The Qabalistic Cross: Unfolding Your Desires

By Mark Stavish

31 October 2022

“No one is anyone, one single immortal man is all men. Like Cornelius Agrippa, I am god, I am hero, I am philosopher, I am demon and I am world, which is a tedious way of saying that I do not exist.” —Jorge Luis Borges

The Qabalistic Cross is well known to students of modern esotericism, and for many it is their primary form of self-consecration, often used at the beginning and end of their practice sessions. It is important for many because it is the most often used gesture in many modern magical repertoires and in a few ancient ones as well. As Eliphas Levi wrote, “…any intention that does not manifest through actions is a vain intention and the word expressing an empty word. Action is what proves life and bears witness to the will. … We must act in order to be.” In the Qabalistic Cross and its variants we see the essential elements of Thought, Word, and Deed, or imagination, vocalization, and action or gesture combined into a single fluid rite. A rite so simple and direct that it can be performed almost anywhere and at any time without anyone in the surrounding environment taking notice.

In practical terms, I remember two ways it was used outside of the normal ritual framework in which many are first introduced to it. The first was by the French alchemist Jean Dubuis. Dubuis, I was told by those close to him, would mentally perform the Qabalistic Cross, and call upon “his friends Raphael, Khamael, and Tzadkiel” prior to public presentations.

The second method was shared with me by Peter Roche deCoppens. deCoppens, who was also a member of several esoteric orders and I am certain he was instructed in this use in one of them, used the Qabalistic Cross to bring his desires into manifestation. His process is simple, and not very different from Tibetan Bon and Vajrayana variations of the same idea, and is as follows.

The real secret of manifestation on any other subtle plane lies in the path and ritual of the Qabalistic Cross. Here, we begin by having a vision , an ideal or idea clearly visualized as we touch our head as we say, “Atoh”. We then move our hand, and with it the image to our heart to imbue it with eros or love, deep attraction and desire for union with it as we say “Malkooth”. We then continue by moving our hand towards our shoulders and can move and imbue the image in our heart with vitality and life as we say, “ve Geburah ve Gedulah”. We commit ourselves to living the image, the ideal, and embody it in ourselves and our actions as we bring our hands together before us and say,”LeOlam – Amen!”. As we work with this or similar methods and as we mature and awaken to our inner potential, we learn how to vivify our thoughts, emotions, and even our expectations by raising our awareness. We harmonize this with the divine and will out of the deepest part of ourself, our Spiritual Self, and become more powerful in creating and manifesting what we desire with an increasing speed and effectiveness.

“As we become more conscious and raise our level of consciousness; as we become more responsible, autonomous, productive, moral and in touch with our essential Self and Creator, these powers will amplify their creative energies and the speed at which they will manifest themselves. Thus, we should truly be careful about what we want and desire and what we fear and hate, in that sooner or later and in one fashion or another, we will have to live and experience them! The true ‘secret’ here lies in the ability to recognize, fuse and integrate, our higher and lower selves, our destiny and free will, and our male and female polarities, the microcosm and the macrocosm!” – Peter Roche deCoppens

Before we dismiss these ideas presented by deCoppens as modern psycho-spiritual theory, let us consider the following excerpt from the writing of Paracelsus which illustrates the powers of the “head-heart” axis as well as how these energies combine with the energies of life or breath in the lungs. The level of Geburah-Chesed relates to the lungs in some schools, and to the Prima Materia in alchemy. “Pervading the whole body” is Malkooth, or the cross as seen in extension from the heart to the feet and into the earth. Through our efforts in contacting this power and circulating it in our body we awaken our powers or virtues and if we are unaware of its potential as well as our own, our vices as well.

“The heart sends the spirit [the will, or power of being, to desire] through the whole of the body, as the sun gives power to all the planets and earths; the moon [intelligence of the brain] goes to the heart and back again to the brain. The fire (heat) takes its origin in the (chemical) activity of organs (the lungs), but pervades the whole body. The liquor vitae (essence of life) is universally distributed and moves (circulates) in the body. This ‘humor’ contains many different powers, and causes in him ‘metals’ (virtues and vices) of various kinds.” – Paracelsus, Paramirum, L.I.. Tr. 3, as quoted by Hartman, p. 63 Occult Science in Medicine

We see this idea further elaborated upon in the alchemical writings of Jean Dubuis wherein he writes: “There is an element, a subtle force that animates nature and assumes the creative process. This force is what the alchemists called ‘the Secret Fire’, also called “Universal Fire”, “Solar Fire”, and “Steel”. The Secret Fire (Fire and Air of Alchemy and Qabala) needs moisture, water, to exercise its creative and animating function, so it will act quickly in the animal body rich in water, slower in the less humid plant, and even more slowly in the almost dry mineral.”

This force is brought into action through the use of imagination combined with desire or focussed effort. While many find this difficult to execute, in fact, they do it all the time unconsciously. One need only to remember a pleasant or unpleasant time in their life, or mentally trade places with the driver in the commercial promoting this year’s newest model sports car. Our capacity for complete absorption in our imagination is endless and is often spontaneously stimulated across the day. “[The imagination] . . . inspires an audacious mental habit. We are as elastic as the gas of gunpowder, and . . . a word dropped in conversation, sets free our fancy, and instantly our heads are bathed with galaxies, and our feet tread the floor of the Pit.” – Marsilio Ficino

Yet, when we seek to do it actively, with a goal in mind, and with it invoke the invisible forces we often find ourselves less certain, even tense. The reason for this is simple: we have one or more doubts within our mind, either about our goal, ourselves, or the process as a whole. “Desire urges me on, while fear bridals me.”Giordano Bruno, The Heroic Enthusiasts

To overcome our fears we need to undertake tasks that are progressively more difficult while simultaneously being important to us so that we are completely emotionally engaged. Emotional engagement is the source of energy, the vital life force of all esotericism. When we read about ‘will’ in magic it is easy to confuse it with force, but it is far more productive to approach it as total commitment, concentration, absorption, overwhelming attraction, even love. “Why do we think love is a magician? Because the whole power of magic consists in love. The work of magic is the attraction of one thing by another because of a certain affinity of nature.” – Marsilio Ficino

As Eliphas Levi and others have pointed out, we must believe we are capable, we must have faith – self-confidence -that is translated into actions. We must have a certainty of completing our work, and in a calm manner, a manner free of doubt, as we then go about working towards its realization. To act in such a manner, free of doubt, is called by some our “True Will” – true because it is without error, doubt, and unequivocal. To be so focussed, be it to walk out the door to the bus stop, to write a novel, start a business, or to establish an empire, is said to bring the energies of the universe to assist us. Energies that are vast and varied in their expressions.

Whenever we perform the Qabalistic Cross we are remembering, invoking, directing our capacity to create – our life energy – our WILL. In doing so we make ourselves a center or point of concentrated BEINGNESS and all the qualities that TO BE contains – the Quintessence. This life force naturally gathers around living centers from the seeds of plants to the individual life of beings. We are saturated with the energy which manifests as light, which creates heat or life, and the force of attraction, or love. This gives us the Rosicrucian Trinity of Light, Life, and Love. When fixed around a center point, this light produces living beings and attracts all that is necessary for its survival and realization. The substance of the cells of our body is light and the functioning of each cell is the result of this light energy circulating about the individual cell and the entirety of the body. This generation of light emanates the physical structures we call matter, this light in its most original form is the unique conscious energy of life-power or the Prima Materia of alchemy.

This undifferentiated energy of Kether or the Crown becomes differentiated through actions and multiplied through replication. Each person who is undertaking the Path of Return has the capacity to attract to themselves any force of the universe. This is done through self-transformation, we make ourselves a suitable receptacle for our desired force. To do this we must recognize our essential state as one or harmonized with the fundamental energy of BEING -with the Prima Materia. In fact, we recognise that there is no essential or functional separation between the Prima Materia, the Crown, Beingness, etc, other than our own self-concept, our own limited self-concept. “The foundation of the Western occult philosophy is that man, who partakes of the divine meditation, is the co-ruler of a world which is also mental. If the world such as it is does not satisfy us, let’s change our vision of it and it will change. Man is capable of being and using everything he perceives because everything he perceives is in some manner a part of his own being. He can therefore subjugate the entirety of the universe of which he is conscious in the realization of his inner will [desire].” – Jean Dubuis

The fundamental basis of esoteric work is that the capacity to strengthen our will, our desires, to the point of their realization can be achieved through skillful practice combined with a use of the imagination. However, imagination precedes will, that is, our fantasy is stimulated and through it, brought to a fever pitch we call desire. How we act with or upon that desire decides if it will be realized or simply a distraction.

“The astral currents created by the imagination of the macrocosm [the individual] act on the microcosm [environment] and produce certain states in the latter, and in the same manner the astral currents produced by man’s imagination and will produce certain states in our outer Nature; and these currents can reach out very far because the power of imagination can reach as far as thought. The inner mechanisms which take place in the bodies of living beings are caused by their astral currents and the changes occurring in the great organism of Nature are caused by the astral currents of others, either consciously, or outside of consciousness; and if this fact is properly grasped it won’t then be unbelievable to think that the human spirit can produce changes within the Universal Mind … It does not appear unbelievable to think that that which is evil can be turned into that which is good by the power of faith. The sky is a field where man’s imagination sows its seeds.” – Paraclesus, Magical Archidoxies

Let us raise our eyes to the sky above – to the Crown -and sow seeds worthy of realization in our life and the lives of those around us. And in doing so remember the eternal truths:

“That which is above is from that which is below; and that which is below is from that which is above to accomplish the Work of the One Thing.” – The Emerald Tablet of Hermes

“There is not the slightest difference between this world and Nirvana. The limit of Nirvana is the limit of the world: not the subtlest something is ever found between them.” Nagarjuna

Just as Samsara (duality/ignorance) and Nirvana (unity/enlightenment) are of ‘one taste’ so are Kether and Malkooth one and the same.

To succeed at this small rite, to extract from it the totality of its benefits, it is important that we practice often and slowly. Once can easily apply it several times a day, or even hourly. In and through it we will realize the key to all esoteric practices, ritualized or not, and that is our careful meditation and progressive realization of the undifferentiated energy-intelligence of Kether is essential to our experience of Beingness. From the undifferentiated comes the differentiated or created, and all things in creation possess two poles or aspects: active and passive/energetic and material. All truths are relative truths as they depend on one’s perspective for realization. Finally, all paradoxes can be resolved – particularly within the Naught, the Crown, the Point of Origin of the All.

The Secret Practice – Invoking Your Guardians Through the Qabalistic Cross

One of the least known aspects of this practice is its opening us to our inner and outer guardians, or angelic forces that direct our life. For this we need to understand the qualities are very specific, and concerned with maintaining the best of possible conditions for us in this life. The crown and its angelic power personified is our ‘Crown’ or social status and reputation, our well-being in the community. In daily life a certain degree of respect and standing is needed to accomplish our goals. The heart, actually slightly above it (some say this is where the archangelic and angelic worlds mee), but the heart is the location commonly mentioned, is our life-force, that which keeps us in this world. The right and left shoulders are the locations of our ‘side channels’ or Pillars, and with it, male and female energies of courage and nurturing, or mercy. All of these qualities are essential to our well-being in this world, and in and through these centers we can connect with the deepest aspects of our Being, as well as external intelligences that resonate with their functions and qualities.

From this we see that the simple daily practice of the Qabalistic Cross is in fact a sophisticated and complete practice in itself when we allow ourselves to delve deeply into its symbolism, power, and potential.