(continued from previous post)
Wicca and the Qabbalah
The Qabbalah we will be discussing in this section comes from Thelemic and Thelemic-adjacent sources. I am not Jewish and I won’t pretend to have knowledge of the form of mystic Judaism the Kabbalah descends from. This is Hermetic Quabbalah as I understand it. Much could be said about the details of this distinction but that’s not relevant to the topic at hand beyond as here noted.
This is the point where I branch out into other Wiccan sources I have at my disposal. These do not necessarily reflect the beliefs and content of Gardinerian Wicca but in my experience such covens are few and far between. I know next to nothing about Alexandrian Wicca so I have nothing to say on that topic. In any case most people I meet claiming the religion Wicca practice “eclectic” or “American Traditionalist Wicca”. For this I will be focusing on the text of Cunninham’s Book of Shadows and Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft. For the sake of simplicity I shall henceforth identify Cunningham’s Book of Shadows as CBoS and Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft as BCBoW.
Amusingly CBoS contains a short reference and name drop of Aleister Crowley on page 9 of the hardcover edition.
The GBoS as published contains little in the form of outright theology beyond that which is implied by the rituals and invocations but we do find some at the start of CBoS. We get a neat little creation myth called “Before Time Was”. This description of this creation myth is much more straightforward but essentially parallels the first and sixth poems from Liber CCCXXXIII.
The first entity mentioned is that of the Dryghtyn. It is described as being “all-knowing, all-pervading, all-powerful, changeless and eternal”. Then the Dryghtyn splits into twin forms; the Goddess and the God who are described as “alone, solitary save for the Dryghtyn”. There’s a direct parallel to this in Liber CCCXXXIII:
The Abyss The Word is broken up. There is Knowledge. Knowledge is Relation. These fragments are Creation. The broken manifests Light. The Second Triad which is GOD GOD the Father and Mother is concealed in Genera- tion. GOD is concealed in the whirling energy of Nature. GOD is manifest in gathering: harmony: considera- tion: the Mirror of the Sun and of the Heart.
Then we have a description of the Goddess and the God forming the universe. Again we can look at Liber CCCXXXIII for parallels.
The Word was uttered: the One exploded into one thousand million worlds. Each world contained a thousand million spheres. Each sphere contained a thousand million planes. Each plane contained a thousand million stars. Each star contained a many thousand million things
The parallels should be obvious. I will also amusingly note this line:
“The Goddess chose the Moon as her living symbol, and the God the Sun as his living symbol, to remind the inhabitants of Earth of their fashioners.” -GBoS
Parallels this line of Liber CCXX
“For he is ever a sun, and she a moon. But to him is the winged secret flame, and to her the stooping starlight.” -Liber CCXX I:16
Both of these come from further upstream in the Hermetic current to the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismagistus itself:
“Its father is the Sun and its mother the Moon.” -Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, Jabir Ibn Hayyan translation

So now down to the part where things get interesting. The Dryghten, the God and the Goddess all have direct corollaries on the Tree of Life; the supernal sephirot Keter, Chokma and Binah. Checkout the diagram above. These are the first 3 emanations of the godhead. The initial state of the Dryghten was without form but after the split two were formed from that one, and yet the one remained, but having split it was no longer the all and therefore was not unlike the other two. It split and its nature was changed but its essence remained. The sephirot of Keter is the primary source for the rest of the tree and ultimately creation just like the Dryghten is the primary source behind the God and the Goddess. Chokmah is astrologically associated with the planet Uranus and Binah with Saturn. Keter is associated with Neptune.
The God and Goddess are not limited to just those aspects though. They embody the entirety of the concept of the divine. So rather than just being limited to those particular sephirot, they would also fit the entirety of the pillars Jachin and Boaz

Boaz is the pillar of severity and represented as being black. Not only is Binah found there as Saturn but also is Geburah as Mars and Hod as Mercury.

In much the same way the pillar Jachin is associated with the goddess. Jachin is the pillar of mercy. Not only does it include Chokmah as Uranus but also Chesed as Jupiter and Netzach as Venus.
The implications of this association is that should Wiccans come to grips with this concept then their magick can be expanded to include more aspects of the Qabbalah as well. If you associate the God and Goddess with Boaz and Jachin then any correspondences for any of their associated sephirot found in the tables of 777 could be used in ritual relating to them. Additionally it opens the door to gematria, as well as the Quabbalistic concept of the Tarot adding an entirely new layer to their reading. (Which may well be an article topic for the future.) Additionally it adds an extra layer to their pentagram ritual “casting circle” also called “calling quarters”. Understanding that this ritual is a blend of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and the Opening by Watchtower found in the Enochean material could add an entire new layer of meaning to this ritual and others.
Of course Wiccans can go ahead and ignore all this and keep the Quabbalistic correspondences as implied rather than stated but understanding it opens the gateway for Wiccans to see where they stand in the larger occult milieu.
In conclusion, Wicca is uniquely positioned in its relationships because it wears a pagan costume but dances the ceremonial magick dance. It’s a New Aeon religion focused on reimagined versions of Old Aeons practices, beliefs and rituals. (Some of these from the Aeon of Osiris and some from the Aeon of Isis.) It’s been said many times that Wiccans are seen as making it up as they go along and being not well read in the subject of Magick while Thelemites are characterized as being haughty, elitist and overly studious. Neither categorization serves either group well. There are pretentious Wiccans and well read ones just as there are kind welcoming Thelemites and self-righteous ones. In anhy case, it is my hope that the schism between the two paths can be mended and Wiccans grow to respect Thelema and especially the Quabbalah and Thelemic texts, and Thelemites in turn recognize the validity and pedigree of their practices and rituals.
Love is the law, love under will.

Soror Vanessa