Hermetic Qabalah

The Qabalistic Tree

by Jan Swanson
from Colin's Hermetic Kabbalah Page

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

"Qabalah" is the spelling generally used to indicate the use of Kabbalah as an occult and
practical magical system. In it's modern form it is the creation (or adaptation) of Eliphas
Levi, and even more so S. L. "MacGregor" Mathers, the co-founder of The Hermetic Order
of the Golden Dawn. This was a magickal organisation which incorporated Judaic
Kabbalah, Egyptology, Rosicrucianism, ritual magic, astrology, tarot, and the Indian tattwa
system (as interpreted through Theosophy).
Two of the later Golden Dawn members, Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) and Dion Fortune
(born Violet Firth - 1891-1946), although very different in personality, outlook, and
teachings, each further popularised magic and Kabbalistic cosmology. Others who have
added to the rich symbolism of the Hermetic Tree are Frater Achad, Kenneth Grant; Gareth
Knight, and Bill Heidrick, to name just a few.

Qabalah and Kabbalah

In Judaic Kabbalah, the ten essences refer to the ten aspects of the Divine Personality. They
make up the world of Atzilut, high above the phenomenal world. As in the Christian
cosmology, there is an unbridgable ontological gulf between even the knowable God (the
ten Sefirot) and the Creation. The Kabbalist devotes himself to understanding the Sefirot,
and by doing so he arrives at an understanding of, and an approach to, the nature of God.
In Hermetic, magickal, Qabalah in contrast, the ten sefirot ("sephiroth") pertain to ten
aspects of what could be called the astral or magical world. In contrast with dualistic
theism, but in keeping with a neoplatonic and emanationist understanding, they are the ten
intermediate stages between the indescribable infinite or Absolute (En Sof, or "Ain Soph")
and the mundane reality. They are identified with ten grades of magical initiation, the seven
 planets of traditional astrology (with the lowest sefirah, Malkhut, representing the Earth,
and the two highest the fixed stars and the sphere of God) and with a numerological analysis
of the numbers one to ten. The twenty-two paths which link the ten sefirot are identified
with one of the twenty-two Hebrew letters and twenty-two Major Arcana tarot trumps).
Thus, not only each sefirah has a particular archetypal meaning, but each path as well,
making thirty-two archetypes altogether. By the proper means therefore it is possible to
invoke any of these fundamental essences. To this end, the Golden Dawn occultists from
Mathers on drew up long and elaborate tables of correspondences, listing the precise colour,
animal, perfume, precious stone, mythological beings, and so on. Crowley's book "777"
(which may or may not be a plagiarisation of a manuscript circulated by Mathers, with
Crowley's additional notes) give a comprehensive list of these tables of attributes.

The Ten Sefiroth

According to the teachings of Mathers, Fortune, Crowley, and others, the
cosmos is divided into ten fundamental archetypal essences; the ten
sefirot (or "sephiroth"), which are organised in three pillars.
The Sefirot as understood in the Golden Dawn system are not so much
attributes or structures of the body of God (only remnants of the original
Jewish theology remained), as occult or psychic powers or archetypes,
which were secondarily located within the human body.
Mathers also divided the Sefirot into three triads, which he called the
"astral", "moral", and "intellectual", the lowest sefirot meanwhile
representing the physical world.
This system of ten sefirot and twenty-two paths is used as a stylised "map" of consciousness
in ritual magic of the "Golden Dawn" tradition And while this form of Qabalah is certainly
a workable magical system, it bears little similarity to the original Jewish metaphysic from
which it was ultimately derived during the Renaissance.

Golden Dawn Jungian and pseudo-

Traditional position on Astrological
(Qabalistic) Meaning Magickal image Jungian Archetypes
spelling body correspondence
spelling (Dion Fortune etc)
Prime Mover (God) venerable bearded old
Godhead, God,
Keter 1. Kether Crown crown man - face seen in
the Self
[later, Neptune] profile
left side of Fixed stars [later, Yang, male polarity
Hokhmah 2.Chokmah Wisdom wise old man,
face Uranus] animus
right side of Great Goddess, Yin, female polarity
Binah 3. Binah Understanding Saturn
face old hag anima
none
Daat Daath Knowledge [later, 3rd eye none [later, Pluto] none none
or throat]
Hesed 4. Chesed Mercy, generosity Left arm Jupiter King seated on a throne

Gevurah 5. Gevurah Strength, power Right arm Mars Warrior

Child, King, Sacrificed
Tifaret 6. Tiphareth Vision of Higher Self Heart, breast Sun Ego, self,
God (e.g. Christ)
Loins, left
Netzah 7. Netzach Emotions, spontaneity Venus anima
hip, left leg
Hod 8. Hod Intellect Loins, right Mercury
 hip, right legs
Astral plane, the
Yesod 9. Yesod Genitals Moon Hermophrodite
unconscious
Physical reality (as seen
Malkut 10. Malkuth through the Feet, anus Earth Maiden
imagination)

Magical Images on the Tree - by Jan Swanson - a nice jpg image (71 kb)

The Tree of Life - an interactive image map - excellent

Qabalah Map - another good interactive map

Although reference is made to higher worlds, generally the realms the magician journeys to,
and the forces he or she invokes, are of an "astral" or psychic nature. Qabalistic practice
involves communing with, and integrating into one's own being, the qualities and abilities
of these various astral or psychic forces. And inasmuch as these forces are often considered
to be latent aspects and powers of one's own being - the individual or microcosmic
equivalent of the macrocosmic or archetypal forces or "Gods" - the Qabalistic path is in
many ways comparable to Carl Jung's idea of Individuation; the integration of all aspects of
one's being. There is sometimes also (although not always!) a tendency here for
psychological reductionism: the reducing of the status of all the Worlds "out there" to
imaginings "in here". But in spite of this, the Qabalistic tree is a profound and insightful
map of the various psychic worlds and powers.

Hermetic Kabbalah / Qabalah Links

Colin's Hermetic Kabbalah Page - the definitive on-line Hermetic

resource. includes a number of fascinating on-line documents by Bill
Heidrick and others. These are worth printing out for study. Also an
incredible links page. Best on the Web

Symbala - Beautiful models, visual impressions and teaching aids

relating to the Tree of Life. The artist approaches the subject from a visual
appreciation and explores 3 dimensional modeling, geometry and visionary arts.
Includes a shockwave flash interactive Tree and movies. The Kabbalah Poster
and Alchemical Star Print are among the published works on view and available
for purchase
 Qabalah Study - discussion forum dedicated to the Hermetic Qabalah

"The Qabalah Study site is dedicated to fostering a greater understanding and

personal life application of the principles of the Qabalah. Members are
encouraged to share their perceptions, questions, experiences, and intuitions
on the Qabalah as well as on kindred subjects such as Tarot, Alchemy,
Astrology, and Magick, and the many other pathways of the Esoteric Tradition
through the Message Board, Links, and Photos areas of the site. All
participation that is respectful, sincere, and on topic is welcome."

Quabbalah - The Tree of Life - by by Karen Chapdelaine. From a 1994

alt.magick newsgroup posting, this article gives a good very basic intro. Unfortunately the
spacing in the ascii diagram of the Tree did not come out very well in unformatted html

Qabalah Linkz - good page to mostly Hermetic (with a few Traditional)

Kabbalah links, arranged according to whether they are Elementary, Intermediate, or
Advanced
My Qabalah - interactive image map, follows basically the Golden Dawn
/Hermetic/Dion Fortune/ tradition(s) - gives a list of correspondences for and
description of each Sefirah

The Qabalistic and Thelemic Works of Frater Achad - the

complete works of Frater Achad, in both html and pdf format, includes interesting
Qabalistic writings, as well as other material - part of Norton's Imperium -- Enochian
Magick Papers & Links

High Magick: The Hermetic Kabalah - original writings on Magick, Hermetic

Kabbalah, the Tarot, and more. By Suba

Qabalah Web - introductory site on Qabalah and related subjects. Includes

annoutated recommended reading list

The Keys to Kabbalah - by Alan Bain - electronic version of Dr. Alan Bain's
book The Keys to Kabbalah. Covers each sephirah, each of the Tarot paths, and includes
diagrams, appendix and supplements.

Some Books
 The Kabbalah Unveiled by MacGregor S.L. Mathers - essentially extracts
from the Zohar, with Mathers' commentary. A number of Lurianic themes are
incorporated here. This was the basic Kabbalah textbook for the Golden Dawn

The Mystical Qabalah - Dion Fortune - a popular and very readable

introduction to the Qabalah and its symbolism - basically a popularisation of
Mather's book and his teachings

Key to the True Kabbalah by Franz Bardon - part of Bardon's dense corpus
of work - has little in common with the Golden Dawn tradition of Qabalah

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content by M.Alan Kazlev

page uploaded 28 May 1998, most recent update 17 April 2007