The Paths of the Tree of Life

JackofWands

If you're studying alone then I agree, up to a point. (It could potentially make learning a lot more time consuming than has to be though. Why reinvent the wheel?)

If you think you can make a better wheel, or at least one that serves your purposes more efficiently.

But if one is working within the confines of a specific teaching structure or initiatory school then you really should conform yourself to their approach, or leave.

I absolutely agree with this. No one has the right to walk into an OTO meeting and demand that everyone else change their model. If you want to deviate from tradition, you do so on your own. But at the same time, neither would the OTO have the right to demand of individual non-members who were studying Qabalah that they alter their approach to fit OTO standards.

One of the valuable features of a common Qabalistic model is that it facilitates the sharing of information and understanding between diverse people. In a way it's like a shared language. But this process is made all the more difficult if you're having to "translate" concepts between various idiosyncratic, personal models. And that's assuming the 'other party' is willing to learn your personal 'language' in the first place.

Once again, I completely agree. In speaking about Qabalistic concepts with other people, it makes much more sense to work within a common framework, or at the very least to acknowledge that common framework and discuss it as the standard even if one's personal practice deviates from it. This is another reason that, even though I work with a different, personalized system, I would still encourage everyone to learn the Kircher Tree.
 

delinfrey

My recommendation is to familiarize yourself with the common attributions of Kabbalah and Tarot, they are fairly straightforward. The system behind Hermetic Kabbalah and its relationship to Tarot is very systematic and therefore easy to follow.

The best recommendation I can give is to read through the relevant thothian books (Liber T, Liber 777, Book of Thoth), which give an extensive overview of the system. Cicero's book on the Golden Dawn is also good.

1)First of all, draw up a Tree of Life and fill it with relevant information (what are the names of the sephiroth, what are the colours, astrological attributions etc).

2) Familiarize yourself with the structure of the Tree -the four worlds, Da'ath, the veil, Ain Soph, the Abyss etc... Imagine the Tree of Life as a multidimensional structure, instead of viewing it as a graph. Try to understand the concept and realize WHY it is the way that it is

3) Study the meanings of the Sephiroth. Study all the attributions. Easy-to-use and free resources online are the Thelemapedia (with lots more information on the occult), also Paul Hughes-Barlow has done an unbelievable job, listing the attributes of Thoth cards.

And THEN you will finally start to grasp the relevance of the paths. In Liber T, an extremely good explanation is given for each path, describing why and how that particular movement is relevant to the Trump

It is extremely important in Kabbalah to lay down a foundation, i.e to familiarize yourself with the structure and then start to fill in the gaps. But the most important thing of all is to understand the concept of the sephiroth AND gauge the Hebrew alphabet. Although, even here my personal recommendation is to actually study the Phoenician alphabet (Hebrew derived from it and it also connects the meanings of the letters a bit better).
 

Snaut

I am astonished that no one has yet mentioned Liber XCV, the wake world.
Personally I think it is a very good read and gives a good overview over the relevant stuff in the tree.

It is a tale about Lola Daydream travelling through the Tree of Life starting down in Malkuth.