Introduction to Magic of Qabalah What is the Qabalah? Originally a Judaic path of ascension, as symbolized by the image of the Tree of Life, the Qabalistic system has maintained its structure over the aeons. It has never ceased in offering the aspiring soul a chance to reach higher planes, but with time its modes of use have changed dramatically. Adopted by spiritual aspirants from all walks of life, from medieval alchemists to nineteenth-century magi, then popularized on a wider scale by the "outing" of many High Magick techniques in the twentieth century, one might suspect the Tree to have bent under the weight of so many eager neophytes. However, the very eclecticism found in modern Qabalah is one of the strongest and most essential features of this system. Much of the atmosphere of Orthodox Judaism, its "parent tradition," has now been lost, or at least absorbed into a much wider-reaching field of spiritual practice. No longer the province of a single philosophy or religion, it has incorporated the signs and symbols of many others, making it a transdimensional reference library, the living 777, to take an expression from Aleister Crowley. Indeed, Crowley''s work is arguably the fertilizer most responsible for the Tree''s latter-day luster, though cross-pollination would surely have happened sooner or later with such rich ground as this. Today''s Qabalah is as diverse and eclectic as our current age.

We can thank the psychically avant-garde work of Crowley, along with that of Eliphas Levi, Israel Regardie, MacGregor Mathers, and Dion Fortune, for stimulating the popular magickal imagination of the last century, bringing diverse paths together and changing the import of the Qabalah forever. While the system of Qabalah will be charted in depth through the course of this book, a summary of the tradition''s structure can be offered here. The Qabalah describes ten main states of being, the Sephiroth or "emanations," and twenty-two states of becoming, the Paths. A negative framework to the Sephiroth''s positive exists in the form of the Qlipoth or "sparks," also known as "shards" or "peels." In conjunction with these negative realms, the Sephiroth determine the shape of the Tree of Life, which itself describes the whole of Creation, including what existed before Creation. Each Sephirah (singular of Sephiroth) exists under the rule of a different aspect of the Mother-Father God; that is, it represents a particular aspect of the relation between the Creative Intelligence and the Created Universe. The descent of Spirit into Matter, the development of duality, and the gradual divorce from our spiritual origin are all demonstrated by the Sephiroth as we scale down the Tree of Life on which they sit. The Sephiroth also contain all relevant archetypes, from world folklore and mythology: for example, Binah, the Supernal Mother whose name means "Understanding," encompasses Nuit, Kali, and other Terrible Mothers (as the givers and breakers of Form), as well as Isis and Mary, mother of Christ.

As the facet of Understanding spans a great many aspects of experience, it follows that Mary''s piety and Kali''s apparent wanton destruction can both be ascribed to Binah, particularly as both conform to the "Vision of Sorrow" which is this Sephirah''s spiritual experience, and both involve the dissolution of established form and traumatic transition into a new mode of being. Likewise, all sacrificed gods can be ascribed to Tiphareth, the mystical and solar Sephirah. This follows for all the other Sephiroth along the paths of the Tree. The same symbols attributed to each Sephirah play a microcosmic role, summarizing every facet of individual existence. This philosophy may in turn be encapsulated in the adage "As Above, So Below." Where did Qabalah come from? The word itself comes from Hebrew, meaning "that which is received." Tradition holds that the teachings were passed from master to student, in a chain going back to the Archangel Metatron, Angel of the Presence, who descended from the Crown of Creation (Kether) to Mount Sinai in order to deliver enlightenment to Moses, the spiritual ancestor of all Jewish rabbis. Most of this occult knowledge was later condensed into glyphs, the first symbols of Ets Chayyim, the Tree of Life.

Conveyed by word of mouth from one generation of learned men to another, Qabalistic teachings were not written down until around 1000 c.e. Following the collection and publication of the first texts of the Qabalah in the European Middle Ages, the creed underwent a renaissance. Again, in the sixteenth century, the development of Qabalah experienced a second flowering. That said, Qabalistic learning has never been so much a part of the popular mainstream as it is today. In this book, "Qabalah" will be spelled in this way to differentiate it from the traditional Jewish Kabbalah, its parent-or should I say, its host. Modern Qabalah is a cuckoo child, a former impostor in the nest of Judaism, now an independent fledgling. However, as the foregoing survey of its history reveals, Kabbalah/Qabalah has long been subject to diverse influences.

Like any living religion, it receives many tributaries-but the river which carries us here is the magickal river, and we are dealing with correspondences alien to Judaism, though not to Kabbalah itself. As Z''ev Ben Shimon Halevi points out in Kabbalah, The Divine Plan, the Tarot system so often dismissed as irrelevant is actually based on information gleaned from the Zohar, one of the central texts in Kabbalah. According to Halevi''s account, the Major Arcana represent the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the four suits symbolising the Four Worlds (to be discussed below), and is highly conducive to Qabalistic development. The use of Tarot cards as a symbolic system, and the ability to adapt and relate anything-but anything-to part of the Tree, may be slightly unorthodox, but it is no less valid (indeed, in my opinion, it is more valid for being at least partially subjective). Kabbalah/Qabalah itself represents a long tradition of thinking in an unconventional and inclusive manner. The Jewish Mystery Tradition has much to offer in the way of meditation, psychotherapy, psychology, and insight into the ancient folklore that informs the system, but the Western Mystery Tradition (the focus of this book ) encompasses a great deal more. Much that did not belong on the Tree at first now does, owing to the input of all who meditate on or activate the various Sephiroth. Thus, though Crowley''s particular attributions may have borne personal significance for him at the time, their application by others in meditation and magick has since made them "real.

" Basilisks may arise in the mind''s eye when Geburah is considered, though they originally had no place on the Tree. Astral elephants really do parade about the planes of Yesod, thanks to the much-invoked Thelemic thought practice, at least when the Tree is approached in the spirit of the Western Magickal Tradition. Whether they are "visible" to Jewish Kabbalists is another matter. Martin Buber and Gershom Scholem, two of those most responsible for reviving the increasingly obfuscated Kabbalah within their own heritage, might well rebuke the interloper(s), though I hope to be corrected on this point. The cuckoo child has built its own nest now, and its host parent is once again freed of its uninvited presence. In the new Tree described in these pages, an ever-changing network of consciousness has formed, like a telephone exchange in which conversations on particular topics can be tapped. Within this system, all that was invested in the original Judaic model remains, but the correspondences of all mythological and religious traditions are also found here, equal in relevance, along with various types of magickal working and thought processes useful to the spiritual pilgrim. So too with the input of its travellers, Jews and non-Jews alike: the Qabalah is the embodiment of this far-reaching-and indeed infinite-eclecticism.

The present age is one founded on shared information, the mixing of ancient currents both intellectual and spiritual. In the West, even gender roles are changing, our personalities and looks becoming more androgynous, with the essential spark of polar magnetism left intact. Science is being brought into conformity with Will, allowing a soul to sculpt its own body. It is becoming possible to experience life-paths vicariously through informed empathy that we never would have believed in before. Travel is contributing towards this lessening of insularity, allowing us to perceive firsthand the living modes of other human beings on the planet. Cultures are mixing, influencing one another and creating new music, style, vocabularies, and thought patterns. Computers have caused an explosion of creativity and initiated an "Info-fest." Everything is merging.

That the Qabalah and other magickal systems should become commonly accessible was inevitable. With millions looking for ascension, every channel must be opened; a fact of which the late great magicians who first brought it to our attention were well aware. However, I feel sure that Eliphas Levi, Israel Regardie, Dion Fortune, and other original exponents of the craft would be the first to blanch at some of the side effects. Those early masters'' emphasis was on strict training and self-discipline, with comprehension their highest priority. Unfortunately the system seems so complex at first sight, and was often so abstrusely presented, that those eager to taste the fruits of the Tree tend to neglect the groundwork needed to make a successful climb. Not only this, but climbing by the uncertain light of gibbous understanding, they leave foot and claw marks on the ancient bark and sweaty fingerprints on its appendages. The Tr.