posted December 04, 2004 11:26 AM         

I also got Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune, the cover is absolutely gorgeous! I'm not going to start this for a while though.

I couldn't find the book by Paul Foster Case on the Tarot, I might have to order that online.

Anyway, I'm very intimidated by the Qabalah. Aselzion, I can't even pronounce it correctly. I keep saying CA-BAA-LAA! It just doesn't flow off the tongue properly. I feel like it's the Trigonometry of the Occult. I understand the Tarot which is definitely a start.

So basically the Qabalah is a filing system that attempts to explain everything in a systematic way!?! If you understand the universe as a whole than you can do pretty much anything, right!?! Is that right? I don't know, I feel like I just got admitted to Occult College.

posted December 05, 2004 01:11 AM         

Yes... Qabalah is definitely college level stuff in the metaphysical realm. Read Thursday Night Tarot.. that is a gentle initiation into Qabalah, and discusses both the the Astrology and Qabalistic aspects of the Tarot.

It also includes a glossary that you will find most helpful.

Paul Foster Cases book is available online, but check the USED copies for a hardcover edition or lower prices on the paperback. That is a CLASSIC and will repay you many times over for the reference that it provides.

I find that the word flows fairly freely off my tongue.. but I'm an old Hebrew/Chaldean High Priest from way back. Kabala is the form that Linda used, all the same really... just an English Transliteration of the Chaldee letters LBQ. (read from right to left!)

Don't get intimidated.. you have all the time in the world for this study.. no cramming necessary. Just keep a notebook of all your thoughts as you study.. and for all the spiraling that will occur as the concepts sort of confuse you into thinking out of the box, as it were.

Best Wishes, and I'll help where I can if you have any questions.

posted December 05, 2004 11:18 AM         

I will get Paul Foster Case's book soon enough, I will do what you said, and read those two books first, and then move into The Mystical Qabalah for a more easier time in these studies.

How do you pronounce Adytum? For Builders of Adytum.

posted December 06, 2004 04:49 PM         

I can see that the retrograde Mercury has found you turning within and asking many, many questions of yourself... which is one of the purposes of the retrograde.

My advice is to take things slowly and not try to "know it all at once". In my own way, I have been pursuing Knowledge most of my days (and nights) and it all comes together in illusionary Time.

Reading Tarot for oneself is problematic at best, in my opinion, as Tarot requires a certain amount of interpretation, despite the "historical, or classical meanings" attributed to each card. Unfortunately, as Human beings, we are not always able to keep our emotions/Lower Mind in control when trying to read for ourselves. If we are particularly attached to the outcome of a question, or predisposed to being overly emotional (either blue or happy), we tend to allow our frame of mind to color our interpretation.

Is it POSSIBLE to read for oneself? Yes. Do I suggest it often... NO, for the reasons above. If you are able to be totally impartial and un-involved in the outcome, then I think you might proceed.

In instances where I am "too close" to the question, I just ask a friend of mine to read for me. I may have a look at the cards for myself.. but I try not to let ME get in the way, if that makes any sense.

Qabalah is a lifelong study... it will all begin to make sense in time. It is almost more a WAY OF THINKING, than an actual set of facts to be mastered, if you know what I mean.

Hope that helps a bit.

Blessed Be...
A

posted March 14, 2005 07:41 PM         

It went even deeper rather than explaining the superficial meanings that we read in most tarot books today.