Mystical Qabalah 10 Key Ideas

Introduction

Regarded as the best explication of the Sephiroth, Dion Fortune‘s Mystical Qabalah provides an exceptional understanding of the predominant forms of Western Esotericism rooted in Qabalistic philosophy. Essential to any seeker’s collection, the book addresses misconceptions between Western and Eastern mysteries, how the Tree of Life maps to the psyche, the manifestation of spirit, and the dynamics of magick. While delving into all that would be lengthy, I’ll discuss 1 0 of its key ideas. Later, I may do that with a few more, depending on your interest. 

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The Yoga of the West

Authors these days sometimes use the term Western Yoga without crediting its origin. Emphasizing that the wisdom of Israel is the Western Tradition’s fountainhead, Dion Fortune’s Mystical Qabalah defines Qabalah as the Yoga of the West. And based on my research, this is where the term originates. In its first chapter, the book reveals that the same is a unique approach allowing one to deal with their issues. As later stressed, that’s mostly about conquering and making things happen in the physical reality, as that’s the Westerner’s destiny. 

“The adepts of those races whose evolutionary destiny is to conquer the physical plane have evolved a Yoga technique of their own which is adapted to their special problems and peculiar needs. This technique is based upon the well-known, but little understood Qabalah, the Wisdom of Israel…”

“The mysticism of Israel supplies the foundation of modern Western occultism. It forms the theoretical basis upon which all ceremonial is developed. Its famous glyph, the Tree of Life, is the best meditation symbol we possess because it is the most comprehensive…”

p.3-4 

The Appropriate Path

Fortune explains that the appropriate path must fit one’s temperament. Despite self-help’s fascination with Eastern methods, the author insists Westerners prefer not the mystic but the occult path as it suits their way of being. A system must meet three essential criteria to be suitable for those living in the West. And as found on page 10, these include.

• To be readily comprehensible to predominantly materialistic minds lacking anything mystic. 
• The forces invoked during a working must be potent enough to impact (both) the higher and denser aspects of the Westerner psyche, which doesn’t make sense of subtle currents and powers.
• The method should allow quickly getting in and out of magickally-induced states as they may not be suitable for face-paced living in urban areas. 

Fortune adds effective methods for recluse may lead to neurotic breakdowns and conditions. Particularly when combined with the pressure of modern living.

Comment 

This makes solid sense as you pull in two different directions. On the contrary, more contemporary practitioners report improved productivity, creativity, and ability to handle life by not closing and banishing their workings. Said differently by deliberately letting the energy influence their day. So they can more easily conquer dense matter, as Fortune calls it. 

Conquering Dense Matter

The racial dharma of the West is the conquest of dense matter. The sooner that’s realized, the quicker problems and misconceptions between the East and West will be resolved. Conquering dense matter and developing the concrete mind requires working with and not against your genetics. While this implies utilizing suitable tools, doing the opposite fails to produce results or leads to undesired outcomes. 

“The dharma of the West differs from that of the East; is it, therefore, desirable to try and implant Eastern ideals in a Westerner?””Withdrawal from the earth-plane is not his line of progress. The normal, healthy Westerner has no desire to escape from life. His urge is to conquer it and reduce it to order and harmony. It is only the pathological types who long to “cease upon the midnight with no pain” to be free from the wheel of birth and death; the normal Western temperament demands life, more life…”

“It is the concentration of life force that the Western occultist seeks in his operations. He does not try to escape from matter into spirit, leaving an unconquered country behind him to get on as best it may; he wants to bring the Godhead down into manhood and make Divine Law prevail even in the Kingdom of Shades…”

p.11

Comment

Considering the internet and social media, I don’t think this only applies to Westerners. For ‘good and bad,’ the world now shares a ubiquitous global culture based on Western living. So the values and lifestyle of the West are no longer exclusive to the West. 

IMHO, this heavily inspired more modern approaches to Magick. Namely, not waiting to get enlightened to do practical magick but using that to build your life first and then achieving it as an addition to your material success. Also, searching for meaning and mystical experiences by combining probability shifts with taking action in physical reality, recognizing the divine in the mundane.

Kether and Practical Magick

Having its roots in the heavens, the Tree of Life grows, top to bottom. To achieve long-lasting results, workings must mimic that moving from the highest to the lowest force/entity. Given that, each operation must start with the highest power name of the sephira/planet, i.e., Kether of Atziluth of the force. If not, magicians can never retain the results, as nature works against them with full force. 

While some claim Kether is unsuitable for practical work, Fortune objects it’s involved in each properly structured operation. This ensures the ‘working’ follows the ‘cosmic law;’ also that the powers and potential results come from the right place. You can also work with Kether, using Sun, Saturn, or Mars hexagrams based on who you ask. 

“Energy derived from any other source is limited and partial energy. (…) It is through Kether from the Great Unmanifest, hidden behind the Veils of Negative Existence, that the power is drawn. (…) This is true if his operation is performed in any of the lower spheres of nature, but if it starts in the Kether of Atziluth, he (the magician) is drawing unmanifest force into manifestation; he is adding to the resources of the universe; and provided he keeps the forces in equilibrium…”

Kether and Darkness

Kether is the state of being without attributes and activities. It is conventionally viewed as blinding white light. Yet, Fortune reveals it’s equally appropriate to perceive Kether as the darkness of interstellar space matter, which is ‘no-thing’ but (actually) contains the potential for everything. Although they are vastly different, IMHO, this adds much depth to Don Webb’s saying that Magick pulls things out from the darkness into the light. 

The Key to All Magickal Operations

Performing and forgetting about them is the key to all magickal operations. As Thelema teaches, giving up the ‘lust of result,’ is vital. You achieve complete control over the astral images by not caring for the outcomes on the physical plane. This, Fortune explains, is how you turn them into whatever you desire. The goal is to focus on bringing the desired forces into action. How exactly they will, has no importance. They will as long as you do your part accordingly and release unproductive expectations of how this or that is supposed to happen. Following cosmic law, the magick will manifest most easily and naturally. Considering that Magick works on what is already there (I’d say), this will be primarily based on your efficiency and current life situation. 

“…for we may not turn the universe round and about suit our whim or convenience, but are only justified in the deliberate work of magic when we work with the great tide of evolving life in order to bring ourselves into fullness of life…”

p.108

Spirit and Matter

Opening the reader’s eyes beyond duality and revealing you won’t make much progress if ‘GOD and Devil fight in your head, Mystical Qabalah brings clarity about ‘spiritual’ and ‘natural/material.’ Unlike many associating the first with the ‘highest good,’ whereas the former with the ‘lowest evil,’ ‘matter’ is a ‘crystallized spirit.’ And spirit is ‘volatilized matter.’ 

The Same Thing

According to page 215, there really is not much difference between them as they are like water and ice. In other words, the spiritual and natural are two different states of the same thing. This is the great secret of alchemy, forming the philosophic basis of the secret doctrine of transmutation. Likely inspiring modern authors like David Shoemaker and others, Fortune notes true alchemy has little to do with the transmutation of metals but with that of energy within the soul. 

Earthing the Force

“Every magical operation is designed to bring power down the planes into the reach of the operator, who then applies it to whatever ends he may design. (…) It should be recognized that no operation is complete until the process has been expressed in terms of Malkuth, or, in other words, has been issued forth in action on the physical plane…”

Comment

Elsewhere Fortune also likens sephiroth 1-9 to racing cars or boats, whereas Malkuth to the finishing line. This is a healthy reminder that no matter how enlightened you are if it works, your magick has to eventually manifest on the physical plane following natural law.

Becoming a Channel

“Whenever we make ourselves the channel of any pure force, that is to say, any force which is single and undiluted by ulterior motives and secondary considerations, we find that there is a river in spate behind us – the stream of the corresponding Sephirotic or Qliphothic forces that is finding a channel through us. It is this that gives the single-minded zealot his abnormal power…”
p.283

While this may evoke negative connotations, I think it should be one of the primary goals of self-improvers and magicians. In his lecture, All The Kabbalah You Really Need To Know, Soror Miriam BatAsherah defines humans as puppets of Qabalah. A description that complements the last quote. Given that, every force can be productive and destructive. The key is not resisting but taking advantage of that. How you use it makes the difference. The better you are at that, the less willpower you need to accomplish anything. And to me, this is one of the alchemists’ defining skills.

The Spirit of God

Mystical Qabalah notes how some psychoanalysts (likely Freud) narrow-mindedly view spirits as nothing but suppressed traumas and complexes, whereas others (like Jung, Assagioli, etc.) see them as aspects of human highest nature. Nowadays, we have actual Jungian psychologists who are magicians, expanding on that. And the best example is David Shoemaker’s Living Thelema. 

In its concluding chapter, Mystical Qabalah brings that home. It does so by recognizing Qabalah’s power as a psychological system helping you fully utilize your potential. And on page 285, Fortune shares how she really perceived Magick.

“Viewed as a means of invoking the spirit of God, ceremonial is pure superstition, but viewed as a means of evoking the spirit of man, it is pure psychology, and that is how I view it. It is a lost art in the West, but an art that is well worth reviving…” 

While I don’t think the so-called psychological model necessarily depicts the totality of things, I believe this is a wisdom gem many practitioners should reflect on. But that’s just my opinion. Let me know what yours is. Also, Mystical Qabalah’s role in your journey.