THE CABALA OR KABBALAH,
THE SECRET DOCTRINE OF THE JEWS
CHRISTIANS ARE NEVER SUPPOSED TO LEARN
Albert Pike, quoting from Transcendental Magic, thus sums up the importance of Kabbalism as a key
to Masonic esotericism: "One is filled with admiration, on penetrating into the Sanctuary of the Kabbalah, at seeing a doctrine so logical, so simple, and at the same time so absolute. The necessary union of ideas and signs, the consecration of the most fundamental realities by the primitive characters; the Trinity of Words, Letters, and Numbers; a philosophy simple as the alphabet, profound and infinite as the Word; theorems more complete and luminous than those of Pythagoras; theology summed up by counting on one's fingers; an Infinite which can be held in the hollow of an infant's hand; ten ciphers and twenty‑two letters, a triangle, a square, and a circle, these are the elements of the Kabbalah. These are the elementary principles of the written Word, reflection of that spoken Word that created the world!"
Hebrew theology was divided into three distinct parts. The first was the law, the second was the soul of the law, and the third was to soul of the soul of the law. The law was taught to all the children of the Jews; the Mishnah, or the soul of the law, was revealed to the rabbins and teachers; but the Kabbalah, the soul of the soul of the law, was cunningly concealed, and only the highest initiates among the Jews were instructed in its secret principles.
According to certain Jewish mystics, Moses ascended Mount Sinai three times, remaining the presence of God forty days each time. During the first forty days the tables of the written law were delivered to the prophet; during the second forty days he received the soul of the law; and during the last forty days God instructed him in the mysteries of the Kabbalah, the soul of the soul of the law. Moses concealed in the first four books of the Pentateuch the secret instructions that God had given him, and for centuries students therein the secret doctrine of Israel.
As the spiritual nature of man is concealed in his physical body, so the unwritten law, the Mishnah and the Kabbalah, is concealed within the written teachings of the Mosaic code. Kabbalah means the secret or hidden tradition, the unwritten law, and according to an early Rabbi, it was delivered to man in order that through the aid of its abstruse principles he might learn to understand the mystery of both the universe about him and the universe within him.
The origin of Kabbalism is a legitimate subject for controversy. Early initiates of the Kabbalistic Mysteries believed that its principles were first taught by God to a school of His angels before the fall of man.
The angels later communicated the secrets to Adam, so that through the knowledge gained from an understanding of its principles fallen humanity might regain its lost estate.
The Angel Razielk was dispatched from heaven to instruct Adam in the mysteries of the Kabbalah. Different angels were employed to initiate the succeeding patriarches in this difficult science. Tophiel was the teacher of Shem, Raphale of Isaac, Metatron of Moses, and Michael of David.
Christian D. Ginsburg has written: "From Adam it passed over to Noah, and then to Abraham, the friend of God, who emigrated with it to Egypt, where the patriarch allowed a portion of this mysterious
doctrine to ooze out. It was in this way that the Egyptians obtained some knowledge of it, and the other Eastern nations could introduce it into their philosophical systems.
Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, was first initiated into it in the land of his birth, but became most proficient in it during his wanderings in the wilderness, when he not only devoted to it the leisure hours of the whole forty years, but received lessons in it from one of the angels...Moses also initiated the seventy Elders into the secrets of this doctrine and they again transmitted them from hand to hand. Of all who formed the unbroken line of tradition, David and Solomon were most initiated into the Kabbalah."
According to Eliphas Levi, the three greatest books of Kabbalism are the Sepher Yetzirah, The Book of Formation; the Sepher ha Zohar, The Book of Splendor; and the Apocalypse, The Book of Revelation.
The dates of the writing of these books are by no means thoroughly established. Kabbalists declare that the Sepher Yetzirah was written by Abraham. Although it is by far the oldest of the Kabbalist books, it was probably from the pen of the Rabbi Akiba, A.D. 120.
The Sepher ha Zohar presumably was written by Simeon ben Jochai, a disciple of Akiba. Rabbi Simeon was sentenced to death about A.D. 161 by Lucius Verus, co‑regent of the Emperor Marc
Aurelius Antoninus. He escaped with his son and, hiding in a cave, transcribed the manuscript of the Zohar with the assistance of Elias, who appeared to them at intervals. Simeon was twelve years in the cave, during which time he evolved the complicated symbolism
of the "Greater Face" and the "Lesser Face." While discoursing with disciples Rabbi Simeon expired, and the "Lamp of Israel" was extinguished. His death and burial were accompanied by many supernatural phenomena. The legend goes on to relate that the secret doctrines of Kabbalism had been in existence since the beginning of the world, but that Rabbi Simeon was the first man permitted to reduce them to writing. Twelve hundred years later the books which he had compiled were discovered and published for the benefit of humanity by Moses de Leon.
The probability is that Moses de Leon himself compiled the Zohar about A.D. 1305, drawing his material from the unwritten secrets of earlier Jewish mystics. The Apocalypse, accredited to St. John the Divine, is also of uncertain date, and the identity of its author has never been satisfactorily proved.
Because of its brevity and because it is the key to Kabbalistic thought, the Sepher Yetzirah is reproduced in full in this chapter. So far as is among many nations it was customary to spread the arms in prayer has influenced the symbolism of the cross, which, because of its shape, has come to be regarded as emblematic of the human body. The four major divisions of the human structure, bones, muscles, nerves, and arteries, are considered to have contributed to the symbolism of the cross. This is especially due to the fact that the spinal nerves cross at the base of the spine, and is a reminder that "Our Lord was crucified also in Egypt."
Man has four vehicles (or mediums) of expression by means of which the spiritual Ego contacts the external universe: the physical nature, the vital nature, the emotional nature, and the mental nature. Each of these partakes in principle of one of the primary elements, and the four creatures assigned to them by the Kabbalists caused the cross to be symbolic of the compound nature of man.
THE KABBALAH THE BLOOD AND BONE
OF JUDAISM THE JEWS' FALSE TEACHINGS ABOUT GOD
A system of religious philosophy, or more properly of theosophy, which has not only exercised for hundreds of years an extraordinary influence on the mental development of the Jews, but has captivated the minds of some of the greatest thinkers of Christendom in the 16th and 17th centuries, claims the greatest attention of both the philosopher and the theologian. As taken from the Talmudic Book Sepher ha Zohar.
When it is added that among its captives were Raymond Lully, the celebrated scholastic, metaphysician and chemist (died 1315); John Reuchlin, the renowned scholar and reviver of oriental literature in Europe (born 1455, died 1522); John Picus di Mirandola, the famous philosopher and classical scholar (1463‑149); Cornelius Henry Agrippa, the distinguished philosopher, divine and
physician (1486‑1535); John Baptist von Helmont, a remarkable chemist and physician (1577‑1644); as well as our own countrymen Robet Fludd, the famous physician and philosopher (1574‑1637), and Dr. Henry More (1614‑1687); and that these men, after restlessly searching for a scientific system which should disclose to them "the deepest depths" of the Divine nature, and show them the real tie which binds all things together, found the cravings of their minds satisfied by this theosophy, the claims of the Kabbalah (Cabala) on the attention of students in literature and philosophy will readily be admitted.
The claims of the Kabbalah, however, are not restricted to the literary man and the philosopher: the poet too will find in it ample materials for the exercise of his lofty genius.
How can it be otherwise with a theosophy which, we are assured, was born of God in Paradise, was nursed and reared by the choicest of the angelic hosts in heaven, and only held converse with the
holiest of man's children upon earth. Listen to the story of its birth, growth and maturity, as told by its followers.
THE KABALLAH WAS
FIRST TAUGHT BY GOD
The Jews say, the Kabbalah was first taught by God Himself to a select company of angels, who formed a theosophic school in Paradise. After the fall the angels most graciously communicated this heavenly doctrine to the disobedient children of earth, to furnish the protoplasts with the means of returning to their pristine nobility and felicity. From Adam it passed over to Noah, and then to Abraham, the friend of God, who emigrated with it to Egypt, where the patriarch allowed a portion of this mysterious doctrine to ooze out. It was in this way that the Egyptians obtained some knowledge of it, and the other Eastern nations could introduce it into their philosophical systems.
Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, was first initiated into it in the land of his birth, but become most proficient in it during his wanderings in the wilderness, when he not only devoted to it the leisure hours of the whole forty years, but received lessons in it from the one of the angels.
So we can clearly see that the Kabbalah (Cabala) is a lie from the very beginning. However, continuing on: By the aid of this mysterious science the lawgiver was enabled to solve the difficulties
which arose during his management of the Israelites, in spite of the pilgrimages, wars and the frequent miseries of the nation. He covertly laid down the principles of this secret doctrine in the first four books of the Pentateuch, but withheld them from Deuteronomy. This constitutes the former the man, and the latter the woman. Moses also initiated the seventy elders into the secrets of this doctrine, and they again transmitted them from hand to hand.
Of all who formed the unbroken line of tradition, David and Solomon were most initiated into the Kabbalah. No one, however, dared to write it down, till Simon ben Jochai, who lived at the time of the destruction of the second Temple.
Having been condemned to death by Titus, Rabbi Simon managed to escape with his son and concealed himself in a cavern where he remained for twelve years.
Here, in this subterranean abode, he occupied himself entirely with the contemplation of the sublime Kabbalah, and was constantly visited by the Prophet Elasis, who disclosed to him some of its secrets which were still concealed from the theosophical Rabbi.
"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."
Here, too, his disciples resorted to be initiated by their master into these divine mysteries; and here, Simon ben Jochai expired with this heavenly doctrine in his mouth, whilst discoursing on it to his
disciples. Scarcely had his spirit departed, when a dazzling light filled the cavern, so that no one could look at the Rabbi; whilst a burning fire appeared outside, forming as it were a sentinel at the entrance of the cave, and denying admittance to the neighbors.
It was not till the light inside, and the fire outside, had disappeared, that the disciples perceived that the lamp of Israel was extinguished. As they were preparing for his obsequious, a voice was heard from heaven, saying, "Come ye to the marriage of Simon b. Jochai, he is entering into peace, and shall rest in his chamber!"
"And Jesus answering said...For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven."
For a second witness: "And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage."
A flame preceded the coffin, which seemed enveloped by, and burning like fire. And when the remains were deposited in the tomb, another voice was heard from heaven, saying, "This is he who
caused the earth to quake, and the kingdoms to shake!" Here the Jews claim the rabbi has the power of God by distorting the following verses from the Bible: "God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious...The mountains
quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him."
But God tells us, that the Jews are Lucifer, the Devil and Satan's children, when He tells us: "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at they coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations...How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God [Israelites]: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, IS THIS THE MAN THAT MADE THE EARTH TO TREMBLE [Quake], THAT DID SHAKE KINGDOMS."
His son, R. Eliezer, and his secretary, R. Abba, as well as his disciples, then collated R. Simon b. Jochai's treatises, and out of these composed the celebrated work called Sohar [Splendour], which is the grand storehouse of Kabbalism.
From what has been said, it will be seen that the followers of this secret doctrine claim for it a pre‑Adamite existence, and maintain that, ever since the creation of the first man, it has been received
uninterruptedly from the hands of the patriarchs, the prophets, etc. It is for this reason that it is called Kabbalah (Cabala) [from to receive] which primarily denotes reception, and then a doctrine received by oral tradition. The Kabbalah is also called by some Secret Wisdom, because it was only handed down by tradition through the initiated, and is indicated in the Hebrew Scriptures by signs which are hidden and unintelligible to those who have not been instructed in its mysteries.
From the initial letters of this name, this theosophic system is also denominated Grace. Vague and indefinite as this name may seem to the uninitiated, inasmuch as it conveys no idea whatever of the
peculiar doctrines of the system, but simply indicates the manner in which they have been transmitted, it is nevertheless the classical and acknowledged appellation of this theosophy.
The difference between the word Kabbalah (reception) and the cognate term Massorah (tradition, from to transmit) which denotes the traditionally transmitted various readings of the Hebrew Scriptures, is, that the former expresses the act of receiving, which in this technical sense could only be on the part of one who has reached a certain period of life, as well as a certain state of sanctity, implying also a degree of secrecy; whilst the latter signifies the act of giving over, surrendering, without premising any peculiar age, stage of holiness, or degree of secrecy.
The name, therefore, tells us no more than that this theosophy has been received traditionally. To ascertain its tenets we must analyze the system itself or the books which propound it; and to this task we now betake ourselves.
THE CARDINAL DOCTRINES OF THE KABBALAH (CABALA)
The cardinal doctrines of the Kabbalah are mainly designed to solve the grand problems about
(1) the nature of the Supreme Being,
(2) The cosmogony,
(3) The creation of angels and man,
(4) The destiny of man and the universe, and
(5) To point out the import of the Revealed Law.
Assenting and consenting to the declarations of the Hebrew Scriptures about the unit of God, his incorporation, eternity, immutability, perfection, infinite goodness, the creation of the world in time according to God's free will, the moral government of the universe and special providence, and to the creation of man in the image of God, the Kabbalah seeks to explain the transition from the infinite to the finite; the procedure of multifariousness from an absolute unity, and of matter from a pure intelligence; the operation of pure intelligence upon matter, in spite of the infinite gulf between them; the relationship of the Creator to the creature, so as to be able to exercise supervision and providence.
It, moreover, endeavors to show how it is that the Bible gives names and assigns attributes and a form to so spiritual a Being; how the existence of evil is compatible with the infinite goodness of God, and what is the Divine intention about this creation.
In our analysis of the Kabbalistic doctrines on these grand problems, we shall follow the order in which they have been enumerated, and accordingly begin with the lucubrations on the Supreme Being and the Emanations.
THE SEPHIROTH
1). The Supreme Being and the doctrine and classification of the Emanations, or Sephiroth.
Being boundless in his nature, which necessarily implies that hie is an absolute unity and inscrutable, and that there is nothing without him, or that the ròπâv is in him, God is called En Soph == äπeipoç Endless, Boundless.
In this boundlessness, or as the En Soph, he cannot be comprehended by the intellect, nor described in words, for there is nothing which can grasp and depict him to us, and as such he is, in a certain sense, NOT EXISTENCE, because, as far as our minds are concerned, that which is perfectly incomprehensible does not exit.
To make his existence perceptible, and to render himself comprehensible, the En Soph, or the Boundless, had to become active and creative. But THE EN SOPH CANNOT BE THE DIRECT
CREATOR, FOR HE HAS NEITHER WILL, INTENTION, DESIRE, THOUGHT, LANGUAGE, NOR ACTION, as these properties imply limit and belong to finite beings, whereas the En Soph is boundless.
Besides, the imperfect and circumscribed nature of the creation precludes the idea that the world was created or even designed by him, WHO CAN HAVE NO WILL NOR PRODUCE ANYTHING but what is like himself, boundless and perfect. On the other hand, again, the beautiful design displayed in the mechanism, the regular order manifested in the preservation, destruction, and renewal of things, forbid us to regard this world as the offspring of chance, and constrain us to recognize therein an intelligent design. [Yet] WE ARE, therefore, COMPELLED TO VIEW THE EN SOPH AS THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD IN AN INDIRECT MANNER.
Now, the medium by which the En Soph made his existence known in the creation of the world are ten Sephiroth or intelligences, which emanated from the Boundless One in the following manner: At first the En Soph, or the Aged of the Aged or the Holy Aged, as he is alternately called, sent forth from his infinite light one spiritual substance or intelligence.
This first Sephira, which existed in the En Soph from all eternity, and became a reality by a mere act, has no less than seven appellations.
It is called:
(1) The Crown, because it occupies the highest position;
(2) The Aged, because it is the oldest or the first emanation, and this name must not be confounded with the Aged of the Aged, which as we have seen, is the appellation of the En Soph;
(3) The Primordial Point, or the Smooth Point, because, as the Sohar tells us, "When the Concealed of the Concealed wished to reveal himself, he first made a single point: the Infinite was entirely unknown, and diffused no light before this luminous point violently broke through into vision;"
(4) The White Head;
(5) The Long Face, Macroprosopon, because the whole ten Sephiroth represent the Primordial or the Heavenly Man, of which the first Sephira is the head;
(6) The Inscrutable Height, because it is the highest of all the Sephiroth proceeding immediately from the En Soph. Hence, on the passage, "Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold the King of Peace with the Crown!"
The Sohar remarks, "But who can behold the King of Peace, seeing that He is incomprehenible, even to the heavenly hosts? But he who sees the Crown sees the glory of the King of Peace."
And,
(7) It is expressed in the Bible by the Divine name Ehejeh, or I Am, (Exod. 3:4) because it is absolute being, representing the Infinite as distinguished from the finite, and in the angelic order, by
the celestial beasts of Ezekiel, called Chajoth.
The first Sephira contained the other nine Sephiroth, and gave rise to them in the following order: At first a masculine or active potency, designated Wisdom, proceeded from it.
This Sephira, which among the divine names is represented by Jah, and among the angelic hosts by Ophanim (Wheels), sent forth an opposite, feminine or passive, potency, denominated Intelligence, which is represented by the divine name Jehovah, and angelic name Arelim, and it is from a union of those two Sephiroth, which are also called Father and Mother, that the remaining seven Sephiroth proceeded.
Or, as the Sohar (3, 290a) expresses it, "When the Holy Aged, the Concealed of all Concealed, assumed a form, he produced everything in the form of male and female, as the things could not continue in any other form. Hence Wisdom, which is the beginning of development, when it proceeded from the Holy Aged, emanated in male and female, for Wisdom expanded, and Intelligence proceeded from it, and thus obtained male and female vis., Wisdom, the father, and Intelligence, the mother, from whose union the other pairs of Sephiroth successively emanated.
These two opposite potencies vis., Wisdom and Intelligence are joined together by the first potency, the Crown; thus yielding the first triad of the Sephiroth. From the junction of the foregoing opposites emanated again the masculine or active potency, denominated Mercy or Love, also called Greatness, the fourth Sephira, which among the divine names is represented by El, and among the angelic hosts by Chashmalin. From this again emanated the feminine or passive potency, Justice, also called Judicial Power, the fifth Sephira, which is represented by the divine name Eloha, and among the angels by Seraphim; and from this again the uniting potency, Beauty or Mildness, the sixth Sephira, represented by the divine name Elohim, and among the angels by Shinanim.
Since without this union the existence of things would not be possible, inasmuch as
mercy not tempered with justice, and justice not tempered with mercy would be unendur‑
able: and thus the second trinity of the Sephiroth is obtained.The medium of union of the
second trinity, Beauty, the sixth Sephira, beamed forth the masculine or active potency,
Firmness, the seventh Sephira, corresponding to the divine name Jehovah Sabaoth, and among the angels to Tarshishim; this again gave rise to the feminine or passive potency, Splendour, the eighth Sephira, to which answer the divine name Elohim Sabaoth, and among the angels Benei Elohim; and from it again, emanated Foundation or the Basis, the ninth Sephira, represented by the divine name El Chai, and among the angelic hosts by Ishim, which is the uniting point between these two opposites, thus yielding the third trinity of Sephiroth. From the ninth Sephira, the Basis of all, emanated the tenth, called Kingdom, and Shechinah, which is represented by the divine name Adonai, and among the angelic hosts by Cherubim. The table on the opposite page exhibits the different names of the Sephiroth, together with the several names of God and the angels, which correspond to them.
From this representation of each triad, as consisting of a threefold principle, viz., the two opposites, masculine and feminine, and the uniting principle, the development of the Sephiroth, and of life generally, is symbolically called the Balance, because the two opposite sexes, are compared with the two opposite scales, and the uniting Sephira is compared with the beam which joins the scales, and indicates its equipoise.
Before we enter into further particulars about the nature, operation, and classification of these Sephiroth, we shall give the Sohar's speculations about the Supreme Being, and its account of the origin of the Sephiroth, and their relationship to the Deity. The prophet Elias having learned in the heavenly college the profound mystery and true import of the words
in Isaiah 40:25‑26, 'To whom will ye like me, and shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things,” revealed to R. Simon b. Jochai that God in his absolute nature is unknown and incomprehensible, and hence, in a certain sense, non‑existent; that this Who (unknown subject) had to become active and creative, to demonstrate his existence, and that it is only by these works of creation that he made himself known to us. It is therefore the combination of the unknown Who with these visible works that showed him to be God (which is produced by transposed, and united with). Or, as it is in the language of the Kabbalah; 'Before he gave any shape to this world,
before he produced any form, he was alone, without a form and resemblance to anything else.
Who then can comprehend him how he was before the creation, since he was formless? Hence it is forbidden to represent him by any form, similitude, or even by his sacred name, by a single letter or a single point; and to this the words 'Ye saw no manner of similitude
on the day that the Lord spake unto you ye have not seen anything which you could represent by any form or likeness refer.
But after he created the form of the Heavenly Man, he used it as a chariot wherein to descend, and wishes to be called by this form, which is the sacred name Jehovah. He wishes to be known by his attributes, and each attribute separately; and therefore had himself called the God of Mercy, the God of Justice, Almighty, God of Sabaoth, and the Being. He wishes thereby to make known his nature, and that we should see how his mercy and compassion extend both to the world and to all operations. For if he had not poured out his light upon all his creatures, how could we ever have known him? How could the words be fulfilled, 'The whole earth is full of his glory'?
Woe be to him who compares him with his own attributes! or still worse with the son of man whose foundation is in the dust, who vanishes and is no more! Hence, the form in which we delineate him simply describes each time his dominion over a certain attribute, or over the creatures generally. We cannot understand more of his nature than the attribute expresses. Hence, when he is divested of all these things, he has neither any attribute nor any similitude or form. The form in which he is generally depicted is to be compared to a very expansive sea; for the waters of the sea are in themselves without a limit or form, and it is only when they spread themselves upon the earth that they assume a form. We can now make the following calculation: the sources of the sea's water and the water stream proceeding there from to spread itself are two.
A great reservoir is then formed, just as if a huge hollow had been dug; this reservoir is called sea, and is the third. The unfathomable deep divides itself into seven streams, resembling seven long vessels.
The source, the water stream, the sea and the seven streams make together ten. And when the master breaks the vessels which he has made, the waters return to the source, and then only remain the pieces of these vessels, dried up and without any water.
It is in this way that the Cause of Causes gave rise to the ten Sephiroth. The Crown is the source from which streams forth an infinite light: hence the name En Soph == infinite, by which the highest cause is designated: for it then had neither form nor shape, and there is neither any means whereby to comprehend it, nor a way by which to know it. Hence it is written, 'Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee, neither search the things that are above they strength.'
He then made a vessel, as small as a point, like the latter, which is filled from this source (the En Soph). This is the source of wisdom, wisdom itself, after which the Supreme Cause is called 'wise God.' Upon this he made a large vessel like a sea, which is called Intelligence: hence the name 'intelligent God.'
It must, however, be remarked that God is wise, and through himself, for wisdom does not derive its name through itself, but through the wise one who fills it with the light which flows from him, just as intelligence is not comprehended through itself, but through him who is intelligent and fills it with his own substance. God needs only to withdraw himself and it would be dried up. This is also the meaning of the words, 'the waters have disappeared from the sea, and the bed is dry and parched up.'
The sea is finally divided into seven streams, and the seven costly vessels are produced, which are called Greatness, Judicial Strength, Beauty, Firmness, Splendour, Foundation,
and Kingdom. Therefore is he called the Great or the Merciful, the Mighty, the Glorious, the God of victory, the Creator, to whom all praise is due, and the Foundation of all things.
Upon the last attribute all the others are based a well as the world. Finally, he is also the King of the universe, for everything is in his power; he can diminish the number of the vessels, and increase in them the light which streams from them, or reduce it, just as it pleases him."
In another place again the same authority gives the following description of the Deity and the emanation of the Sephiroth.
"The Aged of the Aged, the Unknown of the Unknown, has a form and yet HAS NO FORM. HE HAS A FORM WHEREBY THE UNIVERSE IS PRESERVED, AND YET HAS NO FORM, BECAUSE HE [God] CANNOT BE COMPREHENDED. When he first assumed the form [of the first Sephira], he caused nine splendid lights to emanate from it, which, shining through it, diffused a bright light in all directions. Imagine an elevated light sending forth its rays in all directions. Now if we approach it to examine the rays, we understand no more than that they emanate from the said light. So is the Holy Aged an absolute light, but in himself concealed and incomprehensible. We can only comprehend him through those luminous emanations which again are partly visible and partly concealed. These constitute the sacred name of God."
Four things must be born in mind with regard to the Sephiroth.
(1). That they were not created by, but emanated (from, the En Soph; the difference between creation and emanation being, that in the former a diminution of strength takes place, whilst in the latter this is not the case.
(2). That they form among themselves, and with the En Soph, a strict unity, and simply represent different aspects of one and the same being, just as the different rays which proceed from the light, and which appear different things to the eye, form only different manifestations of one and the same light.
(3). That since they simply differ from each other as the different colors of the same light, all the ten emanations alike partake of the perfections of the En Soph; and,
(4). That, as emanations from the Infinite, the Sephiroth are infinite and perfect like the En Soph, and yet constitute the first finite things. They are infinite and perfect when the En Soph imparts his fullness to them, so that in this respect these ten Sephiroth exactly correspond to the double nature of Christ, his finite and imperfect human nature and his infinite and perfect divine nature.
In their totality and unity These ten Sephiroth are not only denominated the world of Sephiroth and the world of Emanations, but represent and are called the Primordial or Archetypal Man, and the Heavenly Man. In the future, the Crown is the head; Wisdom, the brains; and Intelligence, which united the two and produces the first triad, is the heart or the understanding, thus forming the head. The fourth and fifth Sephiroth, Mercy and Justice, are the two arms of the Lord, the former the right arm and the latter the left, one distributing life and the other death. And the sixth Sephira, Beauty, which united these two opposites and produces the second triad, is the chest; whilst the seventh and eighth Sephiroth, Firmness and Splendour, of the third triad, are the two legs; and Foundation, the ninth Sephira, represents the genital organs, since it denotes the basis and source of all things.
Thus it is said, "Every thing will return to its origin just as it proceeded from it. All marrow, all sap, and all power are congregated in this spot. Hence all powers which exist originate through the genital organs." Kingdom, the tenth Sephira, represents the harmony of the whole Archetypal Man.
The following is the archetypal figure of the ten Sephiroth.
THE SEPHIROTH THE HEAVENLY MAN
OF THE WORLD OF EMANATIONS
It is this form which the prophet Ezekiel saw in the mysterious chariot, and of which the earthly man is a faint copy. Moreover, these Sephiroth, as we have already remarked, created the world and all things therein according to their own archetype or in the likeness and similitude of the Heavenly Man or the World of Emanations.
But, before we propound the Kabbalistic doctrine of the creation of the world, it is necessary to describe a second mode in which the trinity of triads in the Sephiroth is represented, and to mention the appellations and offices of the respective triads.
THE TRIADS, INTELLECTUAL WORLD,
SENSUOUS WORLD MATERIAL WORLD
Now in looking at the Sephiroth which constitute the first triad, it will be seen that they represent the intellect; hence this triad is called the Intellectual World. The second triad, again, represents moral qualities; hence it is designated the moral or Sensuous World: whilst the third Triad represents power and stability, and hence is designated the Material World. These three aspects in which the En Soph manifested himself are called the Faces (and the two words are identical, the former being pure Aramaic, and the latter from the Greek).
In the arrangement of this trinity of triads, so as to produce what is called the Kabbalistic tree, denominated the Tree of Life, or simply the Tree, the first triad is placed above, the second and third
are placed below, in such a manner that the three masculine Sephiroth are on the right, the three feminine on the left, whilst the four uniting Sephiroth occupy the center. The three Sephiroth on the right, representing the principle of mercy, are called the Pillar of Mercy; the three on the left, representing the principle of rigor, are denominated the Pillar of Judgment; whilst the four Sephiroth
in the center, representing mildness, are called the Middle Pillar. Each Sephira composing this trinity of triads is, as it were, a trinity in itself.
(1). It has it own absolute character;
(2). It receives from above; and
(3). It communicates to what is below it.
Hence the remark, "Just as the Sacred Aged is represented by the number three, so are all the other light (Sephiroth) of a three fold nature."
Within this trinity in each unit and trinity of triads there is a trinity of units, which must be explained before we can propound the Kabbalistic view of the cosmogony.
We have seen that three of the Sephiroth constitute uniting links between three pairs of opposites, and by this means produce three triads, respectively denominated the Intellectual World, the Sensuous or Moral World, and the Material World, and that these three uniting Sephiroth, together with the one which unites the whole into a common unity, form what is called the Middle Pillar of the Kabbalistic tree. Now from the important position they thus occupy, these Sephiroth are synecdochically used to represent the worlds which by their uniting potency they respectively yield.
Hence the Sephira, Crown, from which the Sephiroth, Wisdom and Intelligence, emanated, and by which they are also united, thus yielding the Intellectual World, is by itself used to designate the Intellectual World. Its own names, however, are not changed in this capacity, and it still continues to be designated by the several appellations mentioned in the description of the first Sephira.
The sixth Sephira, called Beauty, which unites Sephiroth IV (Love) and V (Justice), thus yielding the Sensuous World, is by itself used to denote the Sensuous World, and in this capacity is called the Sacred King, or simply the King; whilst the Sephira called Kingdom, which unites the whole Sephiroth, is here used to represent the Material World, instead of the ninth Sephira, called
Foundation, and is in this capacity denominated the Queen or the Matron.
Thus we obtain within the trinity of triads a higher trinity of units, viz., the Crown, Beauty, and Kingdom, which represents the potencies of all the Sephiroth.
2). The Creation or the Kabbalistic Cosmogony.
Having arrived at the highest trinity which comprises all the Sephiroth, and which consists of the Crown, the King, and the Queen, we shall be able to enter into the cosmogony of the Kabbalah. Now, IT IS NOT THE EN SOPH WHO CREATED THE WORLD, BUT THIS TRINITY, AS REPRESENTED IN THE COMBINATION OF THE SEPHIROTH; OR RATHER THE CREATION HAS ARISEN FROM THE CONJUNCTION OF THE EMANATIONS. THE WORLD WAS BORN FROM THE UNION OF THE CROWNED KING AND QUEEN; OR, ACCORDING TO THE LANGUAGE OF THE KABBALAH, THESE OPPOSITE SEXES OF ROYALTY, WHO EMANATED FROM THE EN SOPH, PRODUCED THE UNIVERSE IN THEIR OWN IMAGE. WORLDS, WE ARE TOLD, WERE INDEED CREATED BEFORE EVER THE KING AND QUEEN OR THE SEPHIROTH GAVE BIRTH TO THE PRESENT STATE OF THINGS, BUT THEY COULD NOT CONTINUE, AND NECESSARILY PERISHED, BECAUSE THE EN SOPH HAD NOT YET ASSUMED THIS HUMAN FORM IN ITS COMPLETENESS, which not only implies a moral and intellectual nature, but, as conditions of development, procreation, and continuance, also comprises sexual opposites.
This creation, which aborted and which has been succeeded by the present order of things, is indicated in Gen xxxvi, 41‑40. THE KINGS OF EDOM, OR THE OLD KINGS AS THEY ARE ALSO DENOMINATED, WHO ARE HERE SAID TO HAVE REIGNED BEFORE THE MONARCHS OF ISRAEL, AND ARE MENTIONED AS HAVING DIED ONE AFTER THE OTHER, ARE THOSE PRIMORDIAL WORLDS WHICH WERE SUCCESSIVELY CONVULSED AND DESTROYED; whilst the sovereigns of Israel denote the King and Queen who emanated from the En Soph, and who have give birth to and perpetuate the present world.
Thus we are told: "Before the Aged of the Aged, the Concealed of the Concealed, expanded into the form of King, the Crown of Crowns [the first Sephira], there was neither beginning nor end. He hewed and incised forms and figures into it [the crown] in the following manner: He spread before him a cover, and carved therein kings [worlds], and marked out their limits and forms, but they could not preserve themselves. Therefore it is written, 'THESE ARE THE KINGS THAT REIGNED IN THE LAND OF EDOM BEFORE THERE REIGNED ANY KING OVER THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.' This refers to the primordial kings and primordial Israel. All these were imperfect: he therefore removed them and let them vanish, till he finally descended himself to this cover and assumed a form."
The notion, however, that worlds were created and destroyed prior to the present creation, was propounded in the Midrash long before the existence of the Kabbalah. Thus on the verse, "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good.", R. Abahu submits from this we see that the Holy One, blessed be he, had successively created and destroyed sundry worlds before he created the present world, and when he created the present world
he said, this pleases me, the previous ones did not please me. (Bereshith Rabba, section or Parsha ix)
This important fact that worlds were created and destroyed prior to the present creation is again and again reiterated in the Sohar. These worlds are compared with sparks which fly out from a red hot iron beaten by a hammer, and which are extinguished according to the distance they are removed from the burning mass.
"There were old worlds," the Sohar tells us, "which perished as soon as they came into existence: were formless, and they were called sparks. Thus the smith when hammering the iron, lets the sparks fly in all directions. These sparks are the primordial worlds, which could not continue, because the Sacred Aged had not as yet assumed his form [of opposite sexes ‑‑ the King and Queen], and the master was not yet at his work."
But since nothing can be annihilated: "Nothing perisheth in this world, not even the breath which issues from the mouth, for this, like everything else, has its place and destination, and the Holy One, blessed be his name! turns it into his service;' these worlds could not be absolutely destroyed. Hence when the question is asked 'Why were these primordial worlds destroyed?' the reply is given: 'Because the Man, represented by the ten Sephiroth, was not as yet. The human form contains everything, and as it did not as yet exist, the worlds were destroyed.'"
It is added, "Still when it is said that they perished, it is only meant thereby that they lacked the true form, till the human form came into being, in which all things are comprised, and which also contains all those forms. Hence, though the Scripture ascribes death to the kings of Edom, it only denotes a sinking down from their dignity, the worlds up to that time did not answer to the Divine idea, since they had not as yet the perfect form of which they were
capable."
THE JEWS BELIEVE GOD IS BOTH KING AND QUEEN!
It was therefore after the destruction of previous worlds, and after the En Soph or the Boundless assumed the Sephiric form, that the present world was created.
"The Holy One, blessed be he, created and destroyed several worlds before the present one was made, and when this last work was nigh completion, all the things of this world, all the creatures of the universe, in whatever age they were to exist, before ever they entered into this world, were present before God in their true form. Thus are the words of Ecclesiastes to be understood 'What was, shall be, and what has been done, shall be done.'" "The lower world is made after the pattern of the upper world; every thing which exists in the upper world is to be found as it were in a copy upon earth; still the whole is one."
THIS WORLD, however, IS NOT A CREATION EX NIHILO, BUT IS SIMPLY AN IMMANENT OFFSPRING AND THE IMAGE OF THE KING AND QUEEN, or, in other words, a farther expansion or evolution of the Sephiroth which are the emanations of the En Soph. This is expressed in the Sohar in the following passage: "The indivisible point [the Absolute], who has no limit, and who cannot be comprehended because of his purity and brightness, expanded from without, and formed a brightness which served as a covering to the indivisible point, yet it too could not be viewed in consequence of its immeasurable light. It too expanded from without, and this expansion was its garment. Thus everything originated through a constant upheaving agitation, and thus finally the world originated."
The universe therefore is an immanent emanation from the Sephiroth, and reveals and makes visible the Boundless and the concealed of the concealed. And though it exhibits the Deity in less splendor than its parents the Sephiroth, because it is further removed from the primordial source of light, yet, as it is God manifested, all the multifarious forms in the world point out the unity which they represent; and nothing in it can be destroyed, but everything must return to the source whence it emanated. Hence
it is said that, "all things of which this world consists, spirit as well as body, will return to their principal, and the root from which they proceeded." "He is the beginning and end of all the degrees in the creation. All these degrees are stamped with his seal, and HE CANNOT BE OTHERWISE DESCRIBED THAN BY THE UNITY. HE IS ONE, notwithstanding, THE INNUMERABLE FORMS WHICH ARE IN HIM."
THE JEWS BELIEVE IN MORE THAN THIRTY GODS!
Now THESE SEPHIROTH, or THE WORLD OF EMANATIONS, or the ATZILATIC WORLD, GAVE BIRTH TO THREE WORLDS IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER: FROM THE CONJUNCTION [copulation] OF THE KING AND QUEEN, or THE BRIATIC WORLD, ALSO CALLED THE THRONE, WHICH IS THE ABODE OF PURE SPIRITS, AND WHICH, LIKE ITS PARENTS, CONSISTS OF TEN SEPHIROTH, or EMANATIONS.
The Briatic World, again, gave rise to, (2). The Word of Formation, or the Jetziratic World, which is the habitation of the angels, and also consists of ten Sephiroth; whilst the Jetziratic World, again, sent forth. (3). The World of Action, or the Assiatic World, also called the World of Keliphoth, which contains the Spheres and matter, and is the residence of the Prince of Darkness and his legions.
Or, as the Sohar describes it: "After the Sephiroth, and for THEIR use, God made the Throne (the world of Creation), with four legs and six steps, thus making ten (the decade of Sephiroth which each world has)...For this Throne and its service he formed the ten Angelic hosts (the World of Formation), Malachim, Arelim, Chajoth, Ophanim, Chashmalim, Elim, Elohim, Benei Elohim, Ishim, and Seraphim, and for their service, again, he made Samaël and his legions (the World of Action), who are, as it were, the clouds upon which the angels ride in their descent on the earth, and serve, as it were, for their horses. Hence it is written: 'Behold the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt.'"
THERE ARE, therefore, FOUR WORLDS, each of which has a separate Sephiric system, consisting of a decade of emanations.
(1). The Atzilatic World, called alternately the World of Emanations, the Image (== with prefixed), and the Heavenly Man, which, by virtue of its being a direct emanation from God and most intimately allied with the Deity, is perfect and immutable.
(2). The Briatic World, called the World of Creation and the Throne which is the immediate emanation of the former, and whose ten Sephiroth, being further removed from the En Soph, are of a more limited and circumscribed potency, through the substances they comprise are of the purest nature and without any admixture of matter.
(3). The Jetziratic World, called the World of Formation and the World of Angels, which proceeded from the former world, and whose ten Sephiroth, though of a still less refined substance than the former, because further removed from the primordial source, are still without matter. It is in this angelic world where those intelligent and incorporeal beings reside, who are wrapped in a luminous garment, and who assume a sensuous form when they appear to man. And;
(4). The Assiatic World, called the World of Action and the World of Matter which emanated from the preceding world, the ten Sephiroth of which are made up of the grosser elements of all the former three worlds, and which has sunk down in consequence of its materiality and heaviness. It substances consist of matter limited by space and perceptible to the senses in a multiplicity of forms. It is subject to constant changes, generations, and corruptions, and is the abode of the Evil Spirit.
Before leaving this doctrine about the creation of the relationship of the Supreme Being to the universe, we must reiterate two things.
(1). Though the trinity of the Sephiroth gave birth to the universe, or, in other words, is an evolution of the emanations, and is thus a further expansion of the Deity itself, it must not be supposed that the Kabbalists believe in a Trinity in our sense of the word. Their view on this subject will best be understood from the following remark in the Sohar: "Whoso wishes to have an insight into the sacred unity, let him consider a flame rising from a burning coal or a burning lamp. He will see first a twofold light, a bright white and
a black or blue light; the white light is above, and ascends in a direct light, whilst the blue or dark light is below, and seems as the chair of the former, yet both are so intimately connected together that they constitute only one flame. The seat, however, formed by the blue or dark light, is again connected with the burning matter which is under it again. The white light never changes its color, it always remains white; but various shades are observed in the lower light, whilst the lowest light, moreover, takes two directions, above
it is connected with the white light, and below with the burning matter. Now this is constantly consuming itself, and perpetually ascends to the upper light, and thus everything merges into a single unity."
(2). THE CREATION, OR THE UNIVERSE, IS SIMPLY THE GARMENT OF GOD WOVEN FROM THE DEITY'S OWN SUBSTANCE; or, AS SPINOZA EXPRESSES IT, GOD IS THE IMMANENT BASIS OF THE UNIVERSE. For although, to reveal himself to us, the Concealed of all the Concealed sent forth THE TEN EMANATIONS CALLED THE FORM OF GOD, FORM OF THE HEAVENLY MAN, yet since even this luminous form was too dazzling for our vision, it had to assume another form, or had to put on another garment which consists of the universe.
THE UNIVERSE, therefore, or THE VISIBLE WORLD, is a further expansion of THE DIVINE SUBSTANCE, and is CALLED THE KABBALAH "THE GARMENT OF GOD."
Thus we are told, "when the Concealed of all the Concealed wanted to reveal himself, he first made a point [the first Sephira], shaped it into a sacred form [the totality of the Sephiroth], and covered it with a rich and splendid garment that is the world."
(3). The Creation of Angels and Men.
The different worlds which successively emanated from the En Soph and from each other, and which sustain the relationship to the Deity of first, second, third, and fourth generations, are, with the exception of the first (the World of Emanations), inhabited by spiritual beings of various grades.
"God animated every part of the firmament with a separate spirit, and forthwith all the heavenly hosts were before him. This is meant by the Psalmist, when he says, (Ps. xxxiii)
6) 'By the breath of his mouth were made all their hosts.'"
These angels consist of two kinds, good and bad; they have their respective princes, and occupy the three habitable worlds in the following order. As has already been remarked, the first world, or the Archetypal Man, in whose image everything is formed, is occupied by no one else. The angel Metatron occupies the second or the Briatic World, which is the first habitable world; he alone constitutes the world of pure spirits. He is the garment of the visible manifestation of the Deity; his name is numerically equivalent to that of the Lord.
He governs the visible world, preserves the unity, harmony, and the revolutions of all the spheres, planets and heavenly bodies, and is the Captain of the myriads of the angelic hosts who people the second habitable or the Jetziratic World, and who are divided into ten ranks, answering to the ten Sephiroth.
EACH OF THESE ANGELS IS SET OVER A DIFFERENT PART OF THE UNIVERSE. ONE HAS THE CONTROL OF ONE SPHERE, ANOTHER OF ANOTHER HEAVENLY BODY; ONE ANGEL HAS CHARGE OF THE SUN, ANOTHER OF THE MOON, ANOTHER OF
THE EARTH, ANOTHER OF THE SEA, ANOTHER OF THE FIRE, ANOTHER OF THE WIND, ANOTHER OF THE LIGHT, ANOTHER OF THE SEASONS, etc.,; and the question, however, about the doctrine of the Trinity in other passages of the Sohar will be discussed more amply in the sequel, where we shall point out the relation of the Kabbalah to Christianity.
The Kabbalistic description of Metatron is taken from the Jewish angelogy of a much older date than this theosophy. Thus Ben Asai and Ben Soma already regard the divine voice, as Metatron.
He is called the Great Teacher, the Teacher of Teachers, and it is for this reason that Enoch, who walked in close communion with God, and taught mankind by his holy example, is said by the Chaldee paraphrase of Jonathan b. Uzziel, to 'have received the name Metatron, the Great Teacher' after he was transplanted.
Metatron, moreover, is the Presence Angel, the Angel of the Lord that was sent to go before Israel; he is the visible manifestation of the Deity, for in him is the name of the Lord, his name and that of the Deity are identical, inasmuch as they are of the same numerical value (viz.: ‑‑ and are the same according to the exegetical rule called Gematria, 10 + 4 + 300 = 314; 50 + 6 + 200 + 9 + 9 + 40 =
314.
So exalted is Metatron's position in the ancient Jewish angelology, that we are told that when Elisha b. Abnja, also called Acher, saw this angel who occupies the first position after the Deity, he exclaimed, 'Peradventure, but far be it, THERE ARE TWO SUPREME POWERS.'
The etymology is greatly disputed; but there is no doubt that it is to be derived from metator, messenger, outrider, way maker, as has been shown by Elias Levita, and is maintained by Cassel Ersch und Gruber's Encyklopädie, section ii, vol. xxvii, s.v.; Juden, p. 40, note 84.
Sachs rightly remarks that this etymology is fixed by the passage from siphra, the finger of God was the messenger or guide to Moses, and showed him all the land of Israel. The termination has been appended to obtain the same numerical value.
The derivation of it from the angel is immediately under the divine throne, which is maintained by Frank, Graetz and others, has been shown by Frankel to be both contrary to the form of the word and to the description of Metatron. THESE ANGELS DERIVE THEIR NAMES FROM THE HEAVENLY BODIES THEY RESPECTIVELY GUARD.
Hence one is called Venus, one Mars, one the substance of Heaven, one the angel of light, and another the angel of fire. The demons, constituting the second class of angels, which are the grossest and most deficient of all forms, and are the shells of being, inhabit the third habitable or Assiatic World.
They, too, form ten degrees, answering to the decade of Sephiroth, in which darkness and impurity increase with the descent of each degree. Thus the two first degrees are nothing more than the absence of all visible form and organization, which the Mosaic cosmology describes in the words before the hexahemeron, and which the Septuagint renders.
The third degree is the abode of the darkness which the book of Genesis describes as having in the beginning covered the face of the earth. Whereupon follow seven infernal halls == Hells, occupied
by the demons, which are the incarnation of all human vices, and which torture those poor deluded beings who suffered themselves to be led astray in this world. These seven infernal halls are subdivided into endless compartments, as to afford a separate chamber of torture for every species of sin.
The prince of this region of darkness, who is called Satan in the Bible, is denominated by the Kabbalah, Samaël == angel of poison or of death. HE IS THE SAME EVIL SPIRIT, SATAN, THE SERPENT, WHO SEDUCED EVE. He has a wife, called the Harlot or the Woman of Whoredom, but they are both generally represented as united in the one name of the Beast.
The whole universe, however, was incomplete, and did not receive its finishing stroke till man was formed, who is the acme of the creation, and the microcosm uniting in himself the totality of beings.
"THE HEAVENLY ADAM (the ten Sephiroth), who emanated from the highest primordial obscurity (the En Soph), CREATED THE EARTHLY ADAM."
"Man is both the import and the highest degree of creation, for which reason he was formed on the sixth day. As soon as man was created, everything was complete, including the upper and nether worlds, for everything is comprised in man. He unites in himself all forms."
Man was created with faculties and features far transcending those of the angels. The bodies of the protoplasts were not of that gross matter which constitutes our bodies. ADAM AND EVE, BEFORE THE FALL, WERE WRAPPED IN THAT LUMINOUS ETHEREAL SUBSTANCE IN WHICH THE CELESTIAL SPIRITS ARE CLAD, AND WHICH IS NEITHER SUBJECT TO WANT NOR TO SENSUAL DESIRES. They were envied by the angels of the highest rank. The fall, however, changed it all, as we are told in the following passage: "When Adam dwelled in the garden of Eden, he was dressed in the celestial garment, which is a garment of heavenly light. But when he was expelled from the garden of Eden, and became subject to the wants of this world, what is written? 'The Lord God made coats of skins unto Adam and to his wife, and clothed them;' for prior to this they had garments of light, light of that light which was used in the garden of Eden."
The garments of skin, therefore, mean our present body, which was given to our first parents in order to adapt them to the changes which the fall introduced. But even in the present form, the righteous are above the angels, and every man is still the microcosm, and every member of his body corresponds to a constituent part of the visible universe.
"What is man? Is he simply skin, flesh, bones, and veins? No! That which constitutes the real man is the soul, and those things which are called the skin, the flesh, the bones, and the veins, all these are merely a garment, they are simply the clothes of the man, but not
the man himself. When man departs, he puts off these garments wherewith the son of man is clothed. Yet are all these bones and sinews formed in the secret of the highest wisdom, after the heavenly image.
The skin represents the firmament, which extends everywhere, and covers everything like a garment, as it is written, 'Who strethest out the heavens like a curtain.' The flesh represents the deteriorated part of the world...the bones and the veins represent the heavenly chariot, the inner powers, the servants of God...But these are the outer garments, for in the inward part is the deep mystery of the heavenly man. Everything here below, as above, is mysterious.
Therefore it is written: 'God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him;' repeating the word God twice, one for the man and the other for the woman. The mystery of the earthly man is after the mystery of the Heavenly man.
And just as we see in the firmament above, covering all things, different signs which are formed of the stars and planets, and which contain secret things and profound mysteries, studied by those who are wise and expert in these signs; so there are in the skin, which is the cover of the body of the son of man, and which is like the sky that covers all things, signs and features which are the stars and planets of the skin, indicating secret things and profound mysteries, whereby the wise are attracted, who understand to read the mysteries in the human face."
He is still the presence of god upon earth [This is where the humanist religion was born. That man is god!], and the very form of the body depicts the Tetragrammation, the most sacred name Jehovah. Thus the head is the form of the arms and the shoulders are like the breast represents the Sephiroth from which it emanates, EVERY SOUL HAS TEN POTENCIES, WHICH ARE SUBDIVIDED INTO A TRINITY OF TRIADS, AND RESPECTIVELY REPRESENTED BY
(1) The Spirit, which is the highest degree of being, and which both corresponds to and is operated upon by The Crown, representing the highest triad, in the Sephiroth, called the Intellectual World;
(2) The Soul, which is the seat of good and evil, as well as the moral qualities, and which both corresponds to and is operated upon by Beauty, representing the second triad in the Sephiroth, called the Moral World; and
(3) The Cruder Spirit, which is immediately connected with the body, is the direct cause of its lower functions, instincts, and animal life, and which both corresponds to and is operated upon by Foundation, representing the third triad in the Sephiroth, called the Material World.
In its original state each soul is androgynous, and is separated into male and female when it descends on earth to be borne in a human body.
We have seen that the souls of the righteous, in the world of spirits, are superior in dignity to the heavenly powers and the ministering angels. It might, therefore, be asked why do these souls leave such as abode of bliss, and come into this vale of tears to dwell in tabernacles of clay? The only reply to be given is that these happy souls have no choice in the matter. Indeed we are told that the soul, before assuming a human body, addresses God: "Lord of the Universe! I am happy in this world, and do not wish to go into another world, where I shall be a bond‑maid, and be exposed to all kinds of pollutions."
And can you wonder at this pitiful ejaculation? Should your philanthropic feelings and your convictions that our heavenly Father ordains all things for the good of his children, impel you to ask that an explanation of this mystery might graciously be vouchsafed to you in order to temper your compassion and calm your faith, then take this parable.
"A SON WAS BORN TO A KING; HE SENDS HIM TO THE COUNTRY, THERE TO BE NURSED AND BROUGHT UP TILL HE IS GROWN UP, AND INSTRUCTED IN THE CEREMONIES AND USAGES OF THE ROYAL PALACE. WHEN THE KING HEARS THAT THE EDUCATION OF HIS SON IS FINISHED, WHAT DOES HIS FATHERLY LOVE IMPEL HIM TO DO? FOR HIS SON'S SAKE HE SENDS FOR THE QUEEN HIS MOTHER, CONDUCTS HIM INTO THE PALACE AND MAKES MERRY WITH HIM ALL DAY. Thus the Holy One, blessed be he, has a son with the Queen [Here the Jews are saying it is alright for a man to make love with his own mother!]: this is the heavenly and sacred soul. He sends him into the country, that is into this world, therein to grow up and to learn the customs of the court. When the King hears that this his son has grown up in the country, and that it is time to bring him into the palace, what does his love for his son impel him to do? He sends, for his sake, for the Queen and conducts him to the palace."
As has already been remarked, the human soul, before it descends into the world, is androgynous, or in other words, consists of two component parts, each of which comprises all the elements of our spiritual nature. Thus the Sohar tells us: "Each soul and spirit, prior to its entering into this world, consists of a male and female
united into one being. When it descends on this earth the two parts separate and animate two different bodies. At the time of marriage, the Holy One, blessed be he, who knows all souls and spirits, unites them again as they were before, and they again constitute one body
and one soul, forming as it were the right and left of one individual; therefore 'There is nothing new under the sun.' This union, however, is influenced by the deeds of the man and by the ways in which he walks. The soul carries her knowledge with her to the earth, so that 'everything which she learns here below she knew already, before she entered into this world.'"
Since the form of the body as well as the soul, is made after the image of the Heavenly Man, a figure of the forth‑coming body which is to clothe the newly descending soul, is sent down from the celestial regions, to hover over the couch of the husband and wife when they copulate, in order that the conception may be formed according to this model.
"At connubial intercourse on earth, the Holy One, blessed be he, sends a human form which bears the impress of the divine stamp. This form is present at intercourse, and if we were permitted to see it we should perceive over our heads an image resembling a human
face; and it is in this image that we are formed. As long as this image is not sent by God and does not descend and hover over our heads, there can be no conception, for it is written: ‑‑ 'And God created man in his own image.' This image receives us when we enter the world, it develops itself with us when we grow, and accompanies us when we depart this life; as it is written: ‑‑ 'Surely, man walked in an image:' and this image is from heaven.
When the souls are to leave their heavenly abode, each soul separately appears before the Holy King, dressed in a sublime form, with the features in which it is to appear in this world. It is from this sublime form that the image proceeds. It is the third after the soul, and precedes it on the earth; it is present at the conception, and there is no conception in the world where this image is not present."
All human countenances are divisible into the four primordial types of faces, which appeared at the mysterious chariot throne in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, viz., the face of man, of the lion, the ox and the eagle. Our faces resemble these more or less according to the rank which our souls occupy in the intellectual or moral dominion.
"And physiognomy does not consist in the external lineaments, but in the features which are mysteriously drawn in us. The features in the face change according to the form which is peculiar to the inward face of the spirit. It is the spirit which produces all those physiognomical peculiarities known to the wise; and it is only through the spirit that the features have any meaning. All those spirits and souls which proceed from Eden (the highest wisdom) have a peculiar form, which is reflected in the face."
The face thus lighted up by the peculiar spirit inhabiting the body, in the mirror of the soul; and the formation of the head indicates the character and temper of the man. An arched forehead is a sign of a cheerful and profound spirit, as well as of a distinguished intellect; a broad but flat forehead indicates foolishness and silliness; whilst a forehead which is flat, compressed on the sides and spiral, betokens narrowness of mind and vanity.
As a necessary condition of free existence and of moral being, the souls are endowed by the Deity, from the very beginning, with the power of adhering in close proximity to the primordial source of infinite light from the very beginning, with the power of adhering in close proximity to the primordial source of infinite light from which they emanated, and of alienating themselves from that source and pursuing an independent and opposite course.
Hence, Simon ben Jochai said,
"If the Holy One, blessed be he, had not put within us both the good and the evil desire, which are denominated light and darkness, the created man would have neither virtue nor vice. For this reason it is written: 'Behold, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil.' To this the disciples replied, Wherefore is all this? Would it not be better if reward and punishment had not existed at all, since in that case man would have been incapable of sinning and of doing evil. He rejoined, It was meet and right that he should be created as he was created, because the Law was created for him, wherein are written punishments for the wicked and rewards for the righteous; and there would not have been any reward for the righteous and punishment for the wicked but for created man."
So complete is their independence, that souls, even in their pre‑existent state, can and do choose which way they intend to pursue.
"All souls which are not guiltless in this world, have already alienated themselves in heaven from the Holy One, blessed be he; they have thrown themselves into an abyss at their very existence, and have anticipated the time when they are to descend on earth... Thus were the souls before they came into this world."
(4). The Destiny of Man and the Universe.
As the En Soph constituted man the microcosm, and as the Deity is reflected in this epitome of the
universe more than in any component part of the creation, all things visible and invisible are designed
to aid him in passing through his probationary state here below, in gathering that experience for which
his soul has been sent down, and in returning in a pure state to that source of light from which his soul
emanated.
This destiny of man, the reunion with the Deity from which he emanated, is the constant desire both
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxsdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddfrttof God and man, and is an essential principle of the soul, underlying its very essence. Discarding that
blind power from our nature, WHICH GOVERNS OUR ANIMAL LIFE [This is where Darwin,
who was a Jew, got the idea for the origin of the species], which never quits this earth, and which
therefore plays no part in our spiritual being, the soul possesses two kinds of powers and two sorts
of feelings.
It has the faculty for that extraordinary prophetical knowledge, which was vouchsafed to Moses in an
exceptional manner, called the Luminous Mirror (speculator), and the ordinary knowledge termed the
Non‑ Luminous Mirror, respectively represented in the earthly Paradise by the Tree of Life and the
Tree of Knowledge of good and evil; and it possesses the higher feeling of love and the lower feeling
of fear. Now the full fruition of that higher knowledge and of that loftier feeling of love can only be
reaped when the soul returns to the Infinite Source of Light, and is wrapped in that luminous garment
which the protoplasts forfeited throughout the fall. Thus we are told,
"Come and see when the soul reaches that place which is called the Treasury of Life, she
enjoys a bright and luminous mirror, which receives its light from the highest heaven. The
soul could not bear this light but for the luminous mantle which she put on. For just as the
soul, when sent to this earth, puts on an earthly garment to preserve herself here, so she
receives above a shining garment, in order to be able to look without injury into the mirror
whose light proceeds from the Lord of Light. Moses too could not approach to look into
that higher light which he saw, without putting on such an ethereal garment: as it is written:
'And Moses went into the midst of the cloud,' which is to be translated by means of the
cloud wherewith he wrapped himself as if dressed in a garment. At that time Moses almost
discarded the whole of his earthly nature; as it is written, 'And Moses was on the mountain
forty days and forty nights;' and he thus approached that dark cloud where God is
enthroned. In this wise the departed spirits of the righteous dress themselves in the upper
regions in luminous garments, to be able to endure that light which streams from the Lord
of Light {Satan}."
The two feelings of love and fear are designed to aid the soul in achieving her high destiny, when she
shall no more look through the dark glass, but see face to face in the presence of the Luminous Mirror,
by permeating all acts of obedience and divine worship. And though perfect love, which is serving
God purely out of love, like that higher knowledge, is to be man's destiny in heaven, yet the soul may
attain some of it on earth, and endeavor to serve God out of love and not from fear, as thereby she will
have an antepast on earth of its union with the Deity, which is to be so rapturous and indissoluble in
heaven.
"Yet is the service which arises from fear not to be depreciated, for fear leads to love.
it is true that he who obeys God out of love has attained to the highest degree, and already
belongs to the saints of the world to come, but it must not be supposed that to worship God
out of fear is no worship. Such a service has also its merit, though in this case the union of
the soul with the Deity is slight.
There is only one degree which is higher than fear: it is love. In love is the mystery of
the divine unity. It is love which unites the higher and lower degrees together; it elevates
everything to that position where everything must be one. This is also the mystery of the
words, 'Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one God.'"
THE KABBALISTS and THE TEN SEPHIRA
Hence it is that these two principles play so important a part in the devotions and contemplations of
the Kabbalists. Love is made to correspond to Mercy, the fourth Sephira, whilst Fear is made to
answer to Rigor, the fifth Sephira; and it is asserted that when these two principles are thoroughly
combined by the righteous in their divine worship and acts of obedience, the name Jehovah, which
comprises these two principles, and which is now rent in twain by the preponderance of sin and
disobedience, will be re‑united. Then, and then only will all the souls return to the bosom of the Father
of our spirits; then will the restitution of all things take place, and the earth shall be covered with the
knowledge of God even as the waters cover the sea.
This is the reason why the Kabbalists utter the following prayer prior to the performance of any of the
commandments:
"For the re‑union of the Holy One, blessed be his name, and his Shechinah, I do this in love
and fear and love, for the union of the name into a perfect harmony! I pronounce this in the
name of all Israel!"
In order to represent this union to the senses the words Fear and Love, are divided, and so placed
above each other that they may be read either across or down. When thus fulfilling the commandments
the pious not only enjoy a prelibation of that sublime light which shines in heaven, and which will
serve them as a garment when they enter into the other world and appear before the Holy One (Sohar,
ii, 299b), but become on earth already the habitation of the Sephiroth, and each saint has that Sephira
incarnate in him which corresponds to the virtue he most cultivates, or to the feature most predominant
in his character.
Among the patriarchs, therefore, who were the most exalted in piety, we find that Love, the fourth
Sephira, was incarnate in Abraham; Rigor, the fifth Sephira, in Isaac; Mildness, the sixth Sephira, in
Jacob; Firmness, the seventh Sephira, in Moses; Splendour, the eighty Sephira, in Aaron; Foundation,
the ninth Sephira, in Joseph; and Kingdom, the tenth Sephira, was incarnate in David.
Hence all the righteous who constitute the emanations, of the ten Sephiroth are divided into three
classes corresponding to the three principles or Pillars exhibited in the Kabbalistic Tree, viz.:
(1). The Pillar of Mercy, represented by the Patriarch Abraham;
(2). The Pillar of Justice, represented by Isaac; and,
(3). The Middle Pillar, represented by Jacob, which is the connecting or uniting principle.
It is for this reason that the patriarchs are denominated the Chariot‑throne of the Lord. Thus it is said:
"All the prophets looked into the Non‑Luminous Mirror, whilst our teacher, Moses, looked
into the Luminous Mirror."
And again:
"Also the divine service which is engendered by fear and not by love, has its merit."
But since nothing can be annihilated:
"Nothing perisheth in this world, not even the breath which issues from the mouth, for
this, like everything else, has its place and destination, and the Holy One, blessed be his
name! turns it into his service;' ‑‑ these worlds could not be absolutely destroyed. Hence
when the question is asked ‑‑ 'Why were these primordial worlds destroyed?' the reply is
given: ‑‑ 'Because the Man, represented by the ten Sephiroth, was not as yet. The human
form contains everything, and as it did not as yet exist, the worlds were destroyed.' It is
added, 'Still when it is said that they perished, it is only meant thereby that they lacked the
true form, till the human form came into being, in which all things are comprised, and
which also contains all those forms. Hence, though the Scripture ascribes death to the kings
of Edom, it only denotes a sinking down from their dignity, the worlds up to that time did
not answer to the Divine idea, since they had not as yet the perfect form of which they were
capable."
THE HEAVENS and THE EARTH CREATED BY LETTERS!
Hence the admonition:
"He who has to start on a journey very early, should rise at daybreak, look carefully towards
the east, and he will perceive certain signs resembling letters which pierce through the sky
and appear above the horizon. THESE SHINING FORMS ARE those of THE LETTERS
WHEREWITH GOD CREATED HEAVEN AND EARTH..."
Now since IT IS AN ABSOLUTE CONDITION OF THE SOUL TO RETURN TO THE
INFINITE SOURCE FROM WHICH IT EMANATED, AFTER DEVELOPING ALL THOSE
PERFECTIONS, THE GERMS OF WHICH ARE ETERNALLY IMPLANTED IN IT; and
SINCE SOME SOULS DO NOT AT ONCE DEVELOP THESE FRUITS OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH PRECLUDES THEIR IMMEDIATE REUNION WITH THEIR
PRIMORDIAL SOURCE, ANOTHER TERM OF LIFE IS VOUCHSAFED TO THEM [This
is where the idea of reincarnation came from. It's just another Jewish subterfuge to destroy some
unsuspecting persons' faith], so that they may be able to cultivate those virtues which they stifled in
their former bodily life, and without which it is impossible for them to return to their heavenly home.
HENCE, IF THE SOUL, IN ITS FIRST ASSUMING A HUMAN BODY AND SOJOURN ON
EARTH, FAILS TO ACQUIRE THAT EXPERIENCE FOR WHICH IT DESCENDS FROM
HEAVEN, AND BECOMES CONTAMINATED BY THAT WHICH IS POLLUTING, IT MUST
RE‑ INHABIT A BODY AGAIN AND AGAIN TILL IT IS ABLE TO ASCEND IN A PURIFIED
STATE THROUGH REPEATED TRIALS. Thus we are told that,
"All souls are subject to transmigration, and men do not know the ways of the Holy One,
blessed be he; they do not know that they are brought before the tribunal, both before they
enter into this world and after they quit it, THEY ARE IGNORANT OF THE MANY
TRANSMIGRATIONS AND SECRET PROBATIONS WHICH THEY HAVE TO
UNDERGO, AND OF THE NUMBER OF SOULS AND SPIRITS WHICH ENTER
INTO THIS WORLD, AND DO NOT RETURN TO THE PALACE OF THE
HEAVENLY KING. MEN DO NOT KNOW HOW THE SOULS REVOLVE LIKE A
STONE WHICH IS THROWN FROM A SLING; as it is written: 'And the souls of thine
enemies them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.' But the time is at hand
when these mysteries will be disclosed."
Here we can see how the Jews, again and again distort the Word of God and teach men lies and
falsehoods:
"And as IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MEN ONCE TO DIE, BUT AFTER THIS THE
JUDGMENT."
THE TRANSMIGRATION OF THE SOUL INTO ANOTHER BODY, however, IS
RESTRICTED TO THREE TIMES; and if two souls in their third residence in human bodies are
still too weak to resist all earthly trammels and to acquire the necessary experience, they are both
united and sent into one body, so that they may be able conjointly to learn that which they were too
feeble to do separately.
It sometimes, however, happens that it is the singleness and isolation of the soul which is the source
of her weakness, and she requires help to pass through her probation. In that case she chooses for a
companion a soul which has more strength and better fortune. The stronger of the two then becomes
as it were the mother; she carries the sickly one in her bosom, and nurses her from her own substance,
just as a woman nurses her child.
Such an association is therefore called pregnancy, because the stronger soul gives as it were life and
substance to the weaker companion. According to Josephus, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls
into other bodies, was also held by the Pharisees, restricting, however, the metempsychosis to the
righteous.
And though the Midrashim and the Talmud are silent about it, yet from Saada's vituperations against
it there is no doubt that this doctrine was held among some Jews in the ninth century of the present
era. At all events it is perfectly certain that the karaite Jews firmly believed in it ever since the
seventh century. St. Jerome assures us that it was also propounded among the early Christians as an
esoteric and traditional doctrine which was entrusted to the select few; and Origen was convinced
that it was only by means of this doctrine that certain Scriptural narratives, such as the struggle of
Jacob with Esau before their birth, the reference about Jeremiah when still in his mother's womb, and
many others, can possibly be explained. With which the history of the creation begins, and which is
also the first letter in the word blessing.
Even the archangel of wickedness, or the venomous beast, or Samäel, as he is called, will be restored
to his angelic nature and name, inasmuch as he too, like all other beings, proceeded from the same
infinite source of all things. The first part of his name, which signifies venom, will then be dropped,
and he will retain the second part, which is the common name of all the angels. This, however, will
only take place at the advent of Messiah. But his coming is retarded by the very few new souls which
enter into the world; as many of the old souls which have already inhabited bodies have to re‑enter
those bodies which are now born, in consequence of having polluted themselves in their previous
bodily existence, and THE SOUL OF THE MESSIAH, WHICH, LIKE OTHER SOULS, HAS
ITS PRE‑EXISTENCE IN THE WORLD OF THE SEPHIROTH, CANNOT BE BORN TILL
ALL HUMAN SOULS HAVE PASSED THROUGH THEIR PERIOD OF PROBATION ON
THIS EARTH, BECAUSE IT IS TO BE THE LAST BORN ONE AT THE END OF DAYS.
REINCARNATION, OR TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS, IS A DOCTRINE OF THE
CABALA Generally. Failing to wash off the demons of the hands may turn one into a river, says the
Jewish Encyclopedia under "Transmigration of Souls." The theory is the cause of much degradation
in Hinduism. In the Cabala, each soul corresponds to a part of the body of the Adam Kadmon universe,
some being "lower" organs, some "higher." The "dibbuk" or possessing spirit who can only be
expelled by a "Baal Shem" wonder‑worker came into the Jewish press in 1955 when the dibbuk was
alleged to have been seen leaving the body of its unwilling host. The Jewish press all carried the
report.
"Zoharic elements...crept into the liturgy of the 16th and 17th centuries...the characteristic
features of which were the representation of the highest thoughts by human emblems and
human passions, and the use of Erotic terminology to illustrate the relations between man
and God, RELIGION BEING IDENTICAL WITH LOVE ...sensuous pleasures, and
especially intoxication, typify the highest degree of divine love as ecstatic contemplation,
while the wine‑room represents merely the state through which the human qualities merge
or are exalted into those of the Deity."
There is nothing now there that the pagans who consulted the oracles, and indulged in booze and sex
degeneracies, to worship the old sex‑gods who were the deities of all pagan civilizations, did not have
centuries and centuries ago. No wonder the unsparing denunciations of the Prophets have to be
"allegorized" away into nothing! But the Word of God states that Christ:
"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that HE MIGHT BE THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN."
Thus, again and again the Jews are shown to be liars. Making the words of Christ ever more true when
He said:
"Ye [Jews] are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning, AND ABODE NOT IN THE TRUTH, BECAUSE THERE
IS NO TRUTH IN HIM. WHEN HE SPEAKETH A LIE, HE SPEAKETH OF HIS
OWN: FOR HE IS A LIAR, AND THE FATHER OF IT."
Returning to the Kabbalah. Then the great Jubilee year will commence, when the whole pleroma of
souls, cleaned and purified shall return into the bosom of the Infinite Source; and they shall be in,
"the Palace which is situate in the secret and most elevated part of heaven, and which is
called the Palace of Love."
There the profoundest mysteries are; there dwells the Heavenly King, blessed be he, with the holy
souls, and is united with them by a loving kiss.
"this kiss is the union of the soul with the substance from which it emanated."
Then hell shall disappear; there shall be no more punishment, nor temptation, nor sin: life will be an
everlasting feast, a Sabbath without end. Then all souls will be united with the Highest Soul, and
supplement each other in the Holy of Holies of the Seven Halls. Everything will then return to unity
and perfection, every thing will be united into one idea, which shall be over, and fill the whole
universe. The basis of this idea, however (the light which is concealed in it), will never be fathomed
or comprehended; only the idea itself which emanates from it shall be comprehended.
In that state the creature will not be distinguished from the Creator, the same idea will illuminate both.
Then the soul will rule the universe like God, and what she shall command he will execute.
(5). The Kabbalistic view of the Old Testament, and its relation to Christianity. We have already seen
that the Kabbalah claims a pre‑Adamite existence, and asserts that its mysteries are covertly conveyed
in the first four books of the Pentateuch. Those of us who read the Books of Moses, and cannot
discover in them any of the above‑mentioned doctrines, will naturally ask for the principles of
exegesis whereby these secrets are deduced from or rather introduced into the text. These principles
are laid down in the following declaration:
"If the Law simply consisted of ordinary expressions and narratives, e.gr., the words of
Esau, Hagar, Laban, the ass of Balaam, or of Balaam himself, why should it be called the
Law of truth, the perfect Law, the true witness of God? Each word contains a sublime
source, each narrative points not only to the single instance in question, but also to
generals."
The notion that the creation is a blessing, and that this is indicated in the first letter, is already
propounded in the Midrash, as may be seen from the following remark. The reason why the Law
begins with Beth, the second letter of the Alphabet, and not with Aleph, the first letter, is that the
former is the first letter in the word blessing, while the latter is the first letter in the word accursed.
"Woe be to the son of man who says that the Tora (Pentateuch ‑ to the Jew it means
Talmud) contains common sayings and ordinary narratives. For, if this were the case, we
might in the present day compose a code of doctrines from profane writings which should
excite greater respect. If the Law contains ordinary matter, then there are nobler sentiments
in profane codes. Let us go and make a selection from them, and we shall be able to
compile a far superior code. But every word of the Law has a sublime sense and a heavenly
mystery...
Now the spiritual angels had to put on an earthly garment when they descended to this
earth; and if they had not put on such a garment, they could neither have remained nor be
understood on the earth. And just as it was with the angels so it is with the Law. When it
descended on earth, the Law had to put on an earthly garment to be understood by us, and
the narratives are its garment. There are some who think that this garment is the real Law,
and not the spirit which it clothed, but these have no portion in the world to come; and it
is for this reason that David prayed, 'Open thou mine eyes that I may behold the wondrous
things out of the Law.' What is under the garment of the Law? There is the garment
which everyone can see; and there are foolish people who, when they see a well‑dressed
man, think of nothing more worthy that this beautiful garment, and take it for the body,
whilst the worth of the body itself consists in the soul.
The Law too has a body: this is the commandments, which are called the body of the
Law. This body is clothed in garments, which are the ordinary narratives. The fools of this
world look at nothing else by this garment, which consists of the narratives in the Law; they
do not know any more, and do not understand what is beneath this garment. But those who
have more understanding do not look at the garment but at the body beneath it (the moral);
whilst the wisest, the servants of the Heavenly King, those who dwelt at Mount Sinai, look
at nothing else but the soul (the secret doctrine ‑ this gets many adherents to Judaism because
it fulfills the desire of some men to know something hidden from others), which is the root of
all the real Law, and these are destined in the world to come to behold the Soul of this Soul
(the Deity), which breathes in the Law."
The opinion that the mysteries of the Kabbalah are to be found in the garment of the Pentateuch is still
more systematically propounded in the following parable.
"Like a beautiful woman, concealed in the interior of her palace, who when her friend and
beloved passes by, opens for a moment a secret window and is seen by him alone, and then
withdraws herself immediately and disappears for a long time, so the doctrine only shows
herself to the chosen (to him who is devoted to her with body and soul); and even to him not
always in the same manner. At first she simply beckons at the passer‑by with her hand, and
it generally depends upon his understanding this gentle hint. This is the interpretation
known by the name. Afterwards she approaches him a little closer, lisps him a few words,
but her form is still covered with a thick veil, which his looks cannot penetrate. This is the
so called. She then converses with him with her face covered by a thin veil; this is the
enigmatic language. After having thus become accustomed to her society, she at last shews
herself face to face and entrusts him with the innermost secrets of her heart. This is the
secret of the Law. He who is thus far initiated in the mysteries of the Tora will understand
that all those profound secrets are based upon the simply literal sense, and are in harmony
with it; and from this literal sense not a single iota is to be taken and nothing to be added
to it."
This fourfold sense is gradually disclosed to the initiated in the mysteries of the Kabbalah by the
application of definite hermeneutical rules, which chiefly affect the letters composing the words. The
most prominent of these canons are:
1). Every letter of a word is reduced to its numerical value and the word is explained by another
of the same quantity. Thus from the words "Lo! three men stood by him," it is deduced that these
three angels were Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, because and lo! three men, and these are Michael,
Gabriel, and Raphael, are of the same numerical value, as will be seen from the following reduction
to their numerical value of both these phrases. 5 + 300 + 300 + 5 + 50 + 5 + 6 == 701 30 + 1 + 20 +
10 + 40 + 6 + 30 + 1 + 30 + 1 + 10 + 200 + 2 + 3 + 30 + 1 + 80 + 200 + 6 == 701 This rule is a
metathesis of a Greek word, in the sense of numbers as represented by letters.
2). Every letter of a word is taken as an initial or abbreviation of a word. Thus every letter of the
first word in Genesis, is made the initial of a word, and we obtain, in the beginning God saw that
Israel would accept the Law. This rule is denominated, from notarius, a shorthand writer, one who
among the Romans belonged to that class of writers who abbreviated and used single letters to signify
whole words.
3). The initial and final letters of several words are respectively formed into separate words. Thus
from the beginnings and ends of the words who shall go up for us to heaven? Are obtained
circumcision and Jehovah, and inferred that God ordained circumcision as the way to heaven.
4). Two words occurring in the same verse are joined together and made into one. Thus who and
these are made into God by transposing. The words of those verses which are regarded as
containing a peculiar recondite meaning are ranged in squares in such a manner as to be read either
vertically or boustrophedonally, beginning at the right or left hand. Again the words of several verses
are placed over each other, and the letters which stand under each other are formed into new words.
As to the relation of the Kabbalah to Christianity, it is maintained that this theosophy propounds the
doctrine of the trinity and the sufferings of Messiah. How far this is true may be ascertained from the
following passages.
"We have already remarked in several places that the daily liturgical declaration about the
divine unity is that which is indicated in the Bible, where Jehovah occurs first, then
Elohenu, and then again Jehovah, which three together constitute a unity, and for this
reason he [Jehovah] is in the said place. But there are three names, and how can they be
one? And although we read one, are they really one? Now this revealed by the vision of the
Holy Ghost, and when the eyes are closed we get to know that the three are only one. This
is also the mystery of the voice. The voice is only one, and yet it consists of three elements,
fire [warmth], air [breath], and water [humidity], yet are all these one in the mystery of the
voice, and can only be one, three forms which are one. And this is indicated by the voice
which man raises [at prayer], thereby to comprehend spiritually the most perfect unity of
the En Soph for the finite, since all the three [Jehovah, Elohenu, Jehovah] are read with the
same loud voice, which comprises in itself a trinity. And this is the daily confession of the
divine unity which, as a mystery, is revealed by the Holy ghost. This unity has been
explained in different ways, yet he who understands it in this way is right, and he who
understands it in another way is also right. The idea of unity, however formed by us here
below, from the mystery of the audible voice which is one, explains the thing."
On another occasion we are informed that R. Eleazar, whilst sitting with his father R. Simeon, was
anxious to know how the two names, Jehovah and Elohim, can be interchanged, seeing that the one
denotes mercy and the other judgment. Before giving the discussion between the father and the son,
it is necessary to remark that whenever the two divine names, Adonai and Jehovah, immediately
follow each other, Jehovah is pointed and read Elohim. The reason of this, as it is generally supposed,
is to avoid the repetition of Adonai, Adonai, since the Tetragrammation is otherwise always pointed
and read. The Kabbalah, however, as we shall see, discovers in it a recondite meaning.
"R. Eleazar, when sitting before his father R. Simeon, said to him, we have been taught
that whenever Elohim sometimes be put for Jehovah, as is the case in those passages
wherein Adonai and Jehovah stand together, seeing that the latter denotes mercy in all
the passages in which it occurs? To which he replied, Thus it is said in the Scripture, 'Know
therefore this day and consider it in thine heart, that Jehovah is Elohim;' and again it is
written 'Jehovah is Elohim.'
Whereupon he [the son] said, I know this forsooth, that justice is sometimes tempered
with mercy and mercy with justice. Quoth he [the father], Come and see that it is so;
Jehovah indeed does signify mercy whenever it occurs, but when through sin mercy is
changed into justice, then it is written Jehovah, but read Elohim. Now come and see the
mystery of the word [Jehovah]. There are three degrees, and each degree exists by itself [in
the Deity], although the three together constitute one, they are closely united into one and
are inseparable from each other."
We shall only give one more passage bearing on the subject of the Trinity.
"He who reads the word One [in the declaration of the divine unity] must pronounce the
Aleph quickly, shorten its sound a little, and not pause at all by this letter, and he who
obeys this, his life will be lengthened.
Whereupon they [the disciples] said to him [to R. Ilai], he [R. Simeon] has said, There
are two, and one is connected with them, and they are three; but in being three they are one.
He said to them, those two names, Jehovah Jehovah, are in the declaration 'Hear O Israel,'
and Elohenu, between them, is united with them as the third, and this is the conclusion
which is sealed with the impression of Truth. But when these three combined into a unity,
they are one in a single unity."
Indeed one Codex of the Sohar had the following remark on the words "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts;" the first holy refers to the Holy Father; the second to the Holy Son; and the third to the
Holy Ghost.
This passage, however, is omitted from the present recessions of the Sohar. Some Jewish writers have
felt these passages to be so favorable to the doctrine of the Trinity, that they insist upon their being
interpolations into the Sohar, whilst other have tried to explain them as referring to the Sephiroth. As
to the atonement of the Messiah for the sins of the people, this is not only propounded in the Sohar, but
is given as the explanation of the fifty‑third chapter of Isaiah.
"When the righteous are visited with sufferings and afflictions to atone for the sins of the
world, it is that they might atone for all the sins of this generation. How is this proved? By
all the members of the body. 'When all members suffer, one member is afflicted in order
that all may recover. And which of them? The arm. The arm is beaten, the blood is taken
from it, and then the recovery of all the members of the body is secured. So it is with the
children of the world: they are members of another. When the Holy One, blessed be he,
wishes the recovery of the world, he afflicts one righteous from their midst, and for his
sake all are healed. How is this shown? it is written: 'He was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities...and with his stripes we are healed.'
'With his stripes,' healed, as by the wound of bleeding an arm, and with this wound we are
healed, it was a healing to each one of us as members of the body."
SPIRITS HOVER ABOUT THE WORLD
To the same effect is the following passage.
"Those souls which tarry in the nether garden of Eden hover about the world, and when they
see suffering or patient martyrs and those who suffer for the unity of God, they return and
mention it to the Messiah. When they tell the Messiah of the afflictions of Israel in exile,
and that the sinners among them do not reflect in order to know their Lord, he raises his
voice and weeps because of those sinners, as it is written, 'he is wounded for our
transgressions.' Whereupon those souls return and take their place. In the garden of Eden
there is one place which is called the palace of the sick. The Messiah goes into this palace
and invokes all the sufferings, pain, and afflictions of Israel to come upon him, and they
all come upon him. Now if he did not remove them thus and take them upon himself, no
man could endure the sufferings of Israel, due as punishment for transgressing the Law; as
it is written: 'Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, etc. When the
children of Israel were in the Holy Land they removed all those sufferings and afflictions
from the world by their prayers and sacrifices, but now the Messiah removes them from the
world."
That these opinions favor, to a certain extent, the doctrines of the Trinity and the Atonement, though
not in the orthodox sense, is not only admitted by many of the Jewish literati who are adverse to the
Kabbalah, but by some of its friends. Indeed, the very fact that so large a number of Kabbalists have
from time to time embraced the Christian faith would of itself show that there must be some sort of
affinity between the tenets of the respective systems. Some of these converts occupied the highest
position in the Synagogue, both as pious Jews and literary men.
We need only specify Paul Ricci, physician to the Emperor Maximilian I; Julius Conrad Otto, author
of The Unveiled Secrets, consisting of extracts from the Talmud and the Sohar, to prove the validity
of the Christian doctrine (NÜrenberg, 1805); John Stephen Rittengal, grandson of the celebrated Don
Isaac Abravanel, and translator of The Book Jetzira, or of Creation, into Latin (Amsterdam, 1642);
and Jacob Frank, the great apostle of the Kabbalah in the eighteenth century, whose example in
professing Christianity was followed by several thousands of his disciples. The testimony of these
distinguished Kabbalists, which they give in their elaborate works, about the affinity of some of the
doctrines of this theosophy with those of Christianity, is by no means to be slighted; and this is fully
corroborated by the celebrated Leo di Modena, who, as an orthodox Jew, went so far as to question
whether God will ever forgive those who printed the Kabbalistic works.
The use made by some well‑meaning Christians of the above‑named Kabbalistic canons of
interpretation, in controversies with Jews, to prove the doctrines of Christianity are concealed under
the letter of the Old Testament, will now be deprecated by every one who has any regard for the laws
of language.
As a literary curiosity, however, we shall give one or two specimens. No less a person than the
celebrated Reuchlin would have it that the doctrine of the Trinity is to be found in the first verse of
Genesis.
He submits, if the Hebrew word, which is translated created, be examined, and if each of the three
letters composing this word be taken as the initial of a separate word, we obtain the expressions Son,
Spirit, Father, according to Rule 2 (p. 229). Upon the same principle this crudite scholar deduces the
first two persons in the Trinity from the words: "the stone which the builders refused is become the
head stone of the corner," by dividing the three letters composing the word stone, into Father, Son.
In more recent times we find it maintained that the 'righteousness' spoken of in Daniel ix, 24, means
the Anointed of Jehovah, because the original phrase is by Gematria, == numerical value, (which is
Rule 1, given above, p. 229). So pleased is the author with this discovery, that he takes great care to
remark: "It is a proof which I believe has hitherto escaped the notice of interpreters." Such proofs,
however, of the Messiaship of Christ bring no honor to our religion; and in the present day argue badly
both against him who adduces them and against him who is convinced by them.
ORIGIN OF THE KABBALAH
We now proceed to trace the date and origin of the Kabbalah. Taking the ex parte statement for what
it is worth, viz., that this secret doctrine is of a pre‑Adamite date, and that God himself propounded
it to the angels in Paradise, we shall have to examine the age of the oldest documents which embody
its tenets, and compare these doctrines with other systems, in order to ascertain the real date and origin
of this theosophy.
But before this is done, it will be necessary to summarize, as briefly as possible, those doctrines
which are peculiar to the Kabbalah, or which it expounds and elaborates in an especial manner, and
which constitute it a separate system within the precincts of Judaism. The doctrines, the beliefs of the
Jews are as follows:
1). God is boundless in his nature. HE [God] HAS NEITHER WILL, INTENTION, DESIRE,
THOUGHT, LANGUAGE, NOR ACTION. HE cannot be grasped and depicted; and, for this
reason, IS CALLED EN SOPH, and as such HE IS IN A CERTAIN SENSE NOT EXISTENT.
2). HE [God] IS NOT THE DIRECT CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, SINCE HE COULD
NOT WILL THE CREATION; and since a creation proceeding directly from him would have to be
as boundless and as perfect as he is himself.
3). He at first sent forth ten emanations, or Sephiroth, which are begotten, not made, and which are
both infinite and finite.
4). From these Sephiroth, which are the Archetypal Man, the different worlds gradually and
successively evolved. These evolutionary worlds are the brightness and the express image of their
progenitors, the Sephiroth, which uphold all things.
5). These emanations, or Sephiroth, gave rise to or created in their own image all human souls.
These souls are pre‑existent, they occupy a special hall in the upper world of spirits, and there already
decide whether they will pursue a good or bad course in their temporary sojourn in the human body,
which is also fashioned according to the Archetypal image.
6). No one has seen the En Soph at any time.
It is the Sephiroth, in whom the En Soph is incarnate, who have revealed themselves to us, and to
whom the anthropomorphisms of Scripture and the Hagada refer.
Thus when it is said, "God spake, descended upon earth, ascended into heaven, smelled the sweet
smell of sacrifices, repented in his heart, was angry," etc., or when the Hagadic works describe the
body and the mansions of the Deity, etc., all this does not refer to the En Soph, but to these
intermediate beings.
7). It is an absolute condition of the soul to return to the Infinite Source whence it emanated, after
developing all those perfections the germs of which are indelibly inherent in it.
If it fails to develop these germs, it must migrate into another body, and in case it is still too weak to
acquire the virtues for which it is sent to this earth, it is united to another and a stronger soul, which,
occupying the same human body with it, aids its weaker companion in obtaining the object for which
it came down from the world of spirits.
8). When all the pre‑existent souls shall have passed their probationary period here below, the
restitution of all things will take place; SATAN WILL BE RESTORED TO AN ANGEL OF
LIGHT, hell will disappear, and all souls will return into the bosom of the Deity whence they
emanated. The creature shall not then be distinguished from the Creator. Like God, THE SOUL
WILL RULE THE UNIVERSE: SHE SHALL COMMAND, AND GOD [Will] OBEY.
With these cardinal doctrines before us we shall now be able to examine the validity of the Kabbalists'
claims to the books which, according to them, propound their doctrines and determine the origin of
this theosophy.
Their works are (1). The Book of Creation; (2) The Sohar; and (3). The Commentary of the Ten
Sephiroth. As the Book of Creation is acknowledged by all parties to be the oldest, we shall examine
it first.
1). The Book of Creation of Jetzira.
This marvelous and famous document pretends to be a monologue of the patriarch Abraham, and
premises that the contemplations it contains are those which led the father of the Hebrews [Here the
Jews inadvertently admit that they are not the children of Abraham!] to abandon the worship of the
stars and to embrace the faith of the true God. Hence the remark of the celebrated philosopher, R.
Jehudah Ha‑levi (born about 1086):
"The Book of the Creation, which belongs to our father Abraham... demonstrates the
existence of the Deity and the Divine Unity, by things which are on the one hand manifold
and multifarious, whilst on the other hand they converge and harmonize; and this harmony
can only proceed from One who originated it."
The whole Treatise consists of six Perakim or chapters, subdivided into thirty‑three very brief
Mishnas or sections, as follows. The first chapter has twelve sections, the second has five, the third
five, the fourth four, the fifth three, and the sixth four sections. The doctrines which it propounds are
delivered in the style of aphorisms or theorems, and, pretending to be the dictates of Abraham, are laid
down very dogmatically, in a manner becoming the authority of this patriarch. As has already been
intimated, the design of this treatise is to exhibit a system whereby the universe may be viewed
methodically in connection with the truths given in the Bible, thus showing, from the gradual and
systematic development of the creation, and from the harmony which prevails in all its multitudinous
component parts, that One God produced it all, and that He is over all.
The order in which God gave rise to this creation out of nothing, and the harmony which pervades all
the constituent parts of the universe are shown by the analogy which subsists between the visible
things and the signs of thought, or the means whereby wisdom is expressed and perpetuated among
men. Since the letters have no absolute value, nor can they be used as mere forms, but serve as the
medium between essence and form, and like words, assume the relation of form to the real essence,
and of essence to the embryo and unexpressed thought, great value is attached to these letters, and to
the combinations and analogies of which they are capable. The patriarch Abraham, therefore, employs
the double value of the twenty‑two letters of the Hebrew alphabet [It is for this reason that the Book
of Jetzira is also called the Letters or alphabet of the Patriarch Abraham]; he uses them, both in their
phonetic nature and in their sacred character, as expressing the divine truths of the Scriptures. But,
since the Hebrew alphabet is also used as numerals, which are represented by the fundamental number
ten, and since the vowels of the language are also ten in number, this decade is added to the
twenty‑two letters, and these two kinds of signs, the twenty‑two letters of the alphabet and the ten
fundamental numbers, are designated the thirty‑two ways of secret wisdom; and the treatise opens with
the declaration:
"By thirty‑two paths of secret wisdom, the Eternal, the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, the
living God, the King of the Universe, the Merciful and Gracious, the High and Exalted God,
HE WHO INHABITETH ETERNITY, Glorious and Holy is His name, HATH
CREATED THE WORLD BY MEANS OF NUMBERS, PHONETIC LANGUAGE,
AND WRITING."
First of all comes the fundamental number ten. This decade is divided into a tetrade and hexade, and
thereby is shown the gradual development of the world out of nothing. At first there existed nothing
except the Divine Substance, with the creative idea and the articulate creative word as the Spirit or
the Holy Spirit, which is one with the Divine Substance and indivisible. Hence, the Spirit of the living
God stands at the head of all things and is represented by the number one.
"One is the spirit of the living God, blessed be His name, who liveth for ever! voice, spirit,
and word, this is the Holy ghost."
From this spirit the whole universe proceeded in gradual and successive emanations, in the following
order. The creative air, represented by number two, emanated from the Spirit.
"In it He engraved the twenty‑two letters."
The water again, represented by the number three, proceeded from the air.
"In it He engraved darkness and emptiness, slime and dung."
Whilst the ether or fire, represented by the number four, emanated from the water.
"In it He engraved the throne of His glory, the Ophanim, the Seraphim, the sacred animals,
and the ministering angels, and from these three he formed His habitation; as it is written:
‑‑ 'He maketh the wind his messengers, flaming fire his servants."
These intermediate members between the Creator and the created world sustain a passive and created
relationship to God, and an acting and creating relationship to the world; so that God is neither in
immediate connection with the created and material universe, nor is His creative fiat hindered by
matter.
Then comes the hexade, each unit of which represents space in the six directions, or the four corners
of the world, east, west, north, and south, as well as height and depth which emanated from the ether,
and in the center of which is the Holy Temple supporting the whole. The position of the decade is
therefore as follows:
(1) Spirit; (6) North;
(2) Air; (7) West; Holy Temple.
(3) Water; (8) East;
(4) Ether or Fire; (9) South; and
(5) Height; (10) Depth.
These constitute the primordial ten, from which the whole universe proceeded. And lastly follow,
"THE TWENTY‑TWO LETTERS, BY MEANS OF WHICH GOD, having, drawn,
hewn, and weighed them, and having variously changed and put them together, FORMED
THE SOULS OF EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN MADE, AND THAT SHALL BE
MADE."
These twenty‑two letters of the alphabet and are then divided into three groups, consisting respectively
of,
(1). The three mothers, or fundamental letters,
(2). Seven double and
(3). Twelve simple consonants, to deduce there from a triad of elements, a heptade of opposites,
and a duodecimo of simple things, in the following manner.
1). THREE MOTHERS, ALEPH, MEM, SHIN.
The above‑named three primordial elements, viz., ether, water and air, which were as yet partially
ideal and ethereal, became more concrete and palpable in the course of emanation. Thus the fire
developed itself into the earth, embracing sea and land, whilst the elementary air became the
atmospheric air. These constitute the three fundamental types of the universe. The three primordial
elements also thickened still more in another direction, and gave birth to a new order of creatures,
which constitute the course of the year and the temperatures.
From the ether developed itself heat, from the water emanated cold, and from the air proceeded the
mild temperature which shows itself in the rain or wet. These constitute the fundamental points of the
year. Whereupon the three primordial elements developed themselves in another direction again, and
gave rise to the human organism.
The ether sent forth the human head, which is the seat of intelligence; the water gave rise to the body,
or the abdominal system; whilst the air, which is the central element, developed itself into the genital
organ. These three domains, viz., the macrocosm, the revolution of time, and the microcosm, which
proceeded from the three primordial elements, are exhibited by the three letters Aleph, Mem and Shin.
Hence it is said that by means of these three letters, which, both in their phonetic and sacred character,
represent the elements, inasmuch as a gentle aspirate, and as the initial of air, symbolizes the Air; as
a labial or mute, and as the initial of water, represents the Water: whilst, as a sibilant, and as the last
letter of fire, typifies the Fire: God created,
In the World ‑‑ The Fire, Water, Air.
In Man ‑‑ the Head, Body, Breast.
In the Year ‑‑ Heat, Cold, Wet.
2). Seven double consonants ‑‑ Beth, Gimel, Daleth, Caph, Pe, Resh, Tau.
The three dominions proceeding from the triad of the primordial elements which emanated from the
unity continued to develop themselves still further. In the macrocosm were developed the seven
planets, in time the seven days, and in the microcosm the seven sensuous faculties.
These are represented by the seven double consonants of the alphabet. Hence it is said that by means
of these seven letters, which are called double because they have a double pronunciation, being
sometimes aspirated and sometimes not, according to their being with or without the Dagesh, God
created: ‑‑
In the World ‑‑ Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon.
In Man ‑‑ Wisdom, Riches, Dominion, Life, Favour, Progeny, Peace.
In the Year ‑‑ Sabbath, Thursday, Tuesday, Sunday, Friday, Wednesday, Monday.
Owing to the opposite == double pronunciation of these seven letters, being hard and soft, they are
also the symbols of the seven opposites in which human life moves, viz., wisdom and ignorance,
riches and poverty, fruitfulness and barrenness, life and death, liberty and bondage, peace and war,
beauty and deformity.
Moreover, they correspond to the seven ends, above and below, east and west, north and south, and
the Holy Place in the center, which supports them; and with them God formed the seven heavens, the
seven earths or countries, the seven weeks from the feast of Passover to Pentecost.
3). Twelve simple consonants.
The three dominions then respectively developed themselves into twelve parts, the macrocosm into
the twelve signs of the Zodiac, time into twelve months, and the microcosm into twelve active organs.
This is shown by the twelve simple consonants of the alphabet. Thus it is declared, that by means of
the twelve letters, God created the twelve signs of the Zodiac, viz.:
In the World ‑‑ Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces.
In Man ‑‑ The organs of Sight, Hearing, Smelling, Talking, Taste, Copulating, Dealing, Walking, Thinking, Anger, laughter, Sleeping.
In the Year ‑‑ The twelve months, viz., Nisan, Jiar, Sivan, Tamus, Ab, Elul, Tishri, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tebet, Shebat, Adar.
The three dominions continued gradually to develop into that infinite variety of objects which is
perceptible in each. This infinite variety, proceeding from the combination of a few, is propounded
by means of the great diversity of combinations and permutations of which the whole alphabet is
capable. These letters small in number, being only twenty‑two, by their power of combination and
transposition, field and endless number of words and figures, and thus become the types of all the
varied phenomena in the creation.
"Just as the twenty‑two letters yield two hundred and thirty‑one types by combining Aleph with
all the letters, and all the letters with Alph; Beth, with all the letters, and all the letters with Beth,
so all the formations and all that is spoken proceed from one name."
Accordingly, the material form of the spirit, represented by the twenty‑two letters of the alphabet, is
the form of all existing beings. Apart from the three dominions, the macrocosm, time, and microcosm,
it is only the Infinite who can be perceived, and of whom this triad testifies; for which reason it is
denominated "the three true witnesses."
Each of this triad, notwithstanding its multifariousness, constitutes a system, having its own center and
dominion. Just as God is the center of the universe, the heavenly dragon is the center of the
macrocosm; the foundation of the year is the revolution of the Zodiac; whilst the center of the
microcosm is the heart.
The first is like a king on his throne, the second is like a king living among his subjects, and the third
is like a king in war. The reason why the heart of man is like a monarch in the midst of war is, that the
twelve principal organs of the human body,
"are arrayed against each other in battle array; three serve love, three hatred, three engender
life, and three death. The three engendering love are the heart, the ears and the mouth; the
three for enmity are the liver, the gall and the tongue; but God, the faithful King, rules over
all the three systems. One [god] is over the three, the three are over the seven, the seven
over the twelve, and all are internally connected with each other."
Thus the whole creation is one connected whole; it is like a pyramid pointed at the top, which was its
beginning, and exceedingly broad in its basis, which is its fullest development in all its multitudinous
component parts. Throughout the whole are perceptible two opposites, with a reconciling medium.
In the macrocosm,
"the ethereal fire is above, the water below, and the air is between these hostile elements
to reconcile them."
The same is the case in the heaven, earth and the atmosphere, as well as in the microcosm. But all the
opposites in the cosmic, telluric and organic spheres, as well as in the moral world, are designed to
balance each other.
"God has placed in all things one to oppose the other; good to oppose evil, good proceeding
from good, and evil from evil; good purifies evil, and evil purifies good; good is in store
for the good, and evil is reserved for the evil."
From this analysis of its contents it will be seen that the Book Jetzira, which the Kabbalists claim as
their oldest document, has really nothing in common with the cardinal doctrines of the Kabbalah.
There is not a single word in it bearing on the En Soph, the Archetypal Man, the speculations about
the being and nature of the Deity, and the Sephiroth, which constitute the essence of the Kabbalah.
Even its treatment of the ten digits, as part of the thirty‑two ways of wisdom whereby God created the
universe, which has undoubtedly suggested to the authors of the Kabbalah the idea of the ten Sephiroth,
is quite different from the mode in which the Kabbalistic Sephiroth are depicted, as may be seen from
a most cursory comparison of the respective diagrams which we have given to illustrate the plans of
the two systems.
Besides the language of the Book Jetzira and the train of ideas therein enunciated, as the erudite Zunz
rightly remarks, shew that this treatise belongs to the Geonim period, about the ninth century of the
Christian era, when it first became known.
The fabrication of this pseudograph was evidently suggested by the fact that the Talmud mentions some
treatises on the Creation, denominated and which R. Chanina and R. Oshaja studied every Friday,
whereby they produced a calf three years old and ate it; and whereby R. Joshua ben Chananja declared
he could take fruit and instantly produce the trees which belong to them.
Indeed Dr. Chwolson of Petersburg has shown in his treatise "on the Remnants of the ancient
Babylonian Literature in Arabic translations," that the ancient Babylonians laid it down as a maxim
that if a man were minutely and carefully to observe the process of nature, he would be able to imitate
nature and produce sundry creatures. He would not only be able to create plants and metals, but even
living beings. These artificial productions the Babylonians call productions or formations. Gutami,
the author of the Agricultura Nabat, who lived about 1400 B.C. devoted a long chapter to the doctrine
of artificial productions. The ancient sorcerer Ankebuta declares, in his work on artificial
productions, that he created a man, and shows how he did it; but he confesses that the human being was
without language and reason, that he could not eat, but simply opened and closed his eyes.
This and many other fragments adds R, from whose communication we quote, show that there were
many works in Babylon which treated on the artificial productions of plants, metals, and living beings,
and that the Book Jetzira, mentioned in the Talmud, was most probably such a Babylonian document.
As the document on creation, mentioned in the Talmud, was lost in the course of time, the author of
the Treatise which we have analyzed tried to supply the loss, and hence not only called his production
by the ancient name the Book of Creation, but ascribed it to the patriarch Abraham. The perusal,
however, of a single page of this book will convince any impartial reader that it has as little in
common with the magic work mentioned in the Talmud or with the ancient Babylonian works which
treat of human creations, as with the speculations about the being and nature of the Deity, the En Soph
and the Sephiroth, which are the essence of the Kabbalah.
For those who would like to prosecute the study of the metaphysical Book Jetzira, we must mention
that this Treatise was first published in a Latin translation by Postellus, Paris, 1552. It was then
published in the original with five commentaries, viz., the spurious one of Saadia Gaon, one by Moses
Nachmanides, one by Eleazer Worms, one by Abraham b. David, and one by Moses Botarel. Mantua,
1565. Another Latin version is given in Jo. Pistorii artis cabalistical semptorum, 1587, Tom. 1, p. 869
seq., which is ascribed to Reuchlin and Paul Ricci; and a third Latin translation, with notes and the
Hebrew text, was published by Rittangel, Amsterdam, 1662. The Book is also published with a
German translation and notes, by John Freidrich v. Meyer, Leipzig, 1830. As useful helps to the
understanding of this difficult Book we may mention The Kusari of R. Jehudah ha‑levi, with Cassel's
German version and learned annotations, part iv. chap 25, p. 344, etc. Having shown that the Book
Jetzira, claimed by the Kabbalists as their first and oldest code of doctrines, has no affinity with the
real tenets of the Kabbalah, we have now to examine:
THE SOHAR
2). The Book Sohar.
Before we enter into an examination concerning the date and authorship of this renowned code of the
Kabbalistic doctrines, it will be necessary to describe the component parts of the Sohar.
It seems that the proper Sohar, which is a commentary on the five Books of Moses, according tot he
division into Sabbatic sections, was originally called the Midrash or Exposition, Let there be Light,
from the words in Genesis i, 4; because the real Midrash begins with the exposition of this verse. The
name Sohar, Light Splendour, was given to it afterwards, either because this document begins with
the theme light, or because the word Sohar frequently occurs on the first page.
It is referred to by the name of the Book Sohar in the component parts of the treatise itself. The
Sohar is also called Midrash of R. Simon b. Jochai, because this Rabbi is its reputed author.
The Sohar was first published by the Padova and Jacob b. Naphtali, 3 vols. Mautna, 1558‑1560, with
an Introduction by Is. de Lattes. Interspersed throughout the Sohar, either as parts of the text with
special titles, or in separate columns with distinct superscriptions, are the following dissertations,
which we detail according to the order of the pages on which they respectively commence.
1). Tosephta and Mathanithan and, or Small Additional Pieces which are given in vol. i, 31b; 32b;
37a; 51b; 59a; 60b; 62; 98b; 121a; 122, 123b; 147; 151a; 152a; 232; 233b; 234a; vol. ii, 4, 27b; 28a;
68b; 135b; vol. iii, 29b; 30a; 54b; 55.
They briefly discuss, by way of supplement, the various topics of the Kabbalah, such as the Sephiroth,
the emanation of the primordial light, etc., and address themselves in apostrophes to the initiated in
these mysteries, calling their attention to some doctrine or explanation.
2). Hechaloth or The Mansions and Abodes forming part of the text vol. i, 38a‑45b; vol. ii,
245a‑269a.
This portion of the Sohar describes the topographical structure of Paradise and Hell. The mansions
or palaces, which are seven in number, were at first the habitation of the earthly Adam, but, after the
fall of the protoplasts, were rearranged to be the abode of the beautified saints, who for this reason
have the enjoyment both of this world and the world to come. The seven words in Genesis i, 2 are
explained to describe these seven mansions. Sohar, i, 45a, describes the seven Hells. In some
Codices, however, this description of the Infernal Regions is given vol. ii, 202b.
3). Sithre Tora, or The Mysteries of the Pentateuch, given in separate columns, and at the bottom
of pages as follows. Vol. i, 74b; 75a; 76b‑77a; 78a‑81b; 97a‑102a; 107b‑111a; 146b‑149b; 151a;
152b; 154b‑ 157b; 161b‑162b; 165; vol. ii, 146a.
It discusses the divers topics of the Kabbalah, such as the evolution of the Sephiroth, the emanation
of the primordial light, etc.
4). Midrash Ha‑Neelam, or The Hidden Midrash, occupies parallel columns with the text in vol.
i, 97a‑140a, and endeavors more to explain passages of Scripture mystically, by way of Remasim and
Gematrias, and allegorically, than to propound the doctrines of the Kabbalah.
Thus Abraham's prayer for Sodom and Gomorrah is explained as an intercession by the congregated
souls of the saints in behalf of the sinners about to be punished. (Sohar i, 104b). Lot's two daughters
are the two proclivities in man, good and evil. (ibid. 110). Besides this mystical interpretation
wherein the Kabbalistic rules of exegesis are largely applied, the distinguishing feature of this portion
of the Sohar is its discussion on the properties and destiny of the soul, which constitute an essential
doctrine of the Kabbalah.
5). Raja Mehemna, or the Faithful Shepherd. This portion of the Sohar is given in the second and
third volumes, in parallel columns with the text; and when it is too disproportioned for columns, is
given at the bottom or in separate pages, as follows. Vol. ii, 25; 40; 59b; 91b‑93a; 134b; 157b‑159a;
187b‑188a; vol. iii, 3a‑4b; 20a; 24b; 27; 28a‑29a; 33a‑34a; 42a; 44a; 63; 67b‑68a; 81b‑83b; 85b‑86a;
88b‑90a; 92b‑93a; 97a‑101a; 103b‑104a; 108b‑111b; 21b‑126a; 145a‑146b; 152b‑153b; 174a‑175a;
178b‑179b; 180a; 215a‑ 239a; 242a‑258a; 263a‑264a; 270b‑283a.
It derives its name from the fact that it records the discussions which Moses the Faithful Shepherd held
in conference with the prophet Elias, and with R. Simon b. Jochai, the celebrated master of the
Kabbalistic school, who is called the Sacred Light.
The chief object of this portion is to show the profound and allegorical import of the Mosaic
commandments and prohibitions, as well as of the Rabbinic injunctions and religious practices which
obtained in the course of time. At the dialogue which Moses the lawgiver holds with R. Simon b.
Jochai the Kabbalistic lawgiver, not only is the prophet Elias present, but Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Aaron, David, Solomon, and God himself make their appearance; THE DISCIPLES OF R. SIMON
ARE FREQUENTLY IN ECSTASIES WHEN THEY HOLD CONVERSE WITH THESE
ILLUSTRIOUS PATRIARCHS AND KINGS OF BYGONE DAYS.
6). Raze Derazin, or the Secret of Secrets, Original Secrets, is given in vol. ii, 70a‑75a.
And is especially devoted to the physiognomy of the Kabbalah, and the connection of the soul with the
body, based upon the advice of Jethro to his son‑in‑law Moses "and thou shalt look into the face."
7). Saba Demishpatim, or the Discourse of the Aged in Mishpatim, given in vol. ii, 94a‑114a
The Aged is the prophet Elias, who holds converse with R. Simon b. Jochai about the doctrine of
metempsychosis, and the discussion is attached to the Sabbatic section called, Exod. xxi, 1 ‑ xxiv, 18,
because the Kabbalah takes this word to signify punishments of souls, and finds its psychology in this
section. So enraptured were the disciples when their master, the Sacred Light, discoursed with Moses
on this subject, that they knew not whether it was day or night, or whether they were in the body or out
of the body.
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ. And no marvel; FOR SATAN HIMSELF IS TRANSFORMED INTO AN
ANGEL OF LIGHT. Therefore it is no great thing if HIS ministers also be transformed
as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."
8). Siphra Detzniutha, or the Book of Secrets or Mysteries, given in vol. ii, 176b‑178b.
It is divided into five sections, and is chiefly occupied with the discussing the questions involved in
the creation, the transition from the infinite to the finite, from absolute unity to multifariousness, from
pure intelligence to matter, the double principle of masculine and feminine, expressed in the
Tetragrammaton, the andrgynous protoplast, the Demonology concealed in the letters of Scripture, as
seen in Genesis vi, 2; Joshua ii, 1; 1 Kings viii, 3‑16; the mysteries contained in Isaiah i, 4, and the
doctrine of the Sephiroth concealed in Genesis i; etc., as well as with showing the import of the letters
composing the Tetragrammation which were the principal agents in the creation. This portion of the
Sohar has been translated into Latin by Rosenroth in the second volume of his Kabbala Denudata,
Frankfort‑on‑the‑Maine, 1684.
9). Idra Rabba, or the Great Assembly is given in vol. iii, 127b‑145b.
And derives its name from the fact that it purports to give the discourses which R. Simon b. Jochai
delivered to his disciples who congregated around him in large numbers. Upon the summons of the
Sacred Light, his disciples assembled to listen to the secrets and enigmas contained in the Book of
Mysteries. HENCE IT IS CHIEFLY OCCUPIED WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE FORM
AND VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE DEITY, A DISQUISITION ON THE RELATION OF
THE DEITY, IN HIS TWO ASPECTS OF THE AGED AND THE YOUNG, TO THE
CREATION AND THE UNIVERSE, as well as on the diverse gigantic members of the Deity, such
as the head, the beard, the eyes, the nose, etc.; a dissertation on pneumatology, demonology, etc. it
concludes with telling us that three of the disciples died during these discussions. This portion too is
given in a Latin translation in the second volume of Rosenroth's Kabbala Denudata.
10). Januka, or the Discourse of the Young Man, is given in vol. iii, 186a‑190a, and forms part of
the text of the Sohar on the Sabbatic section called Balak, Numbers xxii, 2‑xxv, 9.
It derives its name from the fact that the discourses therein recorded were delivered by a young man,
under the following circumstances: R. Isaac and R. Jehudah, two of R. Simon b. Jochai's disciples,
when on a journey, and passing through the village where the widow of R. Hamnuna Saba resided,
visited this venerable woman. She asked her son, the young hero of this discourse, who had just
returned from school, to go to these two Rabbins to receive their benediction; but the youth would not
approach them because he recognized, from the smell of their garments, that they had omitted reciting
on that day the prescribed declaration about the unity of the Deity.
When at meals this wonderful Januka gave them sundry discourses on the mysterious import of the
washing of hands, based on Exodus xxx, 20, on the grace recited at meals, on the Shechinah, on the
angel who redeemed Jacob, etc., which elicited the declaration from the Rabbins that "this youth
is not the child of human parents;" and when hearing all this, R. Simon b. Jochai coincided in the
opinion, that "this youth is of superhuman origin."
11). Idra Suta or the Small Assembly, is given in vol. iii, 287b‑296b.
And derives its name from the fact that many of the disciples of R. Simon b. Jochai had died during
the course of these Kabbalistic revelations, and that this portion of the Sohar contains the discourses
which the Sacred Light delivered before his death to the small assembly of six pupils, who still
survived and congregated to listen to the profound mysteries. It is to a great extent a recapitulation of
the Idra Rabba, occupying itself with speculations about the Sephiroth, THE DEITY IN HIS THREE
ASPECTS, or principles which successively developed themselves from each other, viz., the en
Soph, or the boundless in his absolute nature, the Macroprosopon, or the Boundless as manifested in
the first emanation, and the Microprosopon, the other nine emanations; the abortive creations, etc., and
concludes with recording the death of Simon b. Jochai, the Sacred Light and the medium through whom
God revealed the contents of the Sohar.
From this brief analysis of its component parts and contents, it will be seen that the Sohar does not
propound a regular kabbalistic system, but promiscuously and reiteratedly dilates upon the diverse
doctrines of this theosophy, as indicated in the forms and ornaments of the Hebrew alphabet, in the
vowel points and accents, in the Divine names and the letters of which they are composed. Hence the
Sohar is more a collection of homilies or rhapsodies on Kabbalistic subjects than treatises on the
Cabala. It is for this very reason that it became the treasury of the Kabbalah to the followers of this
theosophy. Its diversity became its charm. The long conversations between its reputed author, R.
Simon b. Jochai, and Moses, the great lawgiver and true shepherd, which it records; the short and
pathetic prayers inserted therein; the religious anecdotes; the attractive spiritual explanations of
scripture passages, appealing to the hearts and wants of men; the description of the Deity and of the
Sephiroth under tender forms of human relationships, comprehensible to the finite mind, such as father,
mother, primeval man, matron, bride, white head, the great and small face, the luminous mirror, the
higher heaven, the higher earth, etc., which it gives on every page, made the sohar a welcome textbook
for the students of the Kabbalah, who, by its vivid descriptions of divine love, could lose themselves
in rapturous embraces with the Deity.
The Sohar pretends to be a revelation from God, communicated through R. Simon b. Jochai, who
flourished about A.D. 70‑110, to his select disciples. We are told that
"when they assembled to compose the Sohar, permission was granted to the prophet Elias,
to all the members of the celestial college, to all angels, spirits, and superior souls, to assist
them; and the ten spiritual substances were charged to disclose to them their profound
mysteries, which were reserved for the days of the Messiah."
On the approach of death, R. Simon b. Jochai assembled the small number of his disciples and friends,
amongst whom was his son, R. Eleazar, to communicate to them his last doctrines,
"when he ordered as follows R. Aba writes, R. Eleazar, my son propound, and let my other
associates quietly think about it."
It is upon the strength of these declarations, as well as upon the repeated representation of R. Simon
b. Jochai as speaking and teaching throughout this production, that the Sohar is ascribed to this Rabbi
on its very title‑page, and that not only Jews, for centuries, but such distinguished Christian scholars
as Lightfoot, Gill, Bartolocci, Pfeifer, Knorr von Rosenroth, Molitor, etc., have maintained this
opinion.
A careful examination, however, of the following internal and external evidence will show that this
Thesaurus of the Kabbalah is the production of the thirteenth century.
1). The Sohar most fulsomely praises its own author, calls him the Sacred Light, and exalt him
above Moses, "the true Shepherd."
"I testify by the sacred heavens and the sacred earth that I now see what no son of man has
seen since Moses ascended the second time on Mount Sinai, for I see my face shining as
brilliantly as the light of the sun when it descends as a healing for the world; as it is
written, 'to you who fear my name shall shine the Sun of Righteousness with a healing in
his wings.' Yea, more, I know that my face is shining, but Moses did not know it nor
understand it; for it is written, 'Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone.'"
The disciples deify R. Simon in the Sohar, declaring that the verse, "all thy males shall appear before
the Lord God" refers to R. Simon b. Jochai, who is the Lord, and before whom all men must
appear.
2). The sohar quotes and mystically explains the Hebrew vowel points, which were introduced for
the first time by R. Mocha of Palestine, A.D. 570, to facilitate the reading of the Scriptures for his
students.
3). The sohar Faithful Shepherd, (on section iii, 82b), has literally borrowed two verses from the
celebrated Hymn of Ibn Gebiro, who was born about A.D. 1021 and died in 1070. This Hymn which
is entitled The Royal Diadem, is a beautiful and pathetic composition, embodying the cosmic views
of Aristotle, and forms part of the Jewish service for the evening preceding the Great Day of
Atonement to the present day.
4). The Sohar (i, 18b, 23a) quotes and explains the interchange, on the outside of the Mezuza, of
the words Jehovah our God is Jehovah for Kuzu Bemuchzaz Kuzu, by substituting for each letter its
immediate predecessor in the alphabet, which was transplanted from France into Spain in the
thirteenth century.
5). The Sohar (iii, 232b) uses the expression Esnoga, which is a Portuguese corruption of
synagogue, and explains it in a Kabbalistic manner as a compound of two Hebrew words, Es == and
Noga == brilliant light.
6). The Sohar ii, 32a. mentions the Crusades, the momentary taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders
from the Infidels, and the retaking of it by the Saracens.
"Woe to the time wherein Ishmael [see how the Jews lie again and again ‑ it was
Abraham who received the commandment to circumcise his male children ‑ not Ishmael!] saw
the world, and received the sign of circumcision!
What did the Holy One, blessed be his name? He excluded the descendants of Ishmael,
the Mohommedans, from the congregation in heaven, but gave them a portion on earth in
the Holy Land, because of the sign of the covenant which they possess. The Mahommedans
are, therefore, destined to rule for a time over the Holy Land; and they will prevent the
Israelites from returning to it, till the merit of the Mahommedans is accomplished. At that
time the descendants of Ishmael will be the occasion of terrible wars in the world, and the
children of Edom, the Christians [Here again they lie and say Christians are Edomites, when
the Scriptures along with the Jews own writings show it is the Jews who are the Edomites not
the Christians], will gather together against them and do battle with them, some at sea and
some on land, and some in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, and the victory will now be on
the one side and then on the other, but the Holy Land will not remain in the hands of the
Christians."
7). The Sohar records events which transpired A.D. 1264.
Thus on Numbers xxiv, 17, which the Sohar explains as referring to the time preceding the advent of
Messiah, it remarks,
"the Holy One, blessed be he, is prepared to rebuild Jerusalem. Previous to the rebuilding
thereof he will cause to appear, a wonderful and splendid star, which will shine seventy
days. It will first be seen on Friday, Elul == July 25th, and disappear on Saturday or Friday
evening at the end of seventy days. On the day preceding [its disappearance, October 2nd]
when it will still be seen in the city of Rome, on that self‑same day three high walls of that
city of Rome and the great palace will fall, and the pontiff ruler of the city will die."
The comet here spoken of appeared over Rome, July 25th, 1264, and was visible till October 2nd,
which are literally the seventy days mentioned in the Sohar. Moreover, July 25th, when the comment
first appeared actually happened on a Friday; on the day of its disappearance, October 2nd, the
sovereign pontiff of Rome, Urban IV, died at Perugia, when it was believed the appearance of the
comment was the omen of his death, and the great and strong palace Vincimento, fell on the self‑same
day, October 2nd, into the hand of the insurrectionists.
8). The Sohar, in assigning a reason why its contents were not revealed before, says that the "time
in which R. Simon ben Jochai lived was peculiarly worthy and glorious, and that it is near the
advent of the Messiah," for which cause this revelation was reserved till the days of R. Simon, to be
communicated through him.
Yet, speaking elsewhere of the advent of the Messiah, the Sohar, instead of placing it in the second
century when this Rabbi lived, forgets itself and says: "When the sixtieth or the sixty‑sixth year shall
have passed over the threshold of the sixth millennium [A.M. 5060‑66 == A.D. 1300‑1306] the
Messiah will appear;" thus showing that the author lived in the thirteenth century of the Christian
era. In perfect harmony with this is the fact that:
9). The doctrine of the En Soph, and the Sephiroth, as well as the metempsychosisian retribution
were not known before the thirteenth century...
"With the assistance of this mysterious science a man could master all the spirits that flit
like shadows through the universe: could obtain the services of the angels, perform the
most astounding deeds. Such was the meaning attached to this science and the awe which
the Kabbalist inspired was far superior to that which the wizard or magician inspired. For
the Kabbalist owed his power to the knowledge which was vouchsafed to him through the
study of sacred writings, whilst the wizard or magician was suspected of some unholy
compact with the Master of Darkness. This at once shows that even in the darkest ages of
superstition and blind belief, Kabbala was never associated with evil purposes, nor the
Kabbalist with some mysterious dark power. He was credited with having penetrated the
mysteries of this world by almost a special grace of God; through some holy agency the
veil that covers everything had been lifted for him."
The line drawn here between the white Kabbalist and the black magician is as arbitrary as all
attempted classifications of magic under rubrics are doomed to be; white and black are continually
mingling and fertilizing each other; and the ineffable names of the Kabbala were used and misused by
the magical confraternity quite as profusely as those of the divinities of Egypt, Greece and
Christendom.
The holier the names, the more powerful they were supposed to be; and even the divine appellations
of the Kabbalistic Sephiroth did not escape magical pollution. This fundamental doctrine of the
emanations of God from Ain (En) Soph (the Illimitable One) through Kether, the Crown; Binah,
Understanding; Chokmah, Wisdom; Geburah, Strength; Chesed, Pity; Hod, Greatness; Netzach,
Victory; Jesod, Foundation; Malkuth, Kingdom, supplied Jewish mystics with food for enraptured
contemplation and their philosophers with matter for abstruse speculations. But it also ministered to
the insatiable demand for names of power inherent in the very nature of magic.
By connecting a particular name for God with each of His emanations (JAH, JEHOVAH, EL,
ELOHIM, JEHOD, ELOHA, SABAOTH, SHADAI, ADONAI), it delivered these sacred symbols into
the hands of sorcerers; and most eagerly of course was grasped the one about which there seemed to
be the most mystery.
A great and almost impenetrable mystery had indeed gradually grown up round the name which there
seemed to be the most mystery. A great and almost impenetrable mystery had indeed gradually grown
up round the name which to us seems the most familiar of all, even though its pronunciation has shifted
in our own day: Jehovah or Jahweh. Represented by the letters JHVH (Yod He Vau He), it seems at
first to have been openly spoken.
But a time came when, possibly owing to the mystery‑mongering about divine names in Egypt and
Babylonia, the Hebrew priests refrained from pronouncing it, and substituted Adonai (Lord) when they
read the sacred texts out loud.
The Jewish people followed their lead; and, because of the absence of vowels from the Hebrew
alphabet, the original pronunciation was finally forgotten and not rediscovered until A.D. 300 or there
abouts.
It was the Kabbalists who emphasized the mystery surrounding the letters JHVH by referring to the
name they represented as the 'word of four letters,' Tetragrammation, and this caught on like wild‑fire
in the magical texts. Few indeed and far between are those modern rituals in which that awe‑inspiring
name does not occupy the place of honor.
It is not one of the many bizarre appellations to be found in the Sword of Moses, which may have been
pre‑Kabbalistic in origin; but this text nevertheless illustrates particularly vividly the strange hold
which cipher‑language has always had over the Jewish mind, and which has rendered the obscurity
and complexity of magical names still more hopeless to disentangle.
There are well over a hundred and forty divine or angelic ineffable names in this treatise; but the
majority, according to Gaster, defy transliteration.
The following passages, however, throw some light on the mental gymnastics involved in composing
them:
"...and these are the Ineffable names and their surnames: Spirit Piskonnit, kunya, X;
Atimon, kunya, X; Piskon (?), Hugron, kunya, X; Sanigron, kunya, X; Msi, Kunya, X;
Mokon, kunya, X; Astm, kunya, X; Sktm, kunya, X; Ihoaiel, kunya, X; Iofiel, kunya, X;
Ssnialiah, kunya, X; Kngiela, kunya, X; Zabdiel, kunya, X. I conjure thee with these
fourteen names, by which all the secrets and mysteries and signs are sealed and
accomplished, and which are the foundations of heaven and earth. (Kunya is the surname;
X stands for names which have not been transliterated).
I further call thee with the greatest of thy Names, the pleasant and beloved one, which
is the same as that of thy Master, save one letter, with which He created and formed
everything, and which He placed as a seal upon all the work of His hand; and this is its
equivalent ‑‑ X, and the other in the language of purity (permutations of the letters Yod, He)
is read so ‑‑ X. I conjure thee with the right hand of sanctity and with His beloved Name,
in whose honor everything has been created, and all are terrorstruck by His mighty arm, and
all the sons of the internal heavenly cohort tremble and shake of His fear, which is X, and
its equivalent by means of JHVH is X...in the name X, Lord, most high and holy, in the
name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel's battalions; in the name of the holy living
Creatures, and in the name of the Wheels of the Chariot, and in the name of the river of
fire, Ih, Ziin, and all His ministers, and in the name of IH, Ziin, Sabaoth, Z, El Z, Shaddai
Z, X revealed Himself on Mount Sinai in the glory of His majesty."
These names were held to be omnipotent over both good spirits and evil ones; and to be exceedingly
terrible:
"And if you should refuse me, I will hand you over to the Lord God and to his Ineffable
name, whose wrath and anger and fire are kindled, who honors his creatures with one letter
of his name, and is called X; so that if you refuse he will destroy you, and you will not be
found when searched after." "With these Names, terrible and mighty, which darken the
sun, and obscure the moon, and turn the sea, and break the rocks, and extinguished the light
I conjure you, spirits, and...Shiddim, and Satanism, that you depart and disappear from N,
son of N."
The affiliations between Kabbalism and Gnosticism are notoriously very close, for indeed the Gnosis
not only derived from but also entered into every contemporary doctrine and religious or mystical
system. As regards the Ineffable Name, it out‑clamored (as was its custom) even the Kabbala:
"If anyone knows that Name when he goes out of the material body, neither smoke nor
darkness, neither Archon, angel, or archangel, would be able to hurt the soul which knows
that Name. And if it be spoken by anyone going out from the world and said to the fire, it
will be extinguished; and to the darkness, it will disappear; and if it be said to the demons
and to the satellites of the external darkness, to its Archons, and to its lords and powers,
they will all perish, and their flame will burn them so that they exclaim: 'Thou are holy,
Thou art holy, the Holy of all the Holy.' And if that Name is said to the judges of the
wicked, and to their lords and all their powers, and to Barbelo and the invisible God, and
to the three Gods of triple power, as soon as that Name is uttered in those regions they will
fall one upon the other, so that being destroyed they perish and exclaim: 'Light of all the
Lights, who art in the infinite lights, have mercy upon us and purify us.' Magicians did
rather more than borrow ineffable names from the Kabbala. The Zohar first became known
in Europe in the thirteenth century, when a poor Jew, Moses Leon, brought it to Spain.
From then onwards Kabbalism has never ceased to exert an incalculable influence upon
occultists of every description. The Kabbalistic tree, which give the Sephiroth in a tabular
form, and the doctrine that the invisible can be known by analogy from the visible ('as
below, so above') have led to abysmally abstruse speculations, to the most extravagant
flights of fancy and to the most fine‑ spun theories; for the obscurity of the language of
Zohar as well as the pantheism underlying the doctrine of the emanations have had an
almost intoxicating effect on the minds of mystics, mystagogues and magicians, as the
language of Eliphas Lèvi, who was a combination of all three, amply testifies: 'On
penetrating into the sanctuary of the Kabbalah one is seized with admiration in the presence
of a doctrine so logical, so simple and at the same time so absolute. The essential union of
ideas and signs; the consecration of the most fundamental realities by primitive characters;
the trinity of words, letters and numbers; a philosophy simple as the alphabet, profound and
infinite as the Word; theorems more complete and luminous than those of Pythagoras; a
theology which may be summed up on the fingers; an infinite which can be held in the
hollow of an infant's hand; ten figures and twenty‑two letters, a triangle, a square and a
circle: such are the elements of the Kabbalah. Such also are the component principles of
the written Word, reflection of that spoken Word which created the world! All truly
dogmatic religions have issued from the Kabbalah and return therein.
Whatsoever is grand or scientific in the religious dreams of the illuminated, of Jacob
Böhme, Swedenborg, Saint‑Martin and the rest, is borrowed from the Kabbalah; ALL
MASONIC ASSOCIATIONS OWE TO IT [Kabbala or Cabbala] THEIR SECRETS
AND THEIR SYMBOLS. The Kabbalah alone consecrates the alliance of universal reason
and the Divine Word; it establishes, by the counterpoise of two forces in apparent
opposition, the eternal balance of being; it alone reconciles reason with faith, power with
liberty, science with mystery: it has the keys of the present, past and future!"
The hoary (though mythical) antiquity of the Kabbala, fathered on the fallen angels and also on Moses,
was another reason which recommended it to magicians; for magic, always conscious of a remote and
glorious golden age, seeks in the distant past and its memorials for the secrets of knowledge, wisdom
and power.
This is why magical rituals have been ascribed, from time immemorial, to sages as far removed in
time as was compatible with the survival of their memory. In the fifteenth century books of magical
secrets and ritual processes were attributed to Adam, Abel, Noah, Joseph, Moses, Solomon, Reuben,
Enoch, Zoroaster, Hermes Trismegistus, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Virgil and Mahomet, to
mention only the most outstanding and popular. This custom has persisted until today, and moved
Waite to scholarly but uncritical wrath:
"Back‑dating and imputed authorship are the two crying sins of magical hand‑books...
There never was a literature so founded on forgery as Magic...Knavish methods...have ruled
the manufacture of most magical books...A literature which has done nothing but ascribe
falsely..."
These false assumptions and antedatings, if they are symptoms of the fundamental delusiveness of
magic, also witness to its reverence for age, authority and tradition. The individual claims are invalid;
but the antiquity of magic and its supremacy in ancient times are matters of historical fact.
Venerable indeed as well as many and diverse were the strands woven into the rope with which
medieval and modern magicians hoped to draw into their sphere the unknown powers around them;
deities and demons from Babylon, Egypt, Persia, Palestine and Greece; magic names spoken in the
dawn of time in languages now dead and gone; others taken from a ghost‑speech which had never
exited in reality; ritual processes enacted through countless ages and fixed in high perfection before
the birth of Christ; pagan practices; Eastern mysticism; Hebrew folk‑lore; Christian theology;
apocalyptic angelology and demonology; Kabbalistic symbolism; neo‑Platonic philosophy.
All this (not to mention the considerable part played by astrology in the rituals of magic nor the
presence of ritual elements in the experiments of alchemy) was assimilated well or ill, partially or
totally misunderstood, mangled, mutilated, corrupted, but still there in the quasi‑modern rituals which
have found their way into print.
Superficially considered, these appear to be a mass of unintelligible nonsense which it would be a
waste of time to examine closely. But a patient scrutiny reveals much of great interest buried
underneath the rubbish on the top. A philosophy underlies the rituals; and beneath these mounds of
folly are remnants of ancient civilizations.
SATANISM
In the records of antiquity the result and not the origin meets the gaze; but the relationship of cause and
effect seems undeniable. The necromantic scene in the Epic of Gilgamish undoubtedly gives the
impression of being based on ritual ceremonies (notably burial rites) witnessed by the poet, and so
does the raising of Darius in The Persians; whereas Homer's description deems rather to have been
inspired by legend or hearsay.
The love‑charms in Virgil's Pharmaceutria were deliberately chosen for their poetical quality, and
Lucan's hair‑raising account of the rites of Erichtho illustrates the propensity of ritual to produce
fiction, consummated in Apuleius' Golden Ass.
A less conscious and more organic development can be traced in the influence of the katabasis on the
descent of Aeneas into the Underworld in the wake of many an actor‑hero in kingship and
fertility‑rites; and Dante's Divine Comedy is a poet's vision and interpretation of the journey through
the nether and upper regions constantly undertaken by magicians in legend because they had done so
in the rites.
These two examples show the creative energy in ceremonial magic transformed into peerless poetry;
but the question still remains as to whether any comparable process has occurred in more recent times.
Shakespeare's Ariel and Milton's Azael derive from magical texts and it is just possible that the
demonologies which were such a marked feature of these manuals from The Testament of Solomon
downwards contributed the notion of a pandemonium to Milton, who crystallized the floating
conceptions generated by the rituals into a superb pageantry of evil.
But this is speculation and does not admit of proof. One is on firmer ground with the Greek magical
papyri which show spontaneous development into poetry in many of the texts, a process also visible
in some of Anti‑Scot's rituals, in which magic for magic's sake lords it over practical considerations,
and poetry is achieved.
This however is in the framework of the ceremony itself, as are also the epic elements discernible in
The Testament of Solomon, which elaborated the legend of the demons building of the Temple and
contributed some items to it, verging on the territory of folk‑lore. The introductions to the Key of
Solomon also used and added something to the mythical matter about the wise king, and the first part
of the Lemegeton could be described as an amplification and elaboration of the legend of the brazen
vessel.
'Fosts's Magi has epic streaks in it also; the planetary spirits as well as the presumed author and
Mephisto give autogiographical details, which are also present in the Black Raven; while the pygmies
in Magia and Luridan in Anti‑Scot show affiliations with folk‑lore. In all these case the rituals owe
far more to legend than they add to it, and are hardly more than signs and tokens of a persistent magical
tradition associated with certain well‑known names.
Rather less hidebound is The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage as delivered by
Abraham the Jew unto his son Lamech A.D. 1458. This mid‑fifteenth‑century text, originally written
in Hebrew and translated from French into English by Mathers, has a long autobiographical
introduction describing how the writer became possessed of the secrets communicated in the
manuscript. Having received instruction in the Kabbala from his father Simon, Abraham set out at the
age of twenty when Simon died upon a voyage of discovery into the mysteries of the Lord. He went
first to Mayence, where for ten years he sat at the feet of a Jew called Moses, only to come to the
conclusion that his arts were infidel and idolatrous, whether deriving from Egyptian, Median, Persian,
or Arabian sources. On February 13, 1397 he therefore embarked for Egypt and spent two years in
Constantinople, learning the sacred wisdom of Abramelin and copying out his secret books.
On the way home he visited the magicians in all the cities he passed through and was disillusioned or
disgusted with nearly all, notably with the wizard whom he found in Prague;
"...a wicked man named Antony, who in truth showed me wonderful and supernatural
things, but the infamous wretch avowed to me, that he had made a pact with the demon, and
had given himself over to him in body and in soul, while the deceitful Leviathan had
promised him forty years of life to do his pleasure. Unto this day they do sing in the streets
of the terrible end which befell him, for his body was found dragged through the streets and
his head without any tongue therein lying in a drain."
IF YOU SHOULD DOUBT ANY OF THIS, THEN RESEARCH THE JEWISH TALMUD FOR
YOURSELF. AND IF YOU SHOULD DO SO YOU WILL FIND EVERY WORD TRUE!
"They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man:
how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the
house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall
be free indeed. I KNOW THAT YE [Jews] ARE ABRAHAM'S SEED; but ye [Jews] seek
to kill me, BECAUSE MY WORD HATH NO PLACE IN YOU. I speak that which I have
seen with my Father: and ye do that which YE [Jews] HAVE SEEN WITH YOUR
FATHER. They answered and said unto, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, IF
YE [Jews] WERE ABRAHAM'S CHILDREN, ye would do the works of Abraham. But
now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this
did not Abraham. YE [Jews] DO THE DEEDS OF YOUR FATHER. Then said they to
him, We be not born of fornication [This is making reference to Judah and Tamar and their
twin sons Pharez and Zarah, whom the Jews believe to have been born of fornication. This
does not make reference to Christ Himself as the Jews knew nothing about Mary, His mother
being with child of the Holy Spirit until centuries later]; we have one Father, even God. Jesus
said unto them, IF GOD WERE YOUR FATHER, YE WOULD LOVE ME: for I
proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye
not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. YE [Jews] ARE OF
YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, AND THE LUSTS OF YOUR FATHER YE WILL DO.
HE WAS A MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING, AND ABODE NOT IN THE
TRUTH, BECAUSE THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM [Here Christ is saying there is no
truth in the Jews]. WHEN HE SPEAKETH A LIE, HE SPEAKETH OF HIS OWN: FOR
HE IS A LIAR, AND THE FATHER OF IT. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe
me not."
We are warned by Christ. But most of America's so‑called Christians will not, because of lying
pastors, ministers, etc., listen to His Words:
"For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."
For a second witness:
"For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."
But God will send us ministers, priests, pastors and etc., who will:
"Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people,
sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the
breasts: let the bridegroom [Christ] go forth of his chamber, and the bride [Israel] out of her
closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and
let them say, SPARE THY PEOPLE, O LORD, AND GIVE NOT THINE HERITAGE
TO REPROACH, THAT THE HEATHEN SHOULD RULE OVER THEM: WHERE
FORE SHOULD THEY SAY AMONG THE PEOPLE, WHERE IS THEIR GOD?
Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity is people."