William G. Gray's Qabalah

hoomer

lelandra said:
I also have completed a page on how the Merlin Tarot implements this Qabalah

http://www.lelandra.com/tarotbook/rjspart1.htm

Joan Cole
dang.,..I love this website...thanks!!!!..I am humbled....

may I suggest you should get a hold of the previously mentiooned book "the talking tree" by WG Gray (it has another title due to a reprint as well..I forget)...which is one of the most exhaustive studies of the paths.....which of course includes tarot.....

Gray also has a book called Sangreal Tarot...I havent read....I assume this is worth getting a hold of too....anyone know what this book is like???

thnaks....

--hoomer
 

mac22

Ophiel said:
AHA! Oh wait, Crowley already took that title...sorry.

I just got a response from someone in the Gray group, a former student of Gray's. He told me Gray liked working with the Waite-Ryder deck! I KNEW IT! The book, "The Talking Tree," uses that deck for analysis. This student also told me when he worked with Gray, Gray insisted he start with blank cards, as described in the Ritual book.

So now I really need to sit down with all of this and sort it out. The Waite concepts, as we all know, are based on the Golden Dawn, yet Gray himself devised a new set of connections based on his own thinking. Still, the images on the cards are assigned astrologically, and that is important in all Qabalah work (except for that one person who doesn't use it, and is going to counter post me. LOL!) I find the astrological assignments mostly decent with the deck, or at least most of them. THE CHARIOT I never see as Cancer, unless the charioteer has the crabs or something. Hard to tell with that armour on. And THE MOON and Pisces, well, I suppose...But most of the others seem pretty okay to me.

I have to sit down with this information and see what's up.

If I can figure out how to do "it", I could post an attachment, a chart I made of the Gray path assignments on the Tree. I made it in CorelDraw, but imported it into a Word file. Let me see if I can figure this out. If so, I will post it for all of you, those who do not have access to a Gray book.


_The Talking Tree_ does indeed use RWS. I've always found Gray's very useful in my studies. I have most of his stuff in HB.

Useful info with less ego & hyperbole than Crowley.

Mac22
 

Lleminawc

fyreflye said:
R J Stewart was a student of Gray's and both of his tarots are based on Gray's system. If you can find either of Stewart's OP trade paperback companion books to the Merlin Tarot (The Merlin Tarot or, better The Complete Merlin Tarot) you'll have a key to the only practical application of Gray's Qabalistic concepts to the tarot that I know of.
RJS has another book The Miracle Tree: Demystifying the Qabalah where he gives this system, but without attributing it to Gray by name. Rather, he claims that this is the original pattern "that was taught to initiates who saw past the 'blind' of the 19th century system, which was intentionally scrambled to test students".

EDIT: just noticed this book is actually referenced on Lelandra's website.
 

Bernice

A few years on......... just came across this thread.

I have three of Grays' books, The Ladder of Lights, Growing the Tree Within, and Magical Ritual Methods.

I much prefer this approach to that of the G.D., however it seems that the majority of students, practitioners, and lodges tend to dismiss this system out of hand. They mainly follow the G.D/RWS teachings, like sheep.

That said, I put aside my ToL studies some years ago.

Overall, I'm inclined to agree with SlyR (post 7):

http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=104566&postcount=7

Bee :)
 

mac22

I was a student of DF [Dion Fortune] & Gray at the same time I was studying GD. I was also fortunate to have Regardie as a pen pal at the time. :D

I think the cross pollination was a very GOOD thing!

Mac22
 

Bernice

Regardie, a pen-pal?

Not gonna name-drop........ you can't tempt me!

I was rather fond of Butler as well...

Bee :)
 

mac22

Bernice said:
Regardie, a pen-pal?

Not gonna name-drop........ you can't tempt me!

I was rather fond of Butler as well...


Bee :)

I only know Butler by his fine books... :)

mac22
 

Bernice

I'm an advocate for cross pollination, on an individual basis :) We are agreed!
But group endeavours necessitate that all members be of one mind. Mavericks destroy the unity :bugeyed:.

Bee :)
 

mac22

Bernice said:
I'm an adovate for cross pollination, on an individual basis :) We are agreed!
But group endeavours necessitate that all members be of one mind. Mavericks destroy the unity :bugeyed:.

Bee :)

I'd agree... but it took me years to find working groups -- long before the Internet.

mac22
 

Curtis Penfold

lelandra said:
I also have completed a page on how the Merlin Tarot implements this Qabalah

http://www.lelandra.com/tarotbook/rjspart1.htm

Joan Cole

I'm not a scholar. I've tried to study the Tree of Life, but I find the whole thing kind of complicated. When I saw how the Golden Dawn treated the cards in relation to the Tree of Life, I just got confused. It seemed like pointless numerology. (Although I recognize that numerology is a big part of Kabbalah).

However, being a poet, this tree of life above just makes sense when it comes to the cards. Separating the cards into the Moon, the Sun, and the Star is beautiful. The idea just connects.