Ancilla

Afterword: Book Structure, the Kabbalah, and the Tree of Life

   This novel is the first part of a trilogy and is structured on the Kabbalah, in part because my protagonist's mentor follows the path laid out by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, with a good sprinkling of Thelema tossed in, and both those orders, I am sorry to say, appropriated the Kabbalah for its own purposes, although I would like to iterate that the reality of Edwardian era cultural appropriation of course does not render the Golden Dawn path invalid for those who believe in it and follow it. Nor does it invalidate Thelemic magick for those who feel called to follow that path. I do have some rather strong and unflattering opinions about Aleister Crowley, the creator of Thelema, but they aren't relevant for the purposes of my book's plot, or for this discussion.

   Entire books have been written about the Kabbalah, both the original medieval Jewish form and the culturally appropriated Golden Dawn version. There is no way I could possibly explain the entire spiritual system in one brief afterword. I might as well define the universe and give three examples, or narrate the history of the Roman Empire in a page (briefly, concisely, and specifically!) The reader who is curious about all things Kabbalistic could do worse than to consult Wikipedia. See it as a starting point, not as a final destination.

   For further reading, if you are exploring the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's interpretation of the Kabbalah, look for books written by Israel Regardie. If you want to investigate the intersection of the teachings of the Kabbalah with Western ceremonial magick and chaos magick, meanwhile, try Donald Michael Kraig. (On the other hand, if you would prefer to stick to the original stuff, reference the books my protagonist reads in the Hod chapter).

   I used the Tree of Life to structure and determine the plot of Ancilla, with most of the book chapters themed on the Sephiroth as my protagonist ascends the tree toward Heaven, right to the point where she falls from the heavens and hits the ground. The spheres are put in order from bottom to top to reflect the fact that my protagonist, like her mentor, is on a left-hand path of ascent, searching for gnosis and apotheosis through self-perfection. She follows the "lightning path" between spheres exactly, from bottom to top, as she searches for her Self.

   Here, then, are the meanings and traditional associations of the chapter titles. The sphere for each chapter determined each chapter's theme. I primarily use the Golden Dawn interpretations in Ancilla, rather than the traditional Kabbalistic interpretations. My protagonist's mentor and lover is not Jewish; he is Golden Dawn. Since he is the teacher in this book, his perspective is what is used to interpret the Sephiroth.

   On we go.

   There are three main parts of the Tree of Life. Usually, despite being tree parts, they are referred to as the three pillars of the Temple of Solomon, but I am going to try to stick with the tree analogy for the sake of simplicity, so I ask the reader to picture a tree with three trunks, which is not uncommon for birches. It also sometimes happens when a tree has been coppiced to produce canes.