Starters Kabbalah

Little Baron

Just to add - have you read the Ozaniec book?

LB
 

jmd

Personally, in order to provide a firm foundation in Kabalah, I would recommend neither Parfitt, nor any of the others mentioned, but rather the texts and commentaries by some of the better grounded kabalists:

Aryeh Kaplan - his Sefer Yetzirah and his Bahir as well as the others from this incredible Rabbi;

Gershom Scholem - especially his small abridged version of the Zohar, and his Kabbalah (as well, actually, as his Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism and Talmudic Tradition - and in fact the others too); and

Moshe Idel - Kabbalah: New Perspectives (as well as any of his other works, actually!)​

Where I personally disagree with Aeon418 is in suggesting that the aspirant seek to work solely with the form outlined by a particular group (whether it be the GD, BOTA, SOL, or various derivatives - basically each using, as a basis, GD materials).

Rather, I would personally advocate studying Kabalah separately and independently of Tarot and, once familir with at least its basic principles, investigate what others have suggested (and used) in their correlation, and then discern whether or not to follow in their footsteps.
 

Aeon418

LittleBuddha said:
Do you reccomend the Parfitt book?
Will Parfitt's book is a perfectly good introduction to Qabalah. I enjoyed it. One book that I would give a 5 star reccomendation to is Lon Milo DuQuette's, The Chicken Qabalah. It's very good and quite funny as well. It's not your usual book on Qabalah though. Instead of talking about the sephiroth and the paths Lon tries to explain the basic structure that makes the Tree of Life the way it is. There's a lot of stuff in this book that fills in a lot of the gaps left by other books and authors.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/books/chicken-qabalah/
LittleBuddha said:
Maybe it is just me, but sometimes, you just want an author to cut the crap and just 'tell me what it means and what is it's use!!!!'.
There is no book or author out there that can tell you that or give you an exact answer. The only answers come from your own work with the system. That's why Will Parfitt's book is quite good in my opinion. Not only does he give you an explanation of the Qabalistic system but practical exercises as well.
 

Aeon418

jmd said:
Aryeh Kaplan - his Sefer Yetzirah and his Bahir as well as the others from this incredible Rabbi;

Gershom Scholem - especially his small abridged version of the Zohar, and his Kabbalah (as well, actually, as his Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism and Talmudic Tradition - and in fact the others too); and

Moshe Idel - Kabbalah: New Perspectives (as well as any of his other works, actually!)​
Wow ! That's one heck of a selection jmd. I'm not sure I would suggest any of those texts to a beginner though. I own both of the Aryeh Kaplan books and rate them highly. But starting with them would be like jumping in at the deep end with your pockets full of lead.

You disagree with me on my promotion of the GD Qabalah, jmd, which is fine with me. But your alternative is highly Judeo-centric. Where I feel the Western-Hermetic-Golden Dawn systems excells is in it's eclecticism. The Judaic material forms part of it but not the whole.
 

Little Baron

Thank you both for your responses. I took Parfitts book to a coffee shop this afternoon and read quite a lot. It did make sense in some parts and I could relate other things I had read in the past to it.

I will see what happens as I still feel pretty unconnected to it all.

Best,
LB
 

DewDrop

LittleBuddha said:
I have just started reading Isabel Radow Kliegman's book 'Tarot and the Tree of Life'. which I am finding very interesting, as it relates to the minor cards. In some cases, it is deepening my understanding of the minor arcana and the Kabbalah.

I have begun by drawing out my own, not very artistic, tree to lay the cards on, since I find it irritating to keep returning to look at the tree as I am reading the text. Have enclosed.

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am using the RWS for my learning.

LB

So cool, i did the same, drew a big map of the tree :) and to use it for my Tree of life readings; thanks for the idea!

And another syncronism, i just bought that book, and i think it's super.
I've been thinking about bying the book about the majors; The Royal Road; Kabalistic Meditations on the Tarot, refered to by Stephan A. Hoeller.

I'm not new to Kabbalah, but i am a new Student of Kabbalah :D
I think there's a great difference about the two.
The tarotist that is new to Kabbalah would gain most from Eaon418's Path, and a new Student(not a tarotist)of Kabbalah would gain most from Jmd's Path.
Than there is the third part; the new student of kabbalistic tarot that would gain most from Dewdrop's Path :D

And my Path is to Start with the magnificent The Complete Guide to the Kabbalah - Will Parfitt and than go on with the works of Radow Kliegman and Stephan A. Hoeller(in own choise of order).

Good luck! :D
 

joya250

hi LB,

Just popping in to say "thumbs up" to Isabel Radow Kliegman's book 'Tarot and the Tree of Life'. Read it. Liked it. Will read it again.

joya
 

archer1

I have a tarot deck or should I say oracle deck "the tree of life oracle" it has a layout sheet and uses ten cards one for each of the kingdoms.... is very well put together...

Also being born Jewish I understand that Kabbalah was a taboo subject even in Judaism until recent times. The fact that there are so many layouts and paths is because there really is no one way to approach the subject matter....