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Q.B.L. is a unique work in both Qabalah and Thelemic circles. In the world of the Qabalah, Frater Achad revealed revolutionary new principles that caused students of the Qabalah to reexamine and thus deepen their knowledge of the Tree of Life. In Thelemic circles, Aleister Crowley named Frater Achad his magical heir and Achad was fully expected to lead the cause of Thelemic Magick after Crowley's death--until publication of this book caused a rift between the two and Crowley began to distance himself from Achad. This is a rare and valuable book, both for its insight and circumstances. True understanding of the Qabalah and its benefit in magical practice is clearly described, and the information contained is both practical and revelatory. The circumstances surrounding it--Frater Achad's falling out with Crowley and eventual descent into apparent insanity--prove a valuable lesson and warning for individual seekers and those associated with established mystery schools.
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Frater Achad was a student of Crowley's during the Mauve Decade of the 20th century. A student that Crowley believed to be 'The One' he spoke of in the Book of the Law.
With Crowley's encouragement, Frater Achad wrote Q.B.L. - Being a Qabalistic Treatise on the Nature and Use of the Tree of Life aka The Bride's Reception.
For the most part this book serves as an excellent introduction to the Qabbalah for the new student.
However, Crowley's relationship with Frater Aschad soured when the Frater grew a little over confident, over zealous (He was a 1=10) or perhaps just plain mad, and chose to add a section on his revelation that the Qabbalah and the Serpent of Wisdom should in fact be reversed.
As Crowley put it "[in addition to the other two errors he (Crowley) previously mentions] ..there are twenty other mistakes in the new wonderful illuminated-from-on-high attribution; the student can be assured of twenty more laughs if he cares to study it."
Since it was about this time that Frater Achad took to dancing naked in the streets of Vancouver, the revelations can be taken with a pinch of salt, but do make interesting study for an intermediate student of the Qabbalah.
This new edition is edited by the irrepressible Lon Milo DuQuette (Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot" and The Chicken Qabbalah), who has chosen the path of humility and written only a fascinating introduction and some minor footnotes at the end of the book, rather than inserting his own comments and suggestions throughout the entire work (in the style of the Ciceros, for whom I have the greatest respect, but whose continual inistence on inserting their own psyche into the republished works of Regardie at every opportunity I find, frankly, annoying).
I would definitely recommend this book for anyone studying the Qabbalah, or anyone of the Thelemic persuasion. The Strange Font Style is a conscious decision on the part of the editors to leave the author's original work intact, even though it may have been partly the result of the limitations of his manual typewriter, and an inetntion to impart to the typesetters and understanding of where the italics should go, there is the possibility that another hidden meaning lies within, and so the editors have decided to leave the text uncorrupted, for which I applaud them.
