Good beginner book on Qabalah?

[AliceNuit]

What is a good baby beginner book on Qabalah (western hermetic) ?
Something that explains all the basics in bitty baby steps.

Thank you.
93 93/93

[Jim Eshelman]

I really don't think there's a better intro than The Mystical Qabalaah by Dion Fortune; except, the (understandable) mistake most people make is sludging through the introductory chapters first. Skip them (as much as you want), and jump straight to the chapters on the 10 Sephiroth.

[AliceNuit]

Hmmm, a reviewer on amazon.com says that the new edition of The Mystical Qabalaah by Dion Fortune, has many errors in it. Guess I will have to look for an old copy. Here's the review:


When examining this new edition in order to consider it as a course text I found several problems within the edition itself. At first I thought that, maybe, it had been a very long time since I'd read it as some things didn't seem as clear as I'd remembered them. Upon comparison to the '84-'89 edition I found the source of the problem, the text has not been faithfully reproduced. For example the following two quotes are from the end of Chapter 2, Paragraph 4.
2001 Edition: "Nor am I impressed by a dedication to the higher life which by peculiarities of clothing and bearing and by the manner of cutting, or omitting to cut, the hair."

1984 Edition: "Nor am I impressed by a dedication to the higher life which manifests itself by peculiarities of clothing and bearing and by the manner of cutting, or omitting to cut, the hair."

This is only a single example and I have yet to find an entire chapter devoid of such mistakes, some of them leaving out entire sentences.

The Mystical Qabalah is, without a doubt, one of the best books on Qabalah ever written. It is a shame that Weiser, a formally respected publisher, could make such a mess of it.

-Greg Wotton

[Frater S.R.]

The Mystical Qabalah, Dion Fortune
The Kabbalah Unveiled, Knorr von Rosenroth (translated by S. L. McGregor Mathers)
Course of Hidden Philosophy, Eliphas Levi

& then

Sepher Yetzirah
777 and Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley (published by Israel Regardie)
Sepher Sephiroth

[Ankh]

Quote Tornado93: What is a good baby beginner book on Qabalah (western hermetic) ?
Something that explains all the basics in bitty baby steps.

The Qabalistic Tarot by Robert Wang might help. This book weaves the Qabalah and the Tarot with one another. It helped my understanding of the Western Mystery system.

[AliceNuit]

Thank you everybody.
Some other people have also recommended "The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford" by Lon Milo DuQuette

[Frater LA]

Much more of a shepherd and humorist's explanation than a scholar's. But don't let him fool you that way.

Well... yeah... like a good rabbi's explanation.

[Poet]

How do people rate Regardie's "Garden of Pomegranates"?

[Frater LA]

Complete other direction. So dryly comprehensive as to be more of an encyclopedic text - a scholarly history and faithful record of his understanding of the Tree of Life and literal qabalah. The current edition also has Chic and Tabitha Cicero's Skrying on the Tree of Life: A textbook for pratical work with the Qabalah added at the end.

You could go in as a beginner, but it's intimidatingly large and dry. I definitely recommend owning it, but I'd also recommend Fortune's Mystical Qabalah first. Add to that the Chicken Qabalah, and you might keep a balanced head about it all... lol...

[Frater LA]

For an absolute beginner, I'd recommend at least the first half of this book:

Practical Kabbalah Guidebook

After that, you'll know the kind of thing Fortune is talking about.

[Jim Eshelman]

How do people rate Regardie's "Garden of Pomegranates"?

I see it as a handy book of tables. More or less 777 Rearranged.

I didn't recommend it as a beginner book because I think the first introduction needs to be with discussion and explanation (a la Fortune), not just a list of facts.

[Poet]

I'd just picked up the Cicero's commented version of Regardies book from Amazon based on recommendations.
Thanks for the info.

[Reef]

Dion Fortune's The Mystical Qabalah.

Read it with ZERO knowledge of the Qabalah and became a faithful student of the Western Hermetic tradition after I read it. It absolutely changed my life.

[Frater LA]

Also, for a great and very friendly primer on Tarot, or the paths between the sephiroth on the Tree of Life, try Jason Lotterhand's The Thursday Night Tarot.

Excellent, grandfatherly, and very wise discussion of the meaning of the Tarot.