Qabalah: Discover Powerful Tools to Explore Practical Magic and the Tree of Life (Hay House Basics) - David Wells 2017

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Writing a book can be a solitary experience, but producing a book is far from it, and I know this one wouldn’t have happened but for these lovely people!

From Hay House UK, my gratitude to Diane Hill, Director of International Sales and Operations, for championing the idea of adding Qabalah to the Basics series, Commissioning Editor Amy Kiberd for making it a reality and Lizzie Henry for her meticulous editing. And the wonderful team at Hay House, headed by Michelle Pilley, Publisher and Managing Director. I am eternally grateful.

But writing any book is also about those days when you’re not feeling it and are just gazing at the stars, waiting for divine intervention or a magic elf to do the work for you. Sooner or later, one of those things happens. It happens quietly and it happens through the humour of a text, the laughter over a cup of berry tea and the unveiling of the nonsense of personality, and it happens through friends. So, Andrew Stark, Lee Fadden and Lisa Lister, thank you for being divine and intervening when I needed it most.

Introduction

’We must be absolutely firm in saying that no

book ever has or will be written to ’teach’ any

reader Qabalistic Wisdom. Such is impossible

not for lack of will but through lack of means.’

WILLIAM G. GRAY, THE LADDER OF LIGHTS

Welcome to Qabalah.

You will notice that I didn’t say ’Welcome to the Qabalah’, and there is a good reason for that, which is perfectly put in the quote above: I am not so sure the definitive Qabalah exists. When I was writing this book, there were many moments of clarity; dreams and meditations were full of communion with guides and angelic beings, and lessons and wisdom flowed from those incarnate too. But the message that was shouted the loudest was that it was ’Qabalah’ and not ’the Qabalah’.

Perhaps the ’the’ could only ever be replaced, if at all, by ’your’? For the goal isn’t just to understand Qabalah, it’s to understand yourself and the worlds you live in through Qabalah.

Qabalah is a spoken tradition. It’s a spiritual path and a body of magical knowledge and practices that have been passed down from one teacher to another.

What makes this path so special is that it pulsates with energies you can work with and have a very real experience of. The path is learned not just through information given, but through exploration taken and through experience.

The central organization system of Qabalah is The Tree of Life, represented by a beautiful symbol that holds incredibly powerful energy. It is made up of 10 spheres, called Sephira, and 22 pathways, each of which holds specific energies. They are states of being, and not necessarily destinations. Every Sephira has an experience or a way of working within it, a place to go for magical journeys.

On these journeys, down pathways to great disks of energy, the teachings of Qabalah are brought to life by the beings you meet along the way — archangels and fairy folk and the manifestation of every thought and feeling you have. We always anthropomorphize these things; to use and understand energy, we put shape, form and even order around that which is untouchable, that which is invisible, that which defies a full explanation: our relationship with the universe and its relationship to us.

My hope for this book is that it reminds you of the amazing being that you are, that it empowers you and that it holds you accountable for every word and deed on this Earth and beyond — because you are accountable. No excuses accepted — the responsibility for your own sovereign state is in your hands and yours alone. It is your thoughts and feelings that create the world you live in. But walking the paths of Qabalah will offer wisdom and experiences that will help raise you up to fully embrace your higher self and bring its full light to Earth.

For my part, I commit to ’teaching over preaching’, to opening doors and letting you see what’s beyond rather than telling you what’s there, because what’s there is different for everyone. And it’s all done through simple rituals, meditations and safe practices that will enhance your visualizations and stir your soul’s memories and perhaps leave you seeking more.

You will find familiarity in this book; many so-called ’new age’ practices are an expanded version of one or more of the experiences on the Tree of Life. As each of the 10 spheres on the Tree has its own correspondences to gods, goddesses, crystals, incense, planets, Tarot and so much more, you will find it supports and helps you understand your own existing practices, enhancing them too, I have no doubt.

See this book as the guide it is, walking beside you and whispering in your ear. I cannot tell you what will happen along the way, because this is your journey and not mine, but I can tell you that it will astound you, help answer some questions and bring many more to the fore, and in undertaking this journey you’ll uncover more about yourself than you could ever have imagined.

I was lucky enough to study Qabalah over years of classes and in a group, and to further my knowledge through self-study, astrology and past-life work, as well as through some amazing experiences, not all of them comfortable. But I have only furthered it, not completed it. I have never even considered that as an option in this lifetime. There is always, always something new to learn, and putting this book together has taught me just how true that is.

Don’t rush through this book — there are no prizes for finishing first. In fact the opposite may be true. Take your time; this isn’t a book just to be read, it’s a book to be experienced, and your pace is more likely to be set by your own guides and higher self than anything or anyone else. Surrender to that and lose Earthly time constraints and pressures whenever you can — you’re on universal time now.

This book will bring the lessons you need, and have asked for in sacred contracts, into your life — physically into your life. Are you ready?

Exercise: This is me

This is a very simple exercise, one you do at the start of this process and then again at the end.

· Write one page about yourself, today, who you are right now. You can make it about anything you want — what you look like, what you do for a living, your deepest desires, your spiritual journey to date… Just tell me who you are. Handwrite it in your journal if you have one (and you probably should) or, if you’re writing electronically, print it and keep it somewhere safe.

Setting your intention

· Now, based on that, what do you want from Qabalah? What is your intention? What dream do you want to bring into manifestation?

Here is my intention from over two decades ago:

To teach Qabalah in any way I can to as many people as I can.

I cannot stress enough (which is why I will keep on doing it) that this is real. The power of Qabalah and its ability to transform lives is very, very real and it must be treated as a potent force for change. Make it change for the good of others and yourself. This will work through the covenants you’ve already made with your higher self and with those guides, angels and universal beings waiting to help you.

Now, if you’re ready to take the outer concept of the Tree of Life, its symbols and philosophies, and build your own inner Tree, which will enhance your awareness of the world you inhabit and those beyond, deepen your understanding of the angelic worlds and elementals, and allow you to see your place in it all and stand strongly rooted in your truth, come on in!