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Kabbalah Dion Fortune.
Preface.
The Tree of Life is the foundation of the Western esoteric tradition and at the same time the system on the basis of which disciples are trained in the Brotherhood of the Inner Light. This book, as well as subsequent ones, is used by the Brotherhood for educational purposes.
In matters of transliteration of Hebrew words - in particular in English - there are great differences. It seems that each scientist uses his own system. In this book, I have used the alphabetical table given by MacGregor Mathers in the book Kabbalah Unveiled, because this is the book that students of esoteric schools tend to use. But Mathers himself does not always follow the principles reflected in his own table, and even sometimes uses various options writing the same words. This is very confusing for everyone who wants to apply the gematric method of interpretation, which involves replacing letters with numbers. Therefore, when Mathers gives several transliterations, I use the one that matches the one given in his own table.
The capitalization of some of the words in this book may seem unusual. However, here I am following a tradition that has developed among students of Western esoteric systems. This tradition involves, for example, the use of the words "Earth" and "Way" to denote spiritual principles. When used this way, these words are capitalized. Writing a word with a small letter means that it should be understood in the usual sense.
Since MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley are my authorities on Kabbalistic mysticism, my position on these two writers should be clarified. At one time I was part of an organization founded by the first of them, and never communicated with the second. I did not personally know any of these gentlemen at all, for by the time I joined the organization MacGregor Mathers had died and Aleister Crowley was no longer a member.
Chapter 1 Yoga of the West
1. Very few students of the occult know anything about the original source of the occult teaching. Many are unaware of the existence of the Western Tradition at all. Scholars are misled by the intentional reservations and omissions of the initiates, who for centuries concealed true value esoteric terms. Therefore, researchers conclude that the few texts that have come down to us are medieval forgeries. They would be extremely surprised to learn that these fragments, as well as manuscripts passed from hand to hand, with the addition of traditionally reported oral information, are still used in esoteric schools as the basis practical exercises Yoga of the West.
2. Adepts of the races, whose evolutionary destiny is the conquest of the physical plane, have developed their own technique of Yoga, oriented to their problems and needs. This technique is based on the well-known, but incomprehensible to the uninitiated Kabbalah - the Wisdom of Israel.
3. The question may arise why the roots of the mystical tradition of Western nations go back precisely to Jewish culture? The answer to it is obvious to those who are familiar with the esoteric theory of races and subraces. Everything has its origin. Cultures do not arise from nothing, and the germ of each new culture is inevitably contained in its historical predecessor. Judaism was the matrix of European spirituality, as evidenced in particular by the fact that Jesus and the apostle Paul were Jews. Only the Jewish people, and no other, could become the main character in the events of the New Testament, since only their religion was monotheistic. Pantheism and polytheism are obsolete, the times have come new spirituality. The Christian peoples derived their religion from Jewish culture, just as the Buddhist peoples of the East owe their spirituality to Indian culture.
4. Israeli mysticism is at the heart of modern Western occultism. It forms the theoretical basis on which all rituals are built. Its well-known glyph, compound symbol, or symbolic scheme, the Tree of Life, is the best imagery known to us that can be used for meditation, because it is the most ambiguous.
5. In this book, I intend not to describe the results historical research origins of Kabbalah, but only to show its methods to contemporaries studying secret rituals. Although our approach is based on traditional views, we have no need to limit ourselves to them. Technique that finds practical application is constantly evolving, because the experience of everyone who is involved in it enriches it. Thus, every student of Kabbalah contributes to our common heritage.
6. We are not at all obliged to perform certain ritual actions or adhere to certain ideas just out of respect for the opinion of the rabbis who lived before Christ. The world has changed markedly since then, other times have come. But everything that in principle was true then is true now, which means that it is valuable to us. Although the modern Kabbalist is the heir of the ancient Kabbalist, he can reinterpret the doctrine and modify the method in the light of modernity, making full use of the heritage he received for purely practical purposes.
7. I do not claim that the modern interpretations of Kabbalah known to me are identical to the ideas of the pre-Christian rabbis, but I note that they are their natural continuation and the end result of the development of the system of those times.
8. The stream is cleaner, the closer it is to the source. To uncover the main principles, we must go to the key itself. The purity of the flow depends on the level of contamination of the sleeves flowing into it, which, however, may turn out to be quite transparent. To find out how pure these tributaries are, we compare them with the original source, and if they pass this test, they may well be allowed to mix with the main current and thereby increase its power. The same with tradition: it consists of everything that does not contradict the foundations. Turning to the main principles and making sure of the purity of the tradition, we at the same time judge its viability by the level of assimilation. Only a dead system is not subject to change under the influence of modernity.
9. The original stream of Jewish mysticism underwent many changes. We observe his rise among the nomadic star-worshippers of Chaldea, where Abraham, in his tent among the flocks, heard the Voice of God. However, behind the rather vague image of Abraham, even more ancient outlines are visible. For example, the mysterious figure of the great Priest-King, “born without a father, without a mother, without ancestors, whose life had neither beginning nor end”, and his communion with bread and wine after the battle with the Kings, the sinister “Kings of Edom”, “who ruled before there was a king in Israel whose power was unparalleled.
10. For several generations, the connection of the fathers of Israel with the priest-kings of Egypt can be traced. Abraham and Jacob go to Egypt; Joseph and Moses were closely associated with adepts from the Pharaoh's entourage. Reading that Solomon asks Hiram, king of Tire, to help people and materials in the construction of the Temple, one can assume that the well-known mysteries of the ancient capital of Phoenicia must have had a profound influence on Jewish esotericism. If we take into account that Daniel was educated in the palaces of Babylon, it becomes obvious that the wisdom of the magicians was available to enlightened Jews.
11. This ancient Jewish mystical tradition included three literary sources: the Books of the Law and the Prophets, known to us as the Old Testament; Talmud, or collection of commentaries on texts Old Testament; Kabbalah, or mystical interpretation of the Old Testament. As the ancient rabbis argued, the first of these sources is the body of the tradition, the second is its rational soul, and the third is the immortal spirit. The ignorant could profitably read the first, the enlightened studied the second, but the wise concentrated on the third. It is very strange that Christian interpreters of the Old Testament never looked for clues in the Kabbalah.
12. During the life of Christ, there were three schools of religious life in Palestine: the Pharisees, the Sadducees (who are often mentioned in the Gospel), and the Essenes, about whom we know almost nothing. According to one of the apocrypha, the boy Jesus, the son of Joseph, at the age of twelve, when the scale of His personality was realized by theologians who heard His speech in the Temple, was sent by them to the Essenes community near the Dead Sea in order to teach the mystical tradition of Israel. He remained there until he came to John at the age of thirty to be baptized in the Jordan River before beginning his mission. If this was the case, which is quite possible, then the final words of the Our Father prayer are filled with Kabbalistic meaning.
Sefirot: Malkuth - Kingdom, Hod - Strength, Netzach - Glory - form the basic triangle of the Tree of Life, with the Sefira Yesod (Foundation, or Storehouse of Influences) in the center. Everyone who says this prayer involuntarily uses Kabbalah.
13. Christianity derives its esotericism from Gnosticism, which owes much to both Greek and Egyptian thought. On the example of the Pythagorean system, we are convinced of the adaptation of the principles of the Kabbalah to Greek mysticism.
14. Exoteric, i.e. subject to the state part Christian Church persecuted and eradicated its esoteric branch, destroying all traces of it wherever its hands could reach, in order to remove the very mention of gnosis from human history. There is written evidence that the baths and baths of Alexandria were heated for six months by the manuscripts of the city's great library. Only a very small part has come down to us. spiritual heritage the ancient sages, for the barbarians literally razed it to the ground, and only as a result of careful archaeological excavations of the ruins absorbed by the sands do we rediscover the former greatness of the knowing spirit.
15. Until the beginning of the weakening of the dictates of the Church in the fifteenth century, the Jewish sages were afraid to trust paper with their thoughts and knowledge. Scholars argued that the Kabbalah was a medieval forgery, since there was no evidence of its successive connection with the found manuscripts. Those few who had at least some idea of the practical activities of the esoteric brotherhoods admitted that all information about the universe and human soul can be encoded with symbols that are completely meaningless to the uninitiated. These strange ancient schemes could be passed down from generation to generation, accompanied by an oral explanation, a kind of decoding that cannot be lost. In case of doubt as to the accuracy of an explanation of any important point you can always turn to the sacred symbol. The principles of meditation-thinking about the meaning of this symbol have been passed down from generation to generation. The mystic is well aware that by concentrating on a symbol that has a certain deep meaning, he will have access to the underlying idea, even if the meaning of the symbol used has never been clarified to him by the bearers of the oral tradition transmitted from teacher to student.
16. The system of secular influence of the Church was aimed not only at the expulsion of all rivals from the spiritual realm, but also at the destruction of their traces. We know little about which of the seeds of the mystical tradition sprouted only to have their sprouts mercilessly mowed down in the Middle Ages; but mysticism is inherent in the human race, and although the Church destroyed all the roots of tradition in the souls of its followers, nevertheless, sincere believers, who made up the flower of the flock, again and again discovered the ancient technique of bringing the soul closer to God, creating their own special Yoga, very close to Bhakti -Yoga of the East. Catholic literature is replete with treatises on mystical theology which, although they show some familiarity with higher states of consciousness, fall short of a naive understanding of the physiology of these states, which indicates the inevitable weakness of a system that does not fully benefit from accumulated experience.
This book has been ranked among the classics of esoteric literature for almost 70 years and is study guide recommended by a number of reputable schools.
She presents the mystical practices of Kabbalah to the reader as the most effective form of yoga for modern Westerners.
Foreword
The Tree of Life is the foundation of the Western esoteric tradition and at the same time the system on the basis of which disciples are trained in the Brotherhood of the Inner Light. This book, as well as subsequent ones, is used by the Brotherhood for educational purposes. All materials for classes and correspondence courses will be sent to anyone who wishes to write to the author in the Brotherhood of the Inner Light. The Fraternity's address is Fraternity of Inner Light, 3 Queensborough Terrace, Bayswater, London, W.2.
In matters of transliteration of Hebrew words - in particular in English - there are great differences. It seems that each scientist uses his own system. In this book, I have used the alphabetical table given by MacGregor Mathers in the book Kabbalah Unveiled, because this is the book that students of esoteric schools tend to use. But Mathers himself does not always follow the principles reflected in his own table, and even sometimes uses different spellings of the same words. This is very confusing for everyone who wants to apply the gematric method of interpretation, which involves replacing letters with numbers. Therefore, when Mathers gives several transliterations, I use the one that matches the one given in his own table.
The capitalization of some of the words in this book may seem unusual. However, here I am following a tradition that has developed among students of Western esoteric systems. This tradition involves, for example, the use of the words "Earth" and "Way" to denote spiritual principles. When used this way, these words are capitalized. Writing a word with a small letter means that it should be understood in the usual sense.
Since MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley are my authorities on Kabbalistic mysticism, my position on these two writers should be clarified. At one time I was part of an organization founded by the first of them, and never communicated with the second. I did not personally know any of these gentlemen at all, for by the time I joined the organization MacGregor Mathers had died and Aleister Crowley was no longer a member.
Dion Fortune
Mystical Kabbalah
Table of contents
Foreword
Chapter 1. Yoga of the West - Chapter 2. Choice of the Path - Chapter 3. Method of Kabbalah - Chapter 4. Unwritten Kabbalah - Chapter 5. Hidden Being - Chapter 6. Tree of Life - Chapter 7. Higher Triad - Chapter 8. Patterns of the Tree of Life - Chapter 9. Ten Sephiros in the four worlds - Chapter 10. Paths on the Tree - Chapter 11. Subjective Sephiroth - Chapter 12. Gods on the Tree - Chapter 13. Practical work with the Tree
Chapter 14 General concepts- Chapter 15. Kether, First Sephirah - Chapter 16. Chokmah, Second Sephirah -Chapter 17. Binah, Third Sephirah - Chapter 18. Chesed, Fourth Sephirah - Chapter 19. Geburah, Fifth Sephirah - Chapter 20. Tipheret, Sixth Sephirah
Chapter 21. Four Lower Sephira - Chapter 22. Netzach, Seventh Sefira - Chapter 23. Hod, Eighth Sefira - Chapter 24. Yesod, Ninth Sefira - Chapter 25. Malkuth, Tenth Sefira - Chapter 26. Qliphoth - Chapter 27. Conclusion
Foreword
The Tree of Life is the foundation of the Western esoteric tradition and at the same time the system on the basis of which disciples are taught in the Brotherhood of the Inner Light. This book, as well as subsequent ones, is used by the Brotherhood for educational purposes. All materials for classes and correspondence courses will be sent to anyone who wishes to write to the author in the Brotherhood of the Inner Light. The Fraternity's address is Fraternity of Inner Light, 3 Queensborough Terrace, Bayswater, London, W.2.
In matters of transliteration of Hebrew words, in particular in English, there are great differences. It seems that each scientist uses his own system. In this book, I have used the alphabetical table given by MacGregor Mathers in the book Kabbalah Unveiled, because this is the book that students of esoteric schools tend to use. But Mathers himself does not always follow the principles reflected in his own table, and even sometimes uses different spellings of the same words. This is very confusing for everyone who wants to apply the gematric method of interpretation, which involves replacing letters with numbers. Therefore, when Mathers gives several transliterations, I use the one that matches the one given in his own table.
The capitalization of some of the words in this book may seem unusual. However, here I am following a tradition that has developed among students of Western esoteric systems. This tradition involves, for example, the use of the words "Earth" and "Way" to denote spiritual principles. When used this way, these words are capitalized. Writing a word with a small letter means that it should be understood in the usual sense.
Since MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley are my authorities on Kabbalistic mysticism, my position on these two writers should be clarified. At one time I was part of an organization founded by the first of them, and never communicated with the second. I did not personally know any of these gentlemen at all, for by the time I joined the organization MacGregor Mathers had died and Aleister Crowley was no longer a member.
Chapter 1 Yoga of the West
1. Very few students of the occult know anything about the original source of the occult teaching. Many are unaware of the existence of the Western Tradition at all. Scholars are misled by the intentional reservations and omissions of the initiates, who for centuries concealed the true meaning of esoteric terms. Therefore, researchers conclude that the few texts that have come down to us are medieval forgeries. They would be extremely surprised to know that these fragments, as well as hand-to-hand manuscripts, with the addition of traditionally reported oral information, are still used in esoteric schools as the basis for the practice of Yoga in the West.
2. Adepts of the races, whose evolutionary destiny is the conquest of the physical plane, have developed their own technique of Yoga, oriented to their problems and needs. This technique is based on the well-known, but incomprehensible to the uninitiated Kabbalah - the Wisdom of Israel.
3. The question may arise why the roots of the mystical tradition of Western nations go back precisely to Jewish culture? The answer to it is obvious to those who are familiar with the esoteric theory of races and subraces. Everything has its origin. Cultures do not arise from nothing, and the germ of each new culture is inevitably contained in its historical predecessor. Judaism was the matrix of European spirituality, as evidenced in particular by the fact that Jesus and the apostle Paul were Jews. Only the Jewish people, and no other, could become the main character in the events of the New Testament, since only their religion was monotheistic. Pantheism and polytheism were outdated, the times of new spirituality were coming. The Christian peoples derived their religion from Jewish culture, just as the Buddhist peoples of the East owe their spirituality to Indian culture.
4. Israeli mysticism is at the heart of modern Western occultism. It forms the theoretical basis on which all rituals are built. Its famous glyph, compound symbol, or symbolic scheme, the Tree of Life, is the best imagery we know of that can be used for meditation, because it is the most ambiguous.
5. In this book, I do not intend to describe the results of a historical study of the origins of Kabbalah, but only to show its methods to contemporaries who study secret rituals. Although our approach is based on traditional views, we have no need to limit ourselves to them. Technique that finds practical application is constantly evolving, because the experience of everyone who is involved in it enriches it. Thus, every student of Kabbalah contributes to our common heritage.
6. We are not at all obliged to perform certain ritual actions or adhere to certain ideas just out of respect for the opinion of the rabbis who lived before Christ. The world has changed markedly since then, other times have come. But everything that was basically true then is true now, which means that it is valuable for us. Although the modern Kabbalist is the heir of the ancient Kabbalist, he can reinterpret the doctrine and modify the method in the light of modernity, making full use of the heritage he received for purely practical purposes.
7. I do not claim that the modern interpretations of Kabbalah known to me are identical to the ideas of the pre-Christian rabbis, but I note that they are their natural continuation and the end result of the development of the system of those times.
8. The stream is cleaner, the closer it is to the source. To uncover the main principles, we must go to the key itself. The purity of the flow depends on the level of contamination of the sleeves flowing into it, which, however, may turn out to be quite transparent. To find out how pure these tributaries are, we compare them with the original source, and if they pass this test, they may well be allowed to mix with the main current and thereby increase its power. The same with tradition: it consists of everything that does not contradict the foundations. Turning to the main principles and making sure of the purity of the tradition, we at the same time judge its viability by the level of assimilation. Only a dead system is not subject to change under the influence of modernity.
9. The original stream of Jewish mysticism underwent many changes. We observe his rise among the nomadic star-worshippers of Chaldea, where Abraham, in his tent among the flocks, heard the Voice of God. However, behind the rather vague image of Abraham, even more ancient outlines are visible. For example, the mysterious figure of the great Priest-king, “born without a father, without a mother, without ancestors, whose life had neither beginning nor end”, and his communion with bread and wine after the battle with the Kings, the sinister “Kings of Edom”, “who ruled before there was a king in Israel whose power was unparalleled.
10. For several generations, the connection of the fathers of Israel with the priest-kings of Egypt can be traced. Abraham and Jacob go to Egypt; Joseph and Moses were closely associated with adepts from the Pharaoh's entourage. Reading that Solomon asks Hiram, king of Tire, to help people and materials in the construction of the Temple, one can assume that the well-known mysteries of the ancient capital of Phoenicia must have had a profound influence on Jewish esotericism. If we take into account that Daniel was educated in the palaces of Babylon, it becomes obvious that the wisdom of the magicians was available to enlightened Jews.
11. This ancient Jewish mystical tradition included three literary sources: the Books of the Law and the Prophets, known to us as the Old Testament; Talmud, or a collection of commentaries on the texts of the Old Testament; Kabbalah, or mystical interpretation of the Old Testament. As the ancient rabbis argued, the first of these sources is the body of the tradition, the second is its rational soul, and the third is the immortal spirit. The ignorant could profitably read the first, the enlightened studied the second, but the wise concentrated on the third. It is very strange that Christian interpreters of the Old Testament never looked for clues in the Kabbalah.
12. During the life of Christ, there were three schools of religious life in Palestine: the Pharisees, the Sadducees (who are often mentioned in the Gospel), and the Essenes, about whom we know almost nothing. According to one of the apocrypha, the boy Jesus, the son of Joseph, at the age of twelve, when the scale of His personality was realized by theologians who heard His speech in the Temple, was sent by them to the Essenes community near the Dead Sea in order to teach the mystical tradition of Israel. He remained there until he came to John at the age of thirty to be baptized in the Jordan River before beginning his mission. If this was the case, which is quite possible, then the final words of the Our Father prayer are filled with Kabbalistic meaning.
Sefirot: Malkuth - the Kingdom, Hod - Strength, Netzach - Glory - form the basic triangle of the Tree of Life, with the Sefira Yesod (Foundation, or Storehouse of Influences) in the center. Everyone who says this prayer involuntarily uses Kabbalah.
13. Christianity derives its esotericism from Gnosticism, which owes much to both Greek and Egyptian thought. On the example of the Pythagorean system, we are convinced of the adaptation of the principles of the Kabbalah to Greek mysticism.
14. The exoteric, that is, the state-controlled part of the Christian Church persecuted and eradicated its esoteric branch, destroying all traces of it wherever the hands could reach, in order to remove the very mention of gnosis from human history. There is written evidence that the baths and baths of Alexandria were heated for six months by the manuscripts of the city's great library. Only a very small part of the spiritual heritage of the ancient sages has come down to us, for the barbarians literally razed it to the ground, and only as a result of careful archaeological excavations of the ruins absorbed by the sands do we rediscover the former greatness of the knowing spirit.
15. Until the beginning of the weakening of the dictates of the Church in the fifteenth century, the Jewish sages were afraid to trust paper with their thoughts and knowledge. Scholars argued that the Kabbalah was a medieval forgery, since there was no evidence of its successive connection with the found manuscripts. Those few who had at least some idea of the practical activities of the esoteric brotherhoods admitted that all information about the universe and the human soul can be encoded using symbols that are completely meaningless to the uninitiated. These strange ancient schemes could be passed down from generation to generation, accompanied by an oral explanation, a kind of decoding that cannot be lost. In case of doubt about the accuracy of the explanation of any important point, you can always turn to the sacred symbol. The principles of meditation-thinking about the meaning of this symbol have been passed down from generation to generation. The mystic is well aware that by focusing on a symbol that has some deep meaning, he will gain access to the underlying idea, even if the meaning of the symbol used has never been explained to him by the bearers of the oral tradition transmitted from teacher to student.
16. The system of secular influence of the Church was aimed not only at the expulsion of all rivals from the spiritual realm, but also at the destruction of their traces. We know little about which of the seeds of the mystical tradition sprouted only to have their sprouts mercilessly mowed down in the Middle Ages; but mysticism is inherent in the human race, and although the Church destroyed all the roots of tradition in the souls of its followers, nevertheless, sincere believers, who made up the flower of the flock, again and again discovered the ancient technique of bringing the soul closer to God, creating their own special Yoga, very close to Bhakti -Yoga of the East. Catholic literature is replete with treatises on mystical theology which, although they show some familiarity with higher states of consciousness, fall short of a naive understanding of the physiology of these states, which indicates the inevitable weakness of a system that does not fully benefit from accumulated experience.
17. Bhakti Yoga of the Catholic Church is suitable only for people who are religious by nature and who are ready for self-expression to the highest degree, up to self-sacrifice in the name of love. But not every Christian is capable of this, and his religion cannot offer his followers any choice of systems. spiritual development. The East, cultivating tolerance, acted much wiser, creating different yogic methods, each of which is a path to God.
18. Owing to this deplorable limitation of our theology, many spiritual seekers in the West are guided by Eastern methods. For those who are able to live in the conditions of the East and work under the direct supervision of a guru, this is indeed the way out, but if there is no other teacher than a book, then against the background of the usual Western way of life, achieving good results becomes very problematic.
19. For this reason, I would recommend that people of the white race turn to the traditional Western system, which is perfectly adapted to their physical constitution. It produces immediate results, and its practice, with proper supervision, not only does not disturb the mental or physical harmony, as unfortunately too often happens when using unaccustomed systems, but also gives extraordinary energy. It was this special life force of the initiates that gave rise to the legends about the Elixir of Life. At one time, I knew some people who can rightfully be classified as adepts, and I have always been amazed by their amazing, age-independent vitality.
20. On the other hand, however, I can only confirm what all the gurus of the Eastern tradition have always affirmed - that any system of psycho-spiritual development can be safely and adequately practiced only under the personal supervision of an experienced teacher. For this reason, although I will give principles in the pages of this book mystical Kabbalah, I do not consider myself entitled to give all the keys to its practical application, even if my own obligations as an initiate did not forbid me from doing so. At the same time, I consider it dishonest to the reader to use deliberate reservations and misinformation and, to the best of my knowledge and faith, I offer accurate information - although perhaps not in full.
21. The thirty-two Mystic Paths of Secret Bliss are the paths of life, and those who wish to discover their secrets must tread them. Just as I have been trained, any aspiring student of this science can be trained, and I will be happy to show the way to such a serious seeker.
Chapter 2 Choosing a Path
1. No student who frequently changes teaching systems will ever make tangible progress in spiritual development. Such people can first become supporters of the New Thought, then begin to master yogic breathing exercises and meditative postures, and then try yourself in mystical prayers. Each of these systems is valuable in itself, but this value can be realized only when a person first delved deeply into any one system. All systems simply train the consciousness and contribute to the development of the mental capabilities of the individual. This is their importance, but by no means in the actual exercises, which should not be an end in itself. If we are to take occult studies seriously and turn them into something more than fragmentary light reading, then we must choose a system suitable for us and faithfully follow it until we reach, if not the final goal, then at least certain practical results on background of continuous expansion of consciousness. Only then is it useful to experiment with methods that have been developed on other Paths, and to achieve with them a kind of fusion of technique and philosophy. Anyone who has not reached a high level in one thing runs the risk of forever remaining an amateur.
2. Any person who has mastered the practical experience of using various methods of spiritual enrichment knows that any method must correspond to his psychological type, as well as the general level of development. Westerners, especially those who choose the occult Path in mysticism, often begin their search for initiation at a stage of spiritual development that an Eastern guru would rate as a complete failure. Therefore, a method that claims to be accessible to a Westerner must necessarily include a zero level of technology, which, as a first step, will not be difficult for even the most undeveloped students to master. such a step, they will not even be able to start classes.
3. In order to be applicable in the West, any system of spiritual development must meet certain very specific requirements. First of all, her original technique must be easily perceived by the rational mind. Secondly, the techniques used to stimulate the development of higher horizons of awareness must be powerful and saturated enough to penetrate the relatively dense protective shell an ordinary person of the West, which does not let subtle vibrations through at all. Thirdly, since very few of the Europeans, who for the most part give preference to material goods, are disposed towards a hermit life, the proposed methods should not be burdensome for modern men and women who, at the beginning of the Path, will be able to devote only short time, and then at the expense of their usual affairs.
They must master a technique that will enable them to easily concentrate and just as easily relax, since in the bustle of a European city it is impossible to continuously maintain the necessary state of high mental stress.
Experience shows that methods mental development, effective for the hermit, lead people who follow these methods under the stressful conditions of modern civilization only to neurotic states and nervous breakdown.
4. "So much the worse for us," those who claim the need to change our Western way of life may say. Personally, I do not at all consider that our civilization is perfect and that wisdom arose and will die with us, but it seems to me that if our karma (or fate) led us to incarnation in a body with a certain psychological structure and racial characteristics, then for this incarnations are exactly what we need. We will not speed up our evolution in any way by trying to challenge the decision of the Gods of Karma.
I have seen so many seekers of spirituality who just wanted to get away from life problems that I distrust any system that implies a departure from the racial egregor. I am also not impressed by such forms of "initiation" into a higher spiritual life, which manifest themselves either in shocking clothes, hairstyle and behavior, or in the absence of something, such as hair. True spirituality never advertises itself.
5. The racial Dharma of the West consists in the mastery of dense matter. Awareness of this will help to explain many of the problems of relations between the West and the East. In order that we may master dense matter and reach the necessary level of practical reason, we have as our racial heritage a certain type of physical constitution and nervous system, just as other races (for example, Mongoloid or Negroid) inherited other races. possibilities.
6. It is unreasonable to apply to a certain type of psychophysical organization methods of development intended for another type; they will either not give adequate results or will lead to unforeseen and possibly undesirable consequences. The author is far from condemning Eastern methods or condemning the constitution of the Western man, who is such as God made him. Just to remind you of the old proverb: what is food for one person is poison for another.
7. The Dharma of the West is different from the Dharma of the East; is it worth trying to introduce the ideals of the East in the West? So let's not break away from the mortal earth in the name of progress. A normal healthy person of the West has no desire to get away from life - on the contrary, he seeks to master it, put it in order and harmony. Only pathological types desire to "disappear at midnight without suffering", to be free from the wheel of birth and death; normal western temperament demands "life, more life"
8. Concentration life force- this is what the Western occultist seeks to achieve in the course of his rituals. He does not run away from matter into the spiritual realms, resigned to the impossibility of mastering it; on the contrary, he wants to ground the Divine to the level of the human and introduce the Divine Law even in the Kingdom of Shadows. This motive is the main one in acquiring occult abilities on the Path. right hand, which explains why initiates do not give up everything to achieve Divine Union, but cultivate White Magic.
9. It is by means of White Magic, applied for the attainment of lofty aims, that the training and development of the Western disciple is chiefly effected. I am well acquainted with a wide variety of systems and, in my opinion, a person who tries to do without ritual loses a lot. For the West, progress through meditation alone is a rather slow process, because the dense matter of the Western mind and the spiritual atmosphere in which meditation work has to be done offer strong resistance. The only purely meditative school of Western Yoga are the Quakers, and I think they will agree that their way is acceptable only to the elite; Catholic Church combines Mantra Yoga with his Bhakti Yoga.
10. It is through formulas that the occultist selects and concentrates the forces with which he intends to work. All these formulas are based on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, and whatever system the occultist uses - whether invoking Egyptian gods or plunging into the stream of Bacchic inspiration with the help of chants and dance - in the background of his consciousness he invariably holds the diagram of the Tree of Life.
In the occult societies of the West, the study of the symbolism of the Tree is given special attention, since it provides the basis for the classification of all systems. The ray that the Western student works with manifests itself in many other cultures, and in each of these cultures there are special techniques for working with it. The modern occultist combines various techniques, often using the methods of the Egyptians, the Greeks, or even the Druids, where they are best suited for certain purposes and conditions. In all cases, however, the practitioner's actions are closely related to the Paths of the Tree he has mastered. If the student is at the level corresponding to the Sefira Netzach, he can work with the manifestation of the power of the corresponding aspect of Divinity (called Tetragrammaton Elohim by the Kabbalists) in any system he wishes to choose. In the Egyptian system, this would be Isis, the Goddess of Nature; in Greek - Aphrodite; in the Nordic - Freya; the druids have Ceridwen. In other words, he masters the powers of the Sphere of Venus in any of traditional systems which it uses. Having reached a certain level in one system, he gains access to the equivalent levels of all other systems of his Tradition.
11. Practice has shown that Kabbalah provides an excellent foundation and is the best system for teaching the student before he starts experimenting with pagan systems. Kabbalah is monotheistic in its essence; the potencies which it allocates are always regarded as messengers of God Himself and no one else. The concept of the centralized power of the Cosmos and the supremacy of the Divine Law over everything is the main thing in the mind of any student of the powers of the Arcana. It is the purity, consistency, and clarity of Kabbalistic concepts, summed up in the formula of the Tree of Life, that makes this glyph, or compound symbol, such an excellent object for meditation, elevating consciousness and justifying the claim that Kabbalah is the Yoga of the West.
The Tree of Life is the foundation of the Western esoteric tradition and at the same time the system on the basis of which disciples are trained in the Brotherhood of the Inner Light. This book, as well as subsequent ones, is used by the Brotherhood for educational purposes. All materials for classes and correspondence courses will be sent to anyone who wishes to write to the author in the Brotherhood of the Inner Light. The Fraternity's address is Fraternity of Inner Light, 3 Queensborough Terrace, Bayswater, London, W.2.
In matters of transliteration of Hebrew words - in particular in English - there are great differences. It seems that each scientist uses his own system. In this book, I have used the alphabetical table given by MacGregor Mathers in the book Kabbalah Unveiled, because this is the book that students of esoteric schools tend to use. But Mathers himself does not always follow the principles reflected in his own table, and even sometimes uses different spellings of the same words. This is very confusing for everyone who wants to apply the gematric method of interpretation, which involves replacing letters with numbers. Therefore, when Mathers gives several transliterations, I use the one that matches the one given in his own table.
The capitalization of some of the words in this book may seem unusual. However, here I am following a tradition that has developed among students of Western esoteric systems. This tradition involves, for example, the use of the words "Earth" and "Way" to denote spiritual principles. When used this way, these words are capitalized. Writing a word with a small letter means that it should be understood in the usual sense.
Since MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley are my authorities on Kabbalistic mysticism, my position on these two writers should be clarified. At one time I was part of an organization founded by the first of them, and never communicated with the second. I did not personally know any of these gentlemen at all, for by the time I joined the organization MacGregor Mathers had died and Aleister Crowley was no longer a member.
Chapter 1 Yoga of the West
1. Very few students of the occult know anything about the original source of the occult teaching. Many are unaware of the existence of the Western Tradition at all. Scholars are misled by the intentional reservations and omissions of the initiates, who for centuries concealed the true meaning of esoteric terms. Therefore, researchers conclude that the few texts that have come down to us are medieval forgeries. They would be extremely surprised to know that these fragments, as well as hand-to-hand manuscripts, with the addition of traditionally reported oral information, are still used in esoteric schools as the basis for the practice of Yoga in the West.
2. Adepts of the races, whose evolutionary destiny is the conquest of the physical plane, have developed their own technique of Yoga, oriented to their problems and needs. This technique is based on the well-known, but incomprehensible to the uninitiated Kabbalah - the Wisdom of Israel.
3. The question may arise why the roots of the mystical tradition of Western nations go back precisely to Jewish culture? The answer to it is obvious to those who are familiar with the esoteric theory of races and subraces. Everything has its origin. Cultures do not arise from nothing, and the germ of each new culture is inevitably contained in its historical predecessor. Judaism was the matrix of European spirituality, as evidenced in particular by the fact that Jesus and the apostle Paul were Jews. Only the Jewish people, and no other, could become the main character in the events of the New Testament, since only their religion was monotheistic. Pantheism and polytheism were outdated, the times of new spirituality were coming. The Christian peoples derived their religion from Jewish culture, just as the Buddhist peoples of the East owe their spirituality to Indian culture.
4. Israeli mysticism is at the heart of modern Western occultism. It forms the theoretical basis on which all rituals are built. Its well-known glyph, compound symbol, or symbolic scheme, the Tree of Life, is the best imagery known to us that can be used for meditation, because it is the most ambiguous.
5. In this book, I do not intend to describe the results of a historical study of the origins of Kabbalah, but only to show its methods to contemporaries who study secret rituals. Although our approach is based on traditional views, we have no need to limit ourselves to them. Technique that finds practical application is constantly evolving, because the experience of everyone who is involved in it enriches it. Thus, every student of Kabbalah contributes to our common heritage.
6. We are not at all obliged to perform certain ritual actions or adhere to certain ideas just out of respect for the opinion of the rabbis who lived before Christ. The world has changed markedly since then, other times have come. But everything that in principle was true then is true now, which means that it is valuable to us. Although the modern Kabbalist is the heir of the ancient Kabbalist, he can reinterpret the doctrine and modify the method in the light of modernity, making full use of the heritage he received for purely practical purposes.
7. I do not claim that the modern interpretations of Kabbalah known to me are identical to the ideas of the pre-Christian rabbis, but I note that they are their natural continuation and the end result of the development of the system of those times.
8. The stream is cleaner, the closer it is to the source. To uncover the main principles, we must go to the key itself. The purity of the flow depends on the level of contamination of the sleeves flowing into it, which, however, may turn out to be quite transparent. To find out how pure these tributaries are, we compare them with the original source, and if they pass this test, they may well be allowed to mix with the main current and thereby increase its power. The same with tradition: it consists of everything that does not contradict the foundations. Turning to the main principles and making sure of the purity of the tradition, we at the same time judge its viability by the level of assimilation. Only a dead system is not subject to change under the influence of modernity.
9. The original stream of Jewish mysticism underwent many changes. We observe his rise among the nomadic star-worshippers of Chaldea, where Abraham, in his tent among the flocks, heard the Voice of God. However, behind the rather vague image of Abraham, even more ancient outlines are visible. For example, the mysterious figure of the great Priest-King, “born without a father, without a mother, without ancestors, whose life had neither beginning nor end”, and his communion with bread and wine after the battle with the Kings, the sinister “Kings of Edom”, “who ruled before there was a king in Israel whose power was unparalleled.
10. For several generations, the connection of the fathers of Israel with the priest-kings of Egypt can be traced. Abraham and Jacob go to Egypt; Joseph and Moses were closely associated with adepts from the Pharaoh's entourage. Reading that Solomon asks Hiram, king of Tire, to help people and materials in the construction of the Temple, one can assume that the well-known mysteries of the ancient capital of Phoenicia must have had a profound influence on Jewish esotericism. If we take into account that Daniel was educated in the palaces of Babylon, it becomes obvious that the wisdom of the magicians was available to enlightened Jews.
11. This ancient Jewish mystical tradition included three literary sources: the Books of the Law and the Prophets, known to us as the Old Testament; Talmud, or a collection of commentaries on the texts of the Old Testament; Kabbalah, or mystical interpretation of the Old Testament. As the ancient rabbis argued, the first of these sources is the body of the tradition, the second is its rational soul, and the third is the immortal spirit. The ignorant could profitably read the first, the enlightened studied the second, but the wise concentrated on the third. It is very strange that Christian interpreters of the Old Testament never looked for clues in the Kabbalah.
Mystical Kabbalah
Foreword
The Tree of Life is the foundation of the Western esoteric tradition and at the same time the system on the basis of which disciples are trained in the Brotherhood of the Inner Light. This book, as well as subsequent ones, is used by the Brotherhood for educational purposes. All materials for classes and correspondence courses will be sent to anyone who wishes to write to the author in the Brotherhood of the Inner Light. The Fraternity's address is Fraternity of Inner Light, 3 Queensborough Terrace, Bayswater, London, W.2.
In matters of transliteration of Hebrew words - in particular in English - there are great differences. It seems that each scientist uses his own system. In this book, I have used the alphabetical table given by MacGregor Mathers in the book Kabbalah Unveiled, because this is the book that students of esoteric schools tend to use. But Mathers himself does not always follow the principles reflected in his own table, and even sometimes uses different spellings of the same words. This is very confusing for everyone who wants to apply the gematric method of interpretation, which involves replacing letters with numbers. Therefore, when Mathers gives several transliterations, I use the one that matches the one given in his own table.
The capitalization of some of the words in this book may seem unusual. However, here I am following a tradition that has developed among students of Western esoteric systems. This tradition involves, for example, the use of the words "Earth" and "Way" to denote spiritual principles. When used this way, these words are capitalized. Writing a word with a small letter means that it should be understood in the usual sense.
Since MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley are my authorities on Kabbalistic mysticism, my position on these two writers should be clarified. At one time I was part of an organization founded by the first of them, and never communicated with the second. I did not personally know any of these gentlemen at all, for by the time I joined the organization MacGregor Mathers had died and Aleister Crowley was no longer a member.
Chapter 1 Yoga of the West
1. Very few students of the occult know anything about the original source of the occult teaching. Many are unaware of the existence of the Western Tradition at all. Scholars are misled by the intentional reservations and omissions of the initiates, who for centuries concealed the true meaning of esoteric terms. Therefore, researchers conclude that the few texts that have come down to us are medieval forgeries. They would be extremely surprised to know that these fragments, as well as hand-to-hand manuscripts, with the addition of traditionally reported oral information, are still used in esoteric schools as the basis for the practice of Yoga in the West.
2. Adepts of the races, whose evolutionary destiny is the conquest of the physical plane, have developed their own technique of Yoga, oriented to their problems and needs. This technique is based on the well-known, but incomprehensible to the uninitiated Kabbalah - the Wisdom of Israel.
3. The question may arise why the roots of the mystical tradition of Western nations go back precisely to Jewish culture? The answer to it is obvious to those who are familiar with the esoteric theory of races and subraces. Everything has its origin. Cultures do not arise from nothing, and the germ of each new culture is inevitably contained in its historical predecessor. Judaism was the matrix of European spirituality, as evidenced in particular by the fact that Jesus and the apostle Paul were Jews. Only the Jewish people, and no other, could become the main character in the events of the New Testament, since only their religion was monotheistic. Pantheism and polytheism were outdated, the times of new spirituality were coming. The Christian peoples derived their religion from Jewish culture, just as the Buddhist peoples of the East owe their spirituality to Indian culture.
4. Israeli mysticism is at the heart of modern Western occultism. It forms the theoretical basis on which all rituals are built. Its well-known glyph, compound symbol, or symbolic scheme, the Tree of Life, is the best imagery known to us that can be used for meditation, because it is the most ambiguous.
5. In this book, I do not intend to describe the results of a historical study of the origins of Kabbalah, but only to show its methods to contemporaries who study secret rituals. Although our approach is based on traditional views, we have no need to limit ourselves to them. Technique that finds practical application is constantly evolving, because the experience of everyone who is involved in it enriches it. Thus, every student of Kabbalah contributes to our common heritage.
6. We are not at all obliged to perform certain ritual actions or adhere to certain ideas just out of respect for the opinion of the rabbis who lived before Christ. The world has changed markedly since then, other times have come. But everything that in principle was true then is true now, which means that it is valuable to us. Although the modern Kabbalist is the heir of the ancient Kabbalist, he can reinterpret the doctrine and modify the method in the light of modernity, making full use of the heritage he received for purely practical purposes.
7. I do not claim that the modern interpretations of Kabbalah known to me are identical to the ideas of the pre-Christian rabbis, but I note that they are their natural continuation and the end result of the development of the system of those times.
8. The stream is cleaner, the closer it is to the source. To uncover the main principles, we must go to the key itself. The purity of the flow depends on the level of contamination of the sleeves flowing into it, which, however, may turn out to be quite transparent. To find out how pure these tributaries are, we compare them with the original source, and if they pass this test, they may well be allowed to mix with the main current and thereby increase its power. The same with tradition: it consists of everything that does not contradict the foundations. Turning to the main principles and making sure of the purity of the tradition, we at the same time judge its viability by the level of assimilation. Only a dead system is not subject to change under the influence of modernity.
9. The original stream of Jewish mysticism underwent many changes. We observe his rise among the nomadic star-worshippers of Chaldea, where Abraham, in his tent among the flocks, heard the Voice of God. However, behind the rather vague image of Abraham, even more ancient outlines are visible. For example, the mysterious figure of the great Priest-King, “born without a father, without a mother, without ancestors, whose life had neither beginning nor end”, and his communion with bread and wine after the battle with the Kings, the sinister “Kings of Edom”, “who ruled before there was a king in Israel whose power was unparalleled.
10. For several generations, the connection of the fathers of Israel with the priest-kings of Egypt can be traced. Abraham and Jacob go to Egypt; Joseph and Moses were closely associated with adepts from the Pharaoh's entourage. Reading that Solomon asks Hiram, king of Tire, to help people and materials in the construction of the Temple, one can assume that the well-known mysteries of the ancient capital of Phoenicia must have had a profound influence on Jewish esotericism. If we take into account that Daniel was educated in the palaces of Babylon, it becomes obvious that the wisdom of the magicians was available to enlightened Jews.
11. This ancient Jewish mystical tradition included three literary sources: the Books of the Law and the Prophets, known to us as the Old Testament; Talmud, or a collection of commentaries on the texts of the Old Testament; Kabbalah, or mystical interpretation of the Old Testament. As the ancient rabbis argued, the first of these sources is the body of the tradition, the second is its rational soul, and the third is the immortal spirit. The ignorant could profitably read the first, the enlightened studied the second, but the wise concentrated on the third. It is very strange that Christian interpreters of the Old Testament never looked for clues in the Kabbalah.
12. During the life of Christ, there were three schools of religious life in Palestine: the Pharisees, the Sadducees (who are often mentioned in the Gospel), and the Essenes, about whom we know almost nothing. According to one of the apocrypha, the boy Jesus, the son of Joseph, at the age of twelve, when the scale of His personality was realized by theologians who heard His speech in the Temple, was sent by them to the Essenes community near the Dead Sea in order to teach the mystical tradition of Israel. He remained there until he came to John at the age of thirty to be baptized in the Jordan River before beginning his mission. If this was the case, which is quite possible, then the final words of the Our Father prayer are filled with Kabbalistic meaning.
