By (author) Ian Rees
The ultimate workbook for those who want to explore the deep roots of the Qabalah and work with the lost and broken places of the soul and of the universe.
This book provides an in-depth exploration of the Qliphoth, or Shells, and looks at the Shadow or unbalanced aspects of the Tree of Life. It is centred around a fascinating practice of alchemical transmutation which brings these Shells into balanced relationship with what has been described as "the great bundle of the living".
The Tree of Life and Death will show readers how this was central to the work of Dion Fortune and Aleister Crowley. It identifies the historical root of this work in Ancient Egypt, contemplating the concept of Maat or Truth, and looks at how this principle becomes pivotal in the development of the Qabalah in working to transform the Qliphoth. It uses the ancient Egyptian forms of the holders of Maat - the Eloquent Peasant, the Good Shepherd and the Silent Sage - seeing them as key images that enable us to embody truth and balance and promote that quality in all that we touch.
By (author) Ian Rees
Ian Rees is a psycho-spiritual psychotherapist practicing in Glastonbury, Somerset, UK. He has been a therapist for twenty years and spent ten years before that working in probation work and social work. He designed MA programs and taught at the Karuna Institute in Devon from 1999 to 2009. Since 2009 he has concentrated on developing and presenting workshops for the Annwn Foundation.
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"This extraordinary book explores one of the least known and most important dimensions
of Cabalistic magical spirituality, the art of transmuting unbalanced spiritual energies and bringing them back into balance with the Divine. Full of effective practical techniques, The Tree of Life and Death is a vitally necessary volume for our troubled times."
“Ian Rees tackles perhaps the most pressing question of our time: the root-cause of evil and suffering in this world. After explaining in detail the Cabalistic understanding of this issue, he goes on to suggest powerful and precise ways in which these difficult forces can be confronted and reconciled. From an occult and magical point of view this is probably the most in-depth and at the same time pragmatic work you will ever find on this subject.”
“This is far more than just ‘a book’ on the Qabalah. This is a collection of teachings that have come down to us over the centuries, plus information on their origin, usage, inner meaning, association with other belief systems and how it has persisted down the centuries with its deepest core of power intact. This is not just a book, it is in and of itself a way of living both physically, emotionally and spiritually in a way that can, if allowed to do so, cause changes within the multi levels of beingness that make up a human being.”
“A masterwork of magical insight and practice. Erudite and embodied, a rare combination.”
"This masterful book reveals the craft of reuniting the living soul with the powers of the Tree of Life, releasing it from the reactive ignorance, wilful antagonism, and corruptive separation of the Qliphothic Tree of Death, whose parasitic influences seek to bind it. By absorbing, not banishing evil, the well-trained practitioner can release those who are imprisoned by it. An absolute triumph of a book, restoring to harmony those things that seek to dehumanise the sacred potential of all life."
"This accessible yet thorough exposition of the Tree of Life is equally valuable for the beginner and the most experienced practitioner. There is a lifetime of experience, of practical study and the fruits of years of teaching poured into this book, whose scholarship is lightened with personal anecdote and reminiscence. The explanations are lucid and illuminating, and may well prompt a series of 'light-bulb’ moments in the reader as the profound relational nature of the Tree is revealed."
"Ian Rees is a practical Qabalist who works from the heart and with seasoned knowledge. In this book he shares insights about motivations in the work, theurgic practice and magical lore pertaining to attaining balance and healing. The Tree of Life and Death is an important contribution to the body of literature and progressive understanding of Mystical Qabalah in the context of the western esoteric tradition.
Dr Steven Critchley Director of the Servants of the Light Association
Few authors have the wisdom or courage to tackle this area - literally the question of ‘good’ and ‘evil’, the balancing of which sustains the universe and everyone within it. Deeply magical and essentially empowering, this is a once-in-a-lifetime book from which I cannot believe anyone will fail to learn valuable lessons, as well as finding themselves transformed by the training included. The scope alone is huge, and much needed by followers of all spiritualities. These matters literally lie at the roots of all disciplines. Essential reading for all whose awareness encompasses the absolutes of dark and light."
"Many involved in modern Qabalistic practice and study ignore or reject discussion or engagement with the Qliphoth. Ian Rees has traversed this often feared terrain, which we can safely follow now he has opened the roads and described the territory. This is much needed as the magical revival of the 19th and 20th centuries come of age in the 21st.
Rees delves deep into the traditions that the Qliphoth arose from, offering a rich exploration that supersedes any other work on the topic. He links us back to the origins of the Tree of Life and Death that resonate as an active, living mystical stream. This is an important work, a modern esoteric masterpiece.“
“This book rightly traces the origin of the Hermetic Qabalah back to ancient Egypt. As the Book of Acts says: “Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians...” (Acts 7:21-22). Our debt of gratitude to the Hebrew sages is due to them preserving the primordial wisdom against almost unimaginable odds.
Like the sages, herein Ian Rees shares with us both the Theoria and the Theurgia of the Esoteric Tradition – both its ‘theory’ and its ‘application.’ In these pages, you will find the true meaning of Alchemy and the Golem. The author skilfully imparts these secret methods of profound transformation, thus enabling readers to have direct experience.
The Ageless Wisdom teaches that all angels, spirits, and demons exist both objectively in the universe – and subjectively within our souls (psyches). This is not just a piece of metaphysics because, as the author reveals, it has deep and powerful implications. Because as we awaken these potencies - making them conscious – then their qualities come to life in us. This is the purpose of Theurgy: to become more God-like, more angelic, like Enoch of old. And thus, transmuting our dark Lead into incorruptible Gold. If we consciously redeem our inner demons, then we can exorcise and transform them – restoring them to the divine embrace. Once this is done, we are then empowered to exorcise those same shadows that afflict the Collective Unconscious in which all of us live and move.
All of this lays before you in the pages that follow. In my opinion, this book is the most important esoteric text since The Great Work by Paul Foster Case, or W. E. Butler’s The Magician His Training and Work. Let your Inner Light shine forth!”
