But these details should not distract or slow down the progress toward mastering the
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.
 In another chapter I will be revisiting this ritual and explain all the symbolism involved in full
detail, along with the elemental forms of the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram and their uses.
Until then, we’ll end this chapter with a glimpse into two other important points of interest —
first, the Tree of Life upon the human body, and second, the human body upon the Tree of Life.

First — if we look at 777, we see that Column XXI’s title is The Perfected Man, to which 777
Revised adds “These attributions all refer to those parts of the human body on the Tree of Life”;
and these attributions are given as follows:
0 Negative Veils: the Hair
1 Kether, 2 Chokmah, 3 Binah: the Face
- Daath: the Neck
4 Chesed, 5 Geburah: the Arms
6 Tiphareth: the Breast
7 Netzach, 8 Hod: the Reins
9 Yesod: the Phallus and Vulva
10 Malkuth: the Buttocks and Anus

This concept, originally based on the Zoharic Adam Kadmon, is perhaps best described by
Mathers and W. Wynn Westcott in their Golden Dawn paper titled The Secret Wisdom of the
Lesser World or Microcosm which is Man:

Thou shalt know that the whole Sphere of Sensation which surroundeth the whole
physical body of a man is called “The Magical Mirror of the Universe.” For therein are
represented all the occult forces of the Universe projected as on a sphere, convex to the
outer, but concave to man. This sphere surroundeth the physical body of a man as the
Celestial Heavens do the body of a Star or a Planet, having their forces mirrored in its
atmosphere. Therefore its allotment or organization is the copy of that Greater World or
Macrocosm. In this “Magical Mirror of the Universe,” therefore, are the Ten Sephiroth
projected in the form of the Tree of Life as in a solid sphere. A man’s physical body is
within the Ten Sephiroth projected in a sphere.

Mathers’ Elementary View of Man [Flying Roll No. XX] lists these projections as: “Kether is
the Crown and is above the head. The junction of Chokmah and Binah in Daath is in the head
itself. Then Chesed and Geburah will correspond to the arms and shoulders, Tiphereth and Yesod
to the trunk and body, Netzach and Hod to the hips and legs, and Malkuth to the feet alone.”
When Crowley’s first modification collectively designated Kether, Chokmah and Binah as “the
Face,” we can reasonably imagine that Kether would be ascribed to Kether. [“Breast” is the
archaic term for the thorax region, just as “the Reins” refers to the region of the kidneys.] His
other main modification was to move Malkuth up from the feet to the anus and buttocks. This
would imply that Yesod and Malkuth meet together on the same level horizontally, with Yesod
in front (of course) and Malkuth directly behind it. However, it would be just as logical to
conceive them as superimposed into one another, a sort of third dimensional Venn diagram of
energy. [See illustrations on next page.] After all, Malkuth is attributed to our planet Earth, and
Yesod the Moon, and the Moon is not an actual planet but a satellite of Earth.
 Therefore, Crowley’s reallocation of Malkuth and his extension of the Qabalistic Cross makes
perfect sense.

Second — in Notes, Crowley begins with: “You are supposed to be standing at the intersection
of the paths of Samekh and Peh. You are facing Tiphareth (the Sun), thus on your right hand is
Netzach (Venus) on your left hand Hod (Mercury), and behind you Yesod (the Moon).”
The simplest explanation can be found in The Temple of Solomon the King, Equinox II page
249. The intersection of Samekh and Peh is “the symbolic gateway of Occult Science” between
the pillars of Mercy and Severity “whose bases are in Netzach and Hod”; it is “the threshold of
Entrance.” Since the “banishing rituals should be used at the commencement of any ceremony
whatever” [Liber O], it would be most logical for this to take place in “the symbolic gateway of
Occult Science.”