Psychological Effects of Pathworking from Problems on the Path of Return by Mark Stavish, M.A. in Vol 3 No 1 of Caduceus.

“The effects of pathworking are to greater or lesser degree well documented. Once the basic concepts of what each sphere represents in terms of psychological elements on the Tree of Life is understood, then the links which they form are realized either through ritual, mythological metaphor, meditation, or a combination of the above. However, in the rush to realize magical powers, altered states of awareness, celestial beings, and interior worlds, one of the most significant and important facts of pathworking and all magical work in general is often overlooked.” [via]

Consider also:

  1. “Despite this lack of effective interface between the parent art and science of occultism and its insolent step-child psychology, some inroads have been made to bridge the gap both in terms of technique and theoretical understanding.”
  2. “In fact few people stay with any system long enough to realize the genuinely spiritual aspects of the Work they are doing. The need for genuine self-honesty and purification on the level of the ego and the repressed areas of the subconscious, before the refined and powerful forces of the soul can shine freely and effectively through the ego and not be overly distorted by it, must be recognized by students if they are to derive full benefit from the Work they are doing.”
  3. “The pathological responses to psycho-spiritual work, that is work that seeks to reshape and reform the outer for the exposure and glorification of the Inner, is more deeply rooted in our interior impulse of involution, the very force and cause of our ‘descent’ from potential being into creation so that we might ascend and become an actualized Being.”
  4. “To this end, the following examples of cabalistic path working are being given, as well as possible psychological benefits as well as pathologies which their working (particularly out of sequence) can evoke within the psyche of the operator. While no single path is ever worked exclusively, only realized as such by our outer self (i.e. ego), the effects are seen predominately when particular paths are undertaken as ritual or esoteric operations. The paths are numbered in a working sequence for a reason, it is best to follow that sequence if disharmony and psychic disruption is to be held to a minimum.”
  5. “The works of the Italian Renaissance hermeticist Marsilio Ficino are of immense value, in that they bridge the gap between psychology and magic to a great degree. Unfortunately, they can be difficult to obtain, and deal with a style of kabbalah stylistically different from the more famous modern schools, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its off-shoots. Some of Ficino’s insights will be considered as well.”