The Magickal Pen

Part  Two:  Practical Application of Its Energy

Last week, I gave hint at some of the power that lay within the sphere of Geburah.  Hopefully, you also had time to mull over the poem and allow your own interpretations, images and insights to arise.  As I stated last week:

When we call upon the energy of this sphere we are asking for refinement of transformation and change to occur at the deepest levels of our being. We are trusting that the things that must be purged will produce positive result and we are allowing the organic flow of Geburah’s fiery nature to cleanse and cauterize what has been rendered into new form.

There is a very organic process that occurs when working with the energy of Geburah. It is distinctly the energy of the natural cycle. Quickening, growth, birth, more growth, refining and maturation, contraction and retention and finally the release and decomposition which serve as the food and catalyzing forces to quicken and begin the cycle anew.  This is the cycle of hard choices and at times what appears to be cruelty in deciding what is strong enough to thrive and what must be sacrificed and cut away.   I gave the analogy of a mother’s tough love.  This is the challenge of Geburah’s essence. The challenge of trust and unconditional love of a quality that will follow through with the difficult choice rather than surrender to what is loved most falling prey to its negative actions.

Each of the spheres of the Tree has a vice as well as its virtuous qualities.  For many the above mentioned aspects would be considered vices and negative energies. The real nature of Geburah’s vices is one of cruelty and exertion of power and will where it is neither productive nor applying a destructive nature that will make room for new growth to occur. Geburah’s energies are potent and the dynamic of this potency can turn to abuse and coercion of unjustifiable will that is not tempered and balanced by mercy.

For this reason careful scrutiny should be given to what we wish to cleave from our lives and what is just random and unjustifiable disruption.  Always remind yourself to look at both sides of the outcome of your efforts.  The wound may still be unpalatable that is inflicted, but is the ultimate outcome one of healing and fresh growth or will infection and decay be the byproduct.

Practical Application:

Every time we do a magickal working of release so that something new can be birthed we are using the energy of Geburah.  Cutting away what needs excision; tilling and preparing the internal soil for what seeds of new growth will be planted.

Every time we make a difficult choice in favor of moving towards what will be productive and leaving behind what has burdened or held us in stagnant space we are calling upon Geburah.  We are cutting away what hinders and although the sting of change may painfully be evident, the resultant new space of being we are allowing room for to grow will be soothing and joyful in its dawning.

Every time we offer words of prodding, that may appear harshly true in their delivery, but muster the energy towards positive change in the individual towards whom they are directed, we are acting under the guise of Geburah’s transformative blade.

We can observe the vice of Geburah in reading the atrocities of the world and the stories of those who manipulate and rise to power crowned in the blood of others.

A very simple exercise to align with the energies of Geburah:

• Sit quietly and make a list of those things you would like to change about a select situation
• When you have completed this list, take a look at each of the items you noted on it
• Completely and thoroughly examine each item
• Begin with those that are easiest to remove from the equation and cross them off your list. Making oath that this is done with the highest good and intent for all
• Continue in this way until you have narrowed the list down to one or two items that you see as being completely and justifiably in support of the efforts to change the situation
• On another sheet of paper, write the change(s) you have selected, and sitting quietly and reflectively begin the process of planning what steps you will take to effect this change; what healing will occur from releasing this barrier and the anticipated outcome

You have now become the one who has acknowledged and given careful consideration to all the flaws and strengths of the energies in your current situation; the positive, the neutral and the negative. You have now set into motion the exertion of a higher Will that does not hesitate to release what it must to ensure growth of what it Wills into creation.  You have now used the might of Geburah to stand as the gentle and compassionate surgeon who skillfully wields the scalpel that will heal.

In conclusion:  The study of the Qabalistic Tree of Life is one that looks at the entirety of the energy of the spheres and their connecting paths as a working whole.  You can take each of the components independently to give closer scrutiny, but must always return to the synthesis and totality of their interactions together.  With that thought in mind, the information I have presented on the singular sphere of Geburah merely touches the surface of its deeper meanings within the overarching energy of the complete Tree.  I hope these two articles have served to whet your appetite for deeper exploration of a system that is increasingly becoming a cornerstone for effective and deep magickal working.

For more information:

A Year Within the Tree of Life:

An online monthly study of the Qabalistic Tree within the Western Mystery Tradition offered by Oak and Willow Coven. Includes reading and other resource lists for more in depth study.

The Inner Chamber-Volume Two: Poetry of the Spheres by R. Fennelly

Available through Paypal at: Robin Fennelly Books