Customer Reviews

The Tree of Life: A Study in Magic

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I've read the material contained in The Tree of Life a hundred times in a hundred other books. Those books are a but a shadow of this one. Each of those others list this one in their bibliography while they try to re-tell it as well. None have succeeded. Those other books have their place, but this very well written tome is at the foundation of modern magick.

There are a couple of things I might mention to the potential reader. Though containing a good explanation of the Qabalah, contrary to the title, the book is really about Ceremonial Magick in its many forms. At times, Regardie approaches the subject as an apologist arguing around Blavatsky's Theosophical Society's tenants, which were the fashion at the time of the writing. The debate is mostly lost on modern readers but doesn't detract from the work and is completed in the early chapters.

Regardie's only stumble, in my option, is his chapter on alchemy, the last "narrative" chapter of the book. Here Regardie describes the art of alchemy as a spiritual process only and doesn't delve into the possibility of an actual chemical practice. Regardie's book The Philosphers's Stone carries on this narrow interpretation that the author later admitted, I believe, didn't wholly encompass the craft.

As for the Ciceros' contribution to the work, I can't comment since I'm unfamiliar with earlier editions. However, I found the pictures, footnotes and corrections meaningful and helpful for the most part. Where they weren't helpful, I ignored them. Feel free to do the same.

It's also good to see a Llewellyn book not printed on paper-towel quality stock, but durable bonded paper. A book this good should last. A hard copy would be the only improvement upon the printing.

I wholly agree that if Regardie had done nothing else but write The Tree of Life, the world of magick would be forever in his debt. The only other book I can think of that impacted the magick world as much as this one, is Regardie's own Golden Dawn. This book belongs in every magickal library and deserves to be read no matter how well you think you might know the material.

Bravo to the Ciceros for making Regardie's classic text even more usable for the 21st century reader. I'm glad they changed Regardie's old spelling of Hebrew words like Sephiros to Sephiroth to make them conform with the way modern magicians say these words! Sure, you can still buy the old Weiser edition, but if you do, you won't be getting over a hundred illustrations, great footnotes, a table of contents that you can ACTUALLY read, a 50+ page glossary of magical terms, and a comprehensive index. I know which edition I use more often, and it isn't the Weiser one!

This book is an absolutely brilliant introduction to the study of white magic or theurgy but the Cicero's have unfortunately corrupted it with their editing and with illustrations not even found in the original
edition. If you want a real edition, get a second revised edition published by Weiser books, from 1971 or the same thing, just paperback, published by Weiser in 1991, tenth printing. Many books published after Regardie's death are corrupted, virtually all the editions put out by Lllewyn are corrupted (but not the one's published before his death in 1984).

It is wrong to associate Regardie with Crowley, he was an apprentice of the man at one time but he eventually broke off his relationship from him when he took a turn for the worse (at one point Regardie calls some of Crowley's new writing "deplorable"). He praises Crowley's early work, such as the original Equinox (notes on the Kabbalah)and Magick (I've never seen it in print). If you want to know why Regardie left the Golden Dawn read his "What You should know about the Golden Dawn" and also read the uncorrupted version of the Tree of Life.

Regardie's Tree of Life is invalueable to the student of both Qabalah and magic, introducing us to the methods employed by Aleister Crowley, the Golden Dawn and the Goetia. Regardie has extensively studied rituals of the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks and outlines simple formulas for performing the most complex rituals founded upon ancient knowledge. Also outlines the Augoeides working.

This book is absolutely amazing, after reading it I went out and bought several of Regardie's books. This is definitely the best introduction to magic that I have read, and it definitely seems to be a major source that many contemporary introductions to magic are based on. I would, nevertheless, recommend people approach this book with: 1) a bit of familiarity with the basic premises of the Qabalah and Tree of Life (Dion Forutne's "The Mystical Qabalah" is a great place to start), and 2) an ability to decipher long and wordy sentences.
Other reviewers have complained about Regardie's writing style. I definitely agree the first chapter is a bit over the top, but throughout the rest of the book I fell in love with his style. It makes readers use conscious effort in order to gain understanding, because Regardie wraps many layers of meaning into what he writes. After the first chapter, I found the writing style extremely poetic and beautiful, although I definitely feel it could be simplified. Regardless of the writing style, Regardie's treatment of the topic is straightforward and clear... especially considering the veil of secrecy that cloaked discussion of magic in previous centuries.

The book is divided into two major sections. The first is basically more theoretical, covering the theory of the Tree of Life... a topic that perpetually reveals more and more depth intricate layers. The second (and much larger) part is more practical, though it really deals with the theory behind magical practices. This section really helps to demystify the meanings behind magical practice, and has helped give me a more clear direction in my own path.
Particularly valuable are the treatments of WILL and IMAGINATION, the two key ingredients in practical magic... many exercises are weaved into the text, and the reasons as to why these and other elements are essential is very clearly covered. The best part of this book was definitely the chapter on the astral plane and exercises to develop abilities for astral projection... I would have paid for this chapter alone!

This book has immense benefit for both the "armchair magician" (stuck in theory with no practice) and the practicing magician. It is a great overview for aspiring magicians, and I sense it would only reveal more as readers become more experienced. I will come back to it again and again...

Regarding the connection with Crowley... although the back of my edition says the book is "the most comprehensive introduction to the... writings of Aleister Crowley", I find this insulting almost. i am a huge fan of Crowley, but Regardie relaly stand on his own, he does not need to piggyback on others' reputations. the publisher probably put it on to increase sales, because the book really has very little to do with Crowley, although it does explore many concepts found also in Crowley's book, but in a much more straightforward way.
At the very least, reading The Tree of Life helped expand my perspective and open my mind. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This is the first book by Regardie I have read, but not my first book on magic by any means (I have read works by Crowley, Agrippa, Barret etc). Despite its 500 pages, it was a matter of days before I had finished it, I just couldn't put it down!

The premise of the book is a study of magic as a technical system, stripped of cultural baggage, but that is where it fails slightly. For all the claims that they were free of religion, the Golden Dawn bunch really did seem obsessed with a form of monotheism, and one based in the Jewish faith. It's almost as if they want to keep that tie with traditional teachings, just in case! They obsess with Egypt as the cradle of religion, which it was in the sense that it spawned the Coptic church (from whence came the edited down version of the bible as we know it) & later on embraced Islamic tradition, but before all of that Egyption religion was not monotheistic in the sense that this book revels in.

However, if one ignores that & the rather absurd idea that we are the ultimate beings, whose next step is to become God, then it is possible to find a whole range of useful material. This book includes a discussion of the nature of the astral light, the qabalah (very briefly, but concisely), the symbolism & procurement of tools & the mechanics of ritual.

Of course, most of what can be found in this book can also be found in the likes of Crowley, but this has the added boon that Regardie doesn't spend half of the time pulling your leg with stories of baby sacrifice and that the material that is presented isn't obscured by dubious prose (a la Magick in Theory & Practice).

After reading this I am quite tempted to read his Garden of Pomegranates to see what he makes of the Qabalah. In short I would say that this book is worth getting for a study of how the Golden Dawn & many ritual magicians view magic (but of course in their eyes there is no other type of magic!), and also for some of the technical aspects of practice. Despite it being far from a stripped down version of magic, with quite an unacknowledged basis on Judaic teachings, the amount of information contained in it is nealry unparalelled. Worth the cover price ten times over (how very malkuth of me!).

(Revised with additions, 8/26/03)
This edition is about as big as an original copy of Tree of Life as i saw it in a used book store twenty years ago. Its clinky, tho: sort of wish I had my old original again. It was smaller and more convenient to pull off the shelf and read. The notes arent half bad, tho.

Read and learn. Also, get, and practice, Regardie's 'Art of True Healing,' still available in a useful, functional edition, but little modified by Mark Allen. Well worth your bother! Cannot be recommended more highly: the Middle Pillar 'ritual' is integral to the Regardie material, and is much more practical than it sounds.

Yet, some have little interest in matters purely/strictly occult. Occultism isn't necessarily the only reason one studies Regardie. Throughout all his books, a useful perspective on the world of psychology is offered. You may not care for western magic, Egyptian gods considered as symbols of the mind, spirit, etc.

However, Regardie, although by repute no master 'shrink' himself, offers many useful points of view on psychology and psychotherapy throughout his many books. His sanity and objectivity shine through, little handicapped by personal idiosyncracy. His reading lists can be useful. His 'Teachers of Fulfillment,' currently out of print, I hope to see reprinted soon. It offers a kind of 'Tree of Life' quality coverage on the New Thought ' metaphysical' movement, offering what I think are very useful insights into this movement. 'Energy, Prayer, and Relaxation' is another cognate volume, offering a variant on the 'Art of True Healing' method, and is a useful introduction to such methods/practices.

His 'One Year Manual' also stands well next to these. It is a blend of methods and techniques to be used by the individual, not only for health but for personal self-development as well, spiritual and otherwise. To me, it is an extremely practical work. The small but important and essential practise of 'self-recollection' as described therein has proved invaluable to me. It deserves a small book all to itself.

Add the essay on 'Meditation' from his 'Foundations of Practical Magic' ( out of print, but also no doubt soon to be re-released, ) well-known and admired among the cognoscenti, and you start to have a very well-rounded grounding/perspective indeed. This is a grounding and orientation of occultism, integrating psychology in general, to form a surprisingly unified whole, and a more than suitable springboard for the individual interested in steadily and carefully pursuing a course of action destined to change his/her life.

The recommended reading list of W.E.Butlers handbooks, etc. on an early page of 'Ceremonial Magic,' the non-occult but tremendously useful 'Lazy Man's Guide to Relaxation,' are two other Regardie books no doubt soon to be reprinted as demand increases. Also, Regardie recommends having on hand a copy of Jungs 'Two Essays on Analytical Psychology' on hand, to supplement all these general studies.

Frater Albertus' 'Alchemist's Handbook,' featuring an introduction by Regardie, usefully supplements the Golden Dawn material on the Internet. However, you should also familiarize yourself with Regardie introductions to the general Golden Dawn material, found in the two different published book collections of the Golden Dawn.

Korzybski's books on semantics (aka: neuro-semantics) also contributes its moiety to the complete Regardie picture. See also Regardie's introduction to Edwin Steinbrecher's 'Inner Guide Meditation,' for an even further expansion of and familiarity with Regardie's realm and point-of-view.

Also on the horizon is 'Regardie Speaks,' useful for getting a further grasp on his ideas. After all these, you will know where to go next.

Read his books. Read his recommendations. Read introductions he has written for others. You won't regret it. The methods are not to be rushed into, as they can be quite powerful and useful. Sanity must guide the path and, as Regardie would say, 'fanaticism above all is to be eschewed.'

Add to all this his useful recordings, in particular the 'Middle Pillar Ritual' recording, useful with the 'Art of True Healing' essay, and his 'Body Awareness/Relaxation' recording, and you are well on your way.

The quiet intelligence, caution, and subtlety which pervades his books, is something I always look for in a writer, as in J. Krishnamurti, and others.
Those looking for a new perspective on life would do well to investigate his work.

Although I have since added in to the picture a moiety of Taoist immortalist classics to my 'armementarium,' I am constantly returning to Regardie. ( Taoist health techniques as in Eva Wong, Thomas Cleary and the like, I feel is the direction people like Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil, Bernie Siegel, writers on the Qi-Jong, Feng Shui, and similar efforts are headed.) Enrich your appreciation and understanding of other psychology and 'self-improvement ' writings, by improving the entire picture for yourself, with Regardie.

You'll be glad you did. It just might be 'more rewarding than watching television,' or pursuing lesser, although 'flashier' writers on personal psychology/human potential and development subjects.

Anyone interested in the western esoteric tradition, especially the philosophy of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, should read this book. Regardie was one of the last surviving members of the original order and is credited with bringing the system into the modern age.
The first part of the book concerns the Kabbalah, mysticism, a defenition of magic, the astral light, etc. The second part of the book is a treatise on magical technique and application. This is classic Israel Regardie.

A book that does not seem to be among the first-mentioned classics of the genre, and I cannot imagine why. Syncretic presentations of magical philosophy and practice are numerous, borrowing from sources such as this, but this book has the unmistakably organic flow and seamlessness of form and substance that mark a deeply considered and eloquent utterance with the ring of mastery. Not a book in quite the modern style or tone, but in a literate, though unostentatious idiom, that does justice to the matter, and serves as an admirable introduction to the Art for such as would as soon not be spoon-fed with more or less predigested material. As an introduction to this subject likely ought to, it leans rather more to the theoretical and expository than to the practical, but makes the point as well and convincingly as I have ever seen that in this endeavor, "practical" exercise undertaken without a deeper understanding of its meaning, is of limited value. And certainly the book is not all as forbidding as the above might suggest, but a well-flowing and engaging volume. Very recommended to whoever welcomes an intellectually and spiritually rewarding challenge.

Considered by many to be Mr. Regardie's Magnum Opus, this book is a must for any student of magic, although I wouldn't recommend beginners to undertake it without some experience of ritual and some exposure to occult theory. Regardie's words can be passive and needing of previous knowledge on the readers part, which a good majority of that required knowledge is give in the endnotes to the chapters, but not all. The new illustrations and comments are excellent and no other work has been as complete as this for me; other than Crowley's Liber ABA. If Crowley is hard to swallow for you, then Regardie is the choice to take.