The trouble with healing journeys is that we often encounter a great deal of inertia, whether this is purely out of force of habit or due to our circumstances and surroundings, which makes it incredibly difficult to action or stick to our well intentioned improvements. It can feel like an impossible feat when nothing around you seems to change, and you find yourself overwhelmed at the prospect of being a new person despite a world that expects you to fit a certain mould. Enter uncrossing.
I had thought about starting this off with an exploration of habit breaking but something feels right about the uncrossing road. One of my first teachers was really big on Uncrossing at a time when it wasn’t something you came across on the internet. His tradition regarded it as a central skillset for any magical practitioner worth their salt and so a lot of my work under him involved uncrossing.
But what is it?
Uncrossing is a form of magical working aimed at removing ‘crossed conditions’ from an individual, situation, or place. It has become increasingly bundled up with hex-breaking or protective magic as its popularity has grown, but crossed conditions aren’t necessarily curses. I was taught that a crossed condition is anything that blocks the roads or keeps someone constrained in negative situations or habits. Like calcium buildups in taps, it prevents the proper flow of energy and functioning of the individual. It can be the result of negative energy thrown at you but also simply the accumulation of negative thought patterns, trauma, limiting beliefs, or emotions held by the individual themselves.
There is some overlap here with the idea of road opening, and uncrossing work can be similarly applied to more or less specific things – such as money, love, health or just a general clearing. However, I see road opening as a more external focus compared to the uncrossing, which is about the internal condition, perspective, or experience of the individual rather than the opportunities or events available to them. As you can probably see, this distinction is a little vague and there is definitely overlap, but I tend to view them as compatible rather than interchangeable magical operations.
What Does It Involve?
Uncrossing rituals can vary from the incredibly elaborate to the makeshift, both in terms of the complexity and duration of the operation. My teacher would adapt the operation to suit the issue at hand of the client in question. Uncrossing work related to recovery from addiction would involve dolls, personal items of the individual, herbal baths and incenses, prayers and a fairly extensive time period. For a general purpose approach, in circumstances where there might not be any major troubles but the individual might be preparing for other work to build positive outcomes, the ritual was usually fairly short and lasted about a week. This might be as simple as bathing and prayer, or a short candle ritual following bathing and anointing on seven consecutive days.
As you can see, there is significant scope for personalisation and experimentation here. As a magical practitioner, this is worth exploring for yourself in order to learn the best approach for you and your spirits. At the basis of it is the use of a formula designed to remove crossed conditions, which is applied as a bath, oil, and/or floor wash.
The Stages
My teacher viewed the procedure as falling into roughly three stages:
1. Clearing
2. Healing
3. Protection and replacement
These three stages had specific requirements and actions, as well as symptoms or reactions that might be expected.
The Clearing stage was entirely about identifying the crossed condition and removing it. This is what most people think of when they approach this sort of work. It is the act of exorcising the negative influences, breaking curses, or otherwise bringing things into alignment for a smoother trajectory. He often likened it to extracting the splinter so that the wound could heal. At this stage, it is common for the individual to experience the most discomfort or retaliation. This is the moment you apply antiseptic to an infected wound – it tends to sting. My teacher talked about this as the shadow of the individual experiencing the withdrawal from the negative connections and the protest of any entities that were involved or feeding on the negative cycles.
The Healing stage following the Clearing. Once the causes have been identified and shifted, the individual undergoes the physical and psychic repair needed. This stage is the itch of a scab and may involve some withdrawal symptoms, cravings, and holds risks of falling back into the old habits. During this period, the person must persist in the work and allow the process to unfold. Everything happens at the rate of nature. Sometimes the only way around is through. Prayer and connection with allies and healing spirits is engaged at this time of convalescence.
The final stage is all about putting something else into place so that we are consciously directing what fills the gap left by the crossed conditions. This is where you engage in exercise routines and rehabilitate yourself with positive or beneficial habits. Getting your sleep in order, cleaning up your diet, taking up a hobby that brings you joy and contributes to your life in a beneficial way.
These stages can be drawn out over a period of time or approached in a single working that is followed by conscious shifts in patterns of behaviour and thinking. How you do this is dependent on the severity of the condition and how long it has been in place. Typically, older habits are harder to break because so much of our lives have adjusted around them. It is easy to see that these sorts of workings tend to become a semi-frequent part of the spiritual routine in order to maintain spiritual health.
Recipes
There are an increasing number of recipes available for this work, as well as various pre-made products that can be purchased if you don’t want to make your own. A great deal of these are place, situation, or practitioner specific. So, I invite you to explore your own recipes and to try out any that catch your fancy. I’ll explore a few below.
One of the first recipes I tried for this, which I tend to use as a base model for formulating my own blends is to combine equal parts Rose, Bay, Lavender, and Verbena. These ingredients each target specific stages of the process outlined above, as well as serving functions within the blend. The Bay is protective and purifying, Lavender is soothing, Rose brings support, love and beauty, while Verbena is traditionally used for protection and acts as a power herb in the recipe. You can adjust the portions of each herb to suit the particular situation depending on what you feel needs more or less emphasis. I also like to add a pinch of blessed salt to my oils and incense powders for uncrossing.
Some other common herbs for this sort of work include lemongrass, hyssop, and rue. These herbs are all cleansing and protective in various ways. Note that Rue can cause skin irritation in some people when exposed to the herb. Holy water can also be employed if you are comfortable working with this ingredient. You can even select specific kinds of holy water to suit your intention (which I recommend), such as water taken from particular locations associated with healing miracles – Lourdes water, for example.
How do you do it?
You can elect to begin your work on a day that is governed by planetary influences matching your focus, but I tend to go with Sunday (this is also how I was taught). The particulars of the ritual usually involve bathing (such as with a tea of hyssop poured over the head after your normal shower, rubbing over the body and then allowed to air dry) while saying a prayer or affirmation. You can then anoint yourself with an uncrossing oil and place some of the powder in your shoes to keep you on the path. Doing this with intent, while also making the mundane actions to shift your habits is a decent starting point. I would also recommend calling to any allies or helping spirits you work with already.
In terms of ceremony, I was taught to do this with white and purple candles for general workings. The white is purifying and the purple lends power to the work. You should have a candle that represents yourself or the person being uncrossed and anoint all of the candles with the uncrossing oil. Create sacred space after bathing and call in the powers you work with. Bring your mind to the crossed condition, psychic dirt, or habit as it is around you. Light the candles and call forth the powers to help and say any prayers of healing and protection you use. See a beam of purifying light descending from the heavens and washing over you. It clears away the darkness and brings peace and healing. Light the candle representing yourself and make a statement that your soul is illuminated as the candle is lit. Sit with the visualisation and fill yourself with light, seeing all the negative energy and crossed conditions being banished from your presence. Rest in this for a time and note anything that comes up for you during this process. When you are done, close however you normally do.
The is a basic outline of the mechanism of this sort of working. It is the way I was first taught and gives you the feel for what you are trying to do. You can expand this as much as you like, bringing in different signifier candles or reducing it to a prayer with anointing and visualisation. Experiment and explore to develop your own procedure for working the uncrossing.
What Else?
It is recommended that you also clean your home. This work should be done in a clean space to accommodate the new energy you are bringing in. You can use your uncrossing recipe to make a floor wash and wash water for your floors, windows and doors. Clean your home while focusing on clearing the space of negativity and any influences that cross you. You can also burn purifying incenses with the windows open to further clear the space.
As previously discussed, it is worth following this up with work to bring in positive things to replace the negative ones. You can burn wealth incense at your door after washing your floors, or anoint a candle with an oil for peace, health, whatever. The main thing is to put in the effort to keeping your attention on things that nourish you and contribute positively to your life. Playing an instrument, learning a language, keeping the home clean – whatever it needs to be for you.
I will be preparing for some uncrossing work to kick off my healing journey in earnest before moving on to more targeted projects aligned with these improvements. If you have experience or thoughts on uncrossing, I would love to hear your stories and ideas. If you’re going to do some uncrossing work, what changes would you make to your habits or routines to cement the work in your life?
Happy enchanting.
arawnbel 