The Westernized Tree of Life

Take the 10 steps from Malkuth to Kether along the 22 paths of the tree, which are signified by the Hebrew alphabet and the trumps in the tarot. Knowing what both of those mean in their variety is laudable, but here in the West we must see the practical before we can be bothered to consider anything else. I've tried to do that with the Tree in these few paragraphs. 

10 vortexes--22 paths--3 ethers, some say 4.

Malkuth is the Kingdom. Yesod is the Foundation. Hob is the Splendor. Netzach is Victory. Taphreth is Beauty. Geburah is Severity. Chesed is Mercy. Binah is Understanding. Chokma is Wisdom. Kether is the Crown.

The Hebrew words have a divine depth of meaning to them, and it is good to know. However, using the English meanings, a Western occultist can climb the Tree of Life with his pragmatism intact if he proceeds with the following in mind, and not the esoteric, grandiose mystical meanings so necessary to our occidental friends.

From the Kingdom you cross into Foundation, which is the wherefore of ritual practice. That's what you're doing with your stars and triangles, laying cement and pipe on the Astral Plane, which may be thought of as the realm of subconscious manifest. You rise into Splendor with much discipline, or sadhana. If you succeed, you are Victorious, and from there on to your Beauty. If you can stand the bullshit of Severity by employing your Mercy, you may achieve Understanding and from there attain Wisdom, at which point the Kether Crown of Mastery is attained. The journey starts at 10 with Malkuth and rocks backwards to number 1, Kether. It's a bit like a Hogwart's boardgame now and not so damn astute. Much easier to digest.

And then from there you may see divinity and radiate a light in the darkness of Ain Soph Aur, the states of Lofty Ego, in which you must be vigilant if you don't want to become a charlatan--another puerile greedhog, the sort of person which is a shade over the lamplight.

If you succeed after lifetimes, you may be etherically initiated into the Ain Soph, or deeper secrets like Karma Lok, or Summerland, etc., and that is to say Initiated, not "I read it and try it." It takes a long damn time to get the respect--for lack of a better word--from the numen needed to attain to this level. And no, I haven't. It only follows that it should or every jackass would be a guru.

When the body is shed, one enters the Ain, and I'm not sure I have the words to touch on its definition. I have not even a tendril of experience with that aspect of existence. Some say we cannot attain to it without shedding the mortal coil--not just chunking the meatsuit but full Death. It is experience unfolding beyond death with no aspect of consciousness left on a coporeal plane. It goes even beyond our Earthly Ghost. That's the closest I can come to expressing my understanding of Ain.

And in the 11--the Daath or the Abyss, which is where we go to discover how foolish we are. The journey across is the journey of the Initiate. 

And there you have it. That's the tree, Westernized. A neat, practical tree. For me, I had to do this with it or I never would have understood not just IT, but the point of ever having created such a thing. That's the Western mind, isn't it? None of us can escape that "what can I get for it?" mentality, myself included. If we can skirt around that habituated primary function, satisfying our material ethic first by simplifying esoterica with a bit of redneck/ghetto charm, we can much easier begin work with the spiritual. I feel that's the way to begin the ascent into Splendor. We will see. 

It's Poor Man's Magistry. Like Crowley said--for the aristocrat and the plumber.