“Regarding your post, “A New Path” (http://scrollofthoth.tumblr.com/post/23588181603/a-new-path),
I was wondering if you could go more in detail about the ideas behind this. Specifically, I was wondering which parts of the Qabalah you think are useful/real enough to be kept. I was intrigued by the post and considered doing something similar.”
I believe that all paths to the divine are valid, as long as they do not denigrate another. So if Qabalah works for you, and you can incorporate it into a world view that does not preclude others, go for it. Qabalah, however, does not work for me. It’s just the way my mind works. Being based on Judea-Christian concepts, it will always carry that baggage for me. It is a system that points to a single creator God, which doesn’t sit well in my world view. It doesn’t make it lesser, it just makes it not for me.
As to what from Qabalah should be salvaged, that’s all a matter of what you are trying to purge the system of. I think that all magikal practices benefit from a system of correspondences. It facilitates what chaos magi call “sleight of mind”. The theory goes that the conscious mind does not perform magick well because it is shackled by the perception of what it believes is reality. The sub-conscious mind, however, does not have these limitations. If a magus can influence his sub-conscious mind, then they will get better results. Unfortunately, the sub-conscious mind does not work on a direct 1=1 basis. It works symbolically. Essentially a system of correspondences is a related group of symbols that you can imprint on the sub-conscious using gnosis.
Red = Love, 7 = Lucky, Mars = War, are all basic correspondences. But the more indirect you can make correlations the better it works. There is a down side to this. As some magi spend so much time developing a system they believe capable of containing all meanings, they fail to get on with doing the magick.
For me, a good rule has been, come up with a desired effect, and then build a system of correspondences around it. Stop when you think you have gone far enough to perform the working. Add it to your existing system and move on.
So far I have found that having correspondences for scents, colors, planets, gods, and a few higher concepts, like eschaton, have been enough for me. I find no need to add tarot cards or astrology, yet. I think if you build your own system based on need to perform magick rather than need to know the system, it helps prevent over doing it. You should also stop when you feel like you are forcing something into the system that doesn’t belong. Like when certain hermeticists equate Odin with Hermes. Do they seem like the same type of god to you? Nope, me neither.
Did that answer your question?