Lesson Eight Chesed
Chesed is the balance to Geburah. While Geburah is all fire and power, direct and confronting, Chesed is mercy and divine love, tempering the martial fire of Geburah. While Geburah is catabolic, breaking things down, Chesed is anabolic, forming structure and building things up. It encourages growth and expansion.
Chesed is the realm of the loving principle in a divine and detached state, being a higher octave of the passionate love of Netzach. Chesed’s name means “mercy,” for it is the merciful and benign aspect of the Tree of Life, situated at the center of the Pillar of Mercy. It is an elevated form of Netzach, but a more comprehendible form of Chokmah. At its ultimate level, it is the divine parental love, embodied by the astrological figure of Jupiter, father of the gods. Jupiter is known as the Greater Benefic, the planet of good fortune, in medieval astrology. Modern astrologers might say it’s the planet of the higher self, the higher octave to the personal self of the Sun. Jupiter is the planet the Sun mythically aspires to be, like the Sun god Apollo aspiring to his father’s throne. While the Sun is physically bigger than Jupiter, Jupiter’s magnetosphere is the largest “object” in our solar system. As “king” of the gods and planets, Jupiter has a presence that is larger but more subtle than that of the Sun. Jupiter even transmits signal noise that usually sounds like static to scientists, but when it is listened to carefully, there is a pattern, as if Jupiter is trying to send a message or code, guiding others. Jupiter’s signal is much like how our own meditations can be—mostly static punctuated with some patterned message that needs to be decoded.
On a personal level, Jupiter seems to portend good luck and fortune coming our way, but in reality it brings about a greater alignment with the higher self. When we are more aligned with this true self, the way opens up to us, creating what appears to be good luck to anybody unaware of the higher reality. Jupiter’s nature is to expand whatever it touches. We initially see this as a good thing, for if we are focusing on blessings, Jupiter and Chesed expand what we focus on. Sometimes this expansion becomes too much for reality, and this force must be balanced with an equally strong yet opposing energy, as embodied by Geburah.
Chesed is said to have a special relationship with the astral plane, and the world of form in general. As the first sphere beyond the Abyss, beneath the three supernals, it is the first power to give abstraction form. It represents the highest, most lofty, royal and benign manifestations of reality. It contains all archetypes and potentials, at their most perfected state, to be made manifest in the lower realms. What we experience in the lower spheres, particularly in Yesod, is clouded by our emotions. Fear and anger, in particular, cloud our vision. We have to reach through to Chesed to see the highest expression of whatever force we are seeking.
Chesed
Meaning: Mercy
Level of Reality: Time, Space, Manifestation
Parts of the Self: Memory, Left Shoulder
Experience: Vision of Love
Obligation: Humility
Illusion: Self-Righteousness
Virtue: Obedience
Vices: Bigotry, Tyranny, Hypocrisy, Gluttony
Name of God: El (God)
King Scale Color: Deep Violet
Queen Scale Color: Blue
Prince Scale Color: Deep Purple
Princess Scale Color: Deep Azure flecked with Gold
Element: Water
Planet: Jupiter
Image: Ruler on a Throne
Archetypes: Sky Father, Wise King
Greek/Roman Deities: Zeus, Jupiter, Poseidon
Egyptian Deity: Amon-Ra
Middle Eastern Deity: Marduk
Celtic Deities: Dagda, Taranis
Norse Deities: Thor, Bragi
Hindu Deities: Indra, Brahma
Archangel: Tzadkiel (Angel of Mercy)
Angelic Order: Chashmalim (Brilliant Ones)
Choir: Dominions
Grade of Initiation: 7 = 4 Perfect Adept
Animal: Unicorn
Planetary Vowel Sound: Y (ü)
Resonant Letter: n
Musical Mode: Mixolydian
Musical Note: G
Tools: Wand, Crook, Scepter, Pyramid, Equal-Armed Cross
Incense: Cedar
Tarot: Four of Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles
Fortune—to Netzach
Hermit—to Tiphereth
Strength/Lust—to Geburah
Hierophant—to Chokmah
Metal: Tin
Stone: Amethyst
Plants: Olive, Rush, Lemon Balm
For this month’s lesson, arrange your altar with the correspondences of Chesed and Jupiter. Blues are the colors of Chesed, and the number is four. Cedar is the traditional incense, and blue and purple stones are suitable. Anything royal and rich would be appropriate for the embodiment of Chesed, as it is the king beneath the Abyss. Arrange the fours of the tarot on your altar, as well as the major arcana leading to the pathways in and out of the sphere. Fortune reaches down to Netzach, while the Hierophant goes above to Chokmah. Strength/Lust reaches across to Geburah, while the Hermit leads to Tiphereth.
Entities of Chesed
The realm of Chesed is the realm of royalty, marked by the self-mastery and sovereignty that comes from attaining the powers of the previous sephiroth yet not ascending across the Abyss. The classic image of Chesed is the Ruler or King upon a Throne. Chesed is the loving father, the benevolent and proud dad, wanting to provide for and protect his children. All the best father qualities we sentimentalize in greeting cards are part of Chesed. As the sky shelters the planet below, protecting it from too much heat and light, the sky of Chesed protects creation from the Abyss and the supernals, sheltering us under its clouds and gently encouraging our growth. The planet Jupiter protects the Earth by attracting space debris in its gravity that could otherwise endanger our planet.
The planetary archetype of Chesed is Jupiter, the ruler of the Roman gods. His Greek cognate is the ruler of the Olympians, Zeus. While the more Titanic forces of the previous generation of gods can be seen in the powers of the Supernal Triad, Zeus and his siblings represent the gods closer to humanity and the material world. He is a storm king and sky father. His weapon of choice is the lightning bolt, said to be forged by Hephaestus, a Geburah figure, showing the intimate link again between Geburah and Chesed. In many stories, Zeus is a figure of life, of wisdom, healing, and blessings. He is seen as a wise and magnificent ruler. Other times, he is seen as jealous, oversexed, rash, quick to anger, unforgiving, and unaware of the feelings of others.
Other pagan sky fathers and lightning gods are related to Chesed. Thor of the Norse gods is a Jupiterian figure. Though his father, Odin, is considered to be the all-father and wise ruler, Thor is the god of the people of Midgard, our Earth, or Malkuth in Norse cosmology. His tool wields the lightning of the storm. Though goodhearted, he is not considered as wise and cunning as his father.
The early Celtic figure of Taranis is seen as a lightning, storm, and sky king, though we know little of the early Celtic figures. The Dagda is equated with Jupiterian figures. The Dagda has much more lore from the Irish myths, as a primal giant and leader of the gods, yet he is not necessarily associated with the sky or storms. He is a great teacher and an archdruid, jovial and powerful. His cauldron is the cauldron of plenty, while his harp’s music turns the seasons. He is linked to the goddess of war and death, the Morrighan, to gain insight to defeat the Fomorians and carries a staff of life and death, killing and resurrecting a foe with alternate blows. He embodies the principles of Jupiter, of expansiveness and true royalty.
Coming from the Hindu cosmology, Indra is the god king associated with Chesed. He is the lord of storms and thunders, leader of the devas, and a great warrior defending humanity from the forces of evil. His weapons are the Vajra, the lightning, as well as a net, bow, and hook. He brings water to the Earth and can resurrect slain warriors, much like the Dagda. He is the ruler of the lesser gods beneath him in power and prestige, yet the more primal powers of Binah, Chokmah, and Kether are still above him.
To the Egyptians, the primal father figure usually is associated with the Sun, not Jupiter. When looking at our Qabalistic correspondences from an Egyptian perspective, the gods of Tiphereth, Chesed, and Kether overlap and share characteristics. With multiple creation stories, many see Ra, the Sun god, as the primal creator and closest to the godhead, and embodied by his successors in the lower planes.
One Egyptian figure I associate with the rulership of Chesed and Jupiter is Amon-Ra, a later addition to Egyptian mythology fusing aspects of Amun and Ra. Amon-Ra is the invisible breeze and is seen as a god of wind and air, and eventually became fused with the Sun god Ra and the ruler of Thebes. Later he was made the supreme god of Egypt. Depicted with a ram’s head and man’s body, Amon-Ra holds the rulership qualities of the enlightened king upon the throne.
El is the divine name of Chesed, meaning “God,” and some believe there is a connection to the names Baal and Bel. Cosmologically, many in traditional orthodox religions are actually focusing their attention not on the godhead, on the YHVH creative force of the universe, but on the aspect of God in Chesed. We can find parallels between the sky fathers of pagan cosmologies and the biblical father god of the Old Testament, linking them both with Chesed, while the less capricious god of the New Testament is linked with the godhead of Kether. Figures such as Jupiter have a beneficent side, as exemplified by the sphere’s lessons, and a tyrannical side, the vices and corruption of the sphere. As Chesed is the highest sphere of the Tree before the Abyss, many make the mistake of thinking this is the highest sphere, and that stems from a fear of going beyond, or arrogance. The early Gnostics and Gnostic Christians had a concept that the figure of the Old Testament was not the true God, what the Qabalist would call YHVH, but the Demiurge, the god of the material world, and equated this Demiurge with the concept of the Devil. The Demiurge has been linked to figures such as Lucifer, Prometheus, and Melek Taus.
When the Demiurge or his followers believe him to be the supreme god, he manifests as the jealous, tyrannical, and fearful god of wrath, fire, and brimstone. The Demiurge is in fear, because he doesn’t want you to figure it out. He is in ego, and the religions built up around him are in ego. Many would argue that this is the type of Christianity that focuses on the Old Testament stories.
When the figure clearly is not the ultimate creator, he becomes a liberator, a giver of celestial light to the material world. He is like Prometheus, the light bringer, or the Gnostic Lucifer, the light bringer, not the Devil. He becomes the secret shadow god that acts as an ally to help the mystic cross the Abyss and attain higher experience. Orthodox religions hide this aspect and demonize it, so those involved in the religion will not seek out the liberator, for if you have the guidance of the liberator, you do not need the Church. In essence, they are two sides of the same coin, both several rungs short of the ultimate godhead and source.
Tzadkiel, or Zadkiel, the archangel of mercy, is the angelic minister to this sphere, as the archangel of Jupiter. He is associated with magick and transmutation, as well as the hidden orders of masters that aspire to this plane. He is the leader of the order of the Chashmalim, the “brilliant ones” or “shining ones.” Some see the Chashmalim as aspects of gods or demigods, as the gods were called the ancient and shining ones, and these angels are a higher octave of the Elohim of the sphere of Netzach below. Another system relates the choir of the Dominions to this sphere. They are the divine organizers, the architects of the universe, bringing form and function, neatly fitting in with Chesed’s theme of form, as the fourth sephira.
As a realm of perfected forms, Chesed is called the Hall of Masters, or the Hall of the Ancient Ones. The template of the divine ascended human, the inner-plane master, comes from this place. Many ascended masters, moving on from the station of guiding Malkuth, help guide the inner orders from the consciousness of Chesed. Chesed as a principle encourages and nurtures structure and order. This manifests as promoting learning, philosophy, art, science, and magick. The masters of magick can guide and teach the initiates through this sphere.
Vision of Chesed
The spiritual experience of Chesed is simply known as the Vision of Love. This is the experience of Love, not the conditional love seen in many relationships, but a true experience of unconditional divine love that is best symbolized as the relationship between parent and child, though in this case it is the love between the divine parent and child. It is the witch’s Perfect Love of the magick circle. When we cast our circle in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust, we are invoking the highest power, expansive and uplifting, and contractive and protecting. One might say that in the Ethical Triangle, these forces, Perfect Love and Perfect Trust, are Chesed and Geburah, mediated by the solar sphere of Tiphereth.
The obligation of Chesed is humility. Like a regent, a divine sovereign, we must aspire to humility, for it is only in the spirit of humility that we can serve the divine purpose with divine love. The illusion of this sphere, self-righteousness, is a turn that many take when they believe they have touched upon the divine mercy of Chesed. Many do experience Chesed’s mercy, but rather than integrate it and embody it, they then feel they have a license to drive everybody toward their path, as it obviously worked for them, and if it worked, it must be the way. In an effort to be “right” and have everybody see they are “right,” they lose sight of the mercy and love, and cannot manifest mercy and love. When this lack of love is exposed, no potential follower will feel this is the path to divinity. We see this in many of the “merciful” forms of Christianity, that are so only in name, but turn out to be some of the most bigoted, tyrannical, hypocritical, and greedy organizations. They embody all the vices of Chesed, yet believe, in their hypocrisy, that they are fulfilling divine will, and fulfilling the obligation to the divine—obedience. The virtue of Chesed is to be true to your own higher self, not to force others to the will of what you perceive your divinity to be demanding. It is easy to experience bigotry once you attain this level, for you feel as if you are looking “down” upon the rest of the cosmos. Without the balance of humility, we lose the mastery of self that got us to Chesed.
To truly embody the merciful principle of Chesed is to realize this mercy is all-inclusive and does not distinguish anyone, at their spiritual core, as better than anybody else. That is the mystery of Chesed. In the end, we all are deserving of receiving, and then giving, Perfect Love. Without this love and mercy, we are not serving the true spirit of Chesed, but the shadow of Chesed, the Demiurge, the lord of the world, not of spirit.
Chesed Magick
Chesed is a powerful force to work with in any magick. For spiritual goals, it is the highest force beneath the Abyss, and generally is characterized as wise, gentle, and loving. For material goals, it is the root of all form beneath the Abyss, and holds the idea patterns and archetypes of creation. It is a complex, generating force.
Elementally, Chesed has multiple correspondences. Like Geburah, it cannot be neatly pinned down. Chesed is ruled by Jupiter, which rules Sagittarius, a fire sign. Jupiter is considered a spiritual Sun, as it is a gas giant that has never ignited into a star. But in more traditional astrology, Jupiter also rules Pisces, a water sign. Both have very strong spiritual associations, being the first and last of the four transpersonal zodiac signs. At their heights, Jupiter is expanded consciousness, while Pisces is unconditional love, the mercy of Chesed. Like its twin, Geburah, Chesed has fire and water associations. Mythically, the sky king of Jupiter also would give it air associations. Though the least tangible of the sephiroth beneath the Abyss, Chesed rules form by being the root of manifestation, also giving it an earth quality.
Chesed’s divine rulership is symbolized by the totemic figure of the unicorn. Though many would assume that the unicorn belongs to the realm of the fluffy-bunny explorer of fantasy games rather than serious Qabalah, the unicorn has a rich mythical history. Traditionally associated with innocence and purity, unicorns are something incorruptible in the material world, beyond simple and basic animal instincts yet more evolved and advanced than humans. They make contact only with those similarly pure and in alignment with spirit. The unicorn has been a symbol of royalty, as part of the crests and banners of kings, as well as a symbol of the Christ principle, the resurrection god. A famous tapestry named “Unicorn in Captivity” shows the innocence of spirit, embodied by the unicorn, in the bondage of the material world. From a Qabalistic perspective, the natural realm of the unicorn is Chesed, not Malkuth. As the unicorn is the mythical animal of kings, all rich and royal correspondences match with Chesed and Jupiter.
Traditionally, the wood of cedar is burned as an incense, or its oil as a scent. Strangely, tin is the metal of Jupiter. One would think Jupiter’s metal would be the gold of the Sun or even something richer, like platinum, but tin is traditional, for it is a metal to transform. Alchemists believed metals transformed from lead into tin first, moving through the metallic “spectrum” to get to gold. Rich and royal blues and purple are the colors of Chesed. Amethyst is its traditional stone, bearing out the Jupiterian association with Pisces, as amethyst is the traditional birthstone of Pisces.
Chesed’s ability to move the abstract form and energies of the upper triangle into more concrete concepts is both part of its anabolic building function and its inherent geometry. As the fourth sphere, it is directly tied in to the four directions and, as we’ve seen, the four elements. Four is the power of manifestation, as we need all four elements to make something a tangible reality. It is the stability of the four legs of a table or the four walls of a building. One could say that the devas, when defined as the architects of nature, the pattern holders, reside here. They are the spirits that guide the elemental and nature spirits to build our physical reality and maintain the flow of energies between the worlds and that reality. Ceremonies involving the four directions and four powers help align us with these powers of creation. We need only look at the witch’s magick circle, the variety of rituals in ceremonial magick, and the native medicine wheel ceremonies to see the universality of the four powers.
The sacred geometries based on the tetrad, tetrahedron, square, and cube are fundamental building blocks of nature, both organic and inorganic creations, from the subatomic structures of atoms to viruses, crystals, and living cells. Though the three points of Binah form the first shape, it takes a minimum of four points in space to define volume and form the first object. This is why four is associated with solid manifestation in the material realm. The sacred geometric figure known as the Decomposed Square, a square continuously divided into four, creates a woven pattern, the Net of Indra or the Web of the Goddess (Figure 61). This pattern shows up both as the underlying form of sacred ancient art and in microscopic atomic patterns.
Almost all the rituals of ceremonial magick have the four-directional symbolism inherent in them, yet there is no ritual specifically aligned with the four-pointed star, or specifically the square. Yet the cube, the six-sided hexahedron, is born out of tetrad geometry, as each face of the polyhedron is four-sided, mixing the four and six geometric forms. For this lesson, I have chosen the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram. The two triangles of the hexagram are the alignment of the Upper and Lower Worlds, the macrocosm and microcosm. In Tiphereth, you learned the elementally aligned version of the hexagram ritual (Exercise 20). In the Greater Ritual, you will learn the invocation or banishing of planetary forces. As Chesed is our link, or bridge, to the upper triangle, the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram, using all seven planets, is an alignment across the Abyss to the upper triangle, for the last planet, Saturn, is assigned to Binah, the first sephira of the Supernal Triangle (Figure 62).
Figure 62: Planets on the Hexagram
The Greater Ritual of the Hexagram is used to invoke or banish specific planetary forces. Just as the pentagrams can be used to invoke or banish specific elements, so can the hexagrams be used to invoke or banish planetary energies. In the form given here, the ritual is written as the Greater Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram.
Unlike the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram (Exercise 22), which works with all four elements, the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram involves invoking or banishing a specific planetary power, not all seven. Some versions of the ritual use the basic Star of David–style of hexagram (two interlocked triangles) for each direction, while other, more complicated forms of the ritual use the variant east, south, west, and north forms of the hexagram, with the same movements to invoke or banish but with the triangles arranged differently. For our work here, I prefer to use the traditional interlocked hexagram.
To invoke, start at the point of the hexagram with which the planet is aligned, and trace a clockwise triangle (Figure 63). For the second triangle, start at the opposing point of the hexagram, and draw a clockwise triangle. Draw the planetary glyph in the center of the hexagram. To banish, start at the planet’s point on the hexagram and draw a counterclockwise triangle. For the second triangle, start at the opposing point of the hexagram and draw a counterclockwise triangle. Draw the planetary glyph in the center of the hexagram.
Figure 63: Invoking and Banishing Planetary Hexagrams
For the Sun, all the previous hexagrams must be drawn, either invoking or banishing, depending on the ritual. To draw an invoking hexagram of the Sun, you must draw an invoking hexagram of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon, all without planetary glyphs, but end by drawing the glyph of the Sun in the center. To draw a banishing hexagram of the Sun, you must draw a banishing hexagram of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon, all without planetary glyphs, but end by drawing the Sun’s glyph in the center.
Technically, in the LBRH, all of these banishing hexagrams are of Saturn, for each of the four directions. An LIRH would use the invoking hexagrams of Saturn. Much as the earth pentagram is used as an all-purpose form in the earlier pentagram rituals, the Saturn hexagram is used as an all-purpose form in the earlier hexagram ritual.
Greater Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram (GIRH)
1. Perform the LBRP and LBRH (Exercise 5 and Exercise 20). As in the LBRH, in the GIRH you can use your wand, held in your right hand, or you can just use your hand. (A rainbow-banded lotus wand, with twelve colors, can be used for this rite. For each planetary ritual, you can hold the lotus wand by the zodiac color associated with the sign that is ruled by the planet. I prefer to just use my traditional wand.)
2. Performing the Analysis of the Key Word is optional (refer back to Exercise 20). It is repeated here in certain versions of this ritual, but as it was just performed in the LBRH in step 1, I do not find it necessary to do so again here, as the LVX signs will be performed at each quarter. You can omit the Analysis of the Key Word in favor of the Qabalistic Cross, or omit step 2 all together and move right on to the hexagram ritual itself.
3. Facing east, draw the invoking hexagram of the planet you wish to work with, in bright light. You can imagine the hexagram and planetary glyph in the colors associated with the planet. You might perceive the previous banishing blue pentagram and golden hexagrams behind it. Make the Sign of the Enterer to charge the hexagram with the appropriate-colored planetary energy, vibrating ARARITA. Draw the glyph of the planet you are invoking in the appropriate planetary color, and vibrate the divine god name associated with its sephira. (Optional: Follow with the LVX signs: Sign of the Mourning of Isis—Sign of Apophis and Typhon—Sign of Osiris Slain—Sign of Osiris Risen.)
4. Point to the center of the hexagram with your tool, and draw one-quarter of the circle with a line of light, bringing you to the south, just as you did in the LBRP and LBRH.
5. Facing south, draw the invoking hexagram of the planet you wish to work with, in bright light of the planet’s color on the Queen Scale. Make the Sign of the Enterer to charge the hexagram with the appropriate-colored planetary energy, vibrating ARARITA. Draw the glyph of the planet you are invoking in the appropriate planetary color, and vibrate the divine god name associated with its sephira. (Optional: Follow with the LVX signs.)
6. Point to the center of the hexagram with your tool, and draw one-quarter of the circle with a line of light, bringing you to the west.
7. Facing west, draw the invoking hexagram of the planet you wish to work with, in bright light of the planet’s color on the Queen Scale. Make the Sign of the Enterer to charge the hexagram with the appropriate-colored planetary energy, vibrating ARARITA. Draw the glyph of the planet you are invoking in the appropriate planetary color, and vibrate the divine god name associated with its sephira. (Optional: Follow with the LVX signs.)
8. Point to the center of the hexagram with your tool, and draw one-quarter of the circle with a line of light, bringing you to the north.
9. Facing north, draw the invoking hexagram of the planet you wish to work with, in bright light of the planet’s color on the Queen Scale. Make the Sign of the Enterer to charge the hexagram with the appropriate-colored planetary energy, vibrating ARARITA. Draw the glyph of the planet you are invoking in the appropriate planetary color, and vibrate the divine god name associated with its sephira. (Optional: Follow with the LVX signs.)
10. Point to the center of the hexagram with your tool, and draw one-quarter of the circle with a line of light, bringing you to the east.
11. Optional: Draw the invoking hexagram of the planet you wish to work with, in bright light of the planet’s color on the Queen Scale, above the altar and/or in the center of the ritual circle. Make the Sign of the Enterer to charge the hexagram with the appropriate-colored planetary energy, vibrating ARARITA. Follow with the LVX signs.
12. Optional: Circumambulate around the ritual circle the Qabalistically corresponding number of times associated with the planet. (Saturn rituals would have three movements around the circle, Venus would have seven, etc.)
13. Do your planetary working, such as ritual magick, meditation, pathworking, or consecration.
14. Optional: Reverse circumambulate around the ritual circle the same number of times as in step 12. (If, in a Saturn ritual, you went clockwise around the altar three times, then go counterclockwise around the altar, starting and ending in the east.) This is one of the few times in traditional ceremonial magick that a widdershins movement is used. Notice that even in banishing rituals we are “creating” a clear space, and moving deosil.
15. Perform the Greater Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram for the planet you have chosen, repeating steps 3–11, but with banishing hexagrams of the appropriate planet rather than invoking hexagrams.
16. Repeat the LBRP and LBRH.
The hexagram rituals can be adapted and further expanded. One adaptation is to use them as invoking and banishing rituals for zodiac signs or the sephirothic powers. Another is to combine the planetary powers in the Supreme Ritual of the Hexagram, used to invoke or banish all seven planetary forces in one ritual. This ritual is much like the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram, yet instead of orienting to the four directions, the orientation mimics the Golden Dawn’s septagram-style Vault of the Adepti. It can be adapted by simply drawing all seven hexagrams in the center, above the altar, after the LBRP and LBRH, rather than following the intricate pattern of the Vault.
Magickal Constructs
Since Chesed is the root of creation beneath the Abyss, a form of magick that aligns well with this creative force is the creation of magickal constructs. Constructs go by a variety of names, such as artificial elementals, artificial familiars, spirit golems, tulpas, and servitor spirits. At first glance, it’s a controversial technique, particularly among witches, but when you delve deeper, it’s not much different from what we already are doing in our magickal workings. I think it’s a problem of packaging. Call anything “artificial” and witches want nothing to do with it. Likewise, call something a “servant” and witches shy away. The technique is more popular among Chaos magicians.
In essence, a construct is a semipermanent spell with open-ended instructions. If you have created a ward (a protection shield around your home or vehicle), you already have created a type of construct. In the more advanced stages, it is a semipermanent thoughtform programmed with your instructions. It’s semipermanent because if you don’t do any upkeep on it, “feeding” it energy, it will dissipate. It’s not a living being generating life force on its own, but a packet of energy with specific instructions. With most spells, once the spell completes its task, it runs out of energy, because it used its energy to manifest your goal, and it dissipates. A construct has a semblance of life and can last for an indefinite or predetermined period of time. It’s a spell with a longer shelf life than that of your typical candle or petition spell.
For example, if you run a shop, you could create a construct that protects your store, preventing people from shoplifting. It might broadcast a fear of getting caught to those who intend to shoplift, or it might help expose their theft before they reach the door. Your spell would not target a specific time, day, or person, but would be open-ended, for the life of the store. If you work with the public, particularly in the social services, you might create a construct to devour harmful unbalanced energy and transmute it to balanced healing energy. You can create a construct to help find lost objects, maintain a computer network, or inspire you at work. You are limited only by your imagination and the physical requirements of the task. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find a magician who created a construct that physically vacuums or washes windows.
Some of my friends who are witches wonder why you would go to the trouble of creating a construct when you could partner with a spirit who would do the same thing with you. It’s a good question, and a matter of personal magickal style. You can summon/conjure/partner with a spiritual being to protect your home, transmute energy, find lost objects, or anything else, but some feel it would be binding a spirit to a specific location and task, even if the spirit agrees of its own will. Some magicians would argue that most spiritual beings do not have free will in the same manner that humans do, and they do not have the same freedoms that we do. Creating a construct allows a spell to be in place without binding a specific spirit. It was common practice in medieval magick to summon and bind a spirit to do your bidding, but today, most witches tend to avoid forced servitude of another being. There is nothing wrong with summoning and working with a spirit and taking all the necessary precautions, but I personally want to work only with spirits who want to work with me, and who come in love, trust, and harmony.
Many witches wonder if they are creating life, only to enslave it. Sometimes constructs take on a persona and spark, and practitioners question their right to force the spirit to do their bidding. To the practical magician, that’s like saying you are enslaving your toaster or computer. Its natural function is to fulfill a task. Many people personify their cars, homes, and electronic equipment by giving them a name or talking to them, yet don’t worry about freeing them.
An even more controversial theory is that most spirits, and possibly even the gods, are simply built-up thoughtforms that have gained enough energy to be self-sustaining. I know that in some instances I intuitively feel drawn to work with a spiritual ally, and other times I choose to create a construct, an artificial servitor spirit that is specifically oriented to my will.
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Saturn |
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4 |
9 |
2 |
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3 |
5 |
7 |
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8 |
1 |
6 |
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Jupiter |
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4 |
14 |
15 |
1 |
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9 |
7 |
6 |
12 |
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5 |
11 |
10 |
8 |
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16 |
2 |
3 |
13 |
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Mars |
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11 |
24 |
7 |
20 |
3 |
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4 |
12 |
25 |
8 |
16 |
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17 |
5 |
13 |
21 |
9 |
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10 |
18 |
1 |
14 |
22 |
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23 |
6 |
19 |
2 |
15 |
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Sun |
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6 |
32 |
3 |
34 |
35 |
1 |
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7 |
11 |
27 |
28 |
8 |
30 |
|
19 |
14 |
16 |
15 |
23 |
24 |
|
18 |
20 |
22 |
21 |
17 |
13 |
|
25 |
29 |
10 |
9 |
26 |
12 |
|
36 |
5 |
33 |
4 |
2 |
31 |
|
Venus |
||||||
|
22 |
47 |
16 |
41 |
10 |
35 |
4 |
|
5 |
23 |
48 |
17 |
42 |
11 |
29 |
|
30 |
6 |
24 |
49 |
18 |
36 |
12 |
|
13 |
31 |
7 |
25 |
43 |
19 |
37 |
|
38 |
14 |
32 |
1 |
26 |
44 |
20 |
|
21 |
39 |
8 |
33 |
2 |
27 |
45 |
|
46 |
15 |
40 |
9 |
34 |
3 |
28 |
|
Mercury |
|||||||
|
8 |
58 |
59 |
5 |
4 |
62 |
63 |
1 |
|
49 |
15 |
14 |
52 |
53 |
11 |
10 |
56 |
|
41 |
23 |
22 |
44 |
45 |
19 |
18 |
48 |
|
32 |
34 |
35 |
29 |
28 |
38 |
39 |
25 |
|
40 |
26 |
27 |
37 |
36 |
30 |
31 |
33 |
|
17 |
47 |
46 |
20 |
21 |
43 |
42 |
24 |
|
9 |
55 |
54 |
12 |
13 |
51 |
50 |
16 |
|
64 |
2 |
3 |
61 |
60 |
6 |
7 |
57 |
|
Moon |
||||||||
|
37 |
78 |
29 |
70 |
21 |
62 |
13 |
54 |
5 |
|
6 |
38 |
79 |
30 |
71 |
22 |
63 |
14 |
46 |
|
47 |
7 |
39 |
80 |
31 |
72 |
23 |
55 |
15 |
|
16 |
48 |
8 |
40 |
81 |
32 |
64 |
24 |
56 |
|
57 |
17 |
49 |
9 |
41 |
73 |
33 |
65 |
25 |
|
26 |
58 |
18 |
50 |
1 |
42 |
74 |
34 |
66 |
|
67 |
27 |
59 |
10 |
51 |
2 |
43 |
75 |
35 |
|
36 |
68 |
19 |
60 |
11 |
52 |
3 |
44 |
76 |
|
77 |
28 |
69 |
20 |
61 |
12 |
53 |
4 |
45 |
Here are the basic steps of construct creation:
1. Decide on the intention of the construct. What is its goal? What are the operating instructions? Be as specific as you can without limiting the servitor spirit’s ability to fulfill its function. Think of it as writing instructions for an employee.
2. What powers most strongly correspond to the intended use of the construct? Does the construct resonate with a particular element? Some constructs are made entirely of one elemental force, which is why they often are referred to as artificial elementals. Does the construct resonate with a particular planet? What energetic qualities does it need to fulfill its purpose? Look at your tables of correspondences for the planets and elements in this book, The Outer Temple of Witchcraft, your BOS, and any other resources at your disposal.
3. Create an identity for the construct spirit. Name the spirit and/or create a symbol for it, to be used for this spirit and only this spirit. You can create a barbarous name for it by taking the basic intention and reducing it by crossing out the repeated letters (OTOW, Chapter 13). You also can create a geometric sigil for the spirit, aligning it further with the spiritual powers of the universe. Take the letters of the name and convert them to numbers. Then choose a magick square, a numeric grid that is aligned with your intention. Each of the seven planets has a magick square, also known as a kamea (figure 64). Each one is based on a specific pattern, in which each of the rows, horizontal or vertical, adds up to the same number. The numbers associated with each of the planets are Sun = 111, Moon = 369, Mercury = 260, Venus = 175, Mars = 65, Jupiter = 34, and Saturn = 15. When you make sigils on these grids, the shape of the sigil is naturally aligned with the power of the planet. Choose the planetary square that is appropriate for your working. Or, if your intention is not as specific, you can keep it in letters and make a sigil using the witch’s wheel (OTOW, Chapter 13). Letters can be converted to numbers using this chart:
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
|
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
|
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
|
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
Sigils are not absolutely necessary, but they certainly help with this type of magick. Planetary squares also can be used to make more traditional amulets and talismans. They need not be linked with servitor constructs.
4. With a name and potentially a sigil for the spirit construct, you can create a binding vessel for it. Anything that can hold energy can be used as the home base and resting place of the spirit. You can bind the spirit to a location or vehicle, but I have found it best to bind it to an object that you can later move. Statues, crystals, and charms are the best vessels. Some vessels can become “containers” when the spirit is not in use, while others serve simply as anchors so the spirit doesn’t wander.
For artificial elementals, you can make a talisman and anoint it or fill it with a fluid condenser of the appropriate element. Statues can have holes drilled into them, or objects such as the traditional piggy bank, hollow in the center, can become vessels. Decorated bottles also work. Perhaps this is the idea behind the genie and the magick lamp. To make a more intricate servitor, you can use four condensers, one for each of the elements, plus a drop of your own blood to give it life and to make it in harmony with your will. For planet-aligned servitors, working with the appropriate planetary condenser is effective.
A tradition in ceremonial magick is to simply make a geometric charm, an amulet/talisman that is aligned with the planet you have chosen. Such geometric charms can be one-sided, two-sided, or sometimes even four-sided, with the charm folded in, covering two sides and leaving a front and a back. The charm can be designed with the sigil of its name and planetary symbols, as well as a few drops of liquid fluid condenser or pinches of dry magickal condenser placed in the center before the two sides of the charm are glued and sealed shut. Circular and square shapes always are appropriate for this work, but to further align with your planet, you can make something in the geometric shape corresponding to your planet’s sephiric number.
5. Get all the materials you need for your servitor spirit and vessel. Charms can be made before or during the ritual, depending on your personal style. Create your sacred space. You can cast a magick circle or, if working with a specific element or planet, work with the appropriate invoking pentagram or hexagram ritual. For example, if you were working with a Mercury-oriented construct, you would do the Greater Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram of Mercury.
6. Using your will, visualization, spoken word, and/or chanting, gather your energy and program it with what you want the construct to do. Be clear and precise in your instructions. As with many spells, I repeat the words of the instructions three times. In this process, make sure you name the spirit and hold its symbol/vessel to bind the instructions, energy, and intention all together.
7. Bind the construct to the vessel by holding it up, if possible, and visualize the energy linking to the vessel.
8. Complete your ritual, releasing the sacred space and returning to normal. Place the vessel in the most appropriate place for its function and purpose.
9. Decide how you are going to “feed” the construct to maintain its energy, and do so regularly. Feeding does not necessarily involve physical material, but energy, though physical offerings, such as food, drink, and coins, contain energy when blessed by you, and act as an appropriate medium to transfer energy. Recognizing the work of the construct and sending it energy can feed it the necessary energy. Recognizing it each day for its service builds up both its energy and the resolve of its function. The more the construct is used, and used successfully, the stronger it can become.
If a construct has fulfilled its purpose, it should be “dismantled.” If you have a protection construct around your home and are moving, the polite and responsible thing to do would be to remove the construct, either taking it with you or dismantling it, so its energy does not linger or change with the new owners, who don’t know about its presence or how to work with it. Ritually deconstruct it in sacred space, thanking it for its service. Explain what you are doing, and destroy the vessel and sigil. I imagine grounding the energy into the Earth and Underworld.
Some practitioners feel the servitor has a consciousness of its own (particularly if it has been developed over a long period of time) and should have a choice in the matter. If the spirit does not want to be grounded, give it another option. Speak to your guides and gods about the situation. Perhaps the spirit can be freed from its vessel and sent to another realm. If you simply let it go, make sure you instruct it on how to responsibly find a food source to sustain it, rather than becoming like a hungry vampire ghost or mischievous spirit. Many of our reinforced yet unconscious thoughtforms become mischievous and rogue spirits. Those that have been created ritually are even more powerful. A practitioner must take responsibility for his or her creations.
If you don’t remove a construct and don’t care for it, you run the risk of it becoming a problem. Most constructs will wither and dissipate without an energy source, but some will disconnect from their “anchor” and seek out energy from other sources, attaching to someone or something. Often called rogue elementals, they are the true source of many hauntings and the bad vibes people get at certain locations. They are not evil, but they do become parasitical in nature and are unhealthy.
Another method of sigil construction that does not involve planetary squares is outlined by Ian Corrigan in his book Celtic Sorcery. He uses Fionn’s Window (TOSW, Chapter 5). Each of the ogham is linked to a letter in our alphabet (figure 65). A word or letter sequence can be traced on the window, following the curved lines, to create a much more rounded form of sigil, perhaps more in harmony with the Celtic witch than the Hermetic magician, but the technique itself is the same as the magician’s.
Here is an example of how to create a servitor spirit:
My goal for the construct is to create an entity that will protect me when I’m in large crowds of people, doing spiritual work and having to remain open when teaching, healing, and leading ceremonies. Sometimes I’m so focused on the work that I’m not focused on my own defenses, so I want something that will focus on protecting me from random energy and intense attention so I can continue with the work and not be distracted. As a public speaker, anybody can show up at events, and you never know what the energy of the group will be like. I can’t let a few people spoil the experience for everybody there, myself included, or endanger participants in the working. So I want a construct that will intercept any harmful or unbalanced energy sent my way, and transmute it into healthy, balanced energy.
Magickally, my intention to protect and transform corresponds with fire. In terms of planets, I naturally would choose Pluto for transformation, but Pluto is not one of the planets with a magick square grid. Mars for fire would be appropriate, yet the imagery of the Sun, as golden protective light, also appeals to me. In the end, I’m going to stick with Mars, for Geburah has the pentagon shape, and I associate that with protection more than the hexagon structure.
To name this new spirit I wish to create, I make a statement of intent:
SPIRIT INTERCEPT AND TRANSMUTE ALL HARMFUL ENERGY
• I reduce this intention to nonrepeating letters: C D H F G Y.
• Then I convert these letters to numbers: 3 4 8 6 7 7.
• Next, I plot out the intention on the Square of Mars, omitting the repeated seven letters, starting with the traditional circle and ending with the perpendicular line (Figure 66 and Figure 67).
My binding vessel will be a traditional paper charm. I’m making it pentagon style, double folded, so I can put something inside it. I’m going to color it red, the traditional color of Mars, and its opposite color, also known as its flashing color, green. On one side I have my sigil of the spirit, to be the outside front of the amulet, and on the back I have a pentacle (Figure 68). In the center I have the glyph of Mars and the glyphs of its zodiac signs—Aries, for aggression to intercept, and Scorpio, to transmute and transform. I dip a small piece of cotton into a Mars fluid condenser (stinging nettle) and add a drop of black pepper essential oil. I let the cotton dry to avoid blemishing the design of the amulet, and then place the cotton in the amulet and glue it shut. If you want to wear the amulet, you can put a bit of string, yarn, or cord through it before you glue it shut, to make a necklace.
Though I’d like to say I performed the Greater Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram of Mars, in truth I simply cast a traditional witch’s circle, drew the invoking hexagram of Mars in the center of it, and asked for the spirit of Mars to fill the circle with protective energy. I imagined the hexagram of Mars in red as I burned dragon’s blood incense and a little tobacco. I passed the amulet through the smoke of the incense, and visualized the smoke and red light becoming a ball of light, the size of a baseball, with a big mouth, something like the video game Pac-Man. I also imagined some gold and green light in the amulet, and programmed it with my intention. I visualized it orbiting my aura like an electron around a nucleus, and as energy came to me that was dark and discordant, it gobbled up the energy and put it through its internal fire. When the spirit construct “exhaled,” out came a golden white light, adding to the general peace and healing vibe of the environment around me. I released the space and carried the talisman with me only in situations in which I needed it. When it was not in use, it was in a little red box I keep in my altar drawer.
Each time I worked with the talisman, I instructed the spirit construct in its task. The spell itself naturally fed the construct, but after every event, I would leave it on my altar and light a red candle, placing the talisman under the candle holder and anointing the candle with something Martian, like the fluid condenser or pepper oil. I would visualize the energy of the flame feeding the construct, making it stronger.
Chesed Pathworkings
Only one path of Chesed remains to be explored—the path upward, across the Abyss to Chokmah. This path is ruled by the priest king, the Hierophant. While the lowest expression of this card is read as institutional authority or dogma to be overcome, the higher form is the great teacher and initiator. The Hierophant passes blessing and knowledge on to the student, so the Abyss can be crossed and the initiate can reach the father-god force found in Chokmah. The student then becomes the initiator, able to help others cross the Abyss.
Chesed Pathworking
1. Perform the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (exercise 5) and the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram (Exercise 20). Do any other ritual you feel is appropriate.
2. While in this space, call upon the divine forces of Chesed. Burn your four blue candles and cedar incense. Knock on your altar four times. Vibrate the divine name of Chesed, El, four times. Call upon any of the Jupiter deities of the sphere, or Archangel Tzadkiel.
3. To count down into a meditative state, do exercise 1 through step 7 (page 76).
4. Let the familiar world around you fall away, as if the material reality you know is only a façade and beneath it lies the beautiful garden of the Goddess, a veritable paradise surrounding you. The land around you becomes a vast primordial garden, the garden of Malkuth, the familiar garden of the four paths.
5. Go to the heart of Malkuth, to the Temple of Malkuth. Decide which path you wish to take to Chesed. Plot out the path in your mind, through the appropriate sephiroth and pathways. Perhaps try choosing pathways that you haven’t yet explored.
6. While on your path, reflect on the symbolism of each of the paths of wisdom. If you have walked a particular pathway before, let the wisdom reach a deeper level within you. Let the images of the associated tarot card and path come to you. Let your thoughts and feelings be guided by the power of the path. Learn what you can of the path, and of your process, to expand your consciousness to Chesed.
7. Feel the call of the blue sphere from your path. You are bidden to enter the gates of Chesed, the realm of gentle mercy. You might have to give a symbol of Chesed as the key to enter the realm, such as the divine name (El), the Jupiter glyph, or the name of a sky father deity. Once you enter the realm, you feel as if you are passing through mist or clouds. Feel the compassion and mercy of this realm of blue light. Everything appears soft and fuzzy and gently out of focus, as the atmosphere actually blurs your vision over a distance. Feel your heart open. Explore the realm of Chesed, and welcome any beings of the sphere that come across your path.
8. Make your way to the Temple of Chesed. You enter a four-sided temple, made of tin, amethyst, aquamarine, and blue sapphire. You feel the essence of Chesed here in the heart of the realm. Notice the gateways to the other paths in the temple, the gate from the direction in which you came and the other three gates.
9. The entities of Chesed are residing in the temple. The sky fathers and good kings are present. Archangel Tzadkiel also is available, as well as the unicorns, if you haven’t seen them already. Commune with the beings of the sphere. Ask to know the Vision of Love in a manner that is correct and for your highest good. Ask to learn the virtue and obligation of the sphere and ways to avoid the vices and illusion.
10. When done, thank all the beings who have communicated with you. They might offer you a gift, a token of their goodwill. If you accept, it is polite to reach within your being and offer them a gift of your goodwill.
11. Once you have said your farewells, leave the shrine and follow the path back. Return the way you came unless you feel guided to return via a different pathway and know the pathway back well. Return to the garden of Malkuth. Focus on the waking world you know, and feel it return around the garden.
12. To return to normal waking consciousness and end your journey, perform steps 15–17 from exercise 1 (Figure 78). You can close the temple by repeating the LBRP.
Chesed Initiation
With the initiation of Chesed, we enter the mythical realm, yet we know such mythical perfection is part of Chesed and part of our path of magickal enlightenment. The
7 = 4 initiation is that of the Adeptus Exemptus, or Perfect Adept. One is said to attain perfection in all matters at this stage of development, yet one embodies this perfection while in the physical vehicle, as Chesed is before the Abyss. One might say the seventh initiation is one for who is as close to an ascended master as one can be and not ascend, and be physically incarnate. At this stage, all magick, high and low, has been mastered and perfected, and the initiate is the result of that mastery, conferring mastery of the material world, as well as the emotional, mental, and spiritual forces that move through the material world. The next step of initiation takes us across the Abyss into an entirely different realm of being, just as the jump from Netzach to Tiphereth brings the initiate to an entirely new level of understanding.
Homework
• Do Exercises 24–25 and record your experiences in your Book of Shadows.
• Learn and practice the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram, the traditional version or your own personally reconstructed version.
• Explore working with constructs if you so choose and feel ready to do so.
• Continue to practice the LBRP, LBRH, Middle Pillar, and Circulation of the Body of Light rituals, the traditional or personal versions.
Tips
• Fill in the Chesed correspondences and colors on your own Tree of Life drawing. Contemplate them as you add them to the image. Start memorizing these correspondences.
• Review and reflect on all you have learned in this lesson.
• Continue working with the four elements.
• Continue working with the lower sephiroth.
• Study Appendix VI to deconstruct and reconstruct the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram to your liking and worldview, if you so choose. If you are reconstructing it, make sure that your symbolism is consistent with the pentagram rituals and other rites.
• Pick one other reality map from Appendix I to contemplate.