A unique and humorous and also practical approach to the increasingly popular study of Qabalah. This is a seriously funny book! Traditional Qabalistic (or Cabalistic, or, indeed, Kabbalistic read this book to find out what the difference is...we know you've always wondered) sources tend to be a bit, er, dry. DuQuette spices up the Qabalah and makes it come alive, restoring the joy of learning the fundamentals of this admittedly arcane system by using simple, amusing anecdotes and metaphors. This account, written psuedepigraphically (fictitiously attributed to a supposed authority), allows DuQuette as Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford to soar to outrageous heights and, when necessary, stand apart from the silliness to highlight the golden eggs of Qabalistic wisdom nested therein. Sure to be a revelation to those who think that learning about the Qabalah needs to be tedious and serious, DuQuette shows that great truths can be transmitted through the medium of laughter. It's s Dilettante's Guide to What You Do and Do Not Need to Know to Become a Qabalist. “A Dilettante’s Guide to What You Do and Do Not Need to Know to Become a Qabalist”, The Chicken Qabalah purports to be the teachings of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford, who in reality is an alter ego of Lon Milo Duquette’s. Fed up with “authorities” in this burgeoning occult field who waste readers’ time with such pointless (if impressive) tasks as ‘counting the Nostril Hairs of God’, Lon’s very funny and very practical Chicken Qabalah empowers the would-be Qabalist to remember and distinguish between what is important in Qabalah—i.e., the idea of Unity—and what is not—i.e., almost everything else. Along the way, readers will giggle themselves silly through this truly funny book, and discover at its end that they have learned more Qabalah by accident than they ever would by studied intent. If one had to select just one of the treasures this book offers to encapsulate its message, it might be this: “…[W]e are not Qabalists to prove the Bible is holy—we are Qabalists because everything is holy. Look hard enough at anything and you will eventually see everything! Right now—right where you are, God is talking to you from the pages of the Bible, the Koran, the Vedas—from the funny papers, billboards, street signs, ticket stubs, and automobile license plates.” Lon Milo Duquette, always an edifying delight to read, is the author of The Magick of Thelema, The Tarot of Ceremonial Magick, Angels, Demons and Gods of the New Millennium, and the autobiographical My Life With the Spirits. Lon Milo DuQuette is a best-selling author who lectures worldwide on such topics as magick, tarot, and the Western mystery traditions. He is currently the US Deputy Grand Master of Ordo Templi Orientis and is on the faculty of the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, and the Maybe Logic Academy. His books include The Magick of Aleister Crowley, Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, and The Tarot Architect . Visit him at londuquette.com . THE CHICKEN QABALAH OF RABBI LAMED BEN CLIFFORD A Dilettante's Guide to What You Do and Do Not Need to Know to Become a Qabalist By Lon Milo DuQuette Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC Copyright © 2001 Lon Milo DuQuette All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-57863-215-2 Contents List of FiguresForeword—My Life with the Rabbi, by Rodney OrpheusIntroduction: ConfessionChapter 0. Who Was Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford?Chapter 1. Frequently Asked Questions About Chicken QabalahChapter 2. The Ten Command-RantsChapter 3. The Sepher YetzirahChapter 4. The Hebrew AlphabetChapter 5. The Ineffable Name of God and the Ark of the CovenantChapter 6. The Four Qabalistic Worlds and the Four Parts of the SoulChapter 7. The Tree of LifeChapter 8. Qabalistic Magick and the Tree of LifeChapter 9. The Chicken Tarot and the Holy Guardian AngelChapter 10. Last Lecture—Games Qabalists PlayEpilogue: Shem-ha-Mephorash—The Rabbi's Last 72 WordsNotesGlossaryBibliographyIndexAbout the Author CHAPTER 1 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT CHICKEN QABBALAH Introduced by Lon Milo DuQuette We are Qazbalists not to prove the Bible is holy—weare Qabalists because everything is holy. —Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford Without doubt, the first question people asked Rabbi Lamed Ben Cliffordconcerned his choice of the word "Chicken" to describe his brand of Qabalisticstudy and practice. It is clear to me, after reviewing scores of letters on thissubject, that he delighted in giving a different answer to every individual whoasked, "Why do you call it Chicken Qabalah?" Indeed, for this reason, I hadaltogether given up the idea of including any of them in the "Frequently AskedQuestions" chapter. Then, shortly before returning the last draft of themanuscript to my publisher, I received a telephone call from one of the Rabbi'sstudents living in New York City. She was a wealth of information and happilycorroborated the following story, which was part of a 1987 letter to a Jamaicandisciple. Why do I ca