James A. Eshelman said:
(From Black Pearl No. 9, copyright College of Thelema, all rights reserved.)
NEW DIMENSIONS FOR THE CUBE OF SPACE
The Path of Initiation Revealed by the Tarot upon the Qabalistic Cube
by David Allen Hulse (Samuel Weiser, Inc., 2000. Paper, 146 pp. $16.95. ISBN 1-57863-137-8.)
Finally, a book to stir the imagination about the Cube of Space!
The name, “Cube of Space,” is a 20th Century title coined by Paul Foster Case to describe one of the oldest esoteric models of the Qabalistic (or any other) tradition. Preceding the Zohar by half a millennium – or perhaps double that – the Sepher Yetzirah, or “Book of Formation,” described the creation of Reality in terms of an infinite-size cube, then proceeded to attribute the Hebrew letters to its defining dimensions. Until Case’s work in the last century, nothing much appears to have been done with this, despite the ubiquitous presence of the cube itself as a symbol of the inmost mystery of at least half a dozen major mystical traditions.
But Case’s material – besides a few teasing remarks in his remarkable book, The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages – is all locked away in private lesson materials of Builders of the Adytum. Kevin Townley’s 1993 book, The Cube of Space: Container of Creation, ably provided the raw parameters of the cube, its mathematical structure, and its basic attributions. Hulse, on the other hand, uses the medium of story and powerful imagery to ignite an inner quest.
His story is of the path of incarnation and initiation, journeying, in turn, the six surfaces of the Cube of Space and its hidden interior. His language is vivid, and his narrative compelling.
The book has weaknesses, though. For one, the model of spiritual passage he portrays is marred by artifice. That is, while the broad parameters (his main thesis) are probably right on the mark, his minute details are surely overly structured and simply do not portray any generic Path. (They do not, for example, portray the Path along which life has led this reviewer nor half the questing souls I know; though it might just happen to fit the other half!) There is also a surprisingly noisy sense of self-importance by the author regarding his mission in this authorship, something I haven’t seen as characteristic of Hulse’s earlier writings. I suspect the explanation of both of these points is that the book is far more personal than the author lets on. He does give clues that it’s personal; and in some of his advertising (for example, his remarks in Amazon.com’s ad for the book), he lets even more be known. I suspect that this work erupted from within Hulse, and is rather autobiographical. If this assessment is correct, though, it might, have made a much more compelling book if he had written it as that autobiography.
His definition of the Holy Guardian Angel, and the particular way he differentiates it from the Higher Self, is quite different from any definition I would ever use. (Hardly a sin!) He gets credit for defining his terms – unlike most authors of the subject.
Nonetheless – regardless of whether the individual reader’s soul confirms the exacting mapping of minute steps of the pathways of aspiration and attainment – this book will fire imagination and likely inspire to years of personal digging and discovery using the Tarot and the remarkable model of the Cube of Space. Beautifully illustrated, and containing some of the richest insights on Tarot we’ve ever read (frankly, there aren’t many authors who can still startle me with new insights on familiar old cards – but Hulse did!), we give it a warm four rose recommendation. (****)