Banishing rituals are ceremonies intended to clear, delimit, or reorder a ritual setting. The term appears in Ceremonial magic alongside invocation. Depending on the system, the operation may be explained through spirits, elemental forces, symbolic attention, or a combination of these.
Pentagrams and ritual sequence#
Aleister Crowley's Liber O includes pentagram and hexagram work. Names, gestures, directions, and visualized figures form a coordinated sequence. The instructions assume study and practice; they are not simply a recommendation to draw an arbitrary star.[1]
The pentagram and hexagram have different functions within that teaching. Their use also depends on the kind of operation undertaken. A diagram should therefore be read with the accompanying explanation of movement and intention.
The place of banishing in a practice#
Some ceremonial systems use banishing before and after other work. It can establish an ordered setting and mark the return to ordinary activity. The meaning of that transition depends on the practitioner's account: one person may emphasize metaphysical clearing, while another emphasizes attention and a reliable beginning or ending.
Golden Dawn material published in The Temple of Solomon the King supplies a historical setting for parts of Crowley's ceremonial inheritance.[2] Contemporary Satanic and demonolatrous practices may adapt or reject that inheritance. A devotee who treats a spirit as a welcome divine presence can understand the purpose of a closing rite differently from a grimoire operator who commands a reluctant apparition. The tradition's own terms explain the relationship.
See also#
References
- Aleister Crowley, Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae · Primary instructional text, reproduced by the Internet Sacred Text Archive. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
- Aleister Crowley, The Temple of Solomon the King (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩