QBL- brain stretches

I have become intrigued by a series of exercises in William Gray's "Qabalistic Concepts: Living the Tree". So, I'm going to be posting the results and reflections on the first series of exercises off and on over the next week or two. I'll explain a bit more below the cut.

As much as I respect and want to work within Crowley's magickal system, I find that the material, at least without some aid, is a bit like being tossed into a centrifuge and told to climb out. Establishing the a proper ramp-up and curriculum of study based on the work that I have, and have been reading has been difficult. The A.'.A.'. materials and curriculum are certainly useful in this regard. However, acquiring the various texts on the reading list is no minor task, esp given that I'm a reference whore, and prefer to have my own hard-copies of such works. Moreover, there seems to be little focus, early in the curriculum, on practical work.

I certainly don't object to doing lots of reading, but unless I have some practical activity on which to hang that understanding- that is to say, commit it to the body- then I lose the sense of it in relation to Being. I live rather a lot in my head - if I am to GO, then I must DO. Otherwise, I'll simply revolve without resolving. This has been an ongoing issue for me in the past, and I need to use my body to short-circuit the mind as regards this habit. I can navel-gaze with the best of them, baby. But at this point, I need to participate more directly in the system of the world.

So, I looked at several related and parallel systems, with an eye to creating a foundation of practice which I could integrate with the Crowley material with which I have become comfortable. I have a regular and established pattern of short practices and rituals that I work with on a regular basis, and intend to explore and understand them as fully as possible before adding more material and additional practices. It is with this in mind that I chose Gray's system, which appears focused on being a practical, and largely internal system for one to start to Know Oneself, and to orient oneself within the Esoterica. It has a fairly non-dogmatic framework, with very little of the high-fallutin' cruft that one finds in other books on ritual magick and Kabbalah. It seems focused on being a practical primer for more advanced internal work, and refrains for being overly prescriptive or dogmatic in it's program.

So, as I work the exercises, I'll dump results here.