A Reading List

 Ariel, David: The Mystic Quest: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
 "A readable, comprehensive guide." Highly recommended in the Zohar class at
 the University of Judaism.

 Ben Joseph, Rabbi Akiva: The Book of Formation
 This is one of the seminal texts of the Kabbalah. This was written in the
 second century C.E. or thereabouts. It is heavily influenced by Pythagorean
 thought.

 Bokser, Ben Zion, ed.: The Jewish Mystical Tradition
 An anthology of texts from biblical origins to the twentieth century.

Carroll, Peter J., "Liber Null & Psychonaut", Samuel Weiser 1987

Crowley,  Aleister,  "The Confessions of Aleister  Crowley",
Bantam 1970

 Dan, Joseph, ed.; Kiener, Ronald C., trans: The Early Kabbalah
 Selections from the formative period of Kabbalah: twelfth- and
 thirteenth-cekntury Provence and Spain. An excellent guide to the
 development of Kabbalah.

 Denning, Melita; Phillips, Osborne
 Two prolific authors for Llewellyn press. These two are members of the Aurum
 Solis magickal society, and their books are written largely from the
 perspective of this magickal philosophy. Aurum Solis has a fair amount of
 overlap with Golden Dawn, but there are differences.

 Denning, Melita; Phillips, Osborne: The Sword and the Serpent
 This is volume two of "The Magical Philosophy", wherein Denning and Phillips
 present the philosophy and techniques of the Aurum Solis. At least as much
 as they are willing and/or able to. As one might guess, The Sword and the
 Serpent refer to the two different paths up and down the Tree of Life. The
 first part of this book is a qabalistic journey through the world of the
 occult and a guide to the relationship between the Tree of Life and the
 Great Work.

Epstein, Perle, "Kabbalah", Shambhala 1978

 Fine, Lawrence, ed.: Essential Papers on Kabbalah
 A stimulating collection of studies by leading scholars in the field.
 Fine, Lawrence, ed.: "Kabballistic Texts" (in Back to the Sources)
 A clear, concise presentation of the development of Kabbalah and its
 symbolism.

 Fine, Lawrence, ed.: Safed Spirituality: Rules of Mystical Piety
 A fascinating depiction of the mystical community of Safed and some of its
 leading personalities, along with a text of mystical ethics.

 Fortune, Dion
 Dion Fortune, mundanely known as Violet Firth, was a member of the Golden
 Dawn. Her pen name is a contraction of her Magickal Motto, "Dea Non
 Fortuna".

 Fortune, Dion: The Mystical Qabalah
 This is a good introduction to the Golden Dawn style of the Western Esoteric
 Qabala. It is much less turgid than the works of her predecessors, and with
 practice, is quite readable. It also gives a good, basic list of the
 magickal correspondences with the sephiroth.

Fortune, Dion, "The Cosmic Doctrine", Aquarian 1976

Fortune, Dion, "Moon Magic", Star Books, 1976

Grant, Kenneth, "Cults of the Shadow", Muller 1975

Graves, Robert & Raphael Patai,  "Hebrew Myths:  The Book  of
Genesis", Arena 1989

 Gray, William G.
 William Gray studied under the Western Esoteric tradition of magic through
 the Golden Dawn. He has written many books on the Qabala, and is probably
 one of the most expert in the subject of the Western Magickal Qabala.

 Gray, William G.: The Ladder of Lights
 This is an analysis of the Tree of Life from the Western Esoteric point of
 view.

 Gray, William G.: The Tree of Evil
 A book on the Qliphoth, and how understanding of the Qliphotic forces can be
 used to overcome evil.

 Green, Arthur, ed.: Jewish Spirituality (2 volumes)
 A stimulating collection of studies by prominent scholars
 Halevi, Z'ev ben Shimon: Introduction to the Cabala
 This book explores the Tree of Life, both as a model of the universe and as
 it relates to a variety of different aspects of life and of the world around
 us.

Harner, Michael, "The Way of the Shaman", Bantam 1982

 Idel, Moshe: Kabbalah: New Perspectives
 A groundbreaking, challenging work by a leading authority in the field.
 (Jewish Kabbalah)

 Idel, Moshe: The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia A penetrating study
 of the prime representative of ecstatic Kabbalah.

 Jacobs, Louis: Jewish Mystical Testamonies.
 A collection of first-person accounts of mystical experience.

James,  William,  "The  Varieties of Religious  Experience", Fontana 1974

 Kaplan, Aryeh: The Bahir
 The Bahir (brilliance) is one of the oldest of the Kabbalistic works. This
 translation, by Aryeh Kaplan, also includes the full Hebrew text as well as
 Kaplan's own commentary on the book.

 Kaplan, Aryeh: Meditation and Kabbalah
 A rich collection of texts by a practicing kabbalist.

Knight, Gareth, "A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism",
Vols 1 & 2, Helios 1972

 Kushner, Lawrence: Honey from the Rock
 Jewish Kabbalah is more than the Tree of Life, and it is much more than just
 a magickal system. It is the sum total of Jewish mystical speculation,
 fiction and poetry. This book contains a number of brief texts on some of
 the central themes of Jewish mysticism.

Lewin,  Roger,  "Stone Age Psychedelia",  New Scientist 8th. June 1991

 Liebes, Yehuda: Studies in the Zohar
 Stimulating studies of the major work of Kabbalah by a leading authority of
 the field.

 Mathers, MacGregor: The Kabbalah Unveiled
 A ponderous translation of parts of the Zohar, via a Latin text, the
 Kabbalah Denudata.

 Matt, Daniel C.: The Essential Kabbalah
 Pretty much what it says. Matt goes to the original sources and summarizes
 the essential beliefs and attitudes of the Jewish Kabbalah.

 Matt, Daniel C.: The Zohar
 Not the entire Zohar, but a fairly large selection (about 5%) of the text in
 this work. Notes, including comments made by scholars over the years, are
 found in the back of the book, giving the reader the option of reading the
 Zoharic text without commentary first if he desires.

 Patai, Raphael: The Hebrew Goddess
 A biography of the feminine divinity, from her roots in the ancient Near
 East through the Kabbalah.

Ponce, Charles, "Kabbalah", Garnstone Press, 1974.

Reed, Ellen "The Witches Qabala", Llewellyn Publications

 Regardie, Israel: A Garden of Pomegranates
 A Golden Dawn perspective on the Tree of Life and the Qabala.

Regardie, Israel, "The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic",
Falcon Press, 1984

 Scholem, Gershom
 Mr. Scholem was probably the preeminent modern scholar of the Jewish
 Kabbalah. Anything written by this man may be taken as authoritative. This
 name is on my "see and buy" list.

 Scholem, Gershom: On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead
 Essays on Kabbalistic speculations. The title essay deals with the
 speculations of the Merkavah mystics and their attempts to gain the vision
 granted to the prophet Ezekiel.

 Scholem, Gershom: Zohar, The Book of Splendor
 Another set of selections from the Zohar, edited by Gershom Scholem.

Scholem,  Gershom  G.  "Major Trends in  Jewish  Mysticism",
Schoken Books 1974

Westcott, W. Wynn, ed. "Sepher Yetzirah". Many reprintings.