281 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
281 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
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** MAGICK 10 -- CABALA **
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Western magick is based upon the Cabala, a Jewish
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mystical traditon first written down in 12th and 13th century
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southern France and Spain. It was oral before that; and it
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contains the "lost" knowledge of the ancients, possibly going
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back to Egypt and before. The most important Cabalistic
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books are SEPHIR YETZIRAH (The Book of Creation), and the
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ZOHAR (Book of Splendor). Through Cabalistic philosophy we
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are able to classify and "pigeon-hole" all of existence.
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The four worlds are recognized in the Cabala, but
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they are given Hebrew names. Thus -- Assiah, physical;
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Yetzirah, astral; Briah, mental; and Atziluth, spiritual;
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as shown in the chart.
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WORLD NAME MEANING ATTRIBUTE
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===== ==== ======= =========
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spiritual Atziluth Archetypal World pure deity
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mental Briah Creative World archangels
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astral Yetzirah Formative World angels
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physical Assiah Material World action
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The divine name of God is TETRAGRAMMATON (or name of four
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letters) made from the Hebrew letters YOD HE VAU HE (English
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YHVH). Of the four letters, YOD corresponds with Atziluth and
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the element of fire; the first HE corresponds with Briah and
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water. These first two letters make up a yang-yin pair
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(respectively). The other two letters also form a yang-yin
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pair (respectively), with the VAU corresponding with Yetzirah
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and air; while the second HE corresponds with Assiah and the
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element of earth.
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The Cabalistic parts of the soul use new names for
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the three highest vehicles of consciousness. NESHAMAH
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(Divine Soul) is the Spiritual body; RUAH (Moral Soul)
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is the Mental body; and NEFESH (Animal Soul) is the
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Astral body.
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An important attribute of the Cabala is the
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SEFIROTIC TREE (or "Tree of Life", Otz Chieem). The
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Sefirotic Tree is a diagram of the universe made up of the
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ten SEFIROTH (primal numbers or orders of creation) drawn
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as circles upon the Tree in a decending pattern from the
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highest aspect of God at the top to the most physical aspect
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of our world at the bottom. As can be seen in the
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accompanying diagram, the sefiroth are connected together
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with numbered lines, called paths.
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/ (1)\
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/ < \
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/ < \
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(3) /----------<---------\ (2)
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< < <
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< < <
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< < <
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(5)\-----------<---------/ (4)
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< \ < / <
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< \ < / <
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< \ (6)/ <
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< / < \ <
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< / < \ <
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< / < \ <
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(8)/-----------<--------\ (7)
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\ < /
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\ < /
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\ < /
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\(9)/
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<
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<
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(10)
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This is my attempt to draw a Sefirotic Tree using ASCII
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characters. Several paths are omitted (15, 17, 29, 31).
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Please refer to a printed diagram (in most any book on Cabala)
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for a better illustration.
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----------------------------------------------------------
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Above the Tree is the infinite void -- the
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unknowable, unmanifest God as Divine Light -- the three veils
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of negative existence: Ain, Ain Sof, and Ain Sof Aur. The
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Divine Light (Ain Sof Aur) is made manifest by the first
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sefira where it is transformed into positive existence.
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Emanations of energy (magical current) flow from the first
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sefira (Source) along the paths into other sefiroth which
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transform and emanate to lower and lower sefiroth. In Adam
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Kadman (primal or ideal man) the sefiroth fit upon the
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physical body; note the similarity to the chakras. The
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process of creation is one of emanation from the spiritual at
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the top of the Tree to the physical world (Sink) at the
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bottom. All current which is Sourced into the Tree must also
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be Sinked (earthed). That is, magical energy set in motion
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by ritual shoud be used up in the physical world whether or
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not the ritual was a success.
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Sefiroth 1, 2, and 3 on the Tree form the Supernal
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Triangle which is beyond normal human experience in the world
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of Atziluth. The first sefira, KETHER, is the supreme
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*crown* of God; it signifies pure Being, and is the Source.
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Kether is androgynous. Immediately arising from Kether are
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two further emanations. The second sefira is HOKMAH, the
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*wisdom* of God and the masculine force of the universe.
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Third is BINAH, the *understanding* or intelligence of God;
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this is the supernal mother.
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Between the Supernals and the other seven sefiroth is
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the Abyss -- a great gulf which forever separates ideal from
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actual. Within the Abyss an 11th sefira, DAATH, the *knowledge*
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of God is sometimes placed.
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The second triangle, comprised of the 4th, 5th, and
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6th sefiroth in the world of Briah, is sometimes called the
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Mental Triangle. Sefira 4, HESED, the *love* or mercy of God,
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is male and positive. The 5th sefira, GEVURAH, the power or
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*strength* of God complements Hesed as justice. Sixth is
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TIFARETH, as the compassion or *beauty* of God; the heart of
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the universe.
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The third or Astral Triangle contains sefiroth 7, 8,
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and 9 in Yetzirah. Sefira 7, NETSAH, is the lasting endurance
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or *victory* of God. Complementing Netsah is 8, HOD, the
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majesty or *splendor* of God. The 9th sefira, YESOD, the
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*foundation* of the world, is linked with the moon, hence the
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tides and the libido. Yesod is experienced as dream
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consciousness, and is very important in magick and astral
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projection.
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Finally, at the physical world of Assiah is the 10th
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sefira, MALKUTH, the *kindgom* of God, and the basis of all
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material creation. We experience Malkuth as sense consciousness.
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The Sefirotic Tree has three vertical columns or
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*pillars*. As you face the tree, the pillar on the right,
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headed by Hokmah and ending with Netsah, is called the Pillar
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of Mercy and has light/masculine (yang) qualities. The pillar
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on the left, headed by Binah and ending with Hod, is the
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Pillar of Severity with dark/feminine (yin) qualities. The
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Middle Pillar between them equilibriates the two opposites,
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and is the *Shekhinah*, or feminine counterpart of God. The
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*klippoth*, or evil demons, generally in Assiah, represent
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unbalanced forces or excesses.
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All the attributes of the universe fit like pieces of
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a puzzle upon the Sefirotic Tree. Each numbered part is a
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numeric key to the various correspondence tables, such as
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Crowley's '777'. The sefirotic tree has its parts variously
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colored and each sefira has a color; in fact the paths which
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run between the sefiroth have their own colors too. There are
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four major color scales for the sefirotic tree and each color
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scale corresponds with one of the four worlds. That means
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we are dealing with not just one sefirotic tree, but actually
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with a separate tree for each of the four worlds; although it
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is easier to think of it as the same tree with a different
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color scale. The Queen (Briah) and King (Atziluth) scales are
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the most important. There is also the Empress scale (Assiah),
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and the Emperor scale (Yetzirah).
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The Queen and King scales for the sefiroth are
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shown below. (Note that when 4 colors are listed toghether,
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the sefira is divided into quarters and the first color is
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assigned to the upper quarter, the 2nd color to the right
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quarter, the 3rd color to the left quarter, and the last
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color to the lower quarter.)
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KEY QUEEN SCALE KING SCALE
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=== =========== ==========
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1 pure white brilliance brilliance
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2 gray pure soft blue
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3 black crimson
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4 blue deep violet
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5 scarlet red orange
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6 yellow (gold) clear pink rose
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7 emerald green amber
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8 orange violet purple
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9 violet indigo
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10 citrine, olive, russet, yellow
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and black
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The 22 paths connect the sefiroth together. These
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paths correspond with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet,
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as based upon the SEFIR YETZIRAH. Due to the nature of
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the Hebrew alphabet (some letters can take two forms)
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SEFIR YETZIRAH divides each of two of the letters into
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two (dual) parts. For this reason, it is necessary to divide
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each of the two related paths into two (dual) parts. These
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are numbered 31, 31b (bisected); 32, 32b. Yet when these
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paths are drawn on the sefirotic tree they are usually shown
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undivided (and numbered simply 31, and 32). The following
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table shows the colors and location of the paths in relation
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to the sefiroth. You will want to add the path numbers to
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the illustration of the sefirotic tree, or draw a new tree.
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Some writers may refer to "32 paths", by calling the sefiroth
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"paths" 1-10.
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KEY JOINS SEFIROTH QUEEN SCALE KING SCALE
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=== ============== =========== ==========
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11 1 - 2 sky blue brt. pale yellow
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12 1 - 3 purple yellow
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13 1 - 6 silver blue
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14 2 - 3 sky blue emerald green
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15 2 - 6 red scarlet
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16 2 - 4 deep indigo red orange
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17 3 - 6 pale mauve orange
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18 3 - 5 maroon amber
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19 4 - 5 deep purple greenish yellow
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20 4 - 6 slate gray yellowish green
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21 4 - 7 blue violet
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22 5 - 6 blue emerald green
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23 5 - 8 sea green deep blue
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24 6 - 7 dull brown green blue
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25 6 - 9 yellow blue
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26 6 - 8 black indigo
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27 7 - 8 red scarlet
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28 7 - 9 sky blue violet
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29 7 - 10 buff, flecked crimson (ultra-
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silver-white violet)
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30 8 - 9 gold yellow orange
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31 8 - 10 vermilion glowing orange-
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scarlet
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32 9 - 10 black indigo
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31b deep purple, white merging
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nearly black into gray
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32b amber citrine, olive,
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russet, black
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The queen and king scales are complementary. Also
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complementary are the paths and the sefiroth. Traditional use
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of the queen scale sefiroth will find the king scale as paths
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and vice versa. The use of complementary scales is based upon
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the idea of balance. A tree composed of sefiroth in the queen
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scale and paths in the king scale is all you need for most
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magick. Although correspondences are what work for you, there
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is said to be an ancient tradition surrounding the
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conventional color scales and it may be helpful to lock into
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the energy associated with them.
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From the magical point of view, the Tree of Life is a
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map of consciousness which is useful for understanding and
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attaining various states of consciousness. In cabalistic
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magick we are concerned with the linking of higher energy to
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lower levels on the tree. That very thing takes place
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naturally as well, in nature and in life. A subject in itself
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is cabalistic meditation (pathwork, or the way of return), in
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which we attempt to climb up the tree (ladder of lights) to
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attain union with divinity.
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REVIEW QUESTIONS
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1) What is the sefirotic tree?
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2) How is the queen scale used in magick?
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3) What is a path? How many are there?
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BOOK LIST
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J. Abelson, Jewish Mysticism
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Edward Albertson, Understanding the Kabbalah
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Bernard J. Babmerger, Fallen Angels
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Richard Cavendish, The Black Arts
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Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth
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Denning and Phillips, The Magical Philosophy
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A.D. Duncan, The Christ, Psychotherapy and Magic
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Dion Fortune, The Mystical Qabalah
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Adolphe Frank, The Kabbalah: The Religious Philosophy
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of the Hebrews
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Perle Epstein, Kabbalah, the Way of the Jewish Mystic
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William Gray, The Talking Tree
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Stephan A. Hoeller, The Royal Road
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Isidor Kalish, Sepher Yezirah: A Book on Creation
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Alta J. LaDage, Occult Psychology
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Bernhard Pick, The Cabala: Its Influence on Judaism and
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Christianity
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Charles Ponce, Kabbalah: An Introduction and Illumination
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for the World Today
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Henry B. Pullen-Burry, Qabalism
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Israel Regardie, A Garden of Pomegranets
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Leo Schaya, The Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah
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Gershom Scholem, Kabbalah
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Arthur Edward Waite, The Holy Kabbalah
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R.J. Zwi Werblowsky, "Cabala", Man, Myth and Magic
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William Wynn Wescott, An Introduction to the Study of
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the Kabalah
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