For millennia, humankind has searched for meaning. All the ancients had for their framework of understanding existence was the world around them, the stars glittering in the night sky, the fire in the hearth. Whether Judaic or not, Qabalah is about reception, opening up to the mystery beyond our senses in order to understand our origin, our sense of purpose. The archaic models of the shamanic paradigm are pure not just because they were the first expressions of religious experience, but because at their root they remain undistorted by centuries of dogma, reinterpretations, and misrepresentations.
Shamanism is the original religion, and its agenda lies primarily in seeking communion with the world. Like an open chalice waiting to be filled, a shamanic practitioner is naturally a Qabalist. There are those who dabble in ideas, but then there are those who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get dirty: physicists and explorers of the imagination.
Being a psychonaut requires work, perseverance, dedication, and devotion. It begs a natural balancing of the polarity inherent in every human. It is a call to service, for if the Great Work does not encourage the beneficial evolution of humanity, then it is no longer “great.” Our job is to carry on the work of our ancestors, nurture the sacred knowledge, adapt to our understanding, and then sow the seeds for the next seven generations.
My hope and prayer is that this book provides an introductory understanding to Qabalah as understood in the Western Mystery Tradition via a shamanic perspective. This is only an introduction, though. There is so much more work to be done.
In the process of understanding and germinating the seeds of the Great Work, it is also my prayer that we see and honor the cross-cultural implications in the mystery traditions of all cultures and religious paths. Admittedly, I am a globalist. I want the world to be as one, to put an end to war, poverty, slavery, and disparity. However, I think there is a way to honor cultural differences and individuality as well as map the correlations among cultural memes in order to approach humanity as one race instead of many, with one common purpose: to explore and understand our place in the universe, in global peace and harmony.
It may be idealistic, but I think it is a noble cause. And it is achievable, if we would just allow our imaginations the bandwidth and flexibility needed for such an endeavor. Therefore, we are immediately caught in another balancing act: honoring the past as well as forging a new, daring future. But that is all we have, as time appears to move forward and not backward. Maybe if we can loosen the restrictions of fundamentalism, we will see a new fabric of connection threading its way through all ideologies that will unite rather than divide us.
Shamanic Qabalah is my contribution to this prayer. It is an unfinished work, as it is designed to be built upon, redesigned, and regrown into new gardens to feed children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The great altar (mesa) of soul is waiting for us all to come and partake.