Pythagorean Banishing Ritual

This banishing ritual is not of historical origin, but uses the symbolism of the Pythagoreans, specifically the tetraktys, the tetrahedron, the four classical elements as well as a formula and vibratings in Ancient Greek.

The mage stands facing east, his brandished Sword/Dagger before him pointed upwards. He gathers himself for a moment, then drives the blade to the ground and vibrates "Gaia" (earth). He rises, turns west, jabs a point into the air and vibrates "Hudor" (water). Then, he turns to face Northeast, jabs a point into the air and vibrates "Aer" (air). Finally, he jabs a point into the air in the Southeast and vibrates "Therma" (heat, fire).

This way, the four elements are called by their pythagorean names, because they are, according to Pythagorean lore, what the world is made of and a small world of one's own is being created in this ritual. The points will later become the centers of four tetraktys symbols that form the four planes that frame a tetrahedron.

The mage then draws an equilateral triangle around himself on the ground, using his weapon. One vertex is directly before him, in the east, one is to his left behind and one to his right behind. Each point is about the mage's height away from the center of the triangle. He starts on the back left and works his way deosil (as the clock goes). With every line, he speaks one syllable of "In mun-do". After this, he arises in the center of the triangle, stretches himself and his weapon upward and from there draws three lines, one after the other, down to the three base points in the same order he drew those. With every line, he speaks one syllable of "pri-va-te".

The complete formula "In mundo private" means "In a private world" and is best vocalized in one breath, which admittedly requires some quick swirling around with the blade. The first part determines the area that is upraised from the normal world and thus delimits on the base level, while in the second part, a border to the outer world emanates like a falling curtain. The four element-points are now the centers of the triangles and make the tetraktys signs complete. The tetraktys, simply put, stands for the order of creation (similar to the qabalistic Tree of Life) and gives to the whole of it the symbolism of being right and agreeable to god. The tetrahedron as one of the Platonic (more generally put: ideal) solids finishes the perfection of the structure, in Pythagorean terms.

The mage returns to the center, facing east and with the blade pointing upward before him. He closes his eyes, contemplates his presence in the banished area and says "Unus mundum sum" (I am the one world). If the banishing effect is not yet convincing, this sentence works very well as a mantram that can be repeated any number of times. Finally, the mage lowers the blade.

The latter gesture means the work is done and activity is ended for passivity.