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I haven’t been able to find a whole lot on the practical side of working with the qliphot. What would be the application for that kind of work & how would one go about it?
I’d assume the qliphot would be better for “lower magick” as in getting physical things (Money, sex, etc)
But i really dont know much about it.
Is it mostly used for shadow work or do people use it for practical sorcery as well? Working with spirits?
Would love to hear yalls thoughts
hey, I'll be honest, I have no answers, haven't studied this much
but this is a very interesting question! I see a lot of theory, wondering about practical application/experience too
The only book I can think of is "Qabalah, Qliphoth and Goetic Magic" by Thomas Karlsson (3 or 4 copies available on annas-archive.org). His Dragon Rouge order seems to consider the qliphoth as a path of self-transformation though, not a means to perform results magic.
Kabbalah is mystical system, I don't think that it was developed for practical magic. Though if you can use parts of Tree of Life for practical use, then you can use Tree of Death just the same.
The way I've been taught it and for the time I've went through it, Qlippoth is primarily an oneiric practice that is meant to spark self-reflection and deepen self-knowledge by getting in touch with that primal part of yourself that resides in the Underworld - this happens primarily in the dreamscape, which may change drastically both in terms of vividness, duration, and violence and may bleed over into your waking life. Think of it in terms of Orpheus fetching Eurydice from Hell.
It's also an acclimatization of working with Chthonic currents. Getting a tan from the Black Sun, so to speak. Not a good time by any stretch of the imagination, but then again, it's not supposed to be if you got growth to do. I'm glad I did it, but it's not something I will do again any time soon.
I have not heard of it being utilized for practical go-get-shit-done purposes, nor would I see why one would use the Qlippoth in contrast to so many other systems of working with spirits
I have not heard of it being utilized for practical go-get-shit-done purposes, nor would I see why one would use the Qlippoth in contrast to so many other systems of working with spirits
Yeah, the basic idea is that the Qlippoth is a map of the planetary spheres as they express themselves in the Underworld. Thomas Karlsson says as much in his "Qabalah, Qliphoth and Goetic Magic". It's an interesting book.
Working with daemons is not the same as working with the Qlippoth though, just as working with the Archangels is not the same as working with the Sephirot.
You could use the Tree as a filing cabinet and call upon Archangel Michael, Och from the Arbatel, or any Solar deity to increase or decrease things pertaining to the Sun in your life, or you could call upon Archangel Michael specifically to initiate you through the sphere of Tipharet - one has to do with practical matters, the other is an immersion of your psyche into a particular aspect of reality; diving into a portal, so to speak.
The Qliphoth isn’t a "lower magick" toolbox -- that’s a misunderstanding that comes from seeing it only as the dark mirror of the Tree of Life.
In essence, Qliphothic work isn’t about getting things (money, power, sex, etc.), it’s about becoming something: the process of confronting and integrating the repressed, fractured, or anti-structural parts of your psyche and reality. It’s not the shadow of the Tree; it’s the shadow that reveals depth in the Tree.
Some people do adapt its symbolism for practical sorcery, but that’s like using a black hole as a lantern. You might get a flicker of light, but the current’s real purpose is deconstruction, transcendence, and self-integration through paradox.
Working with the Qliphoth means exploring the states of consciousness that precede and follow form--the raw currents that underlie manifestation, not the manifestations themselves. Think of it as the alchemy of inversion: dissolving the boundaries that ordinary magick reinforces.
In short: yes, it can overlap with spirit work and shadow work, but its heart is philosophical and initiatory, a way to strip yourself of comforting illusions and confront the totality of your own being.
I haven’t been able to find a whole lot on the practical side of working with the qliphot. What would be the application for that kind of work & how would one go about it?
I’d assume the qliphot would be better for “lower magick” as in getting physical things (Money, sex, etc)
But i really dont know much about it.
Is it mostly used for shadow work or do people use it for practical sorcery as well? Working with spirits?
Would love to hear yalls thoughts
Well, I am still curious, if its not for results magick but rather inner work, what does that look like? What does inner work actually look like, facing your shadow or immersing your psyche, what's that? Is it like a specific phenomenological undergoing or kind of a scramble of different things? Im guessing the qliphoth helps attune to different shadowy things rather than normal psychotherapuetic versions but still not sure how itd look in practice
The Qliphoth isn’t a "lower magick" toolbox -- that’s a misunderstanding that comes from seeing it only as the dark mirror of the Tree of Life.
In essence, Qliphothic work isn’t about getting things (money, power, sex, etc.), it’s about becoming something: the process of confronting and integrating the repressed, fractured, or anti-structural parts of your psyche and reality. It’s not the shadow of the Tree; it’s the shadow that reveals depth in the Tree.
Some people do adapt its symbolism for practical sorcery, but that’s like using a black hole as a lantern. You might get a flicker of light, but the current’s real purpose is deconstruction, transcendence, and self-integration through paradox.
Working with the Qliphoth means exploring the states of consciousness that precede and follow form--the raw currents that underlie manifestation, not the manifestations themselves. Think of it as the alchemy of inversion: dissolving the boundaries that ordinary magick reinforces.
In short: yes, it can overlap with spirit work and shadow work, but its heart is philosophical and initiatory, a way to strip yourself of comforting illusions and confront the totality of your own being.
Well, I am still curious, if its not for results magick but rather inner work, what does that look like? What does inner work actually look like, facing your shadow or immersing your psyche, what's that? Is it like a specific phenomenological undergoing or kind of a scramble of different things? Im guessing the qliphoth helps attune to different shadowy things rather than normal psychotherapuetic versions but still not sure how itd look in practice
Inner work in a Qliphothic context isn't therapy wearing a darker robe. It's closer to a disassembly of the self's "operating system".
Each Qlipha (and the Tunnels of Set that connect them) functions like a psychic environment--a condition of consciousness that exposes what your ordinary personality filters out. In practice, that can look like dreams intensifying, moods and symbols surfacing that force you to face uncomfortable truths about control, fear, sexuality, ambition, or faith. The "work" isn't to wallow in shadow, but to stay lucid while the façade cracks and see what's actually underneath.
Sometimes that means journaling or trance work, sometimes sigil or path-tracing meditations--not to summon entities, but to let the mind witness itself as terrain. You're learning to navigate your own underworld. Although it is worth mentioning, the Tunnels are real places.
Where psychotherapy reorganizes, Qliphothic initiation deconstructs. It strips away the stories you use to stabilize identity until awareness stands bare--no hero, no villain, just the raw field of consciousness seeing itself from the Nightside. From there, you rebuild on your own terms.
In short: it's less "facing shadow" and more "integrating the unseen." The result isn't power over things--it's coherence through paradox.
Well, I am still curious, if its not for results magick but rather inner work, what does that look like? What does inner work actually look like, facing your shadow or immersing your psyche, what's that? Is it like a specific phenomenological undergoing or kind of a scramble of different things? Im guessing the qliphoth helps attune to different shadowy things rather than normal psychotherapuetic versions but still not sure how itd look in practice
The stories about the Qliphoth "wrecking your life" usually come from people who mistake disintegration for destruction.
The process can absolutely be destabilizing, but that's kind of the point. The Qliphoth exposes the scaffolding that holds your identity together. So when those supports start shifting, life responds in kind. Old habits, relationships, or illusions that can't survive pressure tend to break. What feels like chaos is often reorganization.
Planetary work, as you said, can create similar effects--Saturn tests, Mars purges, etc. The difference with the Qliphoth is that it doesn't offer an immediate balancing principle. It's a deep, continuous descent, and you're the one who has to generate your own light.
In my experience, the current isn't "evil" or malicious, it's honest. It gives you exactly what you bring into it, stripped of comfort and euphemism. If you're stable, self-aware, and not chasing glamour or shock value, it can refine you rather than wreck you.
So yes, it can be brutal but it's not random. It dismantles what's false so something authentic can survive. The key is integration: doing the work slowly, grounding between gates, and remembering that collapse and creation often look identical from inside the process.
@Fr. Maximagus - I missed the remark about abstract in nature, seems I cannot edit my message after 5 minutes have past:
It sounds abstract when written about, the actual work is visceral. Qliphothic practice deals in experiences that rewrite your perception, not theories about it. It’s less "thinking about darkness" and more "noticing what happens when the lights go out." Words trail behind the work because the work changes the part of you that uses words.
Where psychotherapy reorganizes, Qliphothic initiation deconstructs. It strips away the stories you use to stabilize identity until awareness stands bare--no hero, no villain, just the raw field of consciousness seeing itself from the Nightside. From there, you rebuild on your own terms.
In short: it's less "facing shadow" and more "integrating the unseen." The result isn't power over things--it's coherence through paradox.
In a way I find it comparable to some deeper and darker entheogens, when you face yourself on psychedelics, deliriants, dissociatives and alike you remove the filters that make it possible to navigate the 'physical light creation' and function in the physical and cosmic laws of the Sephiroth.
So like when going into such an experience you always risk burning yourself to a degree, you open up perception to way more than usual, you weaken the veil, and go into the Ur-Chaos, the blackness that contains all color.
Like always intention and being in the responsability for oneself about how programmable and vulnerable the own mind gets is crucial.
The Qliphoth could be described as the Ur-Chaos that was there before there came the 'act of ordering & creating matter' or Malkuth as far as I understood. So the 'finite cosmic' came into the 'infinite anti-cosmic' -or it created the distinction through the law of cause and effect. At least that's the way around the gnostic side would put it.
Maybe one could think about the Sephiroth and Qliphoth also as the 'rational subconscious' and the 'irrational subconscious'?
So the things that make us ask 'why is this apparently part of being human?!' can make us uncomfortable.
Coherence through the paradox made me think of my comparison with altered states and of the deconstruction of meaning in for example surrealism and surrealist use of words. Letting the mind and body be a medium of the irrational and chaos that defines half of our nature, embracing the ineffable about humans, the paradoxical situation of being a nexus, an antenna that can receive and transmit information.
Like Kali is the fierce goddess that destroys illusion. Our day to day perception is an illusion because we would never be able to fuction otherwise. So that may be the thin line one has to perceive, as too little illusion makes one less functional in the mortal realm.
I like your comparison. That sense of "burning the filters" is spot on. The Qliphothic descent does resemble an entheogenic unveiling, but I see it as symmetrical: not just a return to the Ur-chaos before manifestation, but also a movement beyond it--through dissolution and into reformation.
Psychedelics can dissolve the narrative self; Qliphothic work teaches you to navigate what’s left when that narrative collapses. The goal isn’t to stay dissolved but to integrate paradox--to walk in both worlds with awareness intact. Your point is apt, though: too little illusion does indeed shrink day-to-day functionality. I've come to view that "side effect" as the natural result when the masks fall away and only the Self remains.
Your phrase "the blackness that contains all color" fits beautifully. In that dappled light, coherence becomes the act of seeing the spectrum in the dark--knowing the illusion for what it is, and walking it anyway.
In a way I find it comparable to some deeper and darker entheogens, when you face yourself on psychedelics, deliriants, dissociatives and alike you remove the filters that make it possible to navigate the 'physical light creation' and function in the physical and cosmic laws of the Sephiroth.
So like when going into such an experience you always risk burning yourself to a degree, you open up perception to way more than usual, you weaken the veil, and go into the Ur-Chaos, the blackness that contains all color.
Like always intention and being in the responsability for oneself about how programmable and vulnerable the own mind gets is crucial.
The Qliphoth could be described as the Ur-Chaos that was there before there came the 'act of ordering & creating matter' or Malkuth as far as I understood. So the 'finite cosmic' came into the 'infinite anti-cosmic' -or it created the distinction through the law of cause and effect. At least that's the way around the gnostic side would put it.
Maybe one could think about the Sephiroth and Qliphoth also as the 'rational subconscious' and the 'irrational subconscious'?
So the things that make us ask 'why is this apparently part of being human?!' can make us uncomfortable.
Coherence through the paradox made me think of my comparison with altered states and of the deconstruction of meaning in for example surrealism and surrealist use of words. Letting the mind and body be a medium of the irrational and chaos that defines half of our nature, embracing the ineffable about humans, the paradoxical situation of being a nexus, an antenna that can receive and transmit information.
Like Kali is the fierce goddess that destroys illusion. Our day to day perception is an illusion because we would never be able to fuction otherwise. So that may be the thin line one has to perceive, as too little illusion makes one less functional in the mortal realm.
In a way I find it comparable to some deeper and darker entheogens, when you face yourself on psychedelics, deliriants, dissociatives and alike you remove the filters that make it possible to navigate the 'physical light creation' and function in the physical and cosmic laws of the Sephiroth.
So like when going into such an experience you always risk burning yourself to a degree, you open up perception to way more than usual, you weaken the veil, and go into the Ur-Chaos, the blackness that contains all color.
Like always intention and being in the responsability for oneself about how programmable and vulnerable the own mind gets is crucial.
The Qliphoth could be described as the Ur-Chaos that was there before there came the 'act of ordering & creating matter' or Malkuth as far as I understood. So the 'finite cosmic' came into the 'infinite anti-cosmic' -or it created the distinction through the law of cause and effect. At least that's the way around the gnostic side would put it.
Maybe one could think about the Sephiroth and Qliphoth also as the 'rational subconscious' and the 'irrational subconscious'?
So the things that make us ask 'why is this apparently part of being human?!' can make us uncomfortable.
Coherence through the paradox made me think of my comparison with altered states and of the deconstruction of meaning in for example surrealism and surrealist use of words. Letting the mind and body be a medium of the irrational and chaos that defines half of our nature, embracing the ineffable about humans, the paradoxical situation of being a nexus, an antenna that can receive and transmit information.
Like Kali is the fierce goddess that destroys illusion. Our day to day perception is an illusion because we would never be able to fuction otherwise. So that may be the thin line one has to perceive, as too little illusion makes one less functional in the mortal realm.
Man im glad you said this cause i already struggle enough trying to function in the mundane world lol Im unmedicated adhd and task paralysis is a real thing that I just discovered the name for recently. I procrastinate everything, which is why Ive been working with saturn a lot lately which has helped. But i might hold off on any qliphotic work for a while
). In fact, most of the material published and distributed by ixaxaar is what I would consider "anti-cosmic" and "qliphotic" in nature, although not every single publication of theirs focuses specifically on the qliphoth. However, most of their books are limited edition runs and sell out very quickly, so you will have to find a pdf or look around for a used copy. Others have mentioned Thomas Karlsson already and his work is also a staple.
I haven’t been able to find a whole lot on the practical side of working with the qliphot. What would be the application for that kind of work & how would one go about it?
I’d assume the qliphot would be better for “lower magick” as in getting physical things (Money, sex, etc)
But i really dont know much about it.
Is it mostly used for shadow work or do people use it for practical sorcery as well? Working with spirits?
Would love to hear yalls thoughts
In my own experience, calling it "shadow work" often understates it. Qliphothic inner work isn't just therapy wearing a darker robe. Its closer to a complete burn down of your psychic "Operating system".
Each sphere forces you to face the raw, unfiltered and often toxic aspects of our consciousness. The goal isn't to wallow in the dark, but to acheive a form of alchemical transformation by integrating the fragmented parts of our psyche that ordinary consciousness filters out.
The lower magic aspect to me is a myth. Even though you can use the spirits of those spheres to "Possibly" obtain money, power; it's more likely to blow up your quiet promotion at work from happening, to forcing a manifestation of something else. I hope this helps. (There are several books out there on it. I believe that Asenath Mason has a couple out.)
I will share a bit of my own experience working with Qliphotic entities and energies, as this was kind of the first subject I did a deep dive into after first being introduced to chaos magick theory as a teenager. I was really into this stuff at first, but to be honest, I have reached a point now in my life where I'm kinda not in the same place I was when I first got into this.
It goes hard against the grain of ordinary morality and social psychology. No, I don't mean that these beings will require you to murder someone or sacrifice your cat or hurt yourself (although some might try to trick you into believing you have to do something stupid like that to "test" your resolve), but as was said earlier in this thread, they are not for therapy. In fact, rather than be vague, I will try to lay down precisely what my experience working with them has taught me, in terms of the kind of person you have to self-initiate yourself into being in order to make any progress exploring the "tunnels of set":
1. First off, don't be helpful, be "listenable". Being "helpful" is just manufactured self-importance and makes you delusional.
2. Don't resolve everything. Leave things somewhat open and unfinished, somewhat incomplete. Allow things to complete themselves if they want.
3. Silence is almost always superior to speaking, and within the Tunnels of Set, it is always respected and welcome.
4. Do not engage in positivity for positivity's sake. Blind faith that "everything's gonna be okay" is just childishly acting out.
5. Everyone on this planet is a structured failure, so there is no use in trying to diagnose yourself or anyone else with any kind of mental illness.
6. You can cite from authorities and chase after traditions all you want but they're only meant to be anchors, not excuses.
7. Laughter is allowed, in fact, irony is practically sacred within the tunnels. However, empty cynicism will be treated as a form of resistance.
These are just coming from my own notes in one of my old journals I kept while I was studying and working with the qliphoth. None of this is canon, just my own personal unverified gnosis. These were basically just shorthand "rules" I made up and taught myself in order to get into the right headspace to navigate the tunnels without getting ejected for being disrespectful or amateurish.
Also, there was a really good youtube series that talks about them in detail published by Rose Crowley, but she took all her content down for some reason and it's all gone now sadly. If anyone can find them somewhere, I highly recommend that series.
). In fact, most of the material published and distributed by ixaxaar is what I would consider "anti-cosmic" and "qliphotic" in nature, although not every single publication of theirs focuses specifically on the qliphoth. However, most of their books are limited edition runs and sell out very quickly, so you will have to find a pdf or look around for a used copy. Others have mentioned Thomas Karlsson already and his work is also a staple.
...I will try to lay down precisely what my experience working with them has taught me, in terms of the kind of person you have to self-initiate yourself into being in order to make any progress exploring the "tunnels of set":
1. First off, don't be helpful, be "listenable". Being "helpful" is just manufactured self-importance and makes you delusional.
2. Don't resolve everything. Leave things somewhat open and unfinished, somewhat incomplete. Allow things to complete themselves if they want.
3. Silence is almost always superior to speaking, and within the Tunnels of Set, it is always respected and welcome.
4. Do not engage in positivity for positivity's sake. Blind faith that "everything's gonna be okay" is just childishly acting out.
5. Everyone on this planet is a structured failure, so there is no use in trying to diagnose yourself or anyone else with any kind of mental illness.
6. You can cite from authorities and chase after traditions all you want but they're only meant to be anchors, not excuses.
7. Laughter is allowed, in fact, irony is practically sacred within the tunnels. However, empty cynicism will be treated as a form of resistance...
