Climbing the Tree of Life: A Manual of Practical Magickal Qabalah

324 Pages·2005·5.668 MB·English

by  David Rankine

CLIMBING THE TREE OF LIFE
DAVID RANKINE
Foreword by Stephen Skinner
A MANUAL OF PRACTICAL MAGICKAL QABALAH
Climbing The Tree of Life
Published by Avalonia
BM Avalonia
London
WC1N 3XX
England, UK
www.avaloniabooks.co.uk
First Edition 2005
Copyright © David Rankine
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Illustrations by Satori 2005
ISBN 1-905297-06-8
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A CIP catalogue record for this volume is available from the British Library and
the US Library of Congress on request.
David Rankine
Climbing The Tree of Life
A MANUAL OF PRACTICAL MAGICKAL QABALAH
David Rankine
“The Qabalah does not leave us creeping about on
the floor of the physical world, it draws us upward
into communion with God and the angels. ”
De arte Cabalistica, Johannes Reuchlin (1507 CE)
Climbing The Tree of Life
Dedication
This book is dedicated to Stephen Skinner; whose work inspired me at a
young age to start practicing magick, and who continues to inspire me today
as a friend and colleague exemplifying all the best qualities of the magickal
path.
David Rankine
Table of Contents
Foreword by Stephen Skinner....................................................................8
introduction by the Author...........................................................................10
PARTI - HISTORY & DEFINITIONS.............................................................13
1. A Brief History of Qabalah......................................................................14
2. Otz Chiim - The Tree of Life....................................................................19
3. Terms used in Practicing Qabalah..........................................................20
PART II - DIVIDING THE TREE OF LIFE......................................................23
4. The Four Worlds.....................................................................................24
The World of Atziluth...............................................................................24
The World of Briah..................................................................................24
The World of Yetzirah.............................................................................25
The World of Assiah..............................................................................26
5. The Sephiroth in the Worlds...................................................................28
Western Magickal Model.......................................................................28
Classical model.......................................................................................28
Alternative Classical model.....................................................................29
Jacob’s Ladder......................................................................................30
6. The Three Pillars on the Tree.................................................................31
The Black Pillar........................................................................................31
The White Pillar.......................................................................................31
The Middle or Grey Pillar........................................................................32
7. The Triads on the Tree...........................................................................35
The Supernal Triad................................................................................35
The Ethical Triad.....................................................................................37
The Astral Triad......................................................................................37
The Knowledge Triad..............................................................................37
8. The Seven Palaces.................................................................................39
PART III - THE VEILS OF THE TREE..........................................................43
9. The Veils of Negativity...........................................................................44
Ain - Negativity........................................................................................44
Ain Soph - Without End..........................................................................47
Ain Soph Aur - Infinite Light...................................................................48
10. The Veils dividing the Tree...................................................................50
The Veil of the Abyss..............................................................................50
The Veil of Paroketh..............................................................................50
The Veil of Malkuth..................................................................................51
The Veil of the Presence of the Most High..............................................51
11. Other Important Relationships..............................................................52
Divine Triad.............................................................................................52
Kether-Tiphereth.....................................................................................52
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Climbing The Tree of Life
The Yesod-Daath Mirror..........................................................................52
The Eclipse Line.....................................................................................52
The Expansion of Chokmah.....................................................................53
The Expansion of Binah..........................................................................53
PART IV - IMPORTANT CONCEPTS..............................................................55
12. The Lightning Flash...............................................................................56
13. The Serpent...........................................................................................59
14. Tzim-Tzum............................................................................................61
15. The Unpronounceable Name of God....................................................63
16. The Shekinah........................................................................................68
17. Adam Kadmon....................................................................................72
The Five Adams......................................................................................73
18. The Qliphoth.......................................................................................75
The Tree of Evil.......................................................................................77
PART V - MAN AND THE QABALAH............................................................79
19. The Human Soul on the Tree................................................................80
The Glassblower Model...........................................................................80
The Nephesh..........................................................................................80
The Ruach...............................................................................................82
The Neshamah........................................................................................82
Chayah...................................................................................................83
Yechidah..................................................................................................83
20. Reincarnation and Qabalah..................................................................85
21. The Guardian Angel...............................................................................86
The Conjuration of the Holy Guardian Angel..........................................87
PART VI - EXPANDING PERCEPTIONS.......................................................89
22. Working with the Tree of Life................................................................90
23. Qabalah and the Gods...........................................................................91
24. The Archangels.....................................................................................93
25. The Planets...........................................................................................95
PART VII- COLOURS & NUMBERS.............................................................99
26. The Colour Scales............................................................................100
27. The Magick of Numbers....................................................................103
Gematria.............................................................................................103
Notariqon.............................................................................................103
Temurah..............................................................................................104
PART VIII - THE SEPHIROTH....................................................................107
28. The Sephiroth...................................................................................108
29. MALKUTH (MLKVTh) - The Kingdom..............................................113
30. YESOD (ISVD) - Foundation............................................................130
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David Rankine
31. HOD (HVD) - Splendour......................................................................142
32. NETZACH (NTzCh) - Victory..............................................................153
33. TIPHERETH (ThPhARTh) - Beauty....................................................164
34. GEBURAH (GBVRH) - Strength..........................................................178
35. CHESED (ChSD) - Mercy..................................................................188
35. DAATH (DaaTh) - Knowledge.............................................................199
36. BINAH (BINH) - Understanding........................................................206
37. CHOKMAH (ChKMH) - Wisdom.........................................................215
38. KETHER (KThR) - The Crown.........................................................223
PART IX - RITUAL TECHNIQUES...............................................................237
39. Pathworking.......................................................................................238
40. Vibratory Formula & Divine Names......................................................241
Vibration of Names...............................................................................241
41. Magickal Images & Assumption of Deity.............................................243
42. Magick of the Hands...........................................................................244
43. The Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram..............................................246
44. The Middle Pillar Exercise................................................................253
45. The Lightning Flash Affirmation..........................................................256
46. The Structure of Qabalistic Ritual.......................................................259
PART X - QABALAH & TALISMANS...........................................................263
47. Kameas & Sigilisation.........................................................................264
48. Aiq Beker............................................................................................266
49. Planetary Hours and Timing...............................................................268
Standard Attributions for Planetary Hours...........................................269
Example..............................................................................................270
50. Consecration of Talismans.................................................................271
PART XI - FURTHER IDEAS.......................................................................275
51. Tree of LifeTarot Spread..................................................................276
52. Further Invocations & Meditations.....................................................278
53. Qabalah in Daily Life.........................................................................282
APPENDIX...................................................................................................287
Appendix 1 - Hebrew & Colour Scales....................................................288
Appendix 2 - The Planetary Kameas......................................................289
Bibliography.............................................................................................294
Index........................................................................................................297
About This Author.....................................................................................317
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Climbing The Tree of Life
Foreword
The Qabalah has undergone a prodigious flowering during the last
part of the 1990’s. Not only has it become the object of attention by
well known stars, but it has also been received by a new generation of
Rabbinical scholars. Even the Zohar, the foundation text of the
Qabalah is again being translated into English, this time by Daniel
Matt in the Pritzker edition. His words are like a garland of roses
compared with the rather stuffy Simon and Sperling translation. New
aspects of the Qabalah are coming to light including new theories by
Kieren Barry on important Greek links with the Hebrew Gematria and
Notariqon.
The Qabalah is a difficult subject to write about, as it means so many
very different things to different people. It is also a body of knowledge
that has at different times been appropriated by Renaissance
Hermeticists, orthodox Christians, twentieth century practitioners of
magic, wonderworkers from Safed and Mediaeval Eastern European
rabbis. When David showed me the manuscript of the present book, I
was delighted to see that he had clearly made the distinction between
these different approaches. I was also pleased to see that the book
was not just another re-hash of the Christian Qabalah as filtered
through the Golden Dawn, and that he had gone back to sources and
made many new connections which I had not suspected before.
I particularly liked his survey of the differences between monotheism,
polytheism and henotheism, which effectively slays a few pernicious
misconceptions. It is good to see clear lines drawn between the
Rabbinical practice of the Kabbalah, and its later incarnations as the
Christianized Cabalah of the Renaissance, and finally in its
incarnation as a repository and ground plan of the western magical
tradition of the twentieth and twenty-first Century. Another strand
which is brought to the forefront in this book is the sexual side of the
Qabalah in the form of the Shekinah doctrines. The author also throws
considerable light on the important issue of the Holy Guardian Angel,
which he relates back to the original concept of the Maggid.
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David Rankine
David is someone with a strict training in the Western magical tradition
combined with a breadth of vision and scholarship which allows him to
take in the wider perspectives of the Zohar, the Torah and Christianity,
without shrinking from the religion of his forefathers or rebelling
against it as did Crowley. For surely the Qabalah is part of the mystery
tradition of Judaism and Christianity, as well as a universal system of
classification which has been successfully used in theology, mysticism
and magic.
The book is eminently readable and leads the reader logically through
the Tree of Life, its Paths and the Four Worlds, making sure to quote
the relevant passage from the Bible, Sepher Yetzirah or Zohar along
the way, rather than just stating things as facts. In tying the Qabalah in
with its roots, David is not leading off in a religious direction, but
ensuring that the whole edifice of the Qabalah is firmly rooted in
tradition, something that has not been of prime concern to many
modern writers on the subject. Throughout the book numerical
Gematria equivalents of key words are given, tying together words like
‘unity’ and ‘love’ and more interestingly ‘serpent’ and ‘Messiah.’
Above all this book is designed for practical work, leading the student
from simple visualisation exercises to major path and temple
workings. The Sephiroth are compared to continents, and the reader
encouraged to explore them. To aid the reader in doing this, a lot of
symbolic and real correspondences are given in considerable detail.
The list of gods and goddesses attributed to each Sephira is
considerably more extensive than those listed in Aleister Crowley’s
777, his tabular summation of Golden Dawn correspondences.
All in all one of the best books on the Qabalah to have been
published, one that not only goes back to the roots, but also beyond
the G.D, Crowley, Dion Fortune axis, whilst focusing on the use of the
Qabalah in practical ritual, talisman making and pathworking.
Stephen Skinner
Singapore, 2005
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