The Burners (Hebrew: Seraphim, “the burning ones”) are the Qliphothic order that corresponds to the sephirah Geburah on the Tree of Life. In the demonic hierarchy of the Qliphoth, they represent the most intense, consuming aspect of divine judgment—fire turned to destruction rather than purification.

Position on the Tree of Life

Geburah (Severity, Strength) is the fifth sephirah, the sphere of Mars, war, and rigorous justice. The Burners are its shadow, the unbalanced force of that severity: instead of disciplined correction, they embody uncontrolled rage, burning without mercy. In the Qliphothic system, each sephirah has a corresponding “shell” (Qlipha) that distorts its virtue into a vice. For Geburah, the virtue is courage and the vice is cruelty; the Burners are the active expression of that cruelty.

Astrological and Planetary Correspondence

Mars, the red planet of fire, aggression, and conflict, rules both Geburah and the Burners. The astrological glyph of Mars (♂) is the shield and spear, symbolizing the same piercing, consuming energy that the Burners manifest as literal flame. In magical practice, invoking the Burners is associated with martial destruction, volcanic force, and the breaking of obstacles through sheer violent heat.

Historical Context

The concept of the Seraphim as a Qliphothic order appears in several medieval and Renaissance Qabalistic texts. In the Zohar, the Seraphim are described as fiery angels who serve God, but in the Qliphoth they are the “other side” (Sitra Achra)—the same beings turned to evil. The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage lists “Seraphim” among the names of the infernal spirits, and later Qabalists such as Moses Cordovero and Isaac Luria systematized the ten Qliphothic orders, assigning “Seraphim” to Geburah. In Crowley’s Liber 777, the English name “Burners” is given for this order in Column VIII (Evil Spirits), line 5. The name directly translates the Hebrew Seraphim, emphasizing their function as agents of consuming fire. The sibling correspondences across the sephiroth—from “Dual contending Forces” at Kether to “The Evil Woman” at Malkuth—show a progression of increasingly material and corrupt forms of evil; the Burners sit at the fifth step, where fire is most concentrated and destructive.

In Liber 777

At scale step 5 (Geburah), the cell of Column VIII reads simply “Burners.” This entry is part of a list of ten Qliphothic names that map the inverse of the Sephiroth. The Burners are thus the specific demonic order that a practitioner would call upon or banish when working with the sphere of Mars on the Qliphothic Tree.