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Title: Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune ISBN: 1-57863-150-5 Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser Pub. Date: 18 December, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.71 (24 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: One of the best books to buy on the Holy Qabalah
Comment: Dion Fortune, despite her self-expressed Biblical and Christian leanings, is a valuable and flexible source of information regarding this once-obscure subject. Her elucidation is clear, rationally expounded, and written in a friendly voice. She shows us that the Qabalah is compatible with any religion, not only her own or that of Judaism, but that it serves a tool for understanding not only oneself better, but also onself's conception of the Divine. She is one of the few authors (that I have read) of any religion whatsoever that is perfectly willing to take a system she believes in and allow for it to be utilized in a tradition radically different from her own.
Perhaps one flaw with the book is a benign one: she consistently repeats herself throughout. While this can be (and was) helpful in some circumstances, and is a welcome change from authors who give you a bit of information and expect you to never forget it, once you understand the point it can bog down the text.
The only major flaw of the book is that it does not include such a detailed description of the 22 paths. It focuses exclusively on the sephira, neglecting what is really the most important part of the entire Tree. This is somewhat remedied, however, by the editorial addition which includes some writing on the paths.
In the end, this is an essential text for anyone interested in mysticism, of any tradition. This book, as I understand it, is used to this day as the instruction material for Fortune's order, the Fraternity of the Inner Light. To this day it is a classic. Regardie, in his introduction to Crowley's 777 (which Fortune refers to repeatedly throughout the text), cites this book as a necessary introduction to that text, and a definite classic in it's own right. Coming from so esteemed a master of the Qabalah as Israel Regardie, one could not ask for a better endorsement.
I emphatically recommend you buy this book.
Rating: 4
Summary: An informative but strongly biased book
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: Mystical Qabalah
Comment: I really looked forward to reading this book after encountering many references to it as one of the precious few sources of initiatic Qabalah. After an initial reading, I can see why it is held in such high regard. Rooted in the Western tradition, Fortune delivers a profound teaching specifically tailored to a Western audience in a stunning and transformative way. I could, of course, go on and on about the pearls of wisdom to be found here, but I would risk losing any semblance of objectivity and would rather leave it to you, the reader of this review, to intuitively sense the worth of Fortune's teachings. You won't be disappointed.
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Title: The Training & Work of an Initiate by Dion Fortune, Gareth Knight ISBN: 1578631831 Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser Pub. Date: November, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: PSYCHIC SELF-DEFENSE by Dion Fortune ISBN: 1578631513 Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser Pub. Date: March, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Principles of Esoteric Healing by Dion Fortune ISBN: 1928754031 Publisher: Sun Chalice Books Pub. Date: 26 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Tree of Life: An Illustrated Study in Magic by Israel Regardie, Chic Cicero, Sandra Tabatha Cicero ISBN: 1567181325 Publisher: Llewellyn Publications Pub. Date: December, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: 777 And Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley by Israel Regardie, Aleister Crowley ISBN: 0877286701 Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser Pub. Date: October, 1990 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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