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A review by everyeggmm
The Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune
4.0
The Mystical Qabalah is a masterpiece in Western esotericism written by Dion Fortune, one of the most prolific authors to come out of the Golden Dawn current of magick, right up there with Crowley and Regardie - this book being the one that sealed her spot as one of the greats. Here, Fortune dives into an in-depth exploration of the ten sephiroth that make up the kabbalistic tree of life, providing not only expositions on their natures and correspondences, but also the way they interact with one-another to form a whole.
This last point is perhaps what makes Fortune's book as fantastic as it is. Whereas other authors I've read seem to just reiterate the same lists of characteristics over and over when it comes to describing the tree of life, Fortune takes a comparative approach, believing that they sephiroth cannot be understood separately, but rather bu their relationships to each other. Taking this top-down approach to analyzing the tree yields more than looking at all parts individually ever could.
Still, it's not a book without its faults. Whereas a criticism against someone like Crowley might be that his writing is too obtuse, Fortune's fatal flaw is how dry her writing is. As riveting as parts of this book may be, as eye-opening as it was, it also can be so very, very boring at times. On more than one occasion while reading, it quite literally put me to sleep.
This last point is perhaps what makes Fortune's book as fantastic as it is. Whereas other authors I've read seem to just reiterate the same lists of characteristics over and over when it comes to describing the tree of life, Fortune takes a comparative approach, believing that they sephiroth cannot be understood separately, but rather bu their relationships to each other. Taking this top-down approach to analyzing the tree yields more than looking at all parts individually ever could.
Still, it's not a book without its faults. Whereas a criticism against someone like Crowley might be that his writing is too obtuse, Fortune's fatal flaw is how dry her writing is. As riveting as parts of this book may be, as eye-opening as it was, it also can be so very, very boring at times. On more than one occasion while reading, it quite literally put me to sleep.