Books by Paul Foster Case?

[Shaira]

Hi everyone, 

 

I'm engrossed in a detailed read of Wang's Qabalistic Tarot at the moment, at the recommendation of the good folks of this forum (thank you!), and am totally digging it. I found a mention in today's study of the Thirty-Two Paths of Wisdom by Paul Foster Case, and thought I'd take a look, as it looked interesting. 

 

However, there seem to be several "versions" of texts purporting to be this book out there. One is either edited, published, or even (re?)written by a certain Wade Colman, and is a new edition available on Amazon, etc, for 15 dollars / euros or so. There there's at least one version with is a PDF scan of a 1919 text by Paul Foster Case called "32 Paths". And so on. 

 

First, is this text a good worthwhile read? Second, which is the correct (or best) one? Is the PDF scan the *actual* Thirty Two Paths of Wisdom, or something else?

 

Finally, I'm noticing lots of other books on Tarot by case, with similar problems; some seem to be re-editions or even abridged / bastardised versions. Could anyone shine a light on the current state of available texts by Paul Case, and which are good reads for someone like myself interested in esoteric tarot?

 

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

Blessed be, 

 

Sarah

[Raggydoll]

I have read a few of his books but this was probably 10 years ago, so I don’t remember details. I got them as physical copies and I think that is a pretty good option if you can afford it and if you are keen on getting legitimate versions. 

[gregory]

This might answer ALL your questions - you can certainly see the originals:

 

https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query="paul+foster+case"

[Misterei]

8 hours ago, Shaira said:

Finally, I'm noticing lots of other books on Tarot by case, with similar problems; some seem to be re-editions or even abridged / bastardised versions. Could anyone shine a light on the current state of available texts by Paul Case, and which are good reads for someone like myself interested in esoteric tarot?

I own the hardcopy book, "The Tarot" by Case. Had it forever. It's worth reading but it has misinformation. Namely his assertion about the origins of Tarot. I read and believed his version when I was younger. Then came the internet and as i got older and started teaching, I did historic research which debunked Case's origin story. Still, he's one of the pillars of modern Tarot.

[Shaira]

15 hours ago, gregory said:

This might answer ALL your questions - you can certainly see the originals:

 

https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query="paul+foster+case"

 

Thanks for that, Gregory. I'm wondering in that case whether this book is legitimate or a bit dodgy: 

 

Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom: Qabalah and the Tree of Life: Case, Paul Foster, Coleman, Wade, Coleman, Wade: 9781733162081: Amazon.com: Books

 

One of the comments says it's some kind of mashup or fraudulent text, and not by case at all. Otherwise it looks good! But there's no equivalent text in the Internet Archive, except for something with a similar title, "32 Paths Lessons 1-17". Wang's description of this text got me interested, so I'm trying to dig out a copy of it somewhere, assuming it exists and is available. 🙂 

[Aeon418]

Part of the problem with some of the recent publications of Paul Foster Case's writings is that they have been extracted from the course material that he wrote for his teaching order, the Builder's of the Adytum. Some of this material has found its way to the internet in inaccurate and/or incomplete form. I believe the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom book is an example of this. The publisher of this book has had to fill in the blanks and write a couple of chapters themselves because they are not available online.

 

Despite some questionable assertions, Paul Foster Case was a very gifted hermetic qabalist and his writings are well worth reading. A favourite of mine is his, The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages.

 

The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages: Case, Paul Foster: 9781585424917: Amazon.com: Books

 

I believe the original version of this book is available online. The one currently available for sale on Amazon is a corrected edition with a new index, officially released by the Builders of the Adytum. Its been in my library for years and I've never considered getting rid of it during periodic book purges. It's a keeper!

 

The book covers each of the 22 major cards and is illustrated with the Builders of the Adytum deck drawn by Jesse Burns Parke. In many respects the B.O.T.A. deck is a redrawing  and correction of the RWS deck. In the introductory chapters Case accuses A. E. Waite of "throwing dust in the eyes of the uninitiated," and points out his (Waite's) obfuscations in his descriptions of the symbolism.

 

ETA: Incidentally, Case was one of the "Three Initiates" who co-authored the small work of hermetic philosophy titled - The Kybalion.

Edited September 15, 2024 by Aeon418