"In the wrap you give on the LBRP (ex-Regardie)
you comment that you had restored the attributions of Chesed and Geburah to
left and right, saying that his version, wherein these were counterchanged,
was apparently Christian influenced -an assessment I'd agree with. I was then
quite surprised to discover that in your modified LBRP these powers are again
counterchanged. What prompted this change?"
On my website I give a couple versions of the LRP with the intention that a person will choose one or the other of them for personal practice. The first one is the familiar Golden Dawn version which makes use of the attributions of Chesed on left shoulder and Geburah on right shoulder etc., and the 2nd version is my own personal one which makes use of traditional Jewish Kabbalistic attributions, which are quite different to modern Hermetic/Qabalistic ones. For example, in the older Jewish schools of kabbalah, they didn't back into the Tree as we are often taught to do in modern Ceremonial magick lodges. They also don't associate the Sefirot with planetary energies (those correspond instead to the 7 double letters and vertical paths on their tree/trees), and the colour attributions are usually different as well. Here's an example of a common list of Jewish colour attributions (reference to this can be found in Aryeh Kaplan's text "Meditation and Kabbalah"):
Kether --- Blinding
Invisible White
Chokmah --- A colour
that includes all colours
Binah --- Yellow
and Green
Chesed --- White and
Silver
Geburah --- Red and Gold
Tiphareth --- Yellow
and Purple
Netzach --- Light
Pink
Hod --- Dark Pink
Yesod --- Orange
Malkuth --- Blue
There are also many other differences i.e. sometimes Malkuth isn't actually viewed as representative of the physical realm itself, but one's own voice/words (and in some schools, one's actions themselves), and I've even seen reference to Malkuth as representative of one's Spouse! (And of course, there's a great sex magick secret implied there which probably links up with some of the sexual significance of the inner sanctuary of the ancient Jewish temples.)
My personal version of the LRP is basically just a synthesis of older Jewish Kabbalah attributions within the familiar ritual format of the LRP as found in Golden Dawn teachings/practice.
"Also: What prompted the colour variations in
the visualisations you give for these powers and Tipharet, I speculated perhaps
an alchemical reference in the colours for Geburah and Gedulah but purple for
Tipharet has me scratching my head."
Nope, nothing alchemical implied at all, actually. Just good old fashioned Jewish Kabbalah. The end of the ritual itself is also taken right out of a Jewish bedtime prayer (which is where the evocation of archangels in the LRP comes from anyway), however, rather than using the modified positions of archangels as found in G.D. practice, I've restored them to the original.
The result of all this 'restoration' and eventual synthesis within a modern Hermetic ritual format is that this version of the LRP produces a distinctly different feeling and raises very different energies from the common G.D. form(s). I find it much more to my liking and personal practices (being more interested in older traditional Kabbalah rather than modern Hermetic modifications), and much more 'spiritual' feeling in a sense. I've also noticed that other people practicing this version inevitably raise the same distinctive energies as those that I raise. I once caught my wife visualizing this particular ritual form while laying in bed - she hadn't told me she was doing anything magickal at all, but suddenly I felt those same modified/Jewish/LRP energies flowing near me, so I sat up and watched her laying there with closed eyes and observed her aura, and then after she opened her eyes again I asked her if she had been visualizing it, and she confirmed that she had.
"Working deosil anticlockwise in the southern
hemisphere is an idea I've contemplated in the past but have not tried. While
it makes literal sense to do so I have enjoyed success working the other (Northern
standard) way. First of all, what can you tell me of your experience with it
upon introducing it to your praxis (I'm assuming here that you probably had
learned the Northern standard LBRP and changed upon coming down under)"
When I first moved here, I (and at least one other American practitioner who was then not a full-time member of any large lodge) first noticed that my LRP practice suddenly lacked its usual power or oomph. Something felt distinctly disharmonious compared with the way it had felt on all levels when back in the U.S. When I switched over to attributions/directions more appropriate to this hemisphere, I regained the oomph I'd lost in my ritual effectiveness and everything just felt 'right' again.
While I won't deny that, in a temple built according to northern hemisphere directions/attributions, practicing in that scheme in this hemisphere can be just as effective due to tapping into the 'northern egregore', I just couldn't continue to attempt to tap into something in that manner when my inner core screamed out that I'm in THIS hemisphere now, and if I wanted to bring my working down to the physical level and complete the circuit, I'd better switch my directions to match the sun here. Had I been a member of a functional lodge when I moved out here and continued to participate in that lodge from afar, I probably would've had to continue with northern directions in a specially built and consecrated temple space (and in that manner, it would've worked on an astral level even if it wasn't in harmony with the land I was presently on). However, I personally prefer to work in a more independent manner now, and I prefer most to complete the energy circuit properly by working in harmony with the characteristics of the physical environment (at least on a solar and symbolic level - I still retain Air in the East and Water in the West for symbolic/solar reasons, as I feel that too many of the neo-pagan or wiccan persuasion get wrapped up in literal/physical representations of the elements and end up losing the deeper symbolic plot).
"and secondly I am considering the departures from the standard LBRP you have introduced (and I'm assuming that you enjoy success with them) in the context of the success that I and other practitioners have with the original and asking myself whether in fact the crux of the matter is that the practitioner is themself confident in the ritual they employ, whatever it is, and clearly focused upon the object of banishing or invoking as they work."
Each version of the LRP, for example, can (potentially) raise its own particular brand or qualities of energies, even if the practitioner isn't quite confident in the practice thereof. This is just my observation. Obviously all the 'power' isn't in the words and gestures themselves, but in some cases (when the student has been personally shown the particular ritual and fully inoculated with the appropriate energies) merely practicing a 'living' ritual that has been directly passed to you from an initiate can have greater effectiveness (even if you're not fully versed/practiced/comfortable with it) th