Customer Reviews

Mystical Qabalah

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When examining this new edition in order to consider it as a course text I found several problems within the edition itself. At first I thought that, maybe, it had been a very long time since I'd read it as some things didn't seem as clear as I'd remembered them. Upon comparison to the '84-'89 edition I found the source of the problem, the text has not been faithfully reproduced. For example the following two quotes are from the end of Chapter 2, Paragraph 4.

2001 Edition: "Nor am I impressed by a dedication to the higher life which by peculiarities of clothing and bearing and by the manner of cutting, or omitting to cut, the hair."

1984 Edition: "Nor am I impressed by a dedication to the higher life which manifests itself by peculiarities of clothing and bearing and by the manner of cutting, or omitting to cut, the hair."

This is only a single example and I have yet to find an entire chapter devoid of such mistakes, some of them leaving out entire sentences.

The Mystical Qabalah is, without a doubt, one of the best books on Qabalah ever written. It is a shame that Weiser, a formally respected publisher, could make such a mess of it.

-Greg Wotton

First: you need to know that the Qabalah as it is used by Western Occultists bears little resemblance to Qabalah as it is practiced by Chasidic and Orthodox Jews. (Dion Fortune says as much in this book, but many miss this distinction). The Qabalah of the Occultists should be judged as a thing in itself, not as an outgrowth of Judaism... in fact, you'll find that efforts to link the two will only get you confused.

As a thing in itself, the Western Qabalah is a fine system for organizing the mind; it can provide a wonderful framework for structuring rituals, and it is a powerful mandala for meditation. And Dion Fortune's book is unquestionably the best introduction to the Qabalah of the Occultists. Her writing is clear and concise and her examples are easy to grasp. In connection with Crowley's *777*, this provides you with everything you need to create your own rituals in the Western Ceremonial tradition. (If you're going to do this, you should also [a] read Fortune's *Psychic Self-Defense* and [b] avoid slavishly following Crowley's suggestions: remember, the Qabalah is essentially an empty filing cabinet, to be organized in the way which suits your needs best... although some will hop up and down and scream "blasphemy" because I dared to say that).

When I read this book, I was amazed with its precision, clarity and completeness. For me, new doors of understanding the science of Qabalah opened up as I read through the chapters that touch upon all of the basic aspects of this occult science.
I have studied Qabalah for some time, under various schools and sects, but I feel that this book is one of the greatest to come out of the early part of the 20th century.
Qabalah is an in depth science, that maps the relationship of the various hidden, unseen dimensions of the universe--in relation to one's psyche (soul), mind, and divinity...
This science truley unveils the occult, the mysteries of life and death, magick, etc. Qabalah synthesizes the use of words (etymology), numbers (numerology), celestial bodies (astrology), symbols, mystical practices and many other key occult applications. Verily, Qabalah ties together the hidden, unseen mystery that awaits the true seeker.
I recommend that one should read the book: Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor. This book will shed much more light on the topic. I was even more impressed with the said work. Also, read Eliphas Levi. gnosis-usa.com or go through amazon.

Dione Fortune first published The Mystical Qabbalah in 1935. She was a member of the prestigous occult society, The Golden Dawn, and so many of the approaches this book takes draw from that order's conclusions. Aleister Crowley's ideas permeate this book as well. This book is written with a deeply prosaic style and study upon the text reveals layers of meaning. Considering the book was written over 60 years ago by a exceptional woman, in an age where women were far from being equal, I candidly recomend this title.

My copy of Dion Fortunes 'Mystical Qabalah'has become worn from years of use, and stained various colors from the different highlighters I have used each time I read it to mark out new revelations from it's pages. This book is more than a fantastic and definitive manifesto of the modern Qabalah (which it is) it is also a stand-alone philosophical work in itself. It awoke me in many ways. Seldom would I spend the time to actually write a review for any book I've read, but this one is different... I would actually recommend that *anyone* interested in the occult buy, steal, or make manifest this book into your reality...

A must for those interested in learning the ancient and mystical tradition of Kabbalah as shown in its primary symbol - the Tree of Life. The serious student will find it an invaluable reference and resource. Written by one of the great women thinkers from the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the founder of the Society of Light.

This is one of the best books on the Qabalah.(That's Qabalah with a "Q", pertaining to the Western Mystery Tradition.)The Qabalah is a cornerstone of esoteric knowledge and practice.The Tree of Life is central to the Qabalah.It represents the cosmos and man's relation to the cosmos.It is a powerful tool for spiritual development and magical work.Dion Fortune's book covers a lot of ground at great depth.As a leading occultist in the Western Mystery Tradition this century, she certainly knew her subject very well.I will have to read this book many times for it's knowledge to sink in.I'm sure it will be well worth the effort.

I do not give a 10 too easily... This book is definitely one of the most Precise, Elaborating works done on the Qabala in general, and the Tree of Life spefically. It is plain yet goes deep into some of the most astounding ideas and elements of the whole system. This might sound lame, but I practically COULD NOT put it down. I took it everywhere until I finished it once, and did not hesitate a second before Starting over again, as well as recomending it to all my friends and people I knew would have the perception for this field.
Now YOU can see how Dion Fortune got her reputation... As I said... A must!

Sure Ophiel's Qabala book is good, Ted Andrews stuff is all right. But if you want the knowledge that rooted it all and even influenced them: come to Dion Fortune's "Mystical Qabalah". It is the most powerful and definitive work on the Qabalah I've ever read. I ordered the original from Builders of the Adytum via Amazon.com and the original is the best, all the other stuff in the new version makes it a little too voluminous. But still, I tell you, it is the best in every way. When I read it, I understood all the forms of magic and how they work at their core, especially tarot, meditation, spells, et cetera and their hermetic core. It helped me with the why's and whats' of it all. Especially in pathworking. Happy reading.

Captain Josh.

A caution -- this is the first book I've read on kabbalah/qabalah, though I had a rudimentary grasp of the topic from books that touched on the subject (from both occult and Jewish approaches). However, since I expect many of the people reading this review will also be looking for their first book on qabalah, I hope my comments will be helpful.

The major thing to know about this book was that it was written in England in the 1930's. It is very literate, clear, and relatively easy to follow, and since it was written as an introduction to the subject, it explains many of the more difficult concepts step by step. Fortune is well aware of the difficulty of her material and uses multiple examples to illustrate each of her points, often backtracking in order to show how later concepts fit together with earlier ones. Though she has a tendency to repeat herself, this seems like a strength when dealing such abstract material. Unfortunately, the book is weakened by strongly showing the biases of its time.

Firstly, the book draws heavily on the standard 1930's understanding of physics -- and by this I mean the physics that was being taught in schools at the time, meaning 1. the concept of ether was still in use and 2. we're not just talking pre-quantum physics, but pre-relativity. The result is that many of the connections Fortune makes between the various cosmic forces and physical principles vary from irrelevant, being that her model is so outdated, to flat-out wrong. (This, of course, is the eternal danger of mixing science with metaphysical philosophy.)

Second, Fortune shares at least some of the imperialist, elitist attitudes of early-20th century Britain. While I admire the fact that she condemns other occult writers for their elitism and their deliberate attempts to mislead the uninitiated, she still makes a number of comments about the "temperament of the European and Asian races" that are very much at odds with a 21st-century perspective. This is not to say that her observations are necessarily wrong, but she attributes to genetics what people today usually attribute to culture, and often makes sweeping generalizations that I found uncomfortable.

Third, Fortune reinforces the traditional belief that women are born emotionally strong and intellectually weak, while men are born the opposite. Though she asserts that both men and women need to be strong in both areas in order to be whole people, this still seems a rather backwards point of view from a woman whose primary personality trait was so clearly her intelligence. While it may be true that men and women have tendencies in these directions, her belief that gender and certain personality characteristics come as an inseparable package is clearly wrong.

If you can ignore these flaws as you read, this book is excellent for gaining a basic understanding of the qabalah from an occult perspective. For myself, however, I will be looking for a book whose biases are not quite so pronounced.