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A GARDEN OF
POM\EGRANATES
AN OUTLINE OF THE QABALAH
By the author:
The Tree of Life
My Rosicrucian Adventure
The Art of True Healing
The Middle Pillar
The Philosopher's Stone
The Golden Dawn
The Romance of Metaphysics
The Art and Meaning of Magic
Be Yourself, the Art of Relaxation
New Wings for Daedalus
Twelve Steps to Spiritual Enlightenment
The Legend of Aleister Crowley
(with P.R. Stephensen)
The Eye in the Triangle
ISRAEL REGARDIE
Second Edition
Revised and Enlarged
1985
Llewellyn Publications
St. Paul, Minnesota, 55164-0383, U.S.A.
INTRODUCTION
TO THE SECOND EDITION
It
is ironic that a period of the most tremendous
technological advancement known to recorded history
should also be labeled the Age of Anxiety. Reams have
been written about modern man's frenzied search for his
soul-and. indeed, his doubt that he even has one at a time
when, like castles built on sand, so many of his cherished
theories, long mistaken for verities, are crumbling about
his bewildered brain.
The age-old advice, "Know thyself," is more imperative
than ever. The tempo of science has accelerated to such a
degree that today's discoveries frequently make
yesterday's equations obsolescent almost before they can
be chalked up on a blackboard. Small wonder, then that
every other hospital bed is occupied by a mental patient.
Man was not constructed to spend his life at a crossroads,
one of which leads he knows not where, and the other to
threatened annihilation of his species.
In view of this situation it is doubly reassuring to know
that, even in the midst of chaotic concepts and conditions
there still remains a door through which man, individually,
can enter into a vast store-house of knowledge, knowledge
as dependable and immutable as the measured tread of
Eternity.
For this reason I am especially pleased to be writing an
introduction to a new edition of
A Garden of
Pomegranates.
I feel that never, perhaps, was the need
more urgent for just such a roadmap as the Qabalistic
system provides.
It
should be equally useful to any who
chooses to follow it, whether he be Jew, Christian or
Buddhist, Deist, Theosophist, agnostic or atheist.
The Qabalah is a trustworthy guide, leading to a
comprehension both of the Universe and one's own Self.
ii
A GARDEN OF POMEGRANATES
INTRODUCTION
iii
Sages have long taught that Man is a miniature of the
Universe, containing within himself the diverse elements of
that macrocosm of which he is the microcosm. Within the
Qabalah is a glyph called the Tree of Life which is at once
a symbolic map of the Universe in its major aspects, and
also of its smaller counterpart, Man.
Manly P. Hall, in
The Secret Teachings of All Ages,
deplores the failure of modern science to "sense the
profundity of these philosophical deductions of the
ancients." Were they to do so, he says, they "would realize
those who fabricated the structure of the Qabalah
possessed a knowledge of the celestial plan comparable in
every respect with that of the modern savant."
Fortunately many scientists in the field of
psychotherapy are beginning to sense this correlation. In
Francis G. Wickes'
The Inner World of Choice
reference is
made to "the existence in every person of a galaxy of
potentialities for growth marked by a succession of
personalogical evolution and interaction with
environments." She points out that man is not only an
individual particle but "also a part of the human stream,
governed by a Self greater than his own individual self."
The Book .of the Law
states simply, "Every man and
every woman is a star." This is a startling thought for those
who considered a star a heavenly body, but a declaration
SUbject to proof by anyone who will venture into the
realm of his own Unconscious. This realm, he will learn if
he persists, is not hemmed in by the boundaries of his
physical body but is one with the boundless reaches of
outer space.
Those who, armed with the tools provided by the
Qabalah, have made the journey within and crossed
beyond the barriers of illusion, have returned with an
impressive quantity of knowledge which conforms strictly
to the definition of "science" in Winston's College
Dictionary: "Science: a body of knowledge, general
truths of particular facts, obtained and shown to be
correct by accurate observation and thinking; knowledge
condensed, arranged and systematized with reference to
general truths and laws."
Over and over their findings have been confirmed,
proving the Qabalah contains within it not only the
elements of the science itself but the method with which
to pursue it.
When planning to visit a foreign country, the wise
traveler will first familiarize himself with its language. In
studying music, chemistry or calculus, a specific
terminology is essential to the understanding of each
SUbject. So a new set of symbols is necessary when
undertaking a study of the Universe, whether within or
without. The Qabalah provides such a set in unexcelled
fashion.
But the Qabalah is more. It also lays the foundation on
which rests another archaic science-Magic. Not to be
confused with the conjurer's sleight-of-hand, Magic has
been defined by Aleister Crowley as "the science and art
of causing change to occur in conformity with will." Dion
Fortune qualifies this nicely with an added clause,
"changes in consciousness."
The Qabalah reveals the nature of certain physical and
psychological phenomena. Once these are apprehended,
understood and correlated, the student can use the
principles of Magic to exercise control over life's
conditions and circumstances not otherwise possible. In
short, Magic provides the practical application of the
theories supplied by the Qabalah.
It
serves yet another vital function. In addition to the
advantages to be gained from its philosophical application,
the ancients discovered a very practical use for the literal
Qabalah.
Each letter of the Qabalistic alphabet has a number,
color, many symbols and a Tarot card attributed to it. The
Qabalah not only aids in an understanding of the Tarot,
but teaches the student how to
classify
and organize all
such ideas, numbers and symbols. Just as a knowledge of
Latin will give insight into the meaning of an unfamiliar
English word with a Latin root, so the knowledge of the
Qabalah with the various attributions to each character in
its alphabet will enable the student to understand and
correlate ideas and concepts which otherwise would have
iv
A GARDEN OF POMEGRANATES
INTRODUCTION
v
no apparent relation.
A simple example is the concept of the Trinity in the
Christian religion. The student is frequently amazed to .
learn through
a
study of the Qabalah that Egyptian
mythology followed a similar concept with its trinity of
gods, Osiris the father, Isis the virgin-mother, and Horus
the son. The Qabalah indicates similar correspondences in
the pantheon of Roman and Greek deities, proving the
father-mother (Holy Spirit) - son principles of deity are
primordial archetypes of man's psyche, rather than being,
as is frequently and erroneously supposed a development
peculiar to the Christian era.
the other attributions in this particular area-that is the
so-called Intelligences of the
Sepher Yetzirah.
I do not
think that their use or current arbitrary usage stands up to
serious examination or criticism.
A good many attributions in other symbolic areas, I feel
are subject to the same criticism. The Egyptian Gods have
been used with a good deal of carelessness, and without
sufficient explanation of motives in assigning them as I did.
In
a recent edition of Crowley's masterpiece
Liber 777
(which
au fond
is less a reflection of Crowley's mind as a
recent critic claimed than a tabulation of some of the
material given piecemeal in the Golden Dawn knowledge
lectures), he gives for the first time brief explanations of
the motives for his attributions. I too should have been far
more explicit in the explanations I used in the case of
some of the Gods whose names were used many times,
most inadequately, where several paths were concerned.
While it is true that the religious coloring of the Egyptian
Gods differed from time to time during Egypt's turbulent
history, nonetheless a word or two about just that one
single point could have served a useful purpose.
Some of the passages in the book force me today to
emphasize that so far as the Qabalah is concerned, it could
and should be employed without binding to
it
the partisan
qualities of anyone particular religious faith. This goes as
much for Judaism as it does for Christianity. Neither has
much intrinsic usefulness where this scientific scheme is
concerned.
If
some students feel hurt by this statement,
that cannot be helped. The day of most contemporary
faiths is over; they have been more of a curse than a boon
to mankind. Nothing that I say here, however, should
reflect on the peoples concerned, those who accept these
religions. They are merely unfortunate. The religion itself
is worn out and indeed is dying.
The Qabalah has nothing to do with any of them.
Attempts on the part of cultish-partisans to impart higher
mystical meanings, through the Oabalah, etc., to their now
sterile faiths is futile, and will be seen as such by the
younger generation. They, the flower and love children,
will have none of this nonsense.
At this juncture let me call attention to one set of
attributions by Rittangelius usually found as an appendix
attached to the
Sepher Yetzirah,
It
lists a series of
"Intelligences" for each one of the ten Sephiros and the
twenty-two Paths of the Tree of Life.
It
seems to me, after
prolonged meditation, that the common attributions of
these Intelligences is altogether arbitrary and lacking in
serious meaning.
For example,
Keser
is called "The Admirable or the
Hidden Intelligence; it is the Primal Glory, for no created
being can attain to its essence." This seems perfectly all
right; the meaning at first sight seems to fit the
significance of
Keser
as the first emanation from
Ain
Soph.
But there are half a dozen other similar attributions
that would have served equally well. For instance, it could
have been called the "Occult Intelligence" usually
attributed to the seventh Path or
Sephirah,
for surely
Keser
is secret in a way to be said of no other
Sephirah.
And what about the "Absolute or Perfect Intelligence."
That would have been even more explicit and appropriate,
being applicable to
Keser
far more than to any other of the
Paths. Similarly, there is one attributed to the 16th Path
and called "The Eternal or Triumphant Intelligence,"
so-called because it is the pleasure of the Glory, beyond
which is no Glory like to it, and it is called also the
Paradise prepared for the Righteous." Any of these several
would have done equally well. Much is true of so many of
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