The Witches Qabala: The Pagan Path and the Tree of Life [Paperback]

Ellen Cannon Reed (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1997

Because the classic writings on the Qabala have been expressed primarily in the terminology of the Western Mystery Tradition or in terms of the ceremonial magician, its usefulness as a tool for the Craft has been overlooked. With this book, Ellen Cannon Reed, a High Priestess of the Isian tradition, brings the symbolism of the Qabala into a new light so pagans can see its value and use it to enhance the Great Work. Reed explains the Tree of Life, the primary symbol used to represent the universal energies as "revealed" by the Qabala, and how its spheres and paths correspond to elements in the pagan tradition. Teachers can use the Qabala to understand the growth of students and their problems, using the Vices and Virtues to recognize stages of growth. Reed also provides exercises, meditations, and encouragement to students who are studying without a teacher. She discusses the Qabala as it appears in everyday life, which spheres of the Tree of Life to use for specific workings, and details two rituals using the Tree: a Dedication to the Journey, and the Rite of mending Love. Reed's command of the material allows teachers and students alike to gain powerful insight into their own search for spirituality.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Weiser; Revised edition (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877288801
• ISBN-13: 978-0877288800
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #786,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important, December 24, 2000

By 

J. French "93 93/93" (Oakland, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Witches Qabala: The Pagan Path and the Tree of Life (Paperback)

Ellen Cannon Reed's book on the interface between Kabbalah and Witchcraft is an important work. For Pagan's interested in using the Practical Kabbalh in their magick, it is a good place to begin. The best feature of the book is the relating of the Sefiroth (the spheres on the Tree of Life) to the passages in the Charge of the Goddess. I deducted one star for the ambiguities surrounding the practice of Rising on the Planes. The technique given for this is not, in fact, Rising on the Planes, but a description of a useful technique for attuning to the energies of a particular Sephrira in preparation for actual pathworking. Despite this drawback (one which is unfortunatly all too common in books on Practical Kabbalah) Reed's book is excellent and should be on every Witch's shelf. Very highly reccomended.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to the Qabala, September 27, 1998

By 

strega2 "strega2" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Witches Qabala: The Pagan Path and the Tree of Life (Paperback)

This book is probably the best introduction to the ancient and highly complex occult system of the Qabala. The author writes in a clear, user-friendly manner without ever underestimating her readers' intelligence--it is far more accessible than Dion Fortune's classic but very esoteric book on Qabala. This is such an intricate and complex subject that I recommend you start with this book if you want to begin to study it. An essential introduction book for students of the occult.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing and much needed book, November 26, 2000

By 

Limbo Sparky (Chumley Warner, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Witches Qabala: The Pagan Path and the Tree of Life (Paperback)

Thanks are due to Ellen Cannon Reed for popularising Qabala to the neo-pagan community. This is not only a step toward advancing spirituality and magick for modern pagans/witches and Wiccans, but it may yet prove to be the next evolutionary step necessary for cutting through the dross and cutting to the chase.

As a ceremonial magician who has recently moved into neo-pagan practice, I was stunned at the utter rejection (and often, unfortunately, the complete ignorance) of many Wiccans and pagans I talked to when it came to ceremonial magick and its relation to their practices and beliefs. A weird kind of divide seemed to be in place which saw ceremonial work, especially and centrally Qabala, as something alien to and removed from the Goddess and God archetypes of Wicca, along with the reverence of nature in witchcraft and paganism. Well, this simply is not true, as even a glancing appreciation of magical Qabala clearly shows.

What this form of Qabala teaches is that the ultimate point of creation is neither male or female, but that the emanations from that neutral point are indeed both male and female at the highest (supernal) level. In fact, everything that develops from the nothingness/everythingess that proceeds these male and female forms is, in turn, either positioned as male or female as a result, with a balance between them which sets the universe together cohesively. This is most certainly true of the Goddess and the God representations which are central to nearly all forms of nature oriented spirituality, and there they are in Qabala - as clear as clear can be!

(I chuckled recently, in point of fact, when I read Scott Cunningham's book 'Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner' and saw the alter layout described within it - the left is female, the right is male and they join in the middle - which is exactly as Qabala represents it too!)

However, it doesn't just stop there. Nature, of course, is a fully realised spiritual place, as every pagan knows. Well, so does every magician that uses the Qabala! The bottom sphere, Malkuth (where we find the universe), is the receiver of ALL the divinity pouring from above, so everything we need is here: all blent essences and all paths of exploration open to us. As Qabala and paganism both teach this to be the case then there shouldn't be a problem if we relate them together, just as Reed has done.

As a ground breaking book and a timely one, Ellen Cannon Reed's book is both a triumph for magick and a triumph for crossing boundaries. Just as I criticised those ignorant or closed minded people in the Wiccan and pagan groups, so too I must criticise those equally closed minded and ignorant who are involved in ceremonial work! What we have to realise, if we are ever to get anywhere, is that we are bickering about different names for exactly the same things, and that we are separated only by divisions that we create - they are not absolutes at all.

Qabala is ALREADY in neo-paganism and neo-paganism is ALREADY in Qabala - as they are both situated here, now, and working magically this could hardly be otherwise. Ellen Cannon Reed has pointed that out clearly, superbly and in a well written way.

Finishing off, I would say that you should buy The Witches Qabala if you are a Wiccan who thinks or a ceremonial who thinks they know it all! In both cases you will be pleasantly surprised and will find, if you look around you, that magic is moving anyway - regardless of any petty barriers set upon it.