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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.
