LRP Reattributions

I have so much to write, but this begs writing first.  This is something that has tugged on my mind for quite some time (literally years!)  And needs writing down.

The attributions of the Archangels in the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram are not, in my opinion, correct.  I’m sure there are legitimate Golden Dawn reasons for placing the archangels in the quarters they are in, but a wise woman revealed to me the origin of that section of the ritual.  It comes from one of the commonest and  most important of Jewish prayers, the Shema.  The original prayer contains far more than this, and in an orthodox setting it is a mitzvah to be repeated twice daily.  From a small portion of this prayer comes the original attribution of archangels to directions which inspired the GD version.  This original version goes:

At my right hand Michael, at my left hand Gabriel, before me Uriel, behind me Raphael; above me the Shekhina.

Now, obviously this is not an orthodox setting.  But the intent here seems very pointedly explicit, and here’s why.  The names of these angels are indicative of important qualities–titles just as much as names.  Through this lens, we can read this part of the LRP as:

At my right hand He Who is like unto God, at my left hand the Strength of God, Before me the Light of God, behind me the Medicine of God; above me the Presence of the Divine.

This makes practical sense for some very real reasons.  Most evident in my mind is the obvious connection between Uriel, attributed Tiphareth, and the actual Sun which rises in the East.  This much seems plainly obvious to me.  Everybody wants Who is like God to be their right-hand man, that much makes sense.

Now at the left hand is where things get interesting. Gabriel makes a better choice for the left hand position for a few reasons.  “גַּבְרִיאֵל” transliterated as: GVRIAL* shares the same root word as Gevurah, the sphere of Severity and the sphere from which the Qliphoth are born.  Placing the Strength of God at your left hand effectively removes this area of interest from your blind spot and places it in a position to be wielded meaningfully and respectfully.  It’s like giving this ritual its balls back.

For Raphael, when I say “Medicine of God,” I mean that in the strictest and most shamanic sense possible.  Knowing God’s own medic has your back on the pathway seeking Hir light can really put pep in your step, and help you abide times of trial.

I forward the suggestion that we go back, back before the GD, and put this ritual together from its component pieces again.  Until I get the time and materials, I will settle for re-attributing the Archangels, and starting to work around the kabbalistic cross.

Pax,

999

 

*Having learned this in a conversational and academic setting, I have taken to universally transliterating Aleph as A and Ayin as ‘, since these are more indicative of how they present themselves.  Aleph is the Ox, same as our letter “A” (which if you invert the capital letter bears a striking resemblance to an ox head for good reason), and Ayin is the eye (the letter looks like an eye, but the letter is pronounced with a partial glottal stop separating the two halves of the vowel like Hawai’i) which isn’t the same as our letter “I,” but I digress.

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