 The spiritual message of the Qabalah is that all stages, all Sephiroth from heaven to earth are united, even when this is not realized by man. The network of Paths between the Sephiroth are the Qabalah's symbols of this coherence. While the Sephiroth represent divine powers, the Paths are located within us. If they are open, we consciously take part in the flow of divine energy through the Tree - if some are closed, we experience discontiniuty, an unbalanced flow of energy, the Evil of life. Pathworking on the tree helps to harmonize and balance the inner connection and flow between associated cosmic spheres. * The term "Path" signals that they are not only passive links but also roads to spiritual enlightenment: "The Paths represent the successive stages of the unfolding of cosmic realisation in human consciousness" (Fortune;25). Paths are "stages of personal development (...) what is required to pass on from one Sephiroth to the next" (Wang;35). * Paths are superior ways of climbing the cosmic Tree because they have been travelled by magicians before. Like the Sephiroth, the 22 Paths can be accessed through corresponding symbols. Again, "It is the agreement over time on the meaning of a set of symbols which makes a system a Path" (Wang;xvii). Three sets of symbols are traditionally regarded the most important: The 22 Hebrew letters, the 22 Tarot trumps, and their corresponding astrological signs. Each path has a number illustrated on the image above by the serpent Nechushtan which "cross each of the Paths in succession and serve to indicate the order in which they should be numbered" (Fortune;25): * The Sepher Yetzirah, 'the book of formation', dating from somewhere between year 200 and 600 A.D., is perhaps THE most important qabalistic text. It describes how the world is being created in terms of the 10 Sephiroth and 22 Hebrew letters. It divides the Hebrew letters into three groupings: Three 'mother' letters corresponding to three elements Air, Water and Fire (the magician being Earth), seven 'double' letters correspinding to the 'old' planets, and finally twelve 'simple' letters corresponding to the signs of the Zodiac. * The three mother letters, Aleph (Air), Mem (Water) and Shin (Fire) form the basic coordinates of the created universe. Each of the mother letters preside over a triad of Sephiroth related to the element (Fortune;61). The seven double letters related to the planets all have two pronounciations, one hard and one soft. They represent opposing factors affecting us in incarnation, like the planets. According to Sepher Yetzirah "each letter represents a contrast or permutation". The simple letters symbolically correspond to the Signs of the Zodiac, our organs and everyday activities. * To each hebrew letter corresponds also a specific tarot trump. The 22 trumps are "subjective symbols of that which is experienced on the Paths between the Sephiroth" (...) "One feels affiliations or antagonisms towards certain Tarot cards, depending upon the extent to which their lessons have already been learned" (Wang;35). The colorful tarot trumps are well suited for enflaming the subconscious through pathworking or meditation. The other 56 cards of the tarot pack relate to the Sephiroth. * These are the central correspondances neccesary for healing magic, pathworking etc. A printable A4 is avalable here. Like the Sephiroth, the Paths can be accessed through an infinite number of symbols, like gods and myths from various pantheons (gods typically relate to more than one Sephirah as each god tends to represent a number of qualities in mythology) - animals, plants and precious stones related to the gods - a selection of colours - spiritual texts on the Paths, e.g. extracts of the "Sepher Yetzirah" or "The 32 Paths of Wisdom". Always consider a path's position on the Tree, between a pair of Sephiroth and related to other paths on the Tree (opposites and polarities). *
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