We are currently engaged in an almost two-year initiatory Pathworking with The Qabalah Tree of Life. You can read what that's all about here. In the meantime, I have been documenting our work as we explore the Paths.
It is important to know these are brief notes. A true understanding of each Path begs a vital understanding of the Sephiroth connecting them. Further research on your own is highly recommended.
It is important to know these are brief notes. A true understanding of each Path begs a vital understanding of the Sephiroth connecting them. Further research on your own is highly recommended.
We have completed Path 22, now for Path 21 .....
The key to this Path is of course the Tarot Trump of the Wheel of Fortune, which implies the cycles of life, the ups, the downs, in one continuous loop. Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki says of this Path: "I have always thought of it as a maze path, if only because its tarot card seems to turn you back on yourself time and again until you have worked out the pattern." (The Shining Paths, p.109) Crowley recognizes this in the Trump as well: "This card thus represents the Universe in its aspect as a continual change of state." (The Book of Thoth, p. 90)
The process of this Quest is clarified by Chic and Sandra Cicero in their analysis of the Yetziratic text and its reference to "conciliation" of this Path: "The 'conciliation' implies a new understanding or union between the higher and lower parts of the personality--they are no longer fighting each other or reaching for separate goals. Instead, they work in unison to 'receive the divine influence which flows into it from its benediction' (Chesed). Reconciliation with the higher is the ultimate 'reward'--the only thing that can satisfy the soul's hunger." (A Garden of Pomegranates, p. 378)
The Hebrew letter, kaph, is the palm of the hand. The hand is a highly mystical symbol through the ages representing the use of spiritual power: divination, scrying, palmistry, and so on. "The hand of kaph is the hand of opportunity," says Ashcroft-Nowicki (The Shining Paths, p. 112) It provides that avenue of leading us through the maze which is the continual state of change in the universe. Staying the course of this Path on our Quest is apparent in the virtues of each of the Sephiroth we have touched upon so far: the Discrimination of Malkuth, the Independence of Yesod, the Truthfulness of Hod, the Unselfishness of Netzach, and the Devotion of Tiphareth.
It is about receiving the benediction of the divine influence of Chesed, where all new forms are created, where the "Fatherly" images of the Godhead reside. Gareth Knight explains: " . . . the benediction which flows from this Path, (that is, the work of destiny, or Love under Will, which 'makes all things new' and helps to bring the Kingdom to Earth), in turn draws down by its own downward outflowing the cosmic resources of the Spiritual realms. Thus is the initiate called one who owns nothing but has the use of all things. To own something for the sake of ownership is to block the flow. To use all one's talents and possessions in the service of others is to act as a channel for cosmic resources. This is the aim of all magic and the true meaning of priesthood." (A Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism, Vol. II, p. 137)
