On Escaping Embodiment

[qos]

On the recommendation of my teacher, I've started reading Dion Fortune's The Mystical Qabalah. The more I study Qabalah the more I enjoy it -- which continues to somewhat surprise me, but it's amazing, in-depth, wonderful stuff.

Yesterday I received a very personal clue-by-four on the subject of my repeatedly expressed desire to escape from embodiment. (The ellipses show where I've left out some of the more detailed Qabalistic theories, but I think the bottom line message retains its force.)

. . . But this is not the only test which the mystic has to face; it is required of him that he shall fulfill the requirements of the planes of form before he is free to commence his withdrawal and escape from form. There is a Left-hand Path that leads to Kether, the Kether of the Qliphoth, which is the Kingdom of Chaos. If he embarks upon the Mystic Path prematurely it is thither he goes, and not to the Kingdom of Light. To the man who is naturally of the Mystic Path the discipline of form is uncongenial, and it is the subtlest of temptations to abandon the struggle with the life of form that resists his mastery and retreat back up the planes before the nadir has been rounded and the lessons of form have been learnt. . . . If there is a mystic whose mysticism produces mundane incapacity or any form of dissociation of consciousness. . . he must return to the discipline of form until its lesson has been learnt. . . Let him hew wood and carry water in the service of the Temple if he will, but let him not profane the holy place with his pathologies and immaturities.


Certainly something to think about the next time I start gnashing my teeth over the griefs and frustrations that make me wish to escape from life. . .

Comments

[uncledark.livejournal.com]

There is only one escape from embodiment. If you aren't ready for that, you need to embrace Nephesh and Malkuth as much as the more rarified souls and planes.

Also, keep in mind that Fortune had a very Protestant bias in her mysticism. Other authors on Kabalah aren't nearly so negative about the material world.

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

She is certainly a product of her times, as my teacher has reminded me on a couple of occasions.

However, I don't see her as being negative about the material world (not in the material I've read, anyway). If anything, I see this passage as affirming that the material world has valuable lessons to teach, and it's a serious mistake to try to escape it prematurely.

[blessed-harlot.livejournal.com]

I was very intrigued by uncledark's comment, as it spoke to my uneducated response to the passage. It does sound like the primary value she assigns to the material world is a means to some other end. I hear a dismissiveness of an inherent value in embodiment (a form to escape from). It feels to me more like the dualism of Gnosticism (reflected in some Enlightenment Protestantism) than the Judaistic focus on this world and the wholeness of being. I wonder how this writing compares to other Kabbalistic writings.

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

Disclaimer: Everything written below should be understood as "in the tradition I'm studying" -- because there are a wide variety of schools of Qabalah.


Certainly "the wholeness of being" is very much in harmony with Qabalah, as every aspect of the Tree, from the material world of Malkuth to the ineffable Kether, are a holy whole, an expression of the Divine in various degrees of manifestation, each as sacred as the other.

How well any individual human is able to perceive and participate in that sacred wholeness is another matter, and the aim of Qabalah is to enable that full participation in the Divine at all levels and all forms.

That said, I can see where you get that impression of a desire for escape. In one way of looking at the Tree, the topmost Sephiroth -- and what lies beyond them, the infinite Divine which can not be comprehended by mortal consciousness -- can not be fully encountered while within a limited body. I don't think it would be inaccurate to reference "now we see through a glass darkly, but one day we will see face to face" -- and there is a genuine desire for that future state of union which is not possible as long as we are limited by form.

That said, Malkuth, the material world, is held to be every bit as divine and worthy as any of the other nine sephiroth, and incarnation is an experience to be embraced in all its gifts and challenges. There are also other forms of existence, however, which hold their own gifts and experiences and are embraced in their turn, at the proper time.

It's not just about external form, however. The entire Tree, with all its manifestations of Divinity, also exists whole and complete within each of us. The prime motivation of the Qabalist is to encounter and balance within one's own being (body and soul) the divine energies represented by the Tree while in mortal life -- and that is a challenge which can take many embodied lifestimes. As I've been slowly learning, that takes being actively engaged in life, not secluding one's self in a closet with a candle trying to escape it.

I'm not sure this is as clear as I want it to be. One of the challenging and fascinating aspects of Qabalah is its muliple layers.

[oakmouse]

This is essentially correct as a description of the school of Qabala you're studying.

Fortune is not in the least against embodiment or down on the material world. Quite the contrary, she was down on people who rejected life in the material world as a valuable and necessary experience.

Also, FTR, she was a "the Master Jesus" type of Anglican, and also a pagan polytheist who worshiped Isis and Pan. The Anglicans are not in any way, shape, or form down on embodiment or the material world. They hold that the incarnation of God and the resurrection of the physical body are essential elements of the Christian faith.

[alfrecht.livejournal.com]

I really need to read that one of these days...This is good stuff! Thank you for posting it!

I just read something that was pretty much the exact opposite, though: Thomas Karlsson's Qabalah, Qliphoth, and Goetic Magic, which pretty much says that the left-hand path is the way to go, and that it can end up with one being more invested in life than otherwise...I'm not so sure, but anyway, it's intriguing to consider how each way might be possible...possibly...?!? ;)

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

My understanding of Qabalah is that the ultimate goal is the balance expressed by/through the Middle Pillar. Each sephirah needs to be encountered and balanced individually in order to achieve that balance, and that involves the winding Path of the Serpent.

I suspect that the degree to which a person is "invested in life" by a particular path is highly individual, and a healthy spiritual life involves both leveraging one's strengths as well as learning to compensate for and/or overcome one's limitations.

[alfrecht.livejournal.com]

Let me rephrase that: Karlsson uses the notion that one must go on the left-hand path in order to get to/access the qliphoth, and then go through that entirely other tree (which he calls the "tree of knowledge"), which leads to investment in the world, etc. He pretty much says that following the tree of life from Malkuth to Kether is the way of achieving union with Ayin Sof; whereas following the tree of knowledge from (I can't remember the names of the qliphothic spheres at present...!?!...but in any case, the one that corresponds to Malkuth) to (the one corresponding to Kether) involves becoming a god.

But, in any case, it's interesting...I wonder if there's a "middle pillar," as it were, operation that takes in both goals? Hmm...

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

Honestly, this makes me shudder. . .

My understanding is that the qlippoth are present just as we are. We don't need to go looking for them -- and really, one wouldn't want to.

Embracing the qlippoth to "become a god" sounds classically "dark side" to me.

[oakmouse]

It is classically dark side. I think this is another place where let him not profane the holy place with his pathologies and immaturities applies.

[silverhawkdruid.livejournal.com]

This is my understanding also, from what I've studied so far.

[silverhawkdruid.livejournal.com]

I've been reading The Mystical Qabalah through the same recommendation. *g* I still have some way to go because I stopped to read a couple of Gareth Knight books, but am about to get stuck back in.

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

I also just obtained Knight's "Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism" -- in hardback (used). My teacher said that if I could afford the hardback I should definitely get it because it's a big book that will get a lot of use.

Goodness knows my copy of "Paths of Wisdom" has started to come apart from all the use it gets!

[silverhawkdruid.livejournal.com]

That book I still need to get. I am working through his Magical World of the Tarot and The Treasure House of Images atm. I also just ordered Muriel Bruce Hasbrouck's Tarot and Astrology because Gareth Knight stalls on the court cards and our mutual friend tells me that Muriel picks up where he leaves off quite nicely. :-)
Paths of Wisdom is also going to get a lot of use with me. So far I have read through it once, but that was just to gauge its content. Qabalah and Tarot is a great subject to be studying. It has really opened my eyes to the Tarot in a way I never thought possible.

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

I'm just starting to get into the connections between tarot and Qabalah. . . but I'm very interested in learning more!

[silverhawkdruid.livejournal.com]

It is all very new to me too. I had a basic understanding of the Tarot, but no understanding of Qabalah or the Golden Dawn, so it is a huge adventure for me, and so far a fascinating and enjoyable one. :-)

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

it is a huge adventure for me, and so far a fascinating and enjoyable one.

That sums it up my experience too. :-)

[royalbananafish.livejournal.com]

Once you've slurped down Ms. Fortune, I highly recommend Gareth Knight's book on kabbalistic (spelling, I forget what he uses) symbolism in the tarot.

[oakmouse]

Second that. It's a superb book.

[shadowandstar.livejournal.com]

I just got Knight's "Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism" (purchased on advice, without looking at it closely). Is this the same book, or does he have one specifically about tarot and Qabalah?

[oakmouse]

He has two specifically about Tarot, one of which contains a lot of Qabala and one of which contains some Qabala. Both are excellent. Unfortunately both of them have also been through several editions and titles, and I don't know the current ones. The first was called The Magical World of the Tarot and the second, The Treasure House of Images.

The Guide also contains a lot of Tarot material, it's just that it's integrated into the rest of the text rather than parceled neatly together in one section. The other two books parcel it up neatly and include additional material.

[silverhawkdruid.livejournal.com]

So, I'm guessing that the Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism would be a good next step after the Magical World and Treasure House, which I already have and love?

[oakmouse]

*nods* I would definitely recommend it once you're ready to expand your Qabalistic studies, especially as you get on so well with his writing style. Also, that and Dion Fortune's Mystical Qabala make a good pair of companion works. They supplement one another.

[vashtivah.livejournal.com]

As a curiosity to see if the book was in my current frequency of reception, I plopped it open and began reading at page 164. It was exactly what I needed. I think I'll continue reading. Interestingly, a random take on Christianity is within those few pages as well where she speaks of a great weakness within it: not understanding the principle of rhythm, something a first stage initiate would understand. This particular portion of text also relates to what is necessary using Geburah energy when dealing with the microcosm and group-mind, which I would consider Malkuth experiences or the world of form. Wonderfully synchronistic.

I can't say this correlates to escaping embodiment, but it does suggest release from certain oppressive experiences in the world of form by utilizing Geburah's severity wisely.