The Tree of Ecstasy: An Advanced Manual of Sexual Magic

by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki

The Tree of Ecstasy looks at how sex was inseparable from religion in the ancient world and generally seen in a positive light until Christianity put a curse on the flesh and perverted the expression of the sex instinct. The author outlines practices and advice for the rituals based on the Tree of LIfe from the Kabbalah emphasizing that the book is for committed partners. This is advanced magic and not for the beginner.

Genres: Sexuality

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1991

About the author

Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki is a third-generation psychic who has worked with magic since childhood. She studied under W.E. Butler and with him was a founding member of the Servants of the Light School of Occult Science, of which she was Director of Studies.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up from the San Francisco Library book sale knowing that it is probably not my thing, and I was right. It is clerly labeled as being for "committed couples," and this is certainly the case: it is extremely hetero-monogamous in its approach. Nothing wrong with that, but that certainly leaves out quite a swath of, say, WitchTok, never mind Thelema, Reclaiming, and other post-modern approaches to "Western Esoteric" practice. There certainly exist people for whom this could be a reasonable program of intermediate-to-advanced partnered sex magick, but at the same time, this strikes me as of another era, like perhaps the 90s when it was originally published.

While the author remained at that time the successor of W.E. Butler as Director of Studies of the Society of the Inner Light—an organization founded by Dion Fortune as an offshoot of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn via Alpha et Omega and Stella Matutina—the rituals here bear little resemblance to the G∴D∴ program apart from the mapping onto the Qabalistic Tree of Life and the rampant cultural appropriation (common, FWIW, to virtually all 19th and 20th century Western Esoteric orders). This smacks much more strongly of latter-day eclectic Wicca/witchcraft than of old-school ceremonial magick, though ceremonial magick it remains, albeit with a lot more emphasis on crystals and essential oils (probably no longer available from the recommended purveyor) than was common in the days of Fortune and Crowley.

Speaking of whom, he is never mentioned herein, though some influence clearly remains, particularly in the several references to Nuit, which do not at all match the Thelemic approach to that post-Kemetic god-form, but come closer to that than to anything recognizable to any Egyptian anywhere ever. Did I mention cultural appropriation?

Part 1 purports to cover "The History of Sex in Magic," as a matter of providing context for the meat of the book. This section is very largely outdated in light of subsequent academic and historical work. Can't blame her for not predicting the future of historical research, but quite a bit of this seems to rely on the fancies of people like Frazer and Graves: magically useful, perhaps, but historically specious today.

Part 2 covers "Protection and Preparation," largely covering material that, by the author's own estimation, should already be pretty well known to any magicians of sufficient competence to be approaching this material to begin with. That said, I suppose it is useful as a sort of "warning label," and as a matter of having some handy references close at hand while working the system, including some invocations and prayers to some relevant god-forms, tips on integrating sensory input ("smells and bells" as some would put it), and symbols applicable to sex/gender polarity. Worth noting here again that this book is decidedly heteronormative, and makes no attempt to address any serious issues of gender nonconformity or other sexual orientations. It was a different era.

Finally, Part 3 provide the ritual program proper, aligned on the Tree of Life—though I might quibble with some of the attributions here. Each comes in three parts: The Programme, The Ritual(s), and The Pathworking. The Programmes provide a sort of overview to the ritual in question, along with about a week of preparatory exercises, often differing for the man and the woman, but sometimes strongly overlapping, though always sexually abstinent as a matter of creating a store of sexual energy to bring to the ritual proper. The Rituals I will address and list below. The Pathworkings provide a guided meditation as a sort of post-game show. Interesting as prose, but I generally don't find exercises like that to be particularly useful, personally. YMMV.

The rituals themselves are, as it were, all over the map. Generally well constructed as a matter of dramatic ritual and magical hygiene, it remains the case that these are decidedly not my style at all: far too fluffy-bunny for the most part—with some notable exceptions—and quite redolent of newage. But if that's your thing, have at.

• Malkuth: The Rite of Pan—Greek
• Yesod: The Ritual of the Moon Cup—vaguely Celtic with elements of yoga
• Hod: The Dance of Love—Indic Trimurthi, a muddle of appropriations and energy work
• Netzach: The Ritual of the Hawthorne Tower—Celtic/Arthurian (Merlin & Nimue)
• Tiphereth: The Raising of Osiris—pop-Egyptian, i.e., the kind that only existed in Europe
• Geburah:The Consecration Ritual for the Magical Jewel—vaguely medieval-Romantic, drawing on the sybolism of the Two of Sword of the Tarot, which otherwise has no relation to Geburah (and I can find no evidence of "Shemataka, the Goddess of the deep inner earth" attested prior to this)
• Chesed: The Grail of Grace—Arthurian, but with an incoherent reference to some variant of Nuit without reference to Hadit
• Da'ath: The Rite of Crystal—straight up newage crystal work, with a highly idiosyncratic understanding of the Sephira that Is Not
• Binah:
 • The Calling of a Soul—specifically aimed at intentional procreation
 • The House of The Goddess—an alternative for those who are not up for making babies
• Chocmah: The Adoration of the Pillar—Egyptian
• Kether: The Rite that is Left Undone—a newage approach to death and the world beyond

Now, there is one thing for which I have to give this book significant credit, and it is there in the final ritual, which seems almost silly on one level, but quite profound on another. The Programme on this one gets right into the reality of Death in a way that is often missing from many such approaches. Indeed, if one buys into any sort of post-death existence at all, few truly contemplate the logical repercussions of such a possibility, and this thrusts the necessity of doing so to the fore. Thuis alone added a whole star to my rating.

This is the part of the doctrine of rebirth that people seldom think right through. The assure each other that they will be together again but they do not always realize that they have said the same thing to other loves. The love we feel for the families we have in this life is the same love we feel for every family we belong to throughout our many times on Earth. To bless and hallow each love we enjoy is to raise that love to something higher and purer. That is the intention of this ritual.

So, yeah, I won't be working any of this, nor am I likely to explicitly recommend it to anyone, but neither am I likely to drive anyone away from reading it, as even those who cannot work it can probably learn something from it—and, unfortunately, might also learn a few things that aren't really true: as usual, bring your salt!

[Julie Rylie · Rating 2 out of 5]

i still don't know what made me read this book in the first place, maybe because of the concept that making love with someone you truly love can be a ritual, but this is literal ok. lol

This book has sereval rituals to enjoy as much as you can (or so they say) the pleasures of transcendent/ spiritual sex.