Lbrp : God Names And The Elements, Some inconsistencies… or maybe blinds??? Options

Hey everyone,

Has anyone noticed that there is something that is not quite right about the LBRP? That is that the God names do not correspond to their quarters given the elemental nature of each quarter. Let me explain…

Traditional associations:

East :: YHVH :: Raphael :: Air
South :: ADNI :: Michael :: Fire
West :: AHIH :: Gabriel :: Water
North :: AGLA :: Auriel :: Earth

The archangels, elements, and cardinal points all coincide with their kabbalistic correspondences; however, the God names do not. AHIH (eheieh) is the God name of the Sephirah Keter, the Sefer Yetzirah tells us that Keter corresponds to breath…right? In which case, should not AHIH correspond to air (i.e breath) in the eastern sphere? AGLA is short for “Ateh Gibor Le-olam Adonai” (thou are forever my lord), some kabbalists associate this with the sphere of Geburah through the root Gibor. Geburah is the sphere of fire. ADNI refers to “Adonai he-Aretz”, the God name of Malkuth, and thus is perhaps best associated with earth. Leaving us with YHVH; however, the tetragramaton encompasses all four elements, so theoretically it can be vibrated in any direction. What we get is the following correspondences:

East :: AHIH :: Raphael :: Air
South :: AGLA :: Michael :: Fire
West :: YHVH?? :: Gabriel :: Water
North :: ADNI :: Auriel :: Earth

I have experimented with this and for me it seems to result in a much more cohesive unification between the microcosm and macrocosm. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has experimented with the LBRP in such a manner and their results. Also, if anyone has a suggestion for a god name that can be properly linked to water to replace YHVH in the west, please let me know. I hope this post can spark some discussions regarding our individual interpretations of this basic but ever so important practice.

I'm returning to this topic after quite a while.

After experimenting with various forms of the LBRP, I've learned a valuable lesson: It is best to find one version and stick with it and most importantly KEEP IT SIMPLE! I was trying to craft a super-ritual tackling all possible correspondences but have found this to be impossible ...I have wasted too much time indulging my ego by thinking I could better the practice, hopefully others will learn from my mistake.

As I previously argued the elemental attributions make no sense. This is not only true with the divine names, but also with the archangels (i.e. Gabriel in Abrahamic traditions is most closely associated with Fire not Water). This makes any elemental correspondences as propounded by Benjamin Rowe and others quite useless and perhaps even detrimental to the practice. Don't get me wrong, I think Rowe has produced wonderful things but his elemental-landscape visualizations take away from the purpose of the LRP. As Nero stated earlier in this thread, the elements are much better dealt with in the Hexagram rituals. However, I do think that the magician must properly correlate the hexagrams to the present position of the zodiac at the given time of practice. But this is for another thread.

The angelic correspondences should be seen within the Sephiratic context as outlined by Crowley in his commentaries pertaining to the LBRP. Keeping the sephiroth in mind when practicing the LBRP places one within the hyper-dimensional cube, and firmly nestled amongst the divine emanations. The importance of this is paramount and as blatantly stated by Crowley, " is the Medicine of Metals and the Stone of the Wise".

No need to altar the ritual despite the initial contradictions. The divine names correspond to directions, the archangels to sephirah, and the hexagrams to zodiacal elements.

I urge those of you drawn to this thread with similar quandaries as I had to not only learn the motions and steps of the ritual, but to Understand and Know its purpose. This Wisdom may only come from continual practice coupled with daily analysis and research into this 'simplest' of rituals. I have given you enough material in this post for you to search out references and come to your own conclusions.

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As Nero stated earlier in this thread, the elements are much better dealt with in the Hexagram rituals. However, I do think that the magician must properly correlate the hexagrams to the present position of the zodiac at the given time of practice. But this is for another thread.

Actually what I said was the elements were better handled through the greater and supreme pentagram rituals. The zodiac itself can be invoked and banished through the pentagram as well. The hexagram is more directed toward planetary energies although the positions of the various hexagrams do have elemental overlaps and follow the macrocosmic order as seen in the zodiac.

The angelic correspondences should be seen within the Sephiratic context as outlined by Crowley in his commentaries pertaining to the LBRP. Keeping the sephiroth in mind when practicing the LBRP places one within the hyper-dimensional cube, and firmly nestled amongst the divine emanations.

That was Crowley's view point, the Golden Dawn magicians do not agree. The angelic correspondences are seen as the four worlds of Qabalah or YHVH. Many people agree with Crowley and many do not. I personally don't but go with works for you.

No need to altar the ritual despite the initial contradictions. The divine names correspond to directions, the archangels to sephirah, and the hexagrams to zodiacal elements.

To recap, divine names correspond to directions, the archangels to the four worlds, and the Hexagrams to planetary energies.