In this excerpt from the introduction, Trobe explains her approach to a body of knowledge that is both ancient and immediate.
climbing the Tree
That the Qabalah and other magickal systems should become commonly accessible was inevitable. With millions looking for ascension, every channel must be opened; a fact of which the late great magicians who first brought it to our attention were well aware.
However, I feel sure that Eliphas Levi, Israel Regardie, Dion Fortune, and other original exponents of the craft would be the first to blanch at some of the side effects. Those early masters’ emphasis was on strict training and self-discipline, with comprehension their highest priority.
Unfortunately the system seems so complex at first sight, and was often so abstrusely presented, that those eager to taste the fruits of the Tree tend to neglect the groundwork needed to make a successful climb. Not only this, but climbing by the uncertain light of gibbous understanding, they leave foot and claw marks on the ancient bark and sweaty fingerprints on its appendages.
The Tree itself, however, still stands with its crown in the Ain Soph Aur, the endless light, and beckons to those who desire to scale it. Since it is nearly impossible to broach magick in the Western hemisphere without a good working knowledge of the Qabalah, aspirants must approach the Tree at some point in their education. To Dion Fortune, Qabalah was “the Yoga of the West,” better suited to our lives and bodies than the Eastern art, and indispensable for attaining coherent magickal form. It provides a form of deep introspection and meditation; there is a path or Sephirah for every facet of the human psyche. It provides a means of accessing energies and even entities for magickal or practical use.
The original Kabbalah laid emphasis on the day-to-day application of its practical wisdom, and on seeking out the divine spark in the apparently mundane. Of course, for observant Jews, the significance and symbolism of Hebrew letters and names literally is the mainstream of daily life, but for many unversed in the language, comprehension of its surface and deeper meanings has been a struggle.
It need not be so difficult anymore. Most of the necessary experience can be attained through thought image and meditation, and this is the purpose for which the visualizations in this book have been formulated. They are intended to impart maximum information and benefit with minimal confusion. This, in turn, will spill into the practitioner’s psyche, and its conscious application to self- and dream-analysis, for example, will bring it into the provinces of practical Qabalah.
The inclusion of Tarot symbolism performs a similar role. However, for the sake of clarity, this book should be considered a primer, as opposed to an exhaustive treatment of the subject. I have avoided the esoteric sciences of Gematria, Temura, and Notariqon, which strive to attain meanings from the numerology and lettering of key words. No doubt these and other ramifications can be of great value to those already conversant in the key symbols and correspondences of the Sephiroth. But simplicity and easy access to the material was the central goal in the preparation of this book. For those who wish to continue into the more esoteric dimensions of Qabalistic lore, some of the more detailed tracts are mentioned in the bibliography.
Nor are these excursions magickally dangerous. They will, however, open up gateways to a great flood of experience. That said, do not undertake them if you are quite content with the way things are, thank you very much. Working with the Qabalah is like handling a psychological growth hormone: It gets under your skin and enhances certain areas of the psyche (which areas are affected depends on the practitioner’s state of being and active mental and emotional affiliations). The exercises are designed to stretch and flex the psychic muscles, to progress the soul in one’s personal and cosmic context, and to familiarize the participant with the key traits of each of the ten Sephiroth, the “apples” on the Tree’s branches.
