Nov 30, Christina Croft added it. I love Dion Fortune but I found this book quite difficult to fully absorb and understand. Perhaps it is a life's work to understand it and I have been told this is one of the most staight forward and simple books on the subject. It is something to which I shall return, I am sure, but it is certainly not an 'easy' read, I think!! Aug 23, Gwyndyllyn rated it it was amazing Shelves: It is important to note that the Qabalah is used differently in a lot of non-Jewish mysticism than it is in Jewish circles. Focuses primarily on the Sephiroth rather than the paths.
Fantastic introduction to the topic. Jan 08, Chris rated it it was amazing Shelves: So far, the best, most concise book on Qabalah. Nov 13, Fredstrong rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Anyone interested in the Western Qabalah. The Qabalah is a very complex system, and one can spend liftimes studying it.
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This is the best introduction to what can seem overwhelming at the start. Mar 21, Justin added it. Sep 12, Adrienne rated it it was amazing Shelves: Review is also available on my blog The Shameful Narcissist Speaks. Let me just put this out there right now. It's about the Tree of Life, which is made up of the Holy Sephiroth, the emanations or "God-names" that focus principle archetypes behind evolving human activities. I had no idea the rabbit hole I was diving into, nor did I realize either how well SquareSoft now Squeenix The Qabalah seeks to solve the paradox of "the Many and the One," speaks about microcosm and macrocosm, and essentially serves as a guide through the metaphysical and esoteric.
The Mystical Qabalah
Reading The MQ showed not only how much the symbolism of the Tree is present in my favorite game and also favorite story , but in so many other narratives, as well. One of the major points Fortune brings us to is that though they are named Holy and Unholy Sephiroth which would suggest two trees, in reality there is but the Holy Tree and its shadow. It is a ubiquitous, all encompassing glyph that is frequently used without even the knowledge of invocation, and in either having knowledge or lacking it, creates a meta for the symbol itself as first and foremost knowledge is Qabalism's greatest concern.
Fortune does a phenomenal job laying out all aspects of the Holy Stations, and while I did have to be nominally awake to absorb some of the concepts, they were simply explained and easily laid out. The complication came in the rumination on higher meanings. It took me over a decade to finish this book. Pay no attention to the "Date Added" and "Date Finished" above. I bought it years before Goodreads existed when I was still in my twenties and reading tarot regularly.
Both that system of divination and astrology have heavy connections to the Tree of Life. Interestingly enough, I'd seen mentions of the Qabalah before I played VII, but it flew above my radar, because there was nothing connecting me to it. Once I played it and knew the origin of the name Sephiroth, I couldn't purchase this fast enough, but at the time, the esoteric symbolism was beyond me. I lamented that it was far too much to get through at the time , but when I picked it up again approximately a year ago, I wondered what the hell my juvenile self had found such issue with.
The one complaint I have has to do with some caustically casual racist remarks that are sprinkled throughout the volume.
Unfortunately, as mystical as Fortune was, she was still a product of her time. This is used as an explanation and not an excuse. So if you read The MQ, prepare for a few cringe worthy moments. This almost made me lower the rating by a star, but the information and the way it's presented is excellent, so it retains a high rank but with that caveat. Mar 15, Ayisha rated it really liked it. This book was my very first book that I have read on the mystical Qabalah, and the very first book I have read by Dion Fortune.
I have read internet articles, watched videos and attended a workshop on this subject so I did have some understanding of the concepts that Dion Fortune wrote about I would still consider myself a beginner however. This book mostly goes through the sephiroths and has these neat little references for each sphere which I liked.
For example, for each sphere it will have This book was my very first book that I have read on the mystical Qabalah, and the very first book I have read by Dion Fortune. For example, for each sphere it will have the title, magickal image, Yetzirach text, titles given to the sphere, the God-name, the Archangel, the Order of Angels, mundane chakra, spiritual vision, virtue, vice, correspondences in microcosm, symbols, tarot cards, and associated colours.
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It does not discuss the pathways very much, but I think that's okay because then the book would probably be very large and complicated. She talks about the 4 worlds, the kingdoms and the pillars a bit in the beginning of the book. I think I will keep this book for future reference and reread it. To be honest, some sections of the book I had to reread and take some time to think about it because it was beyond my understanding. I'm sure that if I keep studying the mystical Qabalah I will understand it better.
One thing that I might say is that this book is very detailed and "heavy". The way it is written is a bit old-fashioned, but the information is excellent.
Mystical Qabalah By Dion Fortune, Free ebook | Global Grey
Take a look at it if you are interested in tarot, the mystical Qabalah, occultism or if you like Dion Fortune's work! I will definitely look into more of her books in the future. Oct 11, S Shah rated it liked it. I represent the observance of the Sabbath, as it is written, 'Remember Zakhor the day of the Sabbath'" p. I read other things, and then finally decided to order another copy.
I wasn't able to get into it the way I had before. Hard to say why. It is, in some ways very logically organized, but then in others seems to dive off into tangents that make its use as a reference somewhat complicated. At any rate, I wasn't nearly as receptive as I had been a few years ago.
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Reading mostly in transit, the completion of the book took an inordinate amount of time, so a rhythm was never established. These faults are mine. Fortune beats not around the proverbial bush, and attempts to lay the concepts out as clearly as possible. Still, 80 year old English can be significantly more circuitous than the contemporary vernacular. A second attempt with more focus is needed, but for now other texts await.
Jan 14, Gabriel Clarke rated it really liked it Shelves: Dense, comprehensive analysis of the Western Qaballah's ten sephiroth and the Tree of Life. Nothing is left under-analysed, every new age sin is here committed, frequently for the first time physicists just catching up to Theosophists? Freud as dimly grasping the truths of the ancient priesthoods? When her presentation of this system and it is a system works, it works hard. Like Ezra Pound in modernist poetry, Fortune has to be taken account of.
For anyone looking for a direct and clearly set-out within the limits of the esoteric subject matter insight into why some of the more creative and intelligent people of the s, s, s took this material so seriously, this is as good a starting point as any and still better than most. May 22, James Hein rated it it was amazing.
This is not a book you read in a day. Well you could read it in a day but not really understand it, nor absorb any deeper meaning. It is a book about the Tree of Life but not the more mundane Kabalah but rather a higher plane perspective. If read as an intellectual exercise it would provide one lesson.
If studied and each item meditated upon it would take a long time and in some cases it would be beneficial to have a lot of background or a guide. My actual rating is 4. For any serious student on the Pathway who is seeking some background, some guidance and starting points then this book will be useful. It took me weeks to get through it and I made comments in the margins in a number of places.
Now I need to go back and test some of the information. Feb 27, Abe Fabella rated it really liked it Shelves: This is a very thorough survey and guided tour through the Qabalistic Tree of Life as practiced by occultists of the Golden Dawn variety. I enjoyed it, and it really helped clarify a lot of the functionality of various Sephira including Netzach, Hod and Yesod which have always been a bit hazy in my previous perceptions of them. Fortune for illuminating me! Be warned that, although the principles of metaphysics that this book point to are eternal and do not change over time, the author' This is a very thorough survey and guided tour through the Qabalistic Tree of Life as practiced by occultists of the Golden Dawn variety.
Be warned that, although the principles of metaphysics that this book point to are eternal and do not change over time, the author's analogies are quite outdated, making her sound too much like an Edwardian-era British schoolmarm which may be to one's liking, but in the realm of metaphysics, it becomes a bit off-putting to me. As a guide for the student of mysticism, the book is indispensable.
Sep 11, Letitia rated it liked it Shelves: It took me a long time to get through it, as it is all rather complex, and I could only process small sections at a time. I don't think this was the best book to pick for a complete novice to this system. While it is certainly very thorough, it is just so heavy.
But then, maybe that just goes with the territory.
By the end of the book, I must admit I was a little lost and unsure of exactly how to put this system to use, in both tarot and my magick. This doesn't reflect so much on Finally finished! This doesn't reflect so much on the quality of this book,but just my understanding of it. This is one I will probably come back to after reading some lighter texts on the subject.
Oct 15, Barry marked it as to-read. A perfect compliment to "The Essence of Kabbalah", a smaller volume that includes almost daily devotionals of the Kabbalistic belief system. This book, on the other hand, delves deeper into the meanings and practical uses of the kabbalistic Tree of Life and its sefirophs. Sometimes difficult in a good way to wrap your mind around the philosphies and ideas pertaining to this belief system, it turns out to be exactly what I've been looking for in my quest to understand this mystical system.
From Kether emanate the rest of the sephirot in turn, viz. Daath is not assigned a number as it is considered part of Binah or a hidden sephirah. Each sephirah is considered to be an emanation of the divine energy often described as 'the divine light' which ever flows from the unmanifest, through Kether into manifestation. Each sephirah is a nexus of divine energy, and each has a number of attributions. These attributions enable the Qabalist to form a comprehension of each particular sephirah's characteristics.
This manner of applying many attributions to each sephirah is an exemplar of the diverse nature of Hermetic Qabalah. For example, the sephirah Hod has the attributions of: Glory, perfect intelligence, the eights of the tarot deck, the planet Mercury, the Egyptian god Thoth, the archangel Michael, the Roman god Mercury and the alchemical element Mercury. Hermetic Qabalists see the cards of the tarot as keys to the Tree of Life. The 22 cards including the twenty-one Trumps plus the Fool or Zero card are often called the " Major Arcana " or "Greater Mysteries" and are seen as corresponding to the twenty-two Hebrew letters and the twenty-two paths of the Tree; the ace to ten in each suit correspond to the ten Sephiroth in the four Qabalistic worlds; and the sixteen court cards relate to the classical elements in the four worlds.
According to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's interpretation of the Kabbalah , there are ten archangels , each commanding one of the choirs of angels and corresponding to one of the Sephirot. Traditionalist Judaic views of Kabbalah 's origins view it as an original development from within the Jewish religion, perhaps expressed through syncretic terminology from Medieval Jewish Neoplatonism.
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Contemporary academics of Jewish mysticism have reassessed Gershom Scholem 's theory that the new doctrine of Medieval Kabbalah assimilated an earlier Jewish version of Gnosticism; [18] Moshe Idel instead has posited a historical continuity of development from early Jewish mysticism. According to this view, "Hermetic Qabalah" would be the original Qabalah, [ citation needed ] even though the word itself is Judaic Hebrew, over the Christian Cabalah or the Jewish Kabbalah.
Jewish Kabbalah was absorbed into the Hermetic tradition at least as early as the 15th century when Giovanni Pico della Mirandola promoted a syncretic worldview combining Platonism , Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism , Hermeticism and Kabbalah. It contributed strongly to the Renaissance view of ritual magic's relationship with Christianity. Pico's Hermetic syncretism was further developed by Athanasius Kircher , a Jesuit priest, hermeticist and polymath, who wrote extensively on the subject in , bringing further elements such as Orphism and Egyptian mythology to the mix.
Once Hermeticism was no longer endorsed by the Christian Church it was driven underground and a number of Hermetic brotherhoods were formed. With the Enlightenment Age of Reason and its skepticism of mainstream religion, the tradition of exoteric-theological Christian Cabala declined, while esoteric-occult Hermetic Qabalah flourished in the Western mystery tradition [ citation needed ]. Non-Jewish Cabala, unlike in Judaic Kabbalah 's mainstream censure of its magical side , became a central component of Western occult, magic and divination. Rosicrucianism and esoteric branches of Freemasonry taught religious philosophies, Qabalah, and divine magic in progressive steps of initiation.
Their esoteric teachings, and secret society structure of an outer body governed by a restricted inner level of adepts, laid the format for modern esoteric organisations. Post-Enlightenment Romanticism encouraged societal interest in occultism, of which Hermetic Qabalistic writing was a feature. Francis Barrett 's The Magus handbook of ceremonial magic gained little notice until it influenced the French magical enthusiast Eliphas Levi His fanciful literary embellishments of magical invocations presented Qabalism as synonymous with both so-called White and so-called Black magic.
Levi's innovations included attributing the Hebrew letters to the Tarot cards, thus formulating a link between Western magic and Jewish esotericism which has remained fundamental ever since in Western magic. Levi had a deep impact on the magic of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
Through the occultists inspired by him including Aleister Crowley , who considered himself Levi's reincarnation Levi is remembered as one of the key founders of the 20th-century revival of magic. Hermetic Qabalah was developed extensively by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn , [23] Within the Golden Dawn, the fusing of Qabalistic principles such as the ten Sephiroth with Greek and Egyptian deities was made more cohesive and was extended to encompass other systems such as the Enochian system of angelic magic of John Dee and certain Eastern particularly Hindu and Buddhist concepts, all within the structure of a Masonic or Rosicrucian style esoteric order.
Aleister Crowley, who passed through the Golden Dawn before going on to form his own magical orders, is the most widely known exponent of Hermetic Magic [24] or Magick as he preferred to spell it. Crowley's book Liber is a good illustration of the wider Hermetic approach. It is a set of tables of correspondences relating various parts of ceremonial magic and Eastern and Western religion to the thirty-two numbers representing the ten spheres Sephiroth plus the twenty-two paths of the Qabalistic Tree of Life.
Many of the Golden Dawn's rituals were published by Crowley, altered in various ways to align them with his own New Aeon magickal approach. Israel Regardie eventually compiled the more traditional forms of these rituals and published them in book form. Dion Fortune , an initiate of Alpha et Omega an offshoot of the Golden Dawn , who went on to found the Fraternity of the Inner Light wrote the seminal book The Mystical Qabalah , widely considered one of the best general introductions to modern Hermetic Qabalah.
Paul Foster Case — was an American occultist and author of influential books on occult tarot and Qabalah. He founded the Builders of the Adytum B. Zalewski has published numerous works on Hermetic Qabalah and the Golden Dawn tradition.