THE MYSTICAL QABALAH DION FORTUNE 308 pages, Printed in 1999 by Samuel Weiser, inc. Dion Fortune is considered the most important woman thinker to emerge from the occult revival of the post 1890's in England. In 1919 she was initiated into the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn a magical society whose members included W. B. Yeats and Arther Machen, among others. There she studied western magic, bringing to her work a keen knowledge and understanding of psychology which she had previously studied at London University. When she left the Golden Dawn, she was a full fledged occultist, adept in the mysteries of the Western Tradition. The Qabalah, whose disciplines include the occult sciences of astrology and tarot, forms the basis of the Western Mystery Tradition. It is a system of mystical knowledge and spiritual development in the same way that Yoga is the mystical system of the East. The Tree of Life-a diagram consisting of ten circles connected by twenty-two "paths"-is the heart of Qabalistic teaching. It is a cosmic diagram; the blueprint of the universe and the human being, containing within itself a description of all possible relationships and all phenomena. The Mystical Qabalah is Dion Fortune's most famous book. It presents a thorough explanation of the Tree of Life and provides a key to the practical working of the mystical system. Here is what she says about this work: "The point of view from which I approach the Holy Qabalah is that these pages differs, so far as I know, from that of all other writers on the subject, for to me it is a living system of spiritual development, not a historical curiosity. Few people...realize that there is an Esoteric Tradition in our midst, handed down in private manuscripts and by 'mouth to ear.' Still fewer realize that it is the Holy Qabalash...which forms its basis."

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