Angelic Protection Magick: Banish Curses, Negative Energy, Evil, Violence, Bad Luck, and Psychic Attack (The Power of Magick) - Ben Woodcroft 2018

The Forms of Protection Magick

Protection magick should be pure, light and free of danger. When you want to remove a curse or stop evil from affecting you, your magick should feel peaceful, divine and safe. If you’ve ever worked with protection magick you might have found some of the practices to be alarming. What you find here should be entirely peaceful.

I keep my heart directed toward the power of angels because while I remain respectful of many traditions, from many cultures, I believe that Western readers can connect with angels readily and without fear, whatever their religion or beliefs.

Some occultists have divulged protection magick which strays far from angelic protection, with everything from ’genius spirits’ to the goddess Hekate. While such rituals may indeed work commendably, they do not put you in a frame of mind that feels immediately safe. They conjure up feelings of mysterious occultism that is perhaps a fraction too dark. I am not a magickal coward, and I know the reality of magick involves a great deal more than working with angels, but I strongly suggest that when it comes to protection, calling on the power of angels is the best, most practical approach. It is also the safest and the most likely to bring the results you seek.

One of the most widely practiced banishing rituals is The Lesser Banishing Ritual of The Pentagram, known as the LBRP for short. It is not included in this book partly because it is already so widely known, but I will go into detail as to why I do not think it is the most workable magick.

The LBRP, which can be brief or elaborate, invokes the archangels Raphael, Gabriel, Michael, and Uriel. It is used for protection and clearing a space, and also to begin magick, and sometimes to end it. Crafted by members of the Golden Dawn it remains extremely popular and widely used. Although most of the Golden Dawn’s workings are of little interest to the everyday practitioner, occultists of many backgrounds use the LBRP, whatever their style of magick. This may be because the LBRP is effective, or it may be because people do not know that any other banishing rituals exist. I hope to offer a suitable alternative.

In the LBRP you face East and trace a pentagram in the air with a dagger, wand or your finger, in the East, then the South, the West, and the North, to invoke the archangels. Many people are so accustomed to this ritual that they will use it above all else, and it is a foundation for all their magick. If you already use the LBRP and feel the need to continue with it, it will blend well with the magick in this book, but it is not required, and I do not actively encourage you to learn it.

You may wonder why the LBRP is not included here, or why I am trying to better it. There is nothing wrong with the LBRP, but you should know that it was devised quite recently in magickal terms, by a group of people who were experimenting with a wide array of combined materials, some of which were of questionable accuracy and origin. It is not my place to explore the whole history of influences, as you can read about them elsewhere, but it is accurate to say that it was a relatively recent construction which, although elegant, may have been limited by the occult knowledge of the time. In the years that have passed since the LBRP was first invented, occultists have subsequently had the benefit of discovering a much wider array of source materials, along with details of more ancient practices, and have seen errors in the materials that were used to create the LBRP. This means there is room for improvement.

I am not the first to note this, and just weeks before this book went to press, Damon Brand made a similar point in his work, Archangels of Magick. I think there may be some agreement amongst modern occultists that although the traditions of magick offer us many powers, alternatives are equally valid, and in many cases more effective. I hope readers will forgive me if many of the points I make here are similar to those found in Archangels of Magick, not because I am echoing Brand’s words, but because my thoughts are in agreement with his, to a large extent, even though the banishing I include here is quite different.

Let us return to the LBRP. I noted that this is quite a modern ritual, but in all fairness, this does not make it ineffective, because a good banishing invented last week will remain a good banishing. Indeed, I have seen many rituals crafted in the last decade that are as beautiful as anything from thousands of years ago. I think many people turn to the LBRP believing it to be the most authentic, original and ancient banishing, and the only genuine way to call on angels. It is not ancient, and it is not the only way.

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is a recent creation, and although it is powerful, you should be aware that there are many other ways to seek protection from angels.

A banishing, by its nature, should not only call on angels but presumably should banish all other entities from the place where you are working. Ironically, the LBRP can banish an area, but it can leave you more vulnerable. The ritual can illuminate your aura so that you are a beacon to spirits and supernatural entities. This is called ’lighting up on the astral plane.’ The danger is that not all entities that see you will be peaceful. When seeking protection, is this the sort of situation what you want?

I prefer a magick that banishes and protects while leaving me open to connection with safe spirits of my choosing. I do not want to perform a banishing that makes me shine brightly to anything that happens to be in the vicinity.

Perhaps the problem with the LBRP is that people do not know what to do with it, or why they are using it. Should it be carried out as a daily practice for continuous protection? Or is it used to attract the attention of all spirits or just the archangels? Or is it used when performing magick, as a warm-up? Or is it meant to frighten spirits away? Or is it used to seal off a ritual, making sure no magick is left behind? It is used for all these purposes, which I believe makes the water murky, if not muddy.

My own experience of the LBRP is that it can work to get rid of entities that are unwanted. In this sense, it is a banishing, and in the moment of the ritual it clears the space successfully, but it has unpredictable effects on the rest of my magick. Sometimes, it has made me vulnerable to unwanted spirits, and other times it makes me feel muffled and swaddled so that no spirits hear me. I have even found that using the LBRP after angelic magick can weaken the results that I obtain from that magick, as though I have called to angels and then rudely banished them. This approach is not ideal for magick or protection.

The LBRP can be simplified to be free of equipment but is often more complex, and I find that unappealing. I would rather use magick designed for use without any equipment. It seems to me that the angels should be ready to hear us and protect us whether we are suitably attired or not.

My suggestion is that if you are seeking out a banishing, you can use the techniques in this book. If you already use the LBRP and will not be swayed from using it, I am happy for you, and only offer what is within this book as a potential alternative. Thankfully, banishing is only one aspect of this book, and there are many other rituals.

To expand on this further, I should reiterate that the LBRP is a multi-purpose ritual, used in many ways that aren’t always in alignment. Although it may seem that a single ritual can be used for protection, to banish and to prepare for magick, I believe that it is wiser if each ritual is more clearly defined. For this reason, I provide three main rituals, rather than one. This gives you more flexibility, precision, and power.

Instead of one banishing that has mixed intentions, you get three rituals, each with specific powers for the exact purpose of your choosing.