The Tree of Life

Israel Regardie wrote The Tree of Life in 1932 at the age of 24 at a time when magic was looked upon as a forbidden subject. However, Regardie concluded that magic is a lucid and precise scientific discipline as well as a highly spiritual and philosophical way of life. Thus, Regardie took on the enormous task of making the basic principles of magic easily accessible to a wide audience of spiritual seekers who were eager for a book that explained the complex masses of magical information that previous authors had simply compiled. The result was The Tree of Life, which adroitly combines a massive amount of diverse material into remarkably unified whole.

This classic text covers examines such subjects as: magic and yoga, the Qabalistic Tree of Life, Egyptian magic, Egyptian gods, Theosophy, philosophical training, numbers and symbols, Theurgy, spiritual hierarchies, the space-time continuum, the astral light, the astral body, astral traveling, astral spirits, union with the divine, magical tools, the magic circle, developing the powers of the imagination, training the Will, the Holy Guardian Angel, the Hindu Tattvas, the power of sound, evocation and invocation, the Chaldæan Oracles, the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Golden Dawn, the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, the Key of Solomon, the Goetia, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, and many more subjects far too numerous to list here.

Since it was first published, this book has always been in high demand by ceremonial magicians for its skillfully blended presentation of a vast multitude of separate remnants of ancient wisdom combined with the knowledge gained from modern magical experience. In writing this book, it was Regardie's primary desire to point out the root principles of magic that cut cross all boundaries of time, religion, and culture-those fundamental principles which are common to all magic, regardless of any specific tradition or spiritual path.

The Tree of Life is considered by many to be Regardie's Magnum Opus and one of the most comprehensive books on magic ever written.

third edition of Israel Regardie's classic 1932 survey of the practices of the Western (ceremonial) magickal tradition, The Tree of Life, gave me no reason to cringe. The text is faithful to the original and the additions and changes are useful.

The Tree of Life is the introduction to the Western magickal tradition in its many forms and practices. It is a classic because it is readable. Many authors have tried to present this complex material in a manner that the average interested layman can understand without devoting a few years to magickal studies. Most have failed. Their works either require a great deal of prior knowledge (Crowley's Magic in Theory and Practice, for example) or they talk down to the reader.

Regardie was gifted with the ability to explain complex material well without talking down to the reader. While this is true in all of his books, he seemed to take special care with this book. If you have any interest in understanding the practices -- and even some of the basic theory -- of the Western magickal tradition, this is probably the best book to start with. This book will not teach you to be a ceremonial magician, but it will give you much of the background you will need to understand books by other ceremonial magicians. This book introduces the reader to magick and yoga, Qabalah, the microcosm and the macrocosm, the Gods, magickal correspondences and tools, the Will, scrying, astral projection, grimoires, initiation, alchemy, and more.

The editors of this third edition, Chic Cicero and Sandra Tabatha Cicero, have wisely refrained from trying to improve upon Regarde's basic text. Instead these two adepts of the Heremetic Order of the Golden Dawn have expanded upon Regardie's material...This edition of The Tree of Life is excellent, probably the best one I've seen...."

—Reviewed by Randall Sapphire,
Cauldron and Candle #8 http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/

*******"Complete comprehensive book on the study of Magic Theory and Occult Techniques. A Must have for any serious student of Magic."

The Middle Pillar: The Balance Between Mind and Magic by Israel Regardie. Edited and annotated with new material by Chic Cicero & Sandra Tabatha Cicero (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2000) ISBN: 1-56718-132-5 Glossary, Bibliography, Index, 552 pages, 137 illustrations, full color 4 page insert $19.95