The Sphere of Protection: Phase 5

[ecosophia]

By now, I hope those of you who are following along have been practicing the Opening and Closing of the SoP daily for a couple of weeks and the Callings of Air, Fire, and Water for a week. (If you're just joining us now, you can find those here, here, here, and here.) Now it's time to add in the fourth of the elemental phases, the Calling of Earth. This comes after the three Callings you've learned already, and before the closing.

If you're using divine names in this practice, you'll need one that's associated with the element of earth. If you're using Judeo-Christian symbolism, the standard divine name to use is אדני , ADNI which is pronounced "Adonai." In the Druid Revival traditions I work with, this element is associated with Elen, the goddess of dawn and dusk and of the old straight tracks. If you work in a different theistic tradition, choose a relevant name from your tradition; if you don't, don't worry about it -- you can also invoke the element of earth as is. The Calling of Earth is done as described below: 

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First, perform the Opening phase of the Sphere of Protection, and then perform the complete Callings of Air, Fire, and Water, including both the invoking and the banishing aspects. 

Then face north. Using the first two fingers of your right hand, trace the symbol on the right, starting from the point where the circle and line join and going clockwise around the circle, then down the line. Imagine that symbol drawn, just as shown here, in a line of green flame or of blazing green light. This is the invoking form of the symbol of earth. 

Point to the center of the symbol and say an appropriate invocation. Here's the one I use when I'm practicing this ritual in a Druid context: "By the green gate of the tall stones and the great bear of the starry heavens, and in the great name ELEN, I invoke the Earth, its gods, its spirits, and its powers. May the powers of Earth bless and protect me this day and always, and further my work. May my body thrive according to the ways of nature." (Yes, you can use this one as written; you can also come up with one of your own. The SoP is flexible that way. The divine name, if you use one, should of course be vibrated; see the explanation in the post on the Calling of Air if you need a reminder of how this is done.)

As you finish the invocation, imagine as intensely as possible a night scene lit only by the midnight stars. See the great dim shapes of mountains in the distance. Make it look like winter in the place where you live. Engage all your senses, so that you smell and feel and hear as well as see the imagery. Draw the energies of earth into yourself. Take a little while at this, and then say, "I thank the powers of Earth for their gifts."

Then trace the same symbol in the same place, but this time draw the circle counterclockwise. This is the banishing form of the symbol of earth. It doesn't banish earth -- it banishes other things with the help of earth. Point at the center of the symbol and say words such as the following: "And with the help of the powers of Earth, I banish from within me and around me and from all my doings all harmful influences and hostile magic, and every imbalance of the nature of Earth. I banish these far from me." Spend a little while imagining every imbalance and unwanted influence being buried, crushed, and absorbed by the immense quiet weight of earth. . 

Finally, face the same way you faced in the Opening, and perform the Closing of the SoP. 

Do this sequence daily for the next week or so. Notice the change in the energetic balance between this phase and the previous ones.  

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I'm enjoying this series, though it may have to wait for another incarnation before I can find time to work through the SOP. In the meantime, though, I had a question--

The Welsh deities you give here are the same as those invoked in the LRP as given in The Celtic Golden Dawn. At the same time, though, you've said that those gods have no especial connection with the element associated with their quarter. I remember being surprised when you said that, because even before the walkthrough of the SOP here the associations seemed pretty straightforward. For a longtime I had assumed that Hu, Sul, Hesus and Elen (or Heu'c, Sulw, Esus and Elen) were sort of initiators into the element in question, preparing the aspiring Ovate to meet with the deeper training in the elements provided by Belisama, Toutatis, Sirona and Cernunnos in the Bardic grade. But again, when discussing polytheistic pentagram rituals, you made the point that the god-names associated with the quarters just need to be four letters, and not necessarily to have any association with the element of the quarter. Is it simply that, specifically in the context of the spirit pentagram ritual, the god is not being invoked as an elemental power, but it can be in other contexts? Or am I missing something?

[ecosophia]

If I recall correctly, I said that there was no necessary connection between the elements of the quarters and the deities invoked in the four quarters of the LRP. That's because people constantly get bent out of shape because they want to force-fit the deities into an elemental scheme and can't find a deity name with four letters for this or that quarter. If there happens to be a convenient set that works with the elements, that's not a difficulty. ;-)

With regard to these particular deities, when it came time for me to come up with a set of Druidical deities for the SoP, I did a lot of meditation and prayer, and basically asked the gods who wanted to go where. If there's a deeper meaning to their placements, why, that's something you want to ask them about...

Typo and thanks

[sea_spray]

Hi JMG
Cut and paste error I think:
"Point at the center of the triangle and say words such as the following:"

Thanks for putting this up here. I have one friend about to finish his week doing the opening and closing based on these.

Re: Typo and thanks

[ecosophia]

Got it and fixed it. You're most welcome!

symbols of elements

[deborah_bender]

I have been learning and practicing this version of the SOP as you have been publishing it. The banishing rituals I have some previous practice with are the LBRP, which I've never been comfortable with, and an energy running meditation from the Berkeley Psychic Institute which is intended to clear the aura and has a number of points in common with the opening and closing of the SOP.

I really like the AODA element symbols. They are easy to trace, easy to remember in both invoking and banishing forms, easy to tell apart, and hark back to familiar symbols from the Golden Dawn and astrology. They also have nice big empty middles for drawing in and pushing out.

Re: symbols of elements

[ecosophia]

Delighted to hear it! May it work well for you.

[(Anonymous)]

I confess that I'm still working on the Air portion. I don't know if it's the habit of doing the prior SOP, the number of other things I have going on, or what, but I am having trouble consistently reciting the words without a cue card. One day will be great; the next, not so much. But I'm keeping at it daily!

--Maria

[ecosophia]

Take your time. Seriously, take your time. There are no prizes in magic for doing things in a hurry; thoroughly is more important than quickly.

the sphere

[(Anonymous)]

first, I want to thank you for providing the SOP - the effects are remarkable for at least 8 hours, even in the midst of challenging life-circumstances.
I also want to note that I find the original, three directionally spinning sphere easier to visualize and much easier to expand. I looked it up in the DMH. the spinning sphere seems to help draw the energy, though it is a real visual-mind-bender! on the other hand... it is the earth energies that are hard for me, and I think of the static sphere as 'wet mud' - would it really be best to stick with the static sphere, to strengthen that which is personally weak, or continue the spinning sphere, which feels more successful? is this a sufficiently small detail that I could alternate?
thanks again - Jen

Re: the sphere

[ecosophia]

I use the spinning sphere. I tested out the static-sphere approach to make sure it would work, because a lot of people have trouble with the triple rotation of the spinning sphere, but that's the way I learned it originally and I get very good results with it. If you like the spinning approach, by all means keep with it.

[(Anonymous)]

Is it alright to do the SoP sitting down if unwell?

The first time I read through the SoP and worked it through in my head, I was sitting down, and it felt powerful in a way that very few spells I'd ever read about in contemporary books, did. That makes me feel like it would be alright to perform it sitting down. But I'm asking in case there's any other advice about this.

[ecosophia]

You can certainly do that; I've known people who practiced it in wheelchairs. The one challenge you might have -- unless you have a wheelchair! -- is that you really should face in the four directions while doing the callings of the elements. I suppose an office chair with wheels would suffice...

Off Subject, but just a heads up

[degringolade]

https://www.neverapart.com/features/low-tech-kris-de-decker/

Jewish SoP

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I’m coming to this discussion late. While reading through the comments of the first entry in this series I saw you say a good way to approach a Jewish version of the SoP would be to use text from the Sepher Yetzirah. You wrote, “In the elemental invocations, you'll be sealing the six directions with the permutations of IHV.” How would a person pronounce these permutations and what would be an effective example of phrasing?

Thanks,
Colter

Re: Jewish SoP

[ecosophia]

Traditionally you pronounce the letter names -- "Yud Heh Vav," and so on. Your best bet in terms of phrasing would be to model the invocation on a traditional Jewish prayer -- in Hebrew, if you're fluent enough to compose one, and in English otherwise. Each religious tradition has its own way of phrasing such things!