Original Magic: The Rituals and Initiations of the Persian Magi - Michael M. Hughes 2018

Spheres of Protection: The Hermetic Seal
Preparation for Ritual

The ritual employs a charged symbol—either an equal-armed (Greek) cross or a pentagram —drawn in the air with a lit stick of incense or with your extended index and middle fingers. I recommend the incense stick for beginners, because in a darkened room the burning end will leave optical “tracers” that will help you visualize the symbols better. Any incense stick will do, but copal or frankincense are my go-tos.

First, a word about the cross. While Christian magical practitioners may certainly use the cross in an explicitly Christian context, the cross as a spiritual symbol long predates Christianity, with the earliest depictions dating from the late Paleolithic. It is found in religious iconography of the ancient Egyptians and the Maya of Mexico and Central America and is a powerful religious symbol of the African Kongolese, who revere it as denoting the crossroads between the cycles of death and rebirth. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn’s Rose Cross ritual, which is much more complex but very similar in its protective effects to the Hermetic Seal, utilizes the Christian cross. If cross symbolism has negative associations for you, use a pentagram. Either will work equally well, as will an image of a rose.

I advise trying the cross first because of its geometry. You will be creating a spherical, 3-D matrix of protective energy, and the cross plugs in geometrically to the six points of that matrix.

Where you see the , use your glowing incense stick (or extended index and middle fingers) to trace it in the air before you, beginning with the top of the vertical arm to the bottom, then with the left end of the horizontal to the right. Visualize the symbol glowing red as you trace it, and see it lingering in space before you, a powerful ward against any intrusion.

If you use the pentagram , begin at the lower left corner, moving upward to the top center, down to the right, across to the upper left, and so on. This is known as a “banishing” pentagram, common to both Kabbalistic magic and a number of witchcraft traditions. In this case, you’re not actually banishing anything, merely sealing up your space with the symbols serving as a set of locks, guards, or wards.

This may all sound complicated at first, but when you try it, you’ll see how it all comes together logically and intuitively.

You will be moving clockwise and creating a sphere around you, so you will need to judge the required space. In a small space you may take a step or two forward from the center to begin the circle, whereas in a large room (such as for a group ritual) you will walk forward several steps farther to begin. If you are forced to do the ritual in a tight space (say, a bathroom), just turn in place. The effects are the same whether you’re casting the sphere for yourself or a large group.

If you’re casting a circle while standing at your altar, you can simply turn in place.

You can also set up the circle with white candles before you begin the ritual—it looks beautiful and reinforces the energy of the spell. I use twelve tea lights, starting with four in the cardinal directions and filling in two in each quarter.

Unless your tradition specifies otherwise, begin facing east (or in that general direction).

First, do the Centering Ritual (page 152) to get into the proper level of consciousness.

1. Light the incense stick and hold it in front of you in your folded hands at heart level.

2. Say,

I call upon thee, spirits, and ask for your blessing.

3. Step forward toward the east. With your right hand, trace your or symbol in front of you, visualizing it as hot, bright red energy, while saying,

Guardians of the east, protect me.

After you trace it, use the incense stick (or your fingers) to “shoot” your energy into the center of the symbol. See and feel powerful energy surging into the protective symbol as you push into the center, causing it to glow brightly. Try to time the drawing of the symbol and the words so that you’re saying “protect me” as you shoot the energy.

4. With your incense stick still pointing in front of you, walk along a circle to your right, stopping at the south. You are essentially tracing a horizontal line of energy as you walk, so visualize it glowing bright red as it trails the burning end of the incense stick.

5. Facing south, again draw your symbol, saying,

Guardians of the south, protect me.

Again, try to end your words as you’re shooting the energy into the symbol’s center.

6. Move along the circle to the west, continue tracing a horizontal glowing line of energy with the burning end of the incense, and stop in the west.

7. Draw your symbol and charge it as previously, saying,

Guardians of the west, protect me.

8. Move along the circle to the north, continuing the glowing line with the burning end of the incense, and stop in the north.

9. Draw and charge your symbol as before, saying,

Guardians of the north, protect me.

10. Move along the circle back to the east where you began, linking the horizontal line to the glowing symbol already hanging there in space. You have now formed a horizontal line connecting all four glowing symbols. You don’t need to say anything or draw the symbol because it’s already there. Stand still for a moment and visualize all four crosses (or pentagrams) blazing with protective energy in the air around you. Feel them as vividly as you can.

Now this is where it gets a little tricky to describe, but follow along and you’ll see it’s actually pretty intuitive.

11. With your arm extended in front of you, slowly turn in place to your right. As you are turning, begin to bring your arm overhead, stepping forward toward the center of the circle and continuing a vertical line to directly over your head. The idea is to time your steps so that when you arrive in the center of the circle the incense stick will be pointing directly overhead.

12. Looking upward at the sky, as you trace and charge your symbol as before, say,

Guardians of the heavens, protect me.

You are sealing the top center of the sphere you are creating.

13. Step to the west, tracing the line of energy from top center and joining it with the glowing symbol already suspended in the air in front of you in the west. Again, you don’t need to draw or charge the symbol because it’s already there—just make a point of connecting it.

14. Mirroring your action in the east, turn in place to your left, slowly bringing your arm and pointed incense stick downward this time as you step back to the center. When you arrive in the center of the circle, your incense stick should be pointing directly below you at the earth.

15. While tracing and charging your symbol, say,

Guardians of the earth, protect me.

16. Step back to the east, tracing the line of energy with the incense and linking it to the glowing symbol in the east. You have now connected all six of the symbols in a glowing, three-dimensional protective sphere and have returned to where you began.

17. Turn in place 180 degrees and step back to the center, bringing your hands into prayer position. When you arrive at the center, turn around again and face the east.

18. Stand quietly. See and feel all six glowing, charged symbols around you, connecting a matrix of vibrant, protective energy—in the east before you, the west behind you, the north to your left, and the south to your right, as well as above your head and below your feet. See the lines connecting the glowing symbols and forming the outlines of an impenetrable, sacred sphere.

19. Now visualize the symbol glowing within you and feel it connected to the energized sphere around you. You can imagine a line of energy going from the infinite heavens through the top of your head and out of your feet into the earth, while two other lines bisect you horizontally from north to south and east to west. Your body has become embedded in a three dimensional, six-armed cross with a glowing center at your heart.

20. See the grid turning into a sphere around you. Visualize it as bright, glowing gold.

21. Finally, say,

Bless (Protect) this Circle of Art

Guide me in my Work

Protect me from all harm

So mote it be

If that sounds complicated, it isn’t. Walk through the steps as you’re reading it, and you’ll see how intuitive and simple it is to perform.

Now you can either meditate or pray (sitting or standing), do your magic within the protected sphere, with a group inside the sanctified space, or any combination of the above.

Closing

To end the ritual, stand again in the center, facing east, with your hands in prayer position. Say,

All those present may now go in peace, with my gratitude.

Group Sphere of Protection

The ritual above can be easily adapted for group use.

For a simple sphere, have the group form a circle. One person walks the outside perimeter with incense in a censer (or holding a stick of incense) three times while all the participants visualize a sphere forming and surrounding the group.

For a candle sphere, everyone is given a candle (white, unless you’re using a specific color) and a larger “mother” candle is lit and placed in the center of the circle. The leader lights hers from the mother candle, returns to her place in the circle, then the person to her left lights her candle from the leader’s, and so on around the circle until everyone’s is burning. The group meditates silently, forming the sphere, and then proceeds with the ritual.

Notes

Why visualize the symbol as red? Red has been used magically as a protective color in many cultures (with ancient Egypt’s being an exception, as it was associated with Set and malevolent magic). Red says “stop!” and “danger!” and, as the color of blood, was painted on armor and weapons by ancient cultures. It is a firm warning to anything that may want to get through to STOP.

However, you can try other colors. If you’ve been doing the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) for a while, you’re probably used to using blue or white light. Experimentation is the key to establishing what works best for you.

If you’re doing other workings after you cast the circle, have your necessary tools and components with you at a temporary altar in the center when you begin. Most importantly, have a fireproof container or burner for your incense.

Unless you feel strongly otherwise, there is no reason to ritually close or shut down the circle. Simply visualize it fading when your work is finished and after you have sent away any attendant spirits.

30. Ioan P. Couliano, Eros and Magic in the Renaissance, trans. Margaret Cook (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1987), 133.