Book review: Magic Squares and the Tree of Life by Nineveh Shadrach

Right at the start of this book review, I would like to make a prediction; there are going to be a lot of readers disappointed with Magic Squares and the Tree of Life: Western Mandalas of Power by Nineveh Shadrach. I do not need a cracked crystal ball to make this prediction, just a good estimate of the skill and patience of the average person buying this book.

Magic Squares and the Tree of Life is not a book that you sit down and read cover to cover. Much like the Ritual Magic Manual (David Griffin), it is a book of instructions. In this case, it is a book of instructions to allow one to create a special magic square, a hundred by hundred celled magic square, plus ten additional variations of this Hekatontad magical square.

Referred to as the Square of Qaf (Qoph), this hundred cell by hundred cell magic square, according to the Arabic sources that Shadrach quotes, supposedly contains the secret of all other magic squares, as well as their power. Protection, worldly influence, perfect health are just some of the things that the bearer of the Qaf square gains by wearing the square.

Shadrach notes that this magic square is virtually unknown in the Western occult world. The author is right; I have never encountered it in my esoteric career; the highest numbered square I have seen used in the esoteric Orders is a thirteen by thirteen magical square. It is safe to say that the symbolical logic behind the Western and Arabic magic square systems parted at some point.

As for the ten variations that he provides, keyed to the sephiroth of the Tree of Life, if I am reading the author’s statement correctly, they are something that he created and not actually part of traditional lore; this in itself should not actually be held against him. After all, new magical lore always comes though the agency of an individual.

So is this book worth getting? For the average occult student: no. As already mentioned this book is actually a manual, a set of instructions for the creation of these hecatonadal squares. It provides no instructions about what actually to do with them once you create them.

Let me be clear. You have to construct the squares yourself. There is not a completed Qaf square in this book; to obtain one, you have to sit down with a hundred by hundred celled blank magic square and fill in the numbers yourself.

Because of this, it is actually hard to evaluate the merit of this book, and the power of the Qaf square. It is probably safe to say that only a handful of the copies of this book will be put to actual use. It could be the secret of the philosopher’s stone, and the average person will not have time and patience enough to work it out.

For the average occult student, I am giving this one out of five stars; for the advanced Adept who actually willing to construct the squares, I am giving it three out of five stars. I am also going to reserve the right to revise my opinion after working more with these squares.