Banishing and opening/closing rituals form the basis of good magickal practice. Every piece of magickal work should begin with some form of banishing of opening rite, and end with a banishing or a closing ritual.
Banishing and opening rituals are the sequences of gestures, movements, ritual intonations and invocations, and visualisations which are used as a preliminary to any magickal working. A similar sequence is used at the end of a ritual to clear away any psychic residue that is left over.
Before progressing with this discussion, and looking in detail at what banishing and opening rituals do, a distinction must be made between the two types of ritual. That is banishings and openings. A banishing ritual does exactly what its name implies, that is it "banishes" any magickal energies that may be present in the place of working. By contrast an opening ritual is more gentle, it simply makes the operator and his ritual space ready for the performance of magick. Many modern authors fail to draw a distinction between these two types of ritual, but in fact the distinction is important as in certain circumstances one or the other method will be more appropriate. This will become more apparent when we come to look at the specific differences between the two types of rite.
What then are the common elements that both banishing and opening/closing rituals bring to a magickal working? Firstly both types of ritual serve to "centre" the participants in a rite. That is to say they bring them to a calm relaxed state, which is separated from their everyday consciousness. They aren’t worrying about paying the gas bill, or thinking about what happened in the pub last night, rather they are focused upon performing magick.
The second thing that both types of ritual do is that they serve to define "sacred space." They set apart the area of working and consecrate it to the performance of magick. No longer is it the middle of your bedroom, (or your mate's cellar that you've borrowed) rather it is a special place, a temple of the gods, fit for the summoning of any spirit from the most divine angel or deva, to the lowliest and most wretched demon. It is a place beyond time and space where wonders may be worked. In short it is a place of magick.
The third thing that both banishing and opening/closing rituals do is to affirm or acknowledge the different parts of the operators magickal universe. For example the four Aristotelian elements as assigned to the four winds, or the six directions of space, or the seven planets, or whatever. The distinction between banishing and opening/closing rituals becomes most pronounced in how they handle this stage of the proceedings. We will look at this in more depth when we come to discuss the distinctions between the two types of rite. For now we need merely note that these affirmations serve to define the operator's right to command all the powers that exist within his universe.1
The fourth thing that these rituals do is to allow you to assume your "magickal personality." The point of assuming your "magickal personality" is that in everyday consciousness most of us are aware of our limitations. While this is necessary to our normal life, magick requires an extraordinary degree of self confidence and self assuredness. Because of this most magickians construct for themselves what is called a "magickal personality," a personality which is secure and confident in its ability to work magick. This personality is then assumed during ritual, the initial banishing or opening assisting in it’s assumption, while the final banishing or closing helps you to put it off so that it doesn’t spill over into everyday life.
The fifth thing that these rituals do is to allow the operator to make an initial contact with their chosen source of inspiration. The thing, whether within or outside themselves,2 which empowers them to work magick. This generally takes the form of some sort of aspiration to the infinite.
The above then provides a brief synopsis of the common elements that both banishing and opening/closing rituals contain. In practice the design of such rituals can be much more subtle than it appears at first sight. The best of such rites, because they are intended to affect the whole of the operators "magickal universe," embody a complete synopsis of that universe within their structure. For example, when analysed closely, the Golden Dawn’s "Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram" contains within it’s structure a complete resume of the qabbalistic tree of life.
How then do banishing and opening rituals differ in detail? As has already been said banishing rituals seek to clear an area of "psychic residue", while openings simply open the space for the performance of magick. Both types of ritual provide for the purification of the magickian himself, but the banishing also purifies the rest of his "magickal universe." It does this by firstly explicitly dismissing the powers of each of the parts of that universe in turn, and then by invoking into these places the appropriate pure and balanced forces. For example in the "Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram", the pentagrams and the vibration of the divine names at the four quarters serve to expel from the circle the powers of the four elements in turn. The invocation of the archangels then summons those forces back in a balanced form. In contrast an opening ritual simply acknowledges the existence of the parts of the magickian's universe, and declares his power and intention to interact with them.
In what circumstances then should you use one or the other type of ritual? In most cases you should use a banishing ritual. If you are working magick in, for example, your bedroom then there is likely to be all sorts of "psychic debris," that is to say past associations and memories, in the space you have chosen for working. Thus in this instance a banishing ritual will clear the area and give you an, as it were, blank slate on which to work. Opening rituals are more useful when you do not wish to disturb the atmosphere of the place in which you are working. If, for example, you have decided to perform your ritual at a sacred site then you probably wish to work with the energies present at that site. This being the case a banishing would be inappropriate as it would disturb those energies. Rather you would use an opening which purified yourself and made the site ready for you to interact with it, and at the end a closing which detached you from any lingering connection with the forces you had used and restored the site to its normal state.
Another way in which you might work at a sacred site is to use a banishing, but one which is centred on cleansing just yourself, rather than the space in which you are working. A good example of this type of ritual can be seen in Phil Hine’s ritual "The Lightning Flash."3 This simple meditation serves to quite effectively prepare the magickian to do magickal work, but does not seek to manipulate the energies present in his surroundings. Other meditative methods can also be used as banishings. For example a useful banishing can be constructed from the Buddhist practice known as Mahasattipatana. In this meditation you progressively separate your consciousness from your physical sensations, your emotions, your thoughts, and even your tendency to perceive those thoughts. This obviously requires quite a high degree of skill in meditation, but with some work it could provide the basis for a formal banishing ritual.4 Ritual gestures and words at each stage reinforcing the progress of the meditation.
There is also a more specific type of banishing ritual that needs to be dealt with. These are rituals that are used to banish particular forces. While a general purpose banishing, such as those described above, clears the whole of the operator's universe, this type is used to dismiss forces that have been specifically summoned in a ritual. An example of this type of ritual would be the Golden Dawn's various banishing hexagrams. The thing of importance to note here is that every force invoked in a ceremony should be formally dismissed before the final banishing or closing ritual is performed.
Before you begin practising banishing or opening rituals, you probably wish to know how you can tell if they have worked properly. In the case of banishing rituals success is characterised by what Aleister Crowley termed "A feeling of cleanliness." That is to say the atmosphere of the place where you are working should feel psychically neutral, possibly even to the extent of it feeling slightly "dead." With an opening ritual your place of working should have a "ready" feel about it. It should feel harmonious, but prepared for change. At the conclusion of both types of ritual you yourself should feel relaxed, confident, and slightly exalted. The best phrase to express this is probably a feeling of calm, self assuredness.
It is important to notice that success in banishing or opening rituals will not come all at once. They require regular practice, both so that you come to recognise them as a signal to your mind to adopt a state appropriate for working magick, and so that you become fluid in their performance. A lot of writers advise that you perform a banishing ritual5 in the morning upon waking and at night before going to sleep. This is the ideal and it is not always possible for people to do this, however you should endeavour to practice some chosen banishing regularly as often as you can.
The above provides a brief synopsis of banishing and opening/closing rituals. Far more could be said upon the subject, and an analysis of the structures of various such rites from different traditions can be instructive. There is no single correct way to perform banishing or opening rituals. What matters is not the symbol system employed, but the end result of the ritual. What is also important is that each piece of magickal work should be preceded and terminated by some such ritual.
Notes
1: That is the totality of his perceptions and
experiences to date.
2: Or both!
3: This meditation can be found in Hine's Condensed
Chaos. This essay was originally written as a handout for a study group
with example banishings, including Hine's "Lightning Flash" and
the LBRP - T.S.
4: Evidence seems to suggest that Crowley's "Star Ruby" was
based upon considerations such as these.
5: It is far more important to have a well practised banishing than it
is to have a well practised opening. A banishing can be used to still your mind and clear
away "negative feelings" when you are upset or disturbed, as well as being used
as a prelude to formal ritual.
© John Tindsley; used with permission. HTML coding by Frater T.S. for Sunwheel Oasis.