The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram—A Twenty-first Century Grimoire is the most comprehensive examination of this foundational Magickal ritual as originally taught within the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. In this work, author Michael Benjamin extracts deeply from his two decades of experience as a practicing occultist, mystic, and esoteric scholar. Drawing from such erudite resources as Eliphas Levi, Israel Regardie, W.Y. Evans-Wentz, Alexandra David-Neel, and various charter members of the Golden Dawn, the author adds his own insightful perspicacity gained from several years of habitual daily performance of this ritual. In addition to holding a B.A. in History, and advanced black belts in four different martial arts, Michael is a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Freemason, was a formal initiate and 12-year student in Dr. Paul Foster Case's order, the Builders of the Adytum (an historical successor to the Golden Dawn), and is a former member of the Thelemic fraternity, the Ordo Templi Orientis. In this book the author presents an expertly crafted practical handbook, as well as an historical record and academic analysis, of why this ritual was rightly described by Aleister Crowley as, The Medicine of Metals and the Stone of the Wise." Utilizing both Western and Eastern philosophical sources indicative of the Right-Hand Path, this unprecedented study offers an in-depth and integral understanding of the esoteric insights provided within, as well as the psychological development facilitated by, this paramount occult exercise. Drawing from such varied Occidental systems as Rosicrucianism, Qabalah, Tarot, Alchemy, Astrology, Thelema, Theosophy, Freemasonry, and Wicca, along with such Asian schools as Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, Kundalini Yoga, Vedanta, and Karate, The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram reveals the universality of this practice as a potent means of encouraging mental self-discipline, facilitating personal evolution, and spurning spiritual awakening. As such, this tome will prove itself to the reader as no less than a pragmatic modern grimoire, a veritable 21st century Book of Shadows. Today's occult practitioner of any school or system will find provided in its pages a clear window into the wisdom fostered by the Magi and Sages of various cultures and locales throughout humanity's spanning ages.
