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The Star Ruby

(Revision as of 02:52, 6 Dec 2015)

Categories: Ritual | Works of Aleister Crowley

Part of the Magick in Theory & Practice series.

The Star Ruby is a ritual written by Aleister Crowley who described it as a “new and more elaborate version of the Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.” It is a Class D document (official ritual) of the A.'.A.'.

Table of contents
1 History
2 The ritual
3 Crowley on The Star Ruby
4 Explication
5 Observation and Critique
6 See also
7 External links
8 References

History

It first appeared in print with the publication of The Book of Lies in 1913 e.v. Disciples at the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalu performed the ritual as part of their daily practices, along with Will and Liber Resh. The ritual was later modified somewhat and released in 1929 e.v. as an appendix of Magick in Theory and Practice (Magick, Book 4, Part III).

Built up from the traditional Lesser Pentagram Ritual of the Golden Dawn, while similar in some aspects, the Star Ruby also has many significant differences in its structure; for example, using Greek instead of Hebrew intonations; similarly, while its predecessor is suitable for both invoking and banishing elemental forces, the Star Ruby is exclusively a banishing ritual.

The ritual

Current Version - Liber ABA, Book 4: Magic in Theory and Practice - 1929 e.v.

Liber XXV

The Star Ruby*
Facing East, in the centre, draw deep deep deep thy breath closing thy mouth with thy right forefinger prest against thy lower lip. Then dashing down the hand with a great sweep back and out, expelling forcibly thy breath, cry
APO PANTOS KAKODAIMONOS. ("Away every evil spirit")
With the same forefinger touch thy forehead, and say SOI, ("thy")
thy member, and say O PHALLE, ("phallus")
thy right shoulder, and say ISCHUROS, ("mighty")
thy left shoulder, and say EUCHARISTOS; ("beneficient")
then clasp thine hands, locking the fingers, and cry IAO.
Advance to the East.
Imagine strongly a Pentagram, aright, in thy forehead. Drawing the hands to the eyes, fling it forth, making the sign of Horus
and roar THERION.
Retire thine hand in the sign of Hoor-paar-Kraat.
Go round to the North and repeat; but say NUIT.
Go round to the West and repeat; but whisper BABALON.
Go round to the South and repeat; but bellow HADIT.
Completing the circle widdershins, retire to the centre and raise thy voice in the Paian, with these words IO PAN, with the signs of N.O.X. (MTP pg. 617 figures 34 l,m,n,o,p)
Extend the arms in the form of a Tau and say low but clear:
PRO MOU IUNGES
OPICHO MOU TELETARCHAI
EPI DEXIA CHUNOCHES
EPARISTERA DAIMONOS
PHEG EI GAR PERI MOU O ASTER TON PENTE
KAI EN TEI STELEI O ASTER TON EX ESTEXE.
("Before me the Iynges, behind me the Teletarch(es), on my right hand the Synoches, on my left the daemons,
for about me flame the Star of Five and in the pillar stands the Star of Six.")
Repeat the Cross Qabalistic, as above, and end as thou didst begin.
________________
'*' 25 is the square of 5, and the Pentagram has the red colour of Geburah. The chapter is a new and more elaborate version of the Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. It would be improper to comment further upon an official ritual of the A.'.A.'..
(footnote to the word "PHALLE") "The secret sense of these words is to be sought in the numeration thereof."

Original version - Book of Lies - 1913 e.v.

In Crowley's The Book of Lies (#25), the ritual is essentially the same exept that in place of THERION, NUIT, BABALON, & HADIT, the text had (in Greek) CHAOS, BABALON, EROS, & PSYCHE (respectively).

Crowley on The Star Ruby

From Magick Ch. 13:
“It is usually sufficient to perform a general banishing, and to rely upon the aid of the guardians invoked. Let the banishing therefore be short, but in no wise slurred—for it is useful as it tends to produce the proper attitutude of mind for the invocations.”

Explication

--Capella 00:00, 6 Dec 2015 (UTC)

On the Opening

When you see the right fore finger against the lower lip, this suggests this section of the ritual is done in God Form. Harpocrates is indicated. Think of this as Harpocrates giving the command for the evil spirits to leave, and at the same time, setting the intention of the ritual which is used solely to banish and never to invoke.

On the Cross Qabalistic

Obviously similar to the standard QBL, however, Greek.
Note: This is also done at the end of the ritual as per the last line of the ritual.

On Widdershins

This is different from the LBRP which is Deosil.
No further comment on why widdershins.

On The Divine Names, Pentagrams, and Elemental Directions

See Observations and Critique below.

On the Signs of N.O.X. (http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Ritual_Signs)

A footnote in the Star Ruby merely says "See Figure 34l-p, p 617."
On pages 616-617, the various signs are placed in order where they fall on the tree of life.
The N.O.X. signs take one specifically from Geburah to Chesed, across the Abyss, and to Binah.

On the Legendary order of Beings (Greek): Iynges, Synoches, Teletarches and Daemones

The following from Sabazius (http://www.hermetic.com/sabazius/starruby_rit.htm) - footnote #6

"The Iynges (singular "Iynx"), Synoches, Teletarches and Daemones are divine principles from the Second Order of the emanationist hierarchy of late Neoplatonism, based on the Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster. Their position in the Neoplatonist hierarchy is intermediate between the "intelligible" world, or world of ideation, and the "sensible" world, or world of perception. Their functions are, respectively, as "initiators," "maintainers," "perfectors," and "executors" of the Divine Creative Impulse which originates in the intelligible world and ultimately manifests in the sensible world. Further information on them may be found in the published editions of the Chaldean Oracles edited by W. Wynn Wescott and G.R.S. Mead, and in the works of Proclus, Damascius, Michael Psellus, George Gemistos Plethon, and other late Neoplatonist philosophers." - Sabazius (http://www.hermetic.com/sabazius/starruby_rit.htm)

The following with input from the Chaldaean Oracles of Zoroaster (http://www.esotericarchives.com/oracle/oraclez.htm), Westcott/Aude

"The Second Order of the Platonist philosophy was the "Intelligible and Intellectual Triad." Among the Chaldæans this order includes the Iynges, Synoches and Teletarchs. " (The 3 alchemical elements, fire, water, air) [1] (http://www.esotericarchives.com/oracle/oraclez.htm)
"Following the intellectual Triad was the Demiurgos, from whom proceeded the Effable and Essential Orders including all sorts of Dæmons, and the Elementary World." (The 4th element from the original 3, also containing itself) [5] (http://www.esotericarchives.com/oracle/oraclez.htm)

Observation and Critique

--Capella 18:32, 5 Dec 2015 (UTC)

On the Closing

The last line of the ritual says "and end as thou didst begin."
It is unclear if this means to repeat the entire opening, or just the Qabalistic Cross.
It would however not be out of line to end peacefully with the sign of silence.
However, the banishing cry seems unnecessary at this point in the ritual.

On the Elemental Directions - the two versions compared

Please first review the Book of Lies (BoL) versus the Book 4 Liber ABA Magic in Theory and Practice (MTP) versions: [www.ordoaa.org/pdf/l025.pdf]

Directions based upon how the Divine Names are Spoken - If you take the way the Divine Names are said, one could assume they represent the following: 

 * How Said.........Zodiac....Kerub..Element
 * Roar.............Lion......Leo....Fire
 * Bellows..........Taurus....Bull...Earth
 * Cry/Whisper......Scorpio...Eagle..Water
 * Say..............Aquarius..Man....Air
 * raise thy voice..Paian* (http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Paion.html)....God*...Spirit
 * Note: Paian is not a Zodiac and God is not a Kerub.  
   However, this is the closest mapping of the correspondence.
   Paian may also indicate Pan as per Sabazius (http://hermetic.com/sabazius/starruby_rit.htm)'s footnote #5.

Comparison of Ritual Versions - Note that the directions used in the BoL are the same as the Lesser Hexagram Ritual (LHR). Whereas the direction used in MTP are different as follows: 

 * Direction.........Book of Lies...........MTP
 * East..............Fire...................Fire
 * South.............Earth..................Earth
 * West..............Air....................Water
 * North.............Water..................Air
 * Center............Spirit.................Spirit

Tree Of Life Mapping of MTP Version - The later MTP version of the Star Ruby does map the the tree of life at samekh and peh by way of the planets deposited in the macrocosmic sephiroth. 

 * Direction...Element..Planet....Astro....Divine Name
 * East........Fire.....Sol.......nat/trp..Therion
 * South.......Earth....Venus.....trp......Hadit 
 * West........Water....Moon......nat......Babylon 
 * North.......Air......Mercury...trp......Nuit (sky goddess)
 * Center......Spirit...N/A.......N/A......Pan or Paian
 * Note: trp = triplicity ruler.  nat = nature via the qualities (e.g. cold/wet/hot/dry).  
 * See Astrology Note below for more detail.

Astrology Note - This is aside from the fact that the nature of venus is water and mercury earth as derived from the qualities (this is the method commonly used in astrology to determine the elemental nature of the planets), which is not found in 777 and therefore Crowley most likely made use of the triplicities the planets ruled as per the Ptolemy short form which is found in 777 but with the caveat that the moon is representing its watery nature instead of the triplicity it rules which is earth.

Suggested Further Reading for additional critique on elemental directions

Note: Helpful to compare/contrast with Liber vel Reguli.
Note: Understanding of N.O.X. may shed additional light.
Note: The external links give good commentary on the elemental directions of the Star Ruby.

See also

External links

References

Retrieved from "http://thelemapedia.org/index.php/The_Star_Ruby"


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