Magical Qabalah for Beginners

My book, Magical Qabalah for Beginners, is now available for order from most book stores, online order sites and the Llewellyn Worldwide publications website, located here. Since I just got my box of books from Llewellyn, I can assume that other suppliers will also have copies available too, or at least over the next two weeks. I have put quite a bit of time into this work, and it’s selling for a very reasonable price.

Although the title places this book within the “For Beginners” line, it is not merely for beginners, nor actually, is it a beginner’s book. I consider the Qabalah to be a pretty engaging topic for most beginners, so this book assumes a bit more than a complete beginners repertoire of knowing nothing about the occult. However, even someone who lacks an in-depth knowledge of the Qabalah and deep occultism should find this tome useful and insightful. I even managed to include some rather advanced topics in this work, so the advanced student will find something new and engaging while perusing this book.

Why did I write this book? What was the inspiration and purpose that sent me down a path that took two years to produce this published book? Aren’t there already far too many books on the Qabalah currently in print? These are pretty compelling questions and if I am to promote this work, I should at least thoroughly respond to them.

I will quite frank and state that this book project was not my first choice, since I would much rather write about magick, for obvious reasons. However, when I put this proposal together, I didn’t think that it would be such a long and arduous process. What I didn’t realize at the time was that some of my knowledge of the Qabalah was either out of date or poorly researched. I was amazed at how much urban myth I had within my mind, erroneously thinking that it passed for some variation of truth. In researching this book, I discovered that my previous studies of the Qabalah were neither comprehensive or exhaustive. I can at least say that my knowledge today is much more extensive than it was previously, and that I have come to a new understanding of the Qabalah. Yet as I took up the task of writing a new introductory book to the Qabalah, I decided that I wanted to write a book as good if not better than William G. Gray’s book “Ladder of Lights.” This was probably the most important book that I had ever read in my occult career, and I wanted to produce a more modern book that could even perhaps supplant it. Only time will tell whether or not I have produced a work as useful and effective as what Mr. Gray wrote so many years ago.

In approaching this book, I wanted to produce a new historical narrative about how the Qabalah evolved over time as well as divide the book into a theoretical section and a practical section, representing the two modes of research and speculation as well as practical application. I also wanted to present to my readers some specific practical exercises that they could use to empower and illuminate themselves. I also desired to assemble a syllabus that would aid anyone in ultimately mastering this topic. It is my earnest belief that I have accomplished all of these goals as well as making this abstruse subject accessible to any educated reader. For this reason, I believe that Magical Qabalah for Beginners is a comprehensive book that any occult student will find useful over the lifetime of their study and spiritual practices. I also think that a book that contains all of these things and more is worthy of anyone’s book shelf even though there are many available books on the Qabalah.

Although I have tried very hard to make certain that all of the knowledgeable elements of this work have been fully vetted and carefully researched, it is possible that there might something here or there that might not agree with what others have either read or even practice. I have not been able to produce a work of perfection, but I do believe that I have produced something that is mostly reliable and useful. I think that is probably as good as anyone can accomplish given the tight time frame for completing the manuscript and presenting it to Llewellyn.

Finally, I would like to say that working with Llewellyn Worldwide has been a really wonderful and rewarding experience. I have learned a lot in the process, and I can say that everyone that I have dealt with has been fair, open minded and helpful in the extreme. I would happily produce other projects for them, and in fact, I am presently doing so. I must say that they are a class act, from start to finish, and I would recommend them to any writer who has a good idea for an occult or pagan book project. If they accept your project, you won’t be disappointed by the final results. The book layout, cover art and internal artwork was, in my opinion, of a very high quality. I am very proud of the final results that is now available to the public to read and ponder.

by Frater barrabbas