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A.E. Waite - The Doctrine and Literature of The Kabalah
A.E. Waite - The Doctrine and Literature of The Kabalah
CO
and Doctrine of Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, Unknown Philosopher, and the Substance of his Trans
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THE
THE KABALAH
BY
MICROFORMED
PRESERVEDATE
LONDON
The Theosophical Publishing Society
1902.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE
ix.
BOOK
JEWS.
I.
INTRODUCTORY
II.
III.
14
IV.
22
BOOK
II
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE UNMANIFEST GOD THE DOCTRINE OF THE TEN EMANATION* THE DOCTRINE OF THE FOUR WORLDS THE DOCTRINE OF THE COUNTENANCES THE INSTRUMENTS OF CREATION THE PATHS OF WISDOM THE DOCTRINE OF PNEUMATOLOGY...
30
36
44
53
59 65
74
vi
(ontenl0
BOOK
III
...
89 95
II.
III.
... MODERN CRITICISM OF THE BOOK OF SPLENDOUR THE DATE AND AUTHORSHIP OF THE BOOK OF SPLEN
DOUR
IV.
V.
VI. ISLAMIC
VII.
136
144
BOOK
IV
:
152
167
II.
III.
FORMATION
..
174
BOOK V
THE WRITTEN WORD OF KABALISM SECOND PERIOD.
I.
:
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
THE BOOK OF SPLENDOUR ITS CONTENT AND THE BOOK OF CONCEALMENT THE GREATER HOLY SYNOD THE LESSER HOLY SYNOD THE DISCOURSE OF THE AGED MAN
:
DIVISIONS 187
..212
217
226
...
229
234
Contents
,
vii
PAGE
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
FAITHFUL SHEPHERD
246 256
...
...
260 270
271
(d)
(<r)
ADDITIONS
COMMENTARY ON RUTH
MANSIONS OR ABODES
SECRET OF SECRETS
DISCOURSE OF THE YOUNG
:.
273
274
276
MAN
...
277
XI.
280
BOOK
VI
:
287
MOSES OF CORDOVA
ISAAC DE LORIA
288 292
303
NAPTHALI HIRTZ
(d)
(e)
ABRAHAM COHEN
R.
IRIRA
306
307 308
II.
III.
IV.
THE BOOK OF PURIFYING FIRE THE MYSTERIES OF LOVE MINOR LITERATURE OF KABALISM
314 319
BOOK
VII
323 325
331
II.
344
viii.
Qfcntitnfo
PAGE
V. PARACELSUS VI.
VII.
349
353
... ...
...
..
...
...
357
VIII.
THE ROSICRUCIANS IX. ROBERT FLUDD X. HENRY MORE XL THOMAS VAUGHAN XII. KNORR VON ROSENROTH
RALPH CUDWORTH
364
366
370
375
380
XIII.
386
389
394
XV. SAINT-MARTIN
XVI. ELIPHAS LEVI
XVII.
XVIII.
396
Two ACADEMIC
(a)
(b)
CRITICS
...
408
414
417
421
(f) LEON MEURIN, S.J XIX. THE KABALAH AND ESOTERIC CHRISTIANITY XX. THE KABALAH AND MODERN THEOSOPHY
425
...
428 433
BOOK
VIII
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
438
449
461
KABALAH AND ASTROLOGY KABALAH AND FREEMASONRY KABALAH AND THE TAROT KABALAH AND MYSTICISM
470
..
479
483
PREFACE
FEW
to the class of students for
educated persons, and certainly none belonging which this work is more
especially designed, will require to be told that the Kabalah is a form of esoteric philosophy, that it
a high claim, or that this claim has, from time to time, been admitted by persons who are
makes
for itself
Nor
will
it
be needful
up
the Jews during the Christian centuries which succeeded their dispersal and the destruction of their
among
Holy
City.
It
scriptures of
Israel,
which are
is
direct, beautiful
and
repellent
in focus
all
as
regards
its
;
outward form.
the Kabalah
is
with humanity
distorted out of
and we
correspondence with the simple must grind our intellectual lenses with
exceeding care if we would bring it into perspective. From whatever point of view it may be
approached, the Kabalah is, however, of importance it connects with literatures which are greater than
:
itself
of the history of
part philosophy, and as such it once It is responsible, entered into the thought of Europe.
issues of history.
It
is
broadly
strange
tissue
of
made up
the magic
of the Middle Ages; at a later period it sought to transform alchemy it tinctured many of those con
;
we term
super-
x.
preface
stition generically,
in
which we know
If
them
is
we
moment
that
behind
magic, behind alchemy, behind astrology there is any mystery of secret and real knowledge, then it is
entitled to peculiar respect, because,
by the hypothesis
of
through this seemingly impassable literature that the road to the secret lies. A comprehensive account of the Kabalah, in the
its
some of
defenders,
it
is
osophy and to determine its influence and importance from more than one standpoint, is the design of the
to the limitations
present work, in which special regard has been also paid and requirements of English readers
in other words, of those
guages, dead and living, has been, with few exceptions, available heretofore.
The
exceedingly abstruse, and has been presented by some of its expositors after a highly
subject
is
technical fashion
in
assumed
in the reader,
technicalities
no knowledge have
been avoided, while the scope of the enterprise much exceeds the one or two attempts mostly in foreign tongues which have been made to simplify the study
of the Kabalah.
taken,
in
It is
first
the
;
instance, for
I
my own
in
personal
to
requirements
and
must add,
fairness
my
readers and in gratitude to early labourers in this obscure field of research, that the abounding diffi
culties
of the
originals
have
been simplified by recourse to the vast storehouses of Rabbinical lore entombed for some centuries in such
Latin collections as
those of
Buxtorf,
Bartolocci,
JkeCace
Pistorius
xi.
and Rosenroth
with Jewish esoteric tradition are, indeed, to be found These and other resources have been in these.
strengthened subsequently by a considerable range of
among modern writers in England, France and Germany who, directly and indirectly, have concerned themselves with the subject. The work has there
reading
fore the learner s
is
believed at the
is
same
likely
order to appreciate at their proper worth the various claims preferred on behalf of the Kabalah
by those who take it seriously at this day. It is necessary to add that it has been written by a tranalists
scendentalist and chiefly for the use of transcendentin offering materials for their judgment, it also
;
and seeks
to enforce
some of
them.
has been preceded in England by only two books dealing directly with the subject one is the
It
;
slight but not inconsiderable essay of Dr. Ginsburg,* which is critical rather than descriptive, and is, on the
whole, hostile in
long out of
Unveiled"!
is
It has been, moreover, tendency. Kabbalah The other is the print. of Mr. S. L. MacGregor Mathers, which
its
"
and commentary, and, in largely translation addition to other limitations, embraces therefore only
*
"The Kabbalah."
"
I5y
C.
I).
Gi.uburg.
London, 1865.
;
8vo.
the
The Kabbalah Unveiled, containing the following books of Zohar I. The Book of Concealed Mystery 2. The Greater Holy Holy Assembly, Translated into Hindi, h 3. The
f
: .:!>;
Lcs>er
from the Latin version ol Knon original Chaldee and Hebrew Text."
;
.y S.
London, 1887. 8vo. The Commentary and partly the work of ilu-
uolh, and collated with the L. MacGregor Mathers, is partly that of Rosenroth,
x.
a
small
portion
of
an extensive
literature.
The
comprehensive account purpose, and may, it is hoped, be held to occupy, not altogether unworthily, a vacant place from which
present
fulfils
distinct
there
a wide prospect, by no means deficient in importance for those who are not transcendentalists,
is
curious in paths of literature which the elder Israeli, the bias of his birthright, forebore to enter. despite The works containing the esoteric tradition of
Israel,
as distinguished
in the
:
embodied
a.
Talmud and
dependencies,
fall,
The Sepher Yetzirah, or Book of Formation." b. The Zohar, or Splendour." Connected with the Book of Formation are
" " "
"
its
among which are those of Rabbi Azariel Ben Menahem and Saadya Gaon, The treatise itself is Rabbi Abraham Ben Dior.
commentaries, foremost
five
books of Moses,* but a number of distinct treatises are connected with or embedded therein. There are also
supplements and additions which must be considered to some extent separate from the original collection.
With
the
Zohar,
furthermore,
are
connected
certain important developments and commentaries, some of which are included in the Kabbala Denudata of Rosenroth. They fall under two heads
:
i.
This at
Graetz, the
German
historian,
seems uncertain as to
It is
alternative.
correctness, but does not offer an really a theosophic medley connected with the Pen
tateuch,
preface
xiii.
its
expound
and
extend
the
These commentaries are, of course, the work of later Kabalists whose dates can be fixed with more or Such Zoharistic writings have been less certainty.
sometimes confused with the Zohar.f Some classifications of the Kabalah also include
The Sepher
or
"
Sephiroth
i.e.,
the
"
Book
"
of
Numerations,"
d.
Emanations."
treatise entitled
^sk
Metzarcph, or
Puri
fying
Fire."
Whatever
is
their authority
for
no warrant
classics
"
great
of
is
Kabalah.
the more properly set of the Sepher Yetzirah, while that of dependencies is Purifying Fire" occupies a peculiar position, as it almost without a history, and as it is perhaps the
Emanations
of
"
with only Kabalistic treatise which deals directly its authorship Its date is doubtful and alchemy.
entirely
unknown.
short but comprehensive account of
all
A
found
the
will
be
Books
IV., V.,
and VI.
an attempt at such
previously in three books contain
made
The first the English language. a historical and critical survey of the entire subject,
t Thus in the
"House
"
Kabbalah
of
Unvcik-d,"
Elohim,"
of
God,"
or
"The
and the
"Book
of
the
most
xv.
showing the philosophical system embodied in the Kabalah, the method by which it was developed, its
connections with previous theosophies, designed, like itself, to explain the fundamental mysteries of the
universe,
time
names have been connected with Kabalism. The design of this book is to exhibit a consensus of
opinion among all those authorities who are most in vogue with occultists as to what is of value in the
Jewish esoteric traditions and as to what is waste substance. On this point there has never been any
real
modern
of a
school
of
transcendentalism,
which,
devoid
proper
entire
criterion
subject
disposed to accept everything indiscriminately as part of the genuine tradition, and has thus esteemed the
apparatus
of
Gematria
and Notaricon as no
than
the
less
important
and
Zoharistic
in
summed up
Ain
through which the esoteric tradition is believed to have been perpetuated in the West and their con
nection with the channel of Kabalism.
To
of
its
historical
who may approach the work from the and bibliographical standpoint the presence leading motive and its appeal to a single class
those
of students
may
require
some explanation.
It has,
believe, been suggested that since the appearance of Dr. Ginsburg s destructive criticism there has been no
ih-cfacc
xv.
interest
among English
Kabalah.
within
Among
mere scholars
of
to
say,
research
which
has
only
there
was no
interest
which
calls
mention
at the period
it
is
subsequently to
mainly on account of Dr. Ginsburg s criticism. There has been always, or, speaking exactly, since the days of Thomas Vaughan, Cudworth and the Cambridge
Platonists, a certain class of thinkers for
whom
the
claims made by and on behalf of the Kabalah have possessed great interest and importance, and this
class
is
now much
It
larger than at
1865.
the absence of
much
it
the
is
literature
by
which
of of
is
One
obliged
to
speak
these
occult
thinkers
designation
to earnest consideration.
is
thought
here,
as
in
other
identified
in itself
deserve either ridicule or contempt it is that which believes in the perpetuation of a secret religious, or,
more
from an early
not manifestly the
period of
human
history,
and
this
is
an unwarrantable
to
draw from
Now,
xv.
the Kabalah
is
not only, as
have
philosophy of Jewry, it is not only one of the chief sources from which occult science and philosophy have drawn in the western world, but it has been
further
represented
I
to
tradition as
therefore
not merely reasonable to suppose, but it is true as a that to occultists, and to them almost exclusively, an inquiry like the present must appeal. Other
fact,
their interest
is
vital.
To
and inspiring centre of occult philosophy is to deter mine that which is of most real moment regarding it.
It
is
for
this
reason that
some other
connected questions which need reconsideration at the hands of those who hold them. If I have had in the
course of the inquiry to reduce certain illusions to
their proper place in the realm of the fantastic,
more
is
especially
if I
proper dimensions,
so
far
trust
that
shall
be
justified,
as
regards
my
intention,
From
be
is
its
by those
whom
while
it
on the
it
connects with
any
The reason is indicated by Schopenhauer, when he remarks on the astonishing unanimity of mystics in all ages, unlike in everything except those principles which constitute mysticism, and yet not holding
those principles as a sect clings to never be a sect.
its
and can
xv the course
the general inquiry I have Kabalistic endeavoured to elucidate the most curious of the soul, its origin and teachings on the subject of man, the life of the world state destiny, the primal come and the Messianic dream of Jewry. to
In
of
should add that this study is mainly concerned deal with the documents, and as such it cannot biblio It is also exhaustively with all the issues.
I
than philosophical. The exhaustive graphical rather would have to be made in study of the Kabalah
demand connection with that of comparative religion, can make no claim and I to which
ing qualifications a space for its development which would have been, wish under any circumstances, impossible. I could as the note-book of my inquiry to be regarded rather been Finally, the work has a student methodised.
performed
in
is
per
stake
haps
the
only
on
which
it
leans
towards
at
perfection.
interest
which
is
and
it
animus of extreme
hostile
unreasoned assumptions criticism, as well as from the who of those in the main non-critical believers
still
have the cause of the Kabalah at heart. I claim, and furthermore, that I have considered honestly
sympathetically those which the bias of modern scholarship
to overlook, or to dismiss
I
all
inclined
in
an intolerant
spirit.
somewhat
for
unfortunate.
press
at
The
the end of
had year following the greater part 1898, been set up and a number of the sheets machined, s. which were destroyed in a fire at the printer
and
in the
wholly
xv.
The delay which
itself,
further
through the
suspension of the publishing house by which it was to be issued. In the interval which has elapsed during the course of those fresh negotiations which
in its production under the auspices of the Theosophical Publishing Society, and during the resetting of the entire work, Dr. S. Karppe has
have resulted
les
Origines
Nature du
at
from a standpoint entirely different to my own, but is the same time a valuable contribution to our
I
note with
Karppe s study
is
designed
my
own, as
the Zohar is very fully but of the influence exercised by presented by him, that work and of its after history he has nothing to
up
to
and preceded
tell
us.
On
my own
of necessity to pass lightly over pre-Zoharic theosophy, over Saadyah, Ibn Gebirol, Judah Ha Levi, Aben Ezra, Maimonides, &c., because
me
Europe,
of
the
and
to
give
prominence
its
to
Kabalistic
subject,
and
to
influence
upon other
Among
myself
may
xx.
justified
me in me
in
Jewish character of
justified
denying that
it is
referable exclusively
;
to
of the
rapid deterioration of the Kabalah, subsequent to the appearance of the Zohar, into a thaumaturgic system
;
of the undue prominence which has been given to the commentaries on the Zohar and the false impressions of the preconception which have been the result
;
which governed the mind of most Christian students of the literature, by which they were led to regard it
as
an
;
unacknowledged
doctrine
any
also
distinctive
considerable
treatment, in the development of the Kabalistic and typically Zoharic doctrines concerning God and the
universe,
more
especially concerning
It
creation ex nihilo.
instances, nor less
Ain Soph and would be easy to multiply these easy to furnish numerous points
of divergence,
has,
I
for,
think, laid
on the other hand, Dr. Karppe too much stress on his distinction
it
I
qualified writer.
And
to
take
exception
or
is
the
expressed
Mysticism
implied not a
monotheism
and
of
many
deities for
antithesis
as the
may have
outside possibility to do
xx.
and
personally I appeal will join issue with Dr. Karpe as to all that follows from his con ception, whether it be a matter of simple definition,
students to
whom
is
science, or of historical criticism, as for example, when he observes that the doctrine of ecstacy is almost
unknown
which
the author himself abundantly, though explicitly, modifies at a later stage of his study.
this
not
To
exception may be added certain points of critical importance, to which, personally, I have only had occasion to refer in passing. The student will also
notice a tendency in certain instances to pass over questions of criticism as if there had never been
made
use of as
;
if
no
scholar had challenged its authenticity and, on the other, the late date of the Bahir is taken for granted. Criticism may not have said its last word on either
subject, but Dr.
The
have
the original intention, have been already exceeded, necessitated the omission of a number of
I will unimportant matters. mention two only certain developments of pneumatology and eschatology which are representative of
subsidiary
yet
not
:
the
doctrinal
or
systematic
:
part
let
us
say,
the
hells of
Kabalism
certain
historical consequences,
such as the mission of Sabbatai Zevi, the Neo-Pietists But in each case these omissions
BOOK
POST-CHRISTIAN LITERATURE
OF THE JEWS
ARGUMENT
historical and, within certain limits, an exegetical interest for ordinary students, but it has a living interest only for those who believe (a) That a secret religious tradition has been perpetuated from the early
;
The
literature of
ages of history, and (b) That Kabalistic literature has been one of its vehicles. Such persons are here termed occult students.
The purpose
value of the
is
to
show
that
whatever be the
second
is
(h)
imperfect investigation has placed the in a false position. The occult estimate of the Talmud
(a),
view
cited as a case in point, and the divisions of the Kabalah are distinguished to make clear the issues and to correct some other
misconceptions.
I.
INTRODUCTORY
"
princes the sacred oracles of ancient Israel upon cannot be dismissed as unimportant. From the period
of the exile
"
Jews
Jerusalem by Vespasian down even to our own times, Hebrew literature has developed in many of the chief
centres of Europe, but outside the scattered remnant of the children of the covenant it has remained largely
unknown.
B
Many
would be astonished
back as the
end of the seventeenth century there were nearly four thousand works* written in the Hebrew tongue which
were individually known and quoted by one authority on rabbinical bibliography, namely, Julius Bartolocci,
of the
Reformed Order
is
of St. Bernard, t
conceivable department of
lectual activity
human
represented in this literature,! which, in things secular as in things sacred, has the seal of the It is otherwise sanctity of Israel upon all its leaves.
an extremely curious and in some respects a profound literature, which translation has done little to make
known, which is represented incompletely enough even in the great and authoritative text-books of
Hebrew
history.
There
is
its
extent and
its difficulties
make
a formidable subject
of approach.
still
It
its
is,
awaiting mystery, of strange shrines and sanctuaries shining weirdly far away through the darkness of our
;
Columbus
ignorance with a light which might well be a reflection of the Shekinah, .,56 foreign does it seem to that which
enlightens most
world.
*
in
men who
modern
It is
perhaps unnecessary to say that they were for the most part
MS.
+ Bibliotheca
Magna
Rabbinica.
De
et
scriptoribus
et
scriptis
rabbinicis,
ordine
alphabetico
Hebraice
Latiue
digestis,
auctore
D. Julio Bartoloccio de Cellerio, 4 vols. The Roma, 1678-1692. work is printed from right to left, after the Hebrew manner. J For one of the accessible collections which give some idea
of
Catalogue of Hebraica and Judaica in the With a Corporation of the City of London." London, 1891. Subject-Index by the Rev. A. Lowy. The work of Dr. Moritz Steinschneider, the German biblio
its
variety,
see the
"
Library
of
the
grapher of rabbinical literature, is the most important contribution to our knowledge which has been made during this century.
$oet-(hti$tian
31 iterature
of the Jctoe
so to speak, another and stranger literature included, the report of which has been amongst us for several centuries, and in a
this literature there
is,
Within
it
it
chiefly because
has been
fathers
of
bibliographical
This
Hebrew theosophy, for such it is, has exercised a peculiar fascination on many great minds of Christendom, and its Gentile students, even at the
storehouse of
present day, may,
for
all
that
we can
tell,
be as
numerous as its Jewish disciples. It is called the Kabalah, of which term there is more than one expla
nation
suggested
by the
makers
of
romance
in
etymology. For example, the word has been derived from the name of the Hindoo teacher Kapila,* to
whom
a philosophy of numbers is ascribed, seemingly on the slender ground that one branch of Kabalistic
literature also deals largely
Queen
of Heaven,
who
thus connected with the Jewish personification of Wisdom under a female aspect. As to the true
is no room for uncertainty, and it possesses that simplicity which is so often the seal of truth in things of language as it has been said to be in
derivation there
Mr. C.
for this
"
W. Heckethorn
in the
all
view
has made himself responsible recently new and enlarged edition of his very unequal work,
Ages."
Secret Societies of
See
vol.
i.
p. 83.
Edward Vaughan
Book of God
"
and
Nimrod
"
and of
Bryant
"Ancient
Mythology."
See Kencnly
"
Introduction to the
Apocalypse of
Adam-Oannes," p. 613.
Hebrew
literature
root which
signifies
Kabalah
in the
equals reception.*
purports to
to
from generation
The literature as it exists is the tradition generation. into writing, and in this form it is supposed to be put
veiled
that
is
is
to say, the
the surface
The Kabalah
secret
"
knowledge J preserved among the chosen people," and the subjects with which it is concerned, as might be expected, are sacred and
traditional
they include, indeed, the most pro found mysteries of God and the emanations of the
divine subjects
;
the process of celestial economy the scheme of Providence in regard to man the communications of God in revelation and to the
Deity
the
creation
and
evil
soul, its
the nature and pre-existence of the angels union with matter and its metempsychosis
;
its
penalties
The
"Encyclopaedia
Perthensis"
is,
observes
the
word
is
if
See
"
Encyc.
Perth."
543, 544.
One
secret
of the
;
titles
ascribed to
it
was
ChKMH NSThRH,
that
is,
wisdom
See Kabbalah. (Third edition, London, 1864.) The recipients of this knowledge were termed Mekkubalim, a name which will be familiar to the readers of the Astrologer Gaffarel. On this point see the worthless article, s.v. Kabbalah, in T. H. Blunt s
Grace.
" "
the initials of these words gave another title, signifying Kitto s Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature," s.v.
Theology."
London, 1872.
00t-(hri0tiau
iL iter.iturc
of the Jctus
kingdom and
It is
his glory to be revealed the state of the soul after death and the resurrection of the dead.
;
able in
needless to say that by a literature so consider its capacity there are many other subjects
find
in
them
epistle
The Kabalah,
Israel
a word,
is
upon the doctrines of the Jewish religion, which are in most cases Christian doctrines, and upon the
proper understanding of that Written
It is
Word which
is
and
Jewry.
it
may be expected
therefore obvious that in a general sense to cast light of some kind upon
;
but
its
Christian ex
it
New
of the early fathers of the church did not only derive from the inspired memorials of the first covenant, but
According to the
literature
which embodies
it,
the
God
himself,
by
Hebmornm
Ttanscendtntalis
Metaphysica,
Apparatus in Librum
Sa/iat;
pars secunda,
<
PP- 3-5-
t "It is apparent from the many similarities in this Cabbalistic philosophy to the doctrines in the New Testament and early Patristic literature that both of the latter most probably have had a common
germ and
as
in
origin
in
Isrru-lites,
as well
more open and exoteric teachings of the Hebrew Holy Isaac Mycr, LL.B., The Philosophical Writings of Writings." Solomon Ben Ychudah Ibn Gebirol," Philadelphia, 1888, 8vo., p. 7.
the
The letter of St. Jerome to Paulinus, which dwells consecutively upon the mysteries contained in all the books of the Old and New
Testaments, has been Mjineiime-. regarded as a case
in
point.
whom
tion to
it
angelical world
was communicated to chosen ministers in the and it was imparted by divine revela
;
Adam
When
he lapsed
from that pure condition he lost this precious deposit, but it was subsequently restored to him in order that
he might return towards perfection.
It
was handed
to
Abraham and
thence derived
Pentateuch, the secret of which was entrusted by the law-giver to the seventy elders, and from these in due
course
in
it
mitted to writing until after the destruction of the second temple.* genealogy of this kind will, of
We
should beware, however, of fixing imposture on an esoteric literature because its attribution is mytho
logical
*
;
it
we
are dealing,
The legend has many variations and has been loosely reproduced by many inexact writers. Naturally enough, it takes occasionally the guise of a book delivered to Adam. An old Jewish tradition tells us that this volume was brought by the Angel Razael. Mr. John Notes on the Scientific and Religious Mysteries of Yarker, in his
"
Antiquity"
(London,
"
1872,
p.
21),
connects
this
not the imposture of Ceremonial Magic sometimes referred to under this name, but presumably the ancient legendary Midrash, afterwards developed by Eleazar of Worms
pre-Zoharic
Razael,"
Book
of
and reproduced under various forms by debased Kabalism. Compare E. V. Kenealy s mythical notice of a Book of the Wisdom of Adam, received in an ecstasy and full of mysteries and signs expressive of the most profound knowledge." See Book of God," p. 243. See also ibid., p. 273 et seq., for a rabbinical account of a staff given to Adam, which is supposed to signify the support of a secret
" "
knowledge.
of symbolism,
and the
may be
is
itself
an evasion.
Moreover, an
oral tradition
exaggerau-n and we must distinguish therefore antiquity, between the possible fact of its existence at a remote
have period and the growth of legend about it. the testimony of Christ Himself as to the existence
of a tradition in Israel,
We
and we have
also
His judg
ment upon
its
value.
It is in
this inquiry to
of the reception
entitled
to
be included
in
the
II.
As
reduced
received in secret
classics
informs us,* because of the bad state of the affairs of Israel, but yet written after a concealed manner,! it
is
to
be expected that
to the
its
literary
methods
It
will offer
difficulties
ordinary student.
has,
indeed,
proved so unintelligible upon its surface that, on the one hand, it has been considered merely meaningless jargon, while a few who pretend to have penetrated
to
its
believing that
whom
it
on the other, found pleasure in sealed to uninitiated persons, for must ever remain a matter of curious and
is
The Sepher
Yet.irak or
"
Hook
of
Formation,"
ment
not
necessarily
double sense.
nt anb
^itwatww
of the giabalah
The first some gleams of unexpected suggestion. view suggests that more patience and greater pains were needed the second, that the faculty for pains
;
a kind of peculiar election which is possible taking to the few, and this appears unwarranted only
is
Specialists in cryptography assure us, and we have even higher warrant in the testimony of reason itself, that no cipher writing devised by human in
genuity
is
ingenuity,
also
by human
supposes
course,
faith
the cipher it must follow a certain and conceal a definite sense. There is also
of
symbolism and no form of philosophical however complex, which will not sur speculation,
secrets to the searchlight of analysis, pro
is systematic and that methodised, however curious in its
There are cryptic philosophies and con cealed metaphysics, even as there is cryptic writing; but if they possess a meaning, it cannot escape ulti mately the penetration of the patient and skilled critic,
subject, however, to the distinction
moment
that
it
is
disengaged
and the construction of a speculative hypothesis which in its minor issues may always be open to
debate.*
*
it
is
usual
The
that concerned
with Alchemy, and yet it is not cryptic in the sense of cipher-writing. It has a perfectly simple surface meaning ; the concealment is the
significance of certain conventional
words and
recipes.
its
This also
is its
great difficulty
patience,
it
secret to skill
and
is
example,
may
say what the word Vitriol, for represent to any writer, if it be not the ordinary substance
which
in its legitimate
meaning
its
is
secret to analysis,
which
is
the master-key to
all
conventional initiation, though supposing the exist ence of a royal road of this kind, it might be regarded
as a labour-saving apparatus which,
if
accessible,
it
would not be prudent to set aside. There are, however, two considerations on the
once arrest attention.
surface of a question like the present which will at The first is whether the occult
philosophies are not inherently unmeaning, and unable therefore to disclose what, in fact, they do not possess.
Or alternately, in the case that they are methodised, whether the mystery which they cover is not out of all proportion to the enormous intellectual cost of un
ravelling
it.f
Of
be determined according to individual predilection. For my own part, after spending some years among
strange pathways of human ingenuity, I know cer a tainly that the occult sciences do constitute
methodised system which is singularly inwrought, * and since la science est nne noblesse qui oblige, I must
bear testimony to this fact, even though an imagi native reader may transfigure the statement and inter
pret too liberally the narrow concession which
I
have
it is
here
*
made
to sincerity.
merely the
MUM.
t
here to the unravelling of the fust sense
;
the existence of
any other
a matter of conjecture. % In the sense that, for example, numerical mysticism runs through all departments of occultism.
io
^lu
.of
the Siabalah
extremely
So
it
knowledge is its own reward, I suppose that be worth its cost; but if any department of .nay
far as
research should be ruled out of the sphere of operation possessed by this truism, it is occult science and philo
sophy, so far, at least, as the majority are concerned. The labour involved by their exhaustive study repays
those
who undertake
of
it
In the
is
pursuit
finished.
occult
it
knowledge
Campaspe
never
But
is
an
inquiry like
the present
may be
held to deserve a
welcome, because it offers to all those who may be disposed to concern themselves with one important
department of occult philosophy an intelligible state ment of the issues which will save most of them the
The
importance
of
the
written
tradition
of
Kabalism can be regarded only from two standpoints. There is that which it may possess for the sacred
scriptures of the Jewish
and Christian
religions
and
in
which more or
less derive
from these.*
cluded
Under
this first
its significance, if
parative
thought.
theology and for the history of Besides such obvious and unquestioned
it
com human
is
entitled
to
consideration,
From the occult standpoint this is of more consequence than from that of ordinary exegesis. Adolphe Bertet, in his Apocalypse du bienheureux Jean devoilte (Paris, 1861, p. 51), gives the position
.
"
very clearly.
We
find
five
books of Moses
Kabalistic expressions which proclaim that everything must be taken in a figurative sense, yet in none of these books do we possess a complete
whence it follows that prior to Moses oral tradition was alone charged with transmitting the secret of initiation." Bertet owed his inspiration and frequently his language to Eliphas Levi.
treatise of initiation,
another warrant
in
the
interest
which
it
And possesses for the seeker after occult knowledge. here it is necessary to determine what is meant and The study of the large litera involved by occultism.
ture of the secret sciences
is pursued by many persons from many motives, but few of these can, in the proper sense of the term, be regarded as occult students. Nor, indeed, does the attempted practice of any of the
title.
In a very large
number
titular distinctions
As
ages,*
and that
way
of union
its
according to
of
many
it
it
is
people, nor
religion
is
the
or of
literature
to
the
best aspects of this belief are, as might be expected, quite can scarcely be said to have existed prior to the end of the One eighteenth century, but even then it had taken no definite shape. of its aspects was developed in a remarkable manner by M. de Briere,
The
;
modern
it
who
sur
in his
le
Essai sur le symbolisme antique de / Orient, prindpalemctit symbolisme Egyptian (Paris, 1847), maintained: (a) A common
;
(b)
The
exclusive patrimony of the priesthood (c) The existence among all eastern priests of a common idiom of high antiquity, which passed as a
theurgic, magical
this
(e)
and efficacious language; (tl) The reproduction of language by hieroglyphics which were also theurgic and magical A dual sacerdotal method of expressing the principles of priestly
;
sciences,
and
chiefly of theology
(2)
;
of the texts;
figures of
gods
(i) Imitation of words hieroglyphs Imitation of thoughts = images, idols, emblematic (/) The existence of the sacred language and hiero
:
glyphic writing among all peoples possessing sacerdotal sciences, the Phoenicians and Chaldeans for example.
12
^he
|30ctrine anb
^itttninu of the
there
all
exclusion
*
of
all
others;
are
traces
of
its
existence in
religions
;
all
is
times,
it
of
Alchemy;
is
among
of
its
one
most important
this
is
From
Kabalah
and
it
is
of a living
kind.
This
is,
point of view from which the subject can be regarded, and it redeems the whole circle of occult science from
Given
tion
is
in
impossible for ordinary criticism, and should not, indeed, be expected by those who hold it intelli
is
gently.
in truth, very difficult to defend, because has been occupied either on the warrant of a knowledge which cannot be made public, and is
It
is,
heretofore
it
therefore idle
to
proclaim, or on that
of evidence
which
If
is
without
much
title to
serious consideration.
we
criticism.
Mr.
of the Zohar,
*
"a
Mathers, in England, has translated a small portion and has prefixed an introduction which
As
regards the Christian religion, see Eckartshausen concerning
school,"
more advanced
"deposition
the
of
all
or
"
invisible celestial
Church,"
confided."
1896.
13
the
takes the whole claim for granted, while he leaves on mind of his readers an indistinct impression that
Dr. Ginsburg, who errs on the side of hostility, is not only one of its supporters, but gives credit to the most fabulous side of Kabalistic legend. In America, Isaac
is
forced on crucial points to assume many things that are required for his hypothesis.* In France the real
questions at issue are scarcely skirted in the otherwise careful tabulation attempted by Papus.t In Germany, which exhausts everything, I do not know that in any
true
sense
of
the
defender. It is not my purpose either to question 01 maintain the general fact alleged, namely, that a secret doctrine has been transmitted from antiquity it
;
to chal
ground for believing that the Kabalah has been a channel of such tradition, and if this view must be abandoned, to place those who are
is
whether
there
willing to follow
me
in
possession of a
method
of
regarding
intelligible
it
which
will
make
its
existence at least
without taking anything for granted and without appealing to any source of knowledge which
is
He
assumes
cealed diffusion of a
Wisdom
and general hut -con Religion, a term borrowed from modern in the last analysis, is not entirely
Secrete
La
Kabbale.
Tradition
de
f Occident.
Res
nine"
<1f{thodiqitc.
14
^ke
III.
of authority
be distinguished from the multifarious productions of its scholars and literati which it was the object of rabbinical bibliographies,
and Wolf,*
to
resume
in brief.
Kabalah it is necessary to say something of that great known to every and authoritative collection which
is"
The
latter is a larger as
it is
also
an older growth. Its starting-point has been placed by a moderate criticism shortly before the birth of
Christ, f and, to use a
its
centuries, A.D., at which periods, although there are evidences in abundance of a more esoteric doctrine,
it
cannot be shown conclusively that Kabalistic litera ture, according to the restricted sense in which the
term
Put
"
here applied, had as yet co me into existence. shortly, the sources of the Talmud are said to be
is
by the
authori-
Bibliotheca
(ftatis,
cujuscumque
vel
ab
aliis
conversa sunt,
Leipsic and
Hamburg,
1715, 4to.
t There are critics outside occult circles who ascribe a similar of the article s.v. antiquity to the Kabalah, as, for example, the author Cabak in the Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XIX e Siecle (Pierre In reality the Kabalah originated Larousse), t. iii. Paris, 1867.
"
among
the
Jews
five centuries
Formed
of the mixture
of oriental ideas
and Mosaism at the epoch of the captivity, it was elaborated silently, and in the main among the sect of the Karaites, but did not attain its definite development till the period of Philo and the
schools of
Alexandria."
The
inspiration here
is
Franck.
15
civil
in
their
It is
administration
of
religious
and
affairs."*
claimed that this source goes back to the period of Esdras, and there can, at least, be no
in
the literature
forms.
older
than
their
earliest
collected
Mishn-.iyoth,
term
namely, notes of academical which received subsequently many additeachings, tions.f About the year 220, A.D., a considerable pro
portion of these was engarnered
Prince, \
by whom
In this
short
comments
of his
added.
impression of his
authorities differed.
rival
He
endeavoured to destroy
In this
all
in
secret
and came
way
we have
(a)
The Mishna,
metho
called
also
outsiders,
or
KnglMi Translation. By Michael York, 1896, 8vo., pp. xv., xvi. t In the Halichol Ohim it is said that Jewish teacher- had little schedules or scrolls of parchment, in which they set down all the tradi
"The
Babylonian
Vol.
i.
Talmud."
L. Rodkinson.
New
tions,
sentences, statutes,
their masters
crcl.
decision, and
scrolls
BO
from
He was the third patriarch of the Western Jews, and a legend says that, having converted the Kmperor Marcus Aurclius, he compiled the Mishna at the command of that Trince. See 1. II. Imer
]
.
IIi>!
.iy
London, 1883, pp. 204, 205. For an old account of thi.-. lali-.ur, see David (ian/.
Xution,"
:
of the Jcwi-h
Go-men
ft
Pi of liana.
Leyden, 1644.
extraneous.
And
extravagances,
"oTItr
Jpactrinc
<mt)
|tt*rature of the
applied by the followers of Rabbi Judah to the rival Mishnayoth, by which the original collection is said in
the course of time to have been almost extinguished.
Their
rival claims
later
rabbis,
(c]
The Gemara i.e., conclusions or completion.* The union of the Gemara and the MisJina forms
the Talmud,f or instruction, from a word signifying to teach," of which there are two versions, the
"
in each.
The Gemara
the
collected
of representing by Jerusalem Tiberias and R. Johanon Ben Eliezer, with the Mishna, forms the Jerusalem Talmud, and belongs to the end
of
school
the fourth
century.
The Gemara
collected
by
especially by Rabhina, R. Babylonian rabbis, Ashi and R. Jose, with the Mishna, forms the Talmud
of Babylon, four times larger than that of Jerusalem. J
It
and
was begun
in the fifth
and completed
in the sixth
century, but even subsequently to this period additional material was gathered into it.
It is
much
exceedingly important that we should under stand the position which is occupied by the great collections of the Talmud in respect of the literature
which
is
In the
I
first
place, this
said,
*
have
has suggested
many
errors of comparison.
By
of the
But here a later the sacred Scriptures. sheltered itself under an earlier name.
predilection
has perhaps
t
but
it
Strictly speaking, the term Talmud applies only to the Gemara, has obtained the wider application because the Gemara always
accompanies the Mishna, the text being essential to the note. The proportion of the Babylonian Gemara to the original Mishna is about eleven to one.
17
is
the
hypothesis
of
both
literatures
is
the
Talmud
by
tradition.*
Talmud
is
The cycles are distinct and extremely misleading. almost divergent. There is no question as to the age and the great authority of the one,t while some cen turies of inquiry have not as yet determined the claims
of the other.
Moreover,
if
we assume
is
the equal
is
still
The Talmud
not, at least,
primarily a philosophical system; | it is mentary; it is the construction placed on the jurisprudence, ecclesiastical and
Israel.
It is sociology,
hv
and com
by authority
political, cf old
not metaphysics, even though it has admitted metaphysics and has accretions which can be termed mystical. To place it by the arbitrary
In older Jewish literature, the name (Kabalah) is applied to body of received religious doctrine with the exception of Pentateuch, thus including the prophets and Hagiographa, as
"
the whole
the
well
cannot be believed in anything relating to the age of their literature, endeavoured to refer the Mishna to the beginning of the sixth century and the Gemaras to some two hundred years foter.Exercitntionfs Hil lidf, Paris, 1660. + Hence all the conspicuous philosophical doctrines of the Kabalah have no place therein. For example, the Sephirotic system, with which we be concerned later on, and the theory of emanation which it involves, cannot be traced in the Talmud. Consult M beta History of the Jewish Nation," third
>hall
:
as the oral traditions ultimately embodied in the Mishna." American Encyclopedia, iii., pp. 521, 522. t I do not mean that there has never been a question, for the French ecclesiastic Morin, proceeding on the principle that the Jews
It
"
has
not
s
It
morality and
religion."
See
Farrar
the
"Life
is
illustrated edition, .,/., p. 758. possible to institute a compari.son between the Talmud
Kabalah
as
is
The Talmud
and Freemasonry and late Western Occultism. not mysticism, but it became the asylum of some
between
^he
Jtodrine
Jiabalah
use of a conventional term in the same category as the literature which discusses the mysteries of the
"
Supreme
Crown,"
the evolution of
"
negative divine
subsistence,"
emana
and the
is
origin,
and destiny of
souls,
to
make a
M. Isidore Loe b* offers us ceiving classification. the equivalent of an admirable distinction between the two literatures in his observations upon the compara
tive position of the
he
it
the
Law
place in the
of philosophy, f The Zohar gave to Israel the splendid impulsion of the ideal it gave
life
;
;
philosophy
it
it
brought the
mystic traditions. Freemasonry is not Occult Science, but under ihe standard of the Craft all occult science of the eighteenth century
found not only a refuge, but a field of work and of development. The way of entrance in the one case was the Haggadic morality,
in the other *
it
La Grande
"
t
the
Encyclopedic Paris, 4to, s.v. Cabbale, vol. viii. In the immense collections which have come down to us from
fifth
the allegorical
or sixth centuries of the Christian era, in the Talmud as in interpretations of the Bible, there is no trace of
If we find reminiscences of the Kabalah, philosophical speculations. they concern, so to speak, the exoteric portion, or angelology ; the existence of the speculative part is shown in these books solely by the
reference to the mysteries contained in Bercshith, or the of Genesis, and in the Mcrcavah, or Vision of Ezekiel."
first
chapter
S.
Munk
The author was an Philosophic chcz lesjuifs, Paris, 1848, p. 8. informed and accomplished defender of the existence of Kabalistic
tradition in
La
Talmudic
times.
It
references to the
Work
go
Work
of the Chariot
would,
if
collated,
was known
as regards the fact of its While the only enigmatically, and its nature does not really transpire. Talmud records occasionally that there were conversations betwen the
it
19
Jew
;
the world
The
place a
first
to
construction upon Talmudic literature, to affirm that, as believed of the Kabalah proper, it a double meaning, and that we are to look possesses
wrong
below
that
it
its literal
sense.*
It
would be as reasonable
construction in the
deliberations of a
Common Law
the
Holy Synod
in the collections of
Con
what has been done actually veyancing. in the case of the Talmud by the one Kabalistic ex positor whose influence with occult students in France and England is so paramount as to have been con
this is
Yet
To
we owe
presentation of the Talmudic system which does grave outrage to good sense. f He lays down that the first
"
Talmud, the only truly Kabalistic one, was collected during the second century of the Christian era by Rabbi Jehudah Hakadosh Hanassi that is, Judah
Edersheim divides Talmudic traditionalism into two portions = the legislative enactments of the Fathers; and Haggada
:
"
Ilalakha
free interpretation. Some History of the Jewish Nation, p. 136. of the Haggadic legends may possess an inner meaning, that is, they are allegorical stories; the history of the salting of Leviathan is so absurd in it., literal sense that one is driven out of mere generosity to
suppose that
Compare
p.
"a
meant something which does not appear on its surface. among the Nations," by Anatole Leruy-Beaulieu, As Ilalakha is rule, norma, so Haggada is 24. legend, collection of miscellaneous utterances touching on every possible
it
"
Israel
subject."
The Ilalakha
:
alone
is
law.
Paris, 1861, 8vo, p. 351, et seq.
La
of
Magic."
Second
edition,
London,
12- 120.
20
^he
who composed his the most holy and the prince book according to all the rules of supreme initiation."
He
"
wrote
it
St.
John have
the
it, and he indicated its transcendental sense by the sacred letters and numbers corresponding to
Bereshith of
the
first
six
Sephiroth?*
This
asserted Sephirotic correspondence has no place in The Mishna comprises six sections, of which the fact.
first
concerns
tithes,
it is
unlawful to
in the pair, the seeds which must not be sown together earth, the threads which must not be interwoven, the
fruits
which must not be gathered till the trees have passed their third year, and so forth. It is by no
means
Levi,
chiefly,
much
as
who had
represents.
Nor
has
any special correspondence with Kether, except on the thin ground that in the notion of the Supreme
it
Crown
is
and of universal
be accredited after
Israel,
no attempt to justify The the attribution which connects it with Chokmah. third book concerns marriage and divorce, or, in the
and so
forth.
There
is
should note that, long prior to Eliphas Levi, Adrianus Relandus (Analecta Rabbinica, 1702) and Galatinus (De Arcanis Catholics It was not, Veritatis, 1656) supposed a second sense in the Talmud. however, metaphysical or mystical, but was a concealment prompted not less by the necessities of a persecuting time. This supposition is idle than the other, for the first thing which prudence would have towards suggested would be to hide the real feelings of Talmudic Jews
I
Christians,
are,
in
the Talmud.
There
not be
of
course,
many
histories
in
the
construed
literally,
but,
jfetos
21
words of Levi, it is more particularly consecrated to women and the fundamental basis of the family."
The
fourth
jurisdiction,
book deals with civil contracts, general civil and criminal actions, penalties, &c.
it
is
superior to
any code of
persecutions.
it
According to
corresponds with
Chesed or Mercy, but as it looks better under the attribution of Justice, the Sephirotic system is re
versed accordingly.
to
The
fifth
book, which
treats,
is
allotted
Mercy by
holy,
this transposition,
according to
false
fact,
im
it
As
a matter of
is
The
sixth
book
treats
of purifications, which Levi terms "the most hidden * secrets of life and the morality which directs
it."
It
is
made
byword among
scholars.!
The exegesis thus inaugurated loses nothing in the hands of later For example, an occult opuscuhtm observes that the key occult writers.
which
will alone
manifest
their
interior
open the revelations of the Christian Scriptures and sense, "exists in a book proscribed by the
the Jewish
Talmud."
Christian Church
Nizida.
that this
it
The Astral Light," by Second edition, London, 1892, pp. 50, 51. It is just to add work is not regarded as of consequence by the circle to which
See
"
makes appeal.
t
same condemnation.
which is not the work of occultists deserves the Secret Mr. C. W. Heckethorn, author of the Societies of all Ages and Countries" (new edition, 2 vols., 1897), lias presumed to treat the subject of the Kabalah in the absence of elementary knowledge. Thus, he tells us that the literal Kabalah is called the Mishna (vol. I. p. 85), which, as we have seen, is the
criticism
"
Some
traditional
commentary on the legislative part of the Mosaic Thorah. So also Walton, in his eighth prolegomena to the Polyglot Bible," observes that the terms Kabalah and Massorah are applied to one science by the Jews. Richard Simon draws attention to this error, saying that
"
22
^he
Talmud has its correspondences with the Kabalah, but they are of method rather than material.
It is highly desirable to study it in connection with the Zohar, but it is a consummate act of ignorance to confound and to regard them as written upon the
The
same
principle
objects.
Another
writer, also
occultist,
but governed by
very different sentiments of scholarship, Mr. Isaac Myer, makes an exceedingly proper distinction when he affirms that the Kabalah and the Zohar allow a
"
He means to great margin to speculative thought." that they are purely speculative say philosophy, while
the
Talmud
"
under the
Law
deals with everyday life and humanity that the one starts from a spiritual
" "
point of view,
"
contemplating a spiritual
finality
as
regards the Law and its explanation," but that the other is eminently practical in both its starting-point
of perception
and end, and having, in the face of ignorance, want and natural waywardness of the masses,
strict
observance of the
Law
in all its
IV.
DIVISIONS OF
THE KABALAH
our subject
it
Before
will
be
necessary to
false impressions
is
Hebrew
text.
Histoirc Critique
du
Vieux Testament,
"
Amsterdam, 1685.
Gebirol,"
"
Philosophy of Ibn
Star,"
The Blazing
1872, I2mo.
the converse
of
the
Kabalah.
;
The Massorah
the
Kabalah
is
that
disciple,"
p. 29.
Jf etos
23
the Talmud, are not errors peculiar to occult writers, and have consequently a wider sphere of operation.
and applications of the tradition which is supposed to have been perpetuated For most popular writers, for almost all in Israel.
They concern
the
nature
encyclopaedias which have not had recourse to a specialist, the Kabalistic art is simply the use of sacred
names
above
in the
all
evocation of
spirits,* or
it is it
that at least
in
all.f
We
still
find
standard
of
sources
like
the
great
in
dictionary
many slipshod accounts which pass from book to book, without any attempt at verification on the part of those who reproduce them. It illustrates the importance which
Calmet,*
is
obtains
in
the last
analysis
occult science
and
all
its
oral traditions
by the popular mind into a commerce with the denizens of the unseen world. I have done
are resolved
full justice
elsewhere
to the
cised
by the belief in this commerce, so that the vulgar In a higher sense instinct is not entirely at fault.
all
occult
to the
and as
Le Triple Vocabulaire Infernal (Paris, Frinellan What is termed the Kabalah is the art of commercing 30 with elementary spirits." united with astrology, and to t Sometimes, however, it is
Compare
"
n.d.
),
p.
cl<>.->ely
speak of
considered equivalent to speaking of Kabalistic matters. Such, apparently, was the notion of D^meunier, Esprit des Usages et des coutumes des different reuplcs> font. ii. lib.
this
occult science
is
\\.
London, 1776.
"
Dictionary of the
s
Bible."
consult C. Taylor
"
London, 1823, vol. i. s. v. Cabbala. The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts," part i. c. i. p. 5 et seq. London, 1898, 410. It must be admitted that th-_- term Kabalah was applied early in its history to some form of theurgic practice.
translation,
24
^he
gabalah
processes of evocation I have said already that they are largely Kabalistic processes.* They are, however,
either late
esoteric
and corrupt derivatives which are not the tradition, but applications, and hence acci dents thereof; or, if we must admit that there were
magical practices involving a conventional procedure and a formal ritual prevalent among the Hebrews at
a remote
period,-)-
Kabalah, then that reception must be distinguished very carefully from the Kabalah with which we are
here concerned. J
Formation
"
"
Book of
is
"
not of
magic but of philosophy. It has not been incorrectly described, though by an unknown writer, in the fol
The Kabalah claims to be that spon lowing terms taneous philosophy which man, quoad man, naturally
"
affirms
affirm so long as
now, always has affirmed, and always will man is man. The worlds confessed
to
his
by the Kabalah are worlds known upon which man has set the seal of
worlds related to
*
man, worlds
own
nature,
is
man and
of
which man
the
Refer to preface. t It is to these practices that I suppose Richard Simon alludes, when he says that "the ancient Jewish doctors brought many super This author can be hardly stitious sciences from Chaldea," p. 93.
regarded as an authority on Kabalistic questions
confess (op.
to
cit.,
; indeed, he seems to pp. 116, 117) that he had not thought it worth while time over "the ancient allegorical books of the Jews," such
as the
The
opposite
is
who
"
says
From
The Jews in Ancient, thaumaturgy, and other strange fancies." Mediceval and Modern Times, London, 1890, pp. 222, 223. Speaking generally, it is most in consonance with the facts to regard the magic
which Europe received Kabalism.
at
Jost-Chriotian
authentic form.
Jgiterattire of the
Jttos
25
which
is
There is nothing in the Kabalah not found also in the nature of man." *
it
in
least
till
we
must ignore the Kabalah of magic. We are dealing with an attempted explanation of the universe, which is something entirely distinct from all formulae of
evocation.
names
theurgic and talismanic use of divine and the doctrine of efficacious words belongs
The
to a distinct category,
and
is
liable to
be encountered
everywhere
in
these notions.
another error the subject-matter of the secret tradition is confused with certain exegetical methods
By
by which a scriptural authority is found for it. These methods obtained very widely, and there is no doubt
that
many
of their
most curious
results contributed to
swell the
volume of the
tradition,
which deals with material, and may even occasionally supply it, must be held distinct therefrom. They
were, however, a
are Kabalah, but they are not the doctrinal Kabalah, and in the attempt to methodise our subject these
also
*
Greene
"
The Blazing
Star,"
human
to finite existences,
whence,
form, permanence and organisation are impossible also, it is the form in which God com
municates Himself.
real.
into two parts, symbolical and teaches the secret sense of Scripture and the thirteen rules by which the observance of the Law is expounded Kabalistically,
t P.
J.
The
first
i.e,
Gcmatria, Notaricon,
T/wnumh,
&c.
The
real
Kabalah he -ub-
26
Qht
It
% ihe
glabakh
discriminations that
there are, broadly speaking, four separate groups or species of tradition in Israel which, by virtue of the
entitled to rank as
Kabalah
*
:
The
the authoritative regulations as to the laws, customs, ceremonies and civil life of the Jewish nation. The
literature of this tradition
is
but
it
has
little
2.
The
important to the history of occult science, very obscure in its history, very much exaggerated by those who
write about
possessing little literature prior to the fourteenth century of the Christian era, by which time
it,
it
had
3.
lost
most
of its antique
elements." t
Certain
exegetical
and
other
traditional
and practical; the one is concerned with the emanations and worlds of Kabalism, the nature and names of God, the celestial hierarchy and its influence on the lower world, the mysteries of
divides into theoretical
creation
and so
forth
names and the wonders performed with these. "Talmudic Miscellany," London, 1880. * Dr. Wynn Westcott, in his work on "Numbers, their Occult Power and Mystic Virtue," observes (p. 11) that the word Kabalah "includes the Hebrew Doctrines of Cosmogony and Theology as well The first he terms the Dogmatic and the as the Science of Numbers." second the Literal Kabalah. The Kabalistic Science of numbers is
included in Gematria.
t The indefectible title of magic to a place in Jewish Kabalah is enforced by all modern occultists, who have helped very much to confuse the issues in question. So far back as the end of the seventeenth and the philo century the distinction between the magical tradition sophical or doctrinal was recognised by R. Simon (Histoire Critique
du Vieux Testament. Amsterdam, 1685, 4to), who said: "There is is more dangerous and forms part of It is a mere illusion, the that which is commonly called Magic.
another sort of Kabalah which
prepossession of certain persons (p. 374). by means of
it."
who
$00t-Chnstiau gitcrature
of the Jeto0
27
Holy
Scripture.
Very
these
curious results
were
sometimes
obtained
They comprise
Gematria, by which the letters of a word were converted into numbers, and the arithmetical value
was used
b.
Notaricon, by which each letter of a word was taken as the initial of another word, or, conversely, the
initial letters
combined
light
to
on
Themurah, that
is,
in a
field of
is
not
confined
their
the
find
"
Great
It is
little
humiliating to
an important subject and a fascinating literature connected with such diversions, but we shall see later
them with
our inquiry
rest,
them.
These
or prac-
artificial
The
Kabalistic
method of interpreting
books
to
vain and
mysteries contained in letters, in numbers, and in the dismemberment of certain words," was supposed by Simon to have passed from the school of Platonism to that of the Je\\ s, chiefly in Europe. There is no ground for this view. He adds (op. cit., p. 374) that this "specu
lative
Kabalah
"
was, in his
own
day,
still
of the
Levant."
28
tical
c&kt
^odnnt
anb
JDiteratiire of the
Jiabalah
Kabalah.*
Hebrew
some
in
Holy
is
Scripture, t
One
is
which should
be especially noted
methods
in the
in the Zohar.
The
philosophical tradition,
"
"
embodied
"
"
Sepher Yetzirah and the Zohar cycles. To this only, in the interests of clearness, should the con
ventional term Kabalah be applied, and
it is
this
which
is
really signified by every well-informed writer who uses it. It is divided by the Kabalists themselves into
a.
b.
of Creation,
of the Chariot
i.e.,
the chariot
of Ezekiel s vision. J
These divisions are concerned respectively with the natural and the transcendental world, and are sometimes termed collectively the theoretical Kabalah.
For They assumed sometimes the most extravagant forms. example, the middle letter of any sacred book was written in an unusual position or of an unusual size, and was regarded as possessing a deep spiritual meaning. See "The Bible Handbook," by Joseph
Angus, D.D.
,
1860,
p.
499.
"The
educes the secret meaning veiled under the words of the Hebrew scriptures are manifold, extending to every peculiarity of the text. Even in what we should regard as critical marks or as errors or fancies
of
some
transcriber, as
when a
inverted or in any
way
letter is written too large or too small, is distinguished, an occult intent was presumed."
American Encyclopedia, iii. 521, 522. t The Chaldaic paraphrase of Jonathan ben Ouziel has recourse
occasionally to a species of transliteration
when
in
the
Mishna by name
(Chagiga, xi. 2), and are said to be secret doctrine, but the Afaassc Bereshith and the Maassc Mercabah there referred to are not a written
tradition, nor does that of the written
The Zohar
tions,
identifies the
see.
Kabalah necessarily represent it. Mercabah with the Sephiroth or Ten Emana
which
29
It is this which gave to Israel the intellectual horizon which was impossible to the Talmudic Jew, and it is this also which gave the Children of the Exile a place
in
Western philosophy.
it is
When we
which
it is
the purpose
It
should be
added that outside the cycle of the Zohar there is a large Jewish theosophical and mystical literature, of which the Sepher Yetzirah is an instance. It was
which led up to the Zohar, and was embraced But whether it was Kabalistic in the sense thereby.
this
of the latter
*
is
Drach distinguishes three uses of the term Kabalah for which It is frequently applied by the Talmud to (i) authority can be cited the books of the Old Testament outside the Pentateuch ; (2) The
:
it
to
(3)
It
signifies
"mystic,
acroamatic
portion
la
of
the
oral
De f Harmonic
entrc
F Eglist
et
Synagogue.
Par U
Chevalier P. L. B. Drach, 2 vols., Paris, 1844. f I must not pass over the division of the Kabalah proposed by Dr. Pa pus in one of his latest publications, though I regard it, critically
The Kabalah is, in his opinion, attributable to speaking, as fantastic. Moses, and the written word of Scripture is therefore naturally a part of the tradition. have thus (a) The written word ; () The oral
We
word
intermediate portion, being rules insuring the preservation of the text, i.e. Massorah. The last is the body of the oral tradition ; the Mishna and Gemara are its life ; the Sepher Yetzirah and the
;
(f)
An
Zohar arc
thesis so clear as
Unfortunately Dr. 1 apus has not made his he does usually, and he seems to assume some of the most important points at issue. See Traitt Eltmtntaire de Science
its
spirit.
BOOK
II
shown
to
be
() The
evolution
of the
of emanation
(c)
The
distinction of the
emanation
The subsidiary issuing one from another. doctrines connected with these are: (i) The contrast between
God
in Himself and God as revealed to His people ; (2) The Sacramental nature of the conventional symbols of the human Logos (3) Certain ways and methods by which knowledge and
; ;
wisdom are attainable (4) A complex system of pneumatology. These subjects are regarded from the occult standpoint, but a
sufficient
warrant
is
I.
THE
transcendental and physical, though valuable for pur poses of tabulation, must not be held to signify that
there
is
the literature branches off into divergent paths, much less that the Kabalah offers a natural history of the
universe.
Its physics, so far as
it
separation
*
between
is
God,
Man
is
That
communication
permanent, but
Kabalism.
The
31
them
it is
is
likewise one,
and the
best
manner
of studying
It
to follow its
view as to
the purpose of all fundamental wisdom to make known or communicate to man it attempts to exhibit
;
the transition from the Absolute to the related, from the noumenal to the phenomenal, and to establish a
chain of correspondence between the infinite and the finite. It is, however, more than a philosophical
that
is
The
also
connects with philosophy, as commonly understood. intermediaries of the transition are the ladder of
ascent
it
by which man returns to the Divine hence is more than an explanation of the universe
;
;
it is,
speaking correctly, a sum of religion, and as it is founded, no matter how, on those Scriptures which Jew and Christian have recognised equally as the
we shall see readily what depth and mystery are sought to be infused by the Kabalah into the
ligion,
Bible.
critics
We
who
;
shall
of theosophy
it as, strictly speaking, a system the application of the wisdom of Israel to the unsearchable mystery of God, and it
it
describe
is
begins, as
it
we might have
is
is
unsearchable, that
that
of
all
most
is
divine, as
illusions,
there
the
in
this
principle,
for
it
i.-,
See
"The
Letter
Synod,"
. .
when
.
treating,
for example, of the Capttt quod tton est comprehenditur Sapientia nee intellects.
caf>ut
quod n.:
Secitndus, p. 528.
32
Even
communication possible between the divine and man, which is an old doctrine of Jewish
mysticism, long anterior to the Zohar, at least in its present form, the essence escapes our apprehension. can, indeed, know God, but not as He is in Him
We
self, our knowledge being made possible through the manifestation of the Deity, and this takes place after two manners by the mediation of the Law of
Nature, that
is
and
by
the
Law
of Grace,
which
is
the manifestation of
It will
God
be seen that both these methods are sacramental, and the sacramental system is the form of all mysticism.
For the Kabalistic Jew the Law and the Covenant were signs or mysteries capable of a plurality of inter pretations, while the whole outward world was omen and metaphrasis. It is therefore to be expected that in the written word we must look for another mean It was ing than is conveyed by the outward sense.
also a part of Jewish mental bias to look for an inward
significance
to the external,
and
modern observer
as strained
and unnatural.
In
the
eternity
manifestations which
manner
which entirely transcends the conception of human The names which are ascribed to the faculties.*
* The tract entitled the Faithful Shepherd," which forms part of the Zohar, says, on the authority of R. Simeon ben Jochai, that before God created the archetypal idea which underlies the form of the world, He was alone, without form or similitude, and hence there could be no
"
cognition of him.
(Rayah Mehemnah,
73).
in the
Cremona
edition of the
to
Zohar,
pt.
ii.
col.
of the Jtobahih
33
Nature
they are the conventions of the philosophical hypo thesis they are terms which serve to indicate that
;
is
nameless, even as
He
beyond reach.* He is the Ancient One, and the most Ancient of all the Ancients, but this describes only the eternity of His subsistence; He is the Hidden of all the Hidden Ones, but this concerns
;
He is A in Soph, a phrase only His concealment which Rosenroth renders fine carensft the unlimited
or infinite, but
it
also includes,
by the separate
signifi
Book
of Concealment,"
is
His dwelling
is
the place
which
literally, locus
There
impiety
in
at first sight
this
attempt
to
describe
God
as
the
is
thai
eternal rest
is
now beyond
the
We
comprehen
The
state of the
interrogative pronoun Who? is ascribed by the Zohar to this Supreme. Earlier mysticism speaks of God being alone
with
his Name, /.,:, the Divine Tetragram, which, according to Maimonides, preceded the whole creation. t Apparatus in Lib rum Sohar pars priina, Kabbala Demtdata,
i.
vol.
p. 81.
this
point.
It
is
said,
of any image, God was In tin- state it is forbidden to represent Him by any image or under any form whatsoever, even by His Holy Name, or by any
production
nothing.
letter or
any point.
348.
Zohar;
seti
ii.,
42
/;.,
Mantua.
c.
i.
Liber Occultationis,
\"1.
Mystcrii,
5.
K abbala
Denudata,
ii.
p.
34
Ihe
Non-Ens dwelling
Non
Est, but
it
is
really a
existence, to attain
Cordova,* which says that the Cause of Causes is called Ain Soph because His excellence is without
bound, and there
is
Him.
be seen that the Kabalistic conception is one which is familiar to later forms of transcendental philosophy under the name of the Absolute, a term
It will
recognition of that which exceeds our In this Absolute resides the essence intelligence. f
intellectual
or potentiality of
is
all
J it is
it
the subsistent principle which underlies the ob jective state termed existence, because existence is a
condition of the
is
finite
a true
and
real
and the created, though there sense in which God may be said to
Paradise of Pomegranates, Tract
c.
Pardes
Rimmonim,
i.e.,
iii.
i.
Moses of Cordova belonged to the more modern school of Kabalists, and his treatise is exegetical and not authoritative in Kabalism.
t See, however, Dr. Noah Porter: "The Human Intellect," London, 1868, who argues that in its proper definition the Absolute becomes knowable. Our idea of the Absolute belongs, nevertheless, to that region of our consciousness which Herbert Spencer terms
indefinite
and escaping formulation. + Hcene \Yronski, whose mathematical transcendentalism is of high authority with French occultists, affirms that the reality of the Absolute
is
the
first
principle
of
reason,
and
in
the
assertion
made by
On
on
his
work
entitled Apodictique.
The Doctrinal
(Content of the
gabalah
35
Ain Soph
whence
it
is
the subsistent
state
is
standpoint a manifested state of the Divine Nature, and this is certainly not the visible world. Where
this manifestation occurs will
be indicated
in the
next
section.
It will
be obvious that
personal
God
Non-Ens or
ordinary notions of a are destroyed or transcended by this on- Ego of the Kabalists it is absolutely
all
;
any multiplication, above all number, above Wisdom, which, as we shall see, is, however, one of its first emanations. It is also with
simple, unity without
out
sex,
and
it
inaccurate to
make
is
reference thereto.
in
comparison
to
it.
"
The book
entitled
Faithful Shepherd
makes God
more
if
be
if it
like
whatever, even
be one of
like
Woe
he make
Him
elements are earthly, and so are consumed and perish There can be no conception attained of Him, except in so far as He manifests Himself when exercising
*
i.-
immanent
in
all
that
In-
currency to the absurd description of thU Mate negative existence." So far back as 1867 Herbert Spencer established clearly in Principles" that c and not Unconditioned must be represented
created or emanated, and yet is tratiMX-ivU-nt to all. t Occultists should l)cw;uc of giving further
"
"thi.-
negative."
Quoted
Dissertatio
i.
in
i.
Beth
c.
"
House
ii.
;
of
the
Gods,"
/
vol.
J artis
Tractatus
i.,
i.e.
Pneumatica Kabbalistica,
187.
36
Ihe
dominion by and through some attribute. Abstracted from this there can be no attribute, conception, or
ideal of
filling
Him.
He
is
sea,
some great
in the earth,
wherein
concavity, so that thereby we may begin to the dimensions of the sea itself/
It
compute
remains for
is
me
Ain Soph
ture,
and appears to have been first developed by the commentators on the Sepher Yetzirah and in the
school of Isaac the Blind.
II.
Having thus postulated the existence of the Absolute and the Unconditioned, the next concern of the Kabalah is the mode of the manifestation of that withdrawn and inconceivable nature. Having attained its ultimate and fundamental conception of the Deity
by the process of elimination has been made already, it was
stripped of
result
all
to
which reference
that the
inevitable
com
prehension.
perhaps open
to question
whether
Soph was
invested, as
and elaborated antithesis of anthropo morphism thus created was not as much a convention of the human mind as that which it sought to replace.
methodical
gJoctnnnl
ouimt
of the
gabalah
37
The
the
expense of
so
at
human mind by which it had been devised Now, the Jew was confronted by laboriously.*
two problems which called
least
Ain
Soph.
He
had to account
between
this
this
universe, having
is
only the
man for its mouthpiece, but so far common problem of all philosophy
in the unconditioned.
He had
and
own
inheritance
and
this
was
to establish
another bond of
connection
human
relationship,
and the
anthropomorphic Lord of Israel, whose stature and measurements were not beyond the ingenuity of rab
binical calculations,
mentioned with
sufficient fulness
sacred writings for any devout student to possess a clear notion of the body of God," and to describe it,
"
did he please, and we shall see later on that he did, with considerable precision, in a book dedicated to
the question.
why
sufficient from eternity to Himself should at any period have had another mode superadded to it. I say superadded by convention
*
God
The Zohar
says that
it
is
called
nonentity, but, it may be inferred, because outside our knowledge is for us as nothing
38
^he
giabalah
based on the notion of sufficiency it is not a reason able term to make use of in such a relation, to which
;
no terminology
the non est
of itself
it
is
suitable.
The non
is
nothing
gives
but
it
to all numbers.
The
is,
"
solution offered
by
differ materially
in a
In
this,"
Myers,
the
Unknown
fested itself
immanent, yet as to which it was transcendental."! We are dealing here with a system of speculative philosophy, and, traditional or otherwise, it must not
be supposed to be free from the disabilities of other philosophies or from the crudities of its particular The Kabalistic hypothesis supposes an period.
eternity antecedent
Am
it
there
was
either
willj
or
consciousness
possible.
Both, however,
by
common and
almost inevitable
Soph, despite the
"
A in
Woe
unto
him who
*
shall
compare Him
with
any mode or
The
"
circle
is,
in fact, a Kabalistic
Gebirol,"
t
%
Philosophy of Ibn
p. 266.
expressly that
edition,
i., fol.
in the
beginning was
56.
comprehension it must be regarded as the nonAll that is in man depends from it, Ego. it transcends what we conceive by but it transcends consciousness and individual." the terms "Philosophy of Ibn Myer
Ego
rather than
the
personal
Gebirol."
39
later
his
own."*
The
Thus
a treatise
Royal
Valley,"
by Rabbi Naphthali
Hirtz, says
Name
Before
anything was, He, by His simple will, proposed to Himself to fashion the worlds. For the King is not
given without the people, as it is written in Proverbs xiv. 28 In the multitude of the people is the King s And it is the nature of the Supreme Good honour.
:
ness to dispense good. Now, if the world were not, The exegetical on whom could He bestow it ? Gates of Light," indicate literature, treatises like the
"t
"
no
it.t
creatur-
At the
same and
limit.
is
beneplacitnm^ or
carats,
termine
without
accounted for
the
Hence the motive by which the universe is is the same motive which communic mercy of God to them that fear Him, after which
is
the
that,
is,
in
some
respects,
possible worlds.
Seeing then that the transition of the Divine Being from the state of the mm ens was accomplished,
like the conversion of
man from
the condition of a
merely
*
material
creature, by an
operation
Cremona
of
the
Zohar, pt. ii. (Kayah Me/termin), col. 73, ; t Kal-lala Av/W//-/, tcin. ii., partis
/>;
edition.
nnJits,
1,
DC Mundo
Infinite
prim o
p.
152.
i..
t /Cabbala Dcnndata,
f>riffia,
torn.
40
^hc
itortriite
sub gDtoature of
tit*
Ibbalah
mystery of the
will,
we have next
to ascertain
some
thing of the nature of this process, and this leads us to the word which I have already mentioned in In specifying what advertently, namely, emanation.*
will,
we
must,
think, in
an elementary
in
It
must be allowed
re
pudiates implicitly the axiom ex nihilo nihil fit, for the non ens dwelling in the unconditioned state wherein
is
is
the
omnia fiunt. In this plenitudine divine plenitude pre-existing eternally was the sub stance of all the worlds, which therefore came forth
ista
Ex
from God.
emanation.!
*
Hence the
When
it
is
which that notion is and further there is a higher sense of pantheism from which no spiritual But as regards Jewish mysticism, philosophers could wish to escape. while there is always some doubt in what way it made use of the term emanation, there seems to me no doubt that its system does not answer to what is commonly understood by pantheism, though it has often a God was all for the Kabalist, as he is for the pantheistic aspect. Christian, and yet the theosophic Jew no more than the orthodox theologian would admit that God was one with the material world. When, therefore, Solomon Munk (Dictionnaire de la Conversation] says that the Kabalah issued from the amalgamation of oriental
pantheism with the religion of the Hebrews, we can accept this only by supposing that the pantheism in question had suffered a peculiar
alteration.
is almost always, but not, I of course, a certain sense in not escaped even on the hypothesis of creation,
There
is,
The No-Thing is not, however, an absolute negative or void, but some-Thing unknown to man." Myer Philosophy of Ibn Gebirol," It should be added that Nachmanides was one of the few p. 378.
f
"
"
Kabalists
who maintained
Book IV.
2,
creation ex nihilo.
% In
it
we
document of the Kabalah, and should be noted in this connection that at least one scholar of
41
it
rests also
on the identity of
of thought and existence,* or otherwise the doctrine Divine Immanence, there is much in the literature which would tempt us to endorse this view, after due
made
it
and ob
But
is
is
emanation
is
more
in
harmony with the doctrine of the Kabalah than is that of creation, and the rejection of the axiom already mentioned is perhaps little more than a play upon
words.
We
The first conse evolution of the physical universe. which followed the operation of the Divine quence
will
attributes
word, the transition of Deity from the As in the one He was latent to the active state.
all
above
number, so
in the other
He may
is
be said
the
to
tion of
have produced numbers, and the decade Soph. We must not be so crude as to
emana
Am
;
suppose that the mere arithmetical numerals are here it intended was powers, forces, vitalities, virtues,
attributes, principles,
in
the
first
which were thus produced,* and instance the Sephiroth, as they are termed,
view,
authority
Kabalah
(fit
and does
not regard
the
Isaac
Myer
is
t That
and such
like,
Philosophy of Ibn Gebirol," p. 266. the terms emanation, creation, formation signifying distinct ideas, are used somewhat indiscrimi
"
to
say,
nately by the
Kabalist>.
t Azariel, in his work on the Canticle of Canticles, terms them "measures and organs," and in the Zohar itself they appear as divine emanated essences.
42
^ht
Jtortrine anb
belong solely to the world of Deity. which are assigned to them are
.
The names
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Supreme Crown. CHOKMAH, Wisdom. BlNAH, Intelligence or Understanding. CHESED. Mercy, otherwise Gedulah, Magni
KETHER,
the
ficence or Benignity.
V.
GEBURAH,
Severity.
HOD,
Victory.
The
Binah pro
duced a quasi-emanation called Daath, knowledge, but it is not one of the Sephiroth*
To
of the Kabalistic system of the Sephiroth constitutes by itself, and one which is full of complexity.
are not concerned here with
We
its
sentation,
which would
fill
elementary symbolism.
*
We
as,
are concerned, in a
though
"to
number,"
late
cr^cupat
vessels,
The
singular
is
Power and attributes as they no doubt that these vessels were usually considered spherical. See especially the treatise Beth Elohim con The cerning father, in which the idea of circularity is involved. author of the "Gates of Light" refers the term to the Hebrew word signifying sapphire, which stone, on account of its brightness and Other rabbinical authorities purity, is a symbol of the Sephiroth. have supported this view. See Jellinek Beitrdge zur Geschichte der
receptacles of developed, and there
is
:
Kabbala.
Leipsic, 1851.
vlhf
Hoctvinalontent
it
of thf
gabalah
43
to
is
which
it
was
offer
is
intended to explain, and this explanation some warrant for concluding that outside
only the province of fantasy. Beyond a certain point
may
it
there
it
is
not reasonable to
literature
;
in
any
the
many-sided allegories does credit only to the ingenuity of the critic, and of its general value we
have had a typical instance
in
Talmudic exegesis.*
The
initial
that
of
all
we
reject con
no warrant
is
produced we must be
To
bridge
the gulf between the finite and the infinite, and to effect a correspondence by stages between the incon
ceivable purity of the Divine Nature and the uncleanness attributed to matter by all the old theosophies, was not the sole purpose of the Sephirotic system, a
point
which
is
sometimes
missed
by the merely
example, by
academical
It is
critic.
affirmed
by
study of modern occult literature, I doubt the occultist really concerns himself with the discovery of a concealed sense in the Kabalah. It is a sufficient exercise of
After an exhaustive
much whether
his patience
perhaps a
and harmonise the outward sen^e, \\hich is and transcendentalised by his methods, but Take, for example, the conception of ircdly not removed. Ain Soph he certainly does not look for any notion more withdrawn than that of divine latency therein. The inner meaning of the Kabalah is its proper and single sense, which has been confused by the obscurity of its style and its subject.
to codify
little
irradiated
44
^he
.of
the
Am Soph, so also
it
is
above chal
lenge that the germ of the Sephirotic scheme must be sought in the Sepher Yetzirah. The ten numerations
the Sephiroth, and it seems quite impossible to maintain the contrary opinion. t
fact,
III.
as
Sephirotic system was concerned first of all, have indicated, with the mystery of Divine Evolu
The
tion. From that unsearchable condition which is above consciousness, by a mysterious operation, the Uncreated Will moved outward, and subsequently
three manifestations or relations of Deity were estab lished. By the first manifestation the Ain Soph
passed
from
latency
subsisting
into
still,
activity
the
non-Ego
pure
became Ego,
which
is
however, in a condition
in the state of
humanly inconceivable,
abstract thought.
is
concentration of this thought depicted in Kether, which is also the Divine Will
its
The
in
primordial
is,
manifestation.
The
Supreme
Crown t
* More especially in his article, s.v. Kabbalah, contributed to the third edition of Kitto s "Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature."
first
translator
of the
as
Sepher Yetzirah,
with
the
identical
Gates of Light," it is said that the J In the treatise entitled the of Kether is applied to the first Sephira, because even as the crown encircles the head so does Kether encircle every Sephira. It is
name
of the
gabalah
45
By
the abstract thought entered into or de the relationship of time, so that it could be veloped now regarded as that which was, which is and is to
come.
that
is
Lastly,
to say,
it
its
By
is
a slight
also
Ain Soph is further represented as the central point of Kether, regarded as a sphere, and the circumference is infinity, which is, as it were,
the Divine Vestment.
that this
is
it
The
later
Kabalists explain
wherein
beyond
all
The
the
"
"
Book
of
Formation,"
properties of all the the infinite of beginning, the infinite of ending, the infinite of good, the infinite of
however,
that
the
world of
"
Direction,"
which
encompasses
all
things.
This
statement involves the view that the Sephiroth were emanated as a series of concentric circles, a point which will be dealt with later on.
*
l\falknlh
time>,
is applied to several of the Sephiroth. the throne of judgment, Tiphcreth that of mercy. ho\ve\er, i^ termed the throne of mercy, because is
/>///(///
a seat
throne of glory
when
Bk.
it
i.
Tiphereth is also called the receives the influence of the thirty-two paths of
10.
wisdom.
because
it
See
is
and Dinah which is the v- at of Malkuth. Kabbala Apparatus in Libnim Sohar, B.T. Throntis, vol. i. p. 483. These points are cited only to show the chameleon character of the
signifies Malkitth,
t
ata,
symbolism. MoiaK and Dogma of the t I owe this statement to the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite," compiled by Albert Tike. Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction of the U.S.A. The authority
"
is
it
is,
believe,
from
"The
Royal
Valley,"
by R.
Napthali
46
evil,
^he
infinite
the infinite in elevation, the infinite in depth, the at the East, the infinite at the West, the the North, the infinite at the South, and the
is
infinite at
Lord alone
governs
of
all
above
all
as
faithful
King He
ages."*
from the height of His throne in the ages As the vessel of the Divine Consciousness,
contained by nothing,j* Kether contains
is
which
all
itself is
;J
it
things
the
of the universe, to
system.
In
particular
contains
the
remaining
The Sephiroth, which are the sum of all things. Word of God circulates in all, and Kether is, in a
special sense, the Spirit of the Living
God.
is
the truly celestial Wisdom, can be referred only to Kether. That of Chokmah is, notwithstanding, so transcendent
quality, for the highest of
it.
It
Moses,
with
*
for
which
Solomon was
which connects
The Sephira
Sepher Yetzirah, c. i. par. 4. f This appears paradoxical, but just as Fichte and Carl du Prel have maintained that the human ego is not wholly embraced in selfconsciousness, so Kether is presumably the vessel of the Divine Con
sciousness in the sense that
will
it
Readers
a phial,
According
Royal
Valley,"
A in
Soph had
of
full
consciousness and
the grades
all
and
Itself.
is hence, as Isaac de Acco observes in his treatise on Enlightenment of the Eyes," a unity of the ten Sephirofh m It must, themselves, which unity is concentrated always in Ain Soph. perhaps, be admitted that this idea is contained implicitly in the Zoharic statement that Ain Soph is the beginning and end of all degrees
% There
"The
in the creation.
47
"
Chokmah
cally represented
Dinah, Intelligence or Understanding, is symboli by the same fundamental authority as the moisture of the Breath of the It is the Spirit.
highest Scphira with which spondence, but it contains
man
at
time one which was also concealed from Moses. The mystery root of all roots and the foundation of all foundations
is by it communicated to man, who could otherwise have no knowledge of the antecedent states of the Divine Nature.*
the
warmth
or
fire
contained
God.
beneplacituin
tcrmine carens
mentioned
the last
section
and supposes
It
Divine Agent.
was made or emanated, not because anything was wanting to the Divine completeness, but out of the fulness of goodwill, which is, however, in
that the universe
distinct opposition
to
some
of
the
later
Kabalists,
Chesed
certain
in
All things, according to the commentary of Isaac de Loria, in a and most abstruse manner, consist and reside and are contained Hinah, which projects them and send., them clou awards, species by
Fabrication.
it
Dinah
is
is
the source of prophetic inspiration, as Chokmah is that of revelation. t See Liber Drushim, a metaphysical introduction to the Kabalah*
vol.
i.
Kabbala Dfnudata,
pt.
Also Book
vi.
of this work.
48
Ihe
The
ifljctrine
fifth
is Geburah, signifying Judg Power, known also as Pachad, ment, Justice, Judicial It is the supernal tribunal before which or Fear.
Sephira
nothing can
subsist.
is,
in a
Judgment and
is
the heart of
manifested by the the seventh Sephira. victory signified in Netzach, There are three rays diffused from the splendour of
is
When Benignity, Beauty and Victory. the Sephiroth the they shine and are diffused over whole world is filled with joy and perfection, for the
Providence
Divine goodness itself looks forth upon all creatures, and all the worlds are in fulness and completeness.*
This Sephira
is
also
termed Eternity.
Adorn eighth Sephira, Hod, signifies Glory, with Netzach it is ment, Splendour. In combination termed the armies of Jehovah. All the salutations
The
in the Psalter of
David belong
It is the place of praise, the place to this emanation. of wars and victories, and of the treasury of benefits.f
Jesod,
the
Basis
or
Foundation, the
all forces, all
ninth
life
Sephira,
is
the storehouse of
the seat of
and
vitality,
*
the worlds.}
Denudata,
s.v.
Apparatus
Ibid.
s.v.
Libnun Sohar.
p.
Kabbala
268
Superatio, i.e.
t
to the
Netzach,
589
et seq.
i.e.
Decus, Gloria,
Hod,
p.
et seq.
According
Zohar Netzach and Hod correspond to extension, multiplication and force, and thence issue all the forces of the universe, for which reason these Sephiroth are also termed the Armies of the Eternal.
Zohar,
iii. 296 a, Mantua. % Kabbala Denudata, Apparatus,
,
s.v.
Fundament :t in
\.z.,Jesod,
p.
439
et seq.
49
Malkutii
is
the
tenth
Scphira,
"
signifying
Dominion, Royalty, Kingdom. In the Lesser Holy Synod it is termed the Mother of all the
"
"
Living."
the final manifestation, emanation, or develop ment of the Divine Nature taking place in the Divine World, and is, therefore, that point at which the more
It
is
external orders
make
and
To
the
this brief
authority
I
Kabalists,
will
now add
is,
interpretation,
which
a very reasonable aspect Ain Soph, the Unknowable and Absolute, mani fests through the efflux of the spiritual and material
universe,
first
using
the
Sephiroth
as
its
media.
The
the
emanation
symbolises
Abstract
to
Thought,
manifest
represents
Absolute
wardly.
association
consciousness
out
the
emanation
which
association
Wisdom.
The
third
emanation
is
Mind
receiving the impression of the abstract ideas. These three constitute the Spirit of the World. The second triad of Sephiroth, and Mercy,
Judgment
Beauty,
includes the principles of construction and symbolises the abstract dimensions of matter, length, breadth,
depth and their double polarity. Chesed and Geburah are the centripetal and centrifugal energies between the poles of the dimensions. In their
junc
tion with Tiphereth they represent all ethical
life
and
perfection.
They correspond
to
the
Soul of the
Hence it is said that the tenth Sefihira the place of the manifestation of Deity.
is
is,
50
^he
The third triad is dynamic its Sephiroth the Deity as universal potentiality, energy and signify productive principle. They answer to the idea of
World.
;
Nature, the natura naturans, however, and not the natura naturata. The tenth Sephira, or Malkuth, represents the Concrete, and is the energy and execu
tive
although their wording is open occasionally to another significance, they are neither concerned as yet with any material evolution,
that,
both tabulations
but solely with that development of the Divine Prin ciples which found its ultimation at last on the
material plane, between which and the Divine there was the intervention, as we shall see, of two mediate
worlds, f
Now,
it
distinction
any anthropomorphic
all
human
the
Its point of view is that correspondences. is the last consequence in the visible world
development of the attributes of God, or that God in order to create had to pass outward from his eternal
Sephiroth are the symbolism of the attributes, and the course of their efflux is the history
subsistence.
*
xiii.
it is said by the later Kabalists that God called Himself Chokmah, Intelligent in Binah, in Chesed He took the character of Great and Benignant, in Geburah of Rigourous, in
The
"
Philosophy of Ibn
Gebirol,"
t So
Wisdom
in
Tiphereth of Beautiful, in Netzach of Overcoming, in Hod of our Glorious Author, in Jesod of our Support, by Jesod all vessels and worlds being upheld, while in Malkuth He applied to Himself the
title
of King.
of the
lubalah
51
is
the
subject
of
much
discussion
among
Kabalistic
generally held that the Sephiroth were contained originally one within the other, that is,
It is
writers.
Kether enclosed
all
those below
it,
CkokinaJi enclosed
last,
produced
by
points, they
expanded
in
circular
shape
ten
circles
under the
them ten
seem,
The
it
may
was collected together under the notion of a heavenly man, Adam Kadmon, archetypal and primordial. It was similarly collected under the notion of a supreme world, termed Atziluth, the World of Deity, J of which
Adam Kadmon
special
manner
this
From
sole occupant!) This in a termed the World of Emanations. proceeded a second world, having also its
is
was the
not, as I infer, to
Sephirotic decade, that of Creation, called Briak, but be understood in the usual accepta
emanated.
It
superior world, namely, of the effectuating energies of the Supreme Will, resident in the Archetypal World.
The
and by
highest
*
It
is
in
this
strict
among themselves and also with Ain Soph. t Introductio in Lit, rum Sohar, i.e., Vallis Rcgia.
unity
vol.
"
See
A abba/a
Dontdata,
ii.
p.
152
tt scq.
world,"
The
That
I!
intelligible
is,
:
of the Zohar.
I
the
"
Man
from the
Myer
Philosophy of Ibn
Gebirol," p.
418.
52
^he
angels,
produced. But the Sephirotic prolongation was continued into a third world, that of Yetzirah, or
formation, the abode of the angelic choirs. Though further removed from Supreme Perfection, there is
not a taint of the material in this abode of incorporeal It is otherwise with the World of Action, the beings.
fourth product of the tenfold emanation, Assta/i, the region of matter and also the dwelling of the demons,
called shells or Cortices
by the
Kabalists.
In
common
many other systems of emanation this material world is regarded as the gross purgations of the upper
with
regions.
It
Sephiroth
should be observed, however, that the permeate the four systems, but they
deteriorate as they proceed further from Soph and the corruption of the infernal world, the formless
Am
region and
the
are
the
extreme
Kether.
limits
the
Thus, in order to explain the imperfections found in the world-craft of a perfect author the
is
not disdained as
a resource.
set
it
It is
easy to
criticise
such a system, or to
down as beneath criticism, but, again, the dis ability is common to the dreams of all emanationists. It remains to say that we have the distinct authority of the Zohar for regarding the demons as products of the will of God and designed for a specific
but this point may be reserved for further consideration at a later stage.* Broadly speaking, the Four Worlds of the
purpose
as corresponding in
the
We
Formation,"
have already seen that, according to the "Book of the ten Sephiroth are the infinite of evil as well as of good.
The Doctrinal
(a)
(Content of the
JUbalah
53
ATZILUTH,
to the
Primum
Mobile.
() BRIAH, (c) YETZIRAH, to the planetary chain. (d) ASSIAH, to the world of the four elements.
Thus, astronomy
is
The doctrine of the Four Worlds was developed between the period of the Sepher Yetzirah and that of the promulgation of the Zohar, and it received
many
latter
increments
work.
It
is
from
first
is
Emanation,"
which
the Blind.
Nazir.
Its
distribution of the
in
Four Worlds
differs
as,
by
It should be added Briah, the archangelic world. that the Zohar also recognises a distribution of the
Sephiroth
into
Three Worlds
(i)
Intelligible,
(2)
IV.
established for a distinct purpose, the vindication of the relationship between namely, man and God. This vindication is founded, it will be
symbolism
superfluous to say, on
Jewish nation, as
of the First
it is
Covenant.
54
^he
t&Qtinnt
anfo
however, in which
nation,
it
not at
all
peculiar to that
and there are indeed traces of a very liberal and almost Catholic doctrine in the books which form The Chosen People is the channel by the Kabalah. which all grace and favour are communicated from
above,
but the
gifts
of
the
through Israel to the world at large the union of the divine potency with Zion incorporates all things
together, so that they are as one body, union the whole universe is found to
and by
be
in
falls
this
joy.*
Again,
the
that
"
it
is
said
that a
certain
light
from
supernal
which
is
blesses
the
whole world, so
in
wrath
no longer
rejoice
found
the
universe
all
the worlds
and are
with
fulfilled
with
all
perfection."
The
relations of
God
man
are,
however,
those which are delineated in the dealings between Jehovah and Jewry, and the conception of the God of
to
be harmonised with
but
still
is
supernal triad of the Sephiroth. Therefore, this triad taken to represent the entire Sephirotic system of have seen that this world is the Atzilutic world.
We
its
regarded as the abode of Adam Kadmon, who is also In the alternative symbolism with sole denizen.
this notion of the
Body
of
See
"The
Lesser Holy
Synod,"
xxii.,
Kabbala Denudata,
The
55
God
By
is
replaced
in
by
that of a Vast
Countenance,*
resident
this head,
antithesis
of
anthropomorphic
Deity
it
is
shadowed
is
As Ain Soph
the Closed
Eye
of the
Unknown
is
Darkness, so in the
open aud never closes.f for the subsistence of the universe and all its worlds depends upon the light which shines therefrom.! In
Vast Countenance the eye
this
is
neither
wrath nor
judgment,
operate
in
wrath
and
judgment
which
check
by
the world and in humanity are held in the mercy and longanimity of Macro-
prosoptts to such
as counterbalanced
tion.
an extent that they may be regarded and annulled in the last disposi
expatiate here on the symbolism, to which reference must be made again. It is sufficient to note that the first Sephirotic emana
There
is
no need
to
tion,
corresponding
to
the
self-consciousness
and
Supreme Being, is a God described by the Kabalists in terms which are in tentionally the reverse of the salient characteristics
abstract thought of the
From Macro-
through
the
SepJiira
aspect of a masculine potency, and through the third SepJiira, the feminine ttinah, Understanding^ there is
*
Called Arik
"Book
Anf>in
in the
Zohar and
its
dependencies.
The
Southey s "Curse of Kehama" will remember what followed the sudden veiling of the eyes of Seeva. These are the Supernal Father and the Supernal Mother, who must be regarded, however, us modes of the manifestation of Macroprosopus.
56
Ihe
Jlortrme
the
attb
emanated
prosopus,
Lesser
Countenance,*
or
Micro-
and configuration bodily possessing extended through the six emanations from Chesed
Jesod
inclusive.
It
to
and
Formation.
is
But as Kether
specially
in
world
the
of
Atzilutli
attributed
Vast
Countenance, so is Tiphereth in Briah to the Lesser Countenance. As longanimity is the characteristic that of swiftness to wrath of Macroprosopus, so is
"
"
the
inferior
being,
parvam faciem
habens,
cito
These comparative qualities are typified by length and shortness of face. Microprosopus is regarded by modern occultism as the shadow or
irasccns^
reflection of the superior manifestation, but this
is
view
not entirely borne out by Kabalistic literature. Making due allowance for all inexactitude, it repre
sents in a general manner what is designed to be enforced by the symbolism, and the sole point which we are concerned in establishing here is that Micro
prosopus
is
is
It
not,
however,
and judg
ment
tive
are not in
Ain Soph,
The mediation
Deity,
to
is
communica
it
or sacramental.
is
the
which
God con
and
its
Conversely, as regarded
from above,
vol.
i.
p. 312,
s.v.
Macroprosopus.
% Eliphas Levi, Le Livre des Splendeurs, Paris, 1894,
p. 69.
57
knowledge and
It
is
its
to
mankind.
the adjustment of the infinite being to finite possibilities, so that the limited may receive a certain
It is so
much
is
of
God
as
man by
his
constitution
;
and
estate
comprehending
it
is
Divine
humanity by an administration suited to humanity, by the way of contest and prize, by the way of kindness
and
severity,
is
Himself
God in reward and punishment. above all these things, but they are neces
of
In a word, it is so sary to His froward children. much of the Principle of Newton as would be under
stood in a village school, namely, the illustration of the falling apple.
That
Divine
this
is
evinced further
Names which
made
in the
The
ness
I
affirmation of self-existence
is
and self-conscious
signifies, I
Name which
am
that
the
am, AHIH,* and this is referred to Kefher, while world of Atziluth generally embraces the
name, never uttered and therefore re
incomprehensible
as
mysterious
garded
this
and
unpronounceable,
it
When
name
in
or
substitutes
*
ADNI,
The word
"It is possible," says Maimonidcs, "that in the Hebrew language, of which we have but a slight knowledge now, 7\it\j^rammafon t in the way it was pronounced, conveyed the meaning of absolute
existence."
Maimonides," vol.
f It is See Renan
first
"The Guide of the Perplexed of (March, part i. c. 61) p. 228. unpronounceable, because its real vowels are unknown.
M.
Friedlander
i.
"
History of
Israel,"
note to
c. vi.
More
accurately, the
to
three letters belong to the supernal Sephiroth the inferior seven. The attributions, however, vary.
58
<3Ihe
gabalah
which we render Jehovah belongs, therefore, to the symbolism of the Vast Countenance, to the God who
is
not as
man
is.
But
AL and
its
derivatives, Jehovah,
or the
Lord
names
of
which the
contents can be grasped by the human mind and can therefore be uttered, are the Names of the Lesser
Countenance.
The
is
relation
between Macroprosopus
and Microprosopus
of the philosophical hypothesis the correspondence between the absolute as it is and The disparity the absolute as conceived by man.
between them
human
conceptions of the Uivinity, fully recognised by every Kabalist as abounding in that book which he re
garded as more Divine than any. Like the Sephirotic system, the doctrine of the
involved,
Four Worlds and the two Countenances is curiously and though in its elements it is exceedingly
simple, in
its
highly technical. As in the single Sephirotic scheme with which we have been dealing here the first triad of emanations is held to represent the world of Atziluth, so the second triad
elaborations
it
is
the
third
the
world
of
is
Now, with
in
Microprosopus
who
is
in
it
Malkuth, or the
Kingdom,
which sense
Spouse
locus
The
sanctorum, the organ of nuptial intercourse, is, how the place called Zion and Jerusalem,"* and it is, ever,
*
the sanctity
Laurence Oliphant quoted these and similar passages to prove and mysticism with which the notion of sexual conjunction,
59
is
Israel only
hence the dispensa the divine to the world and men.* tion of
received.
office of Israel is
The
The
ment
into
"
is
the subject
of
of special development
the
"
Book
to
Conceal
and
its
supplements, being
;
tracts introduced
the
Zohar
its
it
was unknown
the
Sepher
Yetzirah or
early commentators.
V.
must be confessed
ture deserves to
of
A in
;
SopJi
ceptions
SepHirotic system will not suffer by with any other dream of emanation and comparison may even challenge all the motive which underlies
the
the metaphysics of the two Countenances is singularly profound and may be regarded as the chief glory of the Kabalah.
We
fantastic portions.
must now, however, approach its We have seen that the World of
Briah
is
may be
on the axiom
we have
and the act itself, was invested, as he said, from the earliest times. But his opinion of the Kabalah was derived only from Mr. Mathers scries, and he had probably never translation of the "occultation See "Scientific heard of the controversial history of the Zohar.
"
Religion,"
This
that
Zion
not only the centre of the earth but the starting point of the universe. Consult also the Kuzari, of R. Judas Ha Levi.
is
t According to Myer, the speculative or metaphysical Kabalah is an attempt to harmonise Hebrew monotheism with the "fundamental
60
^he
of the term Creation does not at all correspond to the sense of Christian cosmology, because that which they called Nothing evasively was the plenitude in which
the All lay latent Further, the world of Briak was not that in which anything material was formed,
it
was rather the Elohistic world, that of Panurgic force and intelligence, which became formative in Yetzirah,
but did not produce matter except in the fourth world. Now the materials used and shaped, or,
perhaps, more properly speaking, the instruments, the matrices of the material world, are said by the
alphabet. According imparted to them form and weight by combining and transforming them in divers manners, Aleph with all
Sepher Yetzirah,
Hebrew God
all
Beth with
rest.*
all
and
all
with Beth
of
and so of the
were
Some
in this
hundreds
permutations
obtained
manner, which are the origin not only of all languages but of all creatures. As these permutations can, by
the hypothesis, be reduced to a single name, that of Tetragrammation, the JOD, HE, VAU, HE, which I
have had occasion to mention previously, it is said that the entire universe proceeds from this name.-)- The
principle of ancient "Philosophy of Ibn
philosophy,"
Gebirol,"
p.
namely, the axiom quoted above. This was also the design of 230.
Cf.
Maimonides
*
in his
"
Guide of the
Perplexed."
Sepher Yetzirah, c. ii. par. 4. that the present world was created by world to come with the letter
/0<
God
this name gives all knowledge Compare E liphas Levi. who reduces the
"All
knowledge
is
in a
word,
all
power
in a
name
name
is
the Science of
Abraham and
Solomon."
Ma- eures,
Paris, 1895.
61
The world came forth from God But the name of God is niPP
5
The fundamental
letters of the
Book
of
Forma
Name
Water and
is
Fire.
The heavens
are formed
of Water,
mediate
Spirit.
Their
torrid,
correspondences
are
the
;
year,
the
and temperate seasons in man, the and breast. head, belly Besides the Three Mothers there are seven
frigid
double
letters
(:
= G).
Daleth
= P), (B
Resh (^ = R) and
in
the
Formation for
* It will be unnecessary to point out that this is a logical non scquitur, hut it must be added that for the Kabalistic Jew the true name of God, as indeed of any existence, was a manifestation of its essence
62
tlie
JUbalah
:
Their correspondences
East
Depth
North
South
in the centre
West
Height
and sustain
things.
When
He
therewith the planets in the heaven the days in the year i.e., the seven days of creation and the gates
;
in
man
i.e.,
and mouth.
letters,
There
the
are, finally,
twelve simple
in
having
the
following
:
correspondences
man
and
world
the twelve simples there were of the zodiac, the twelve months created the signs and the twelve directors of man i.e., the two hands,
By means
of
liver,
the
gall,
the spleen,
arteries.
must leave
my
readers to
decide
how
this
vlhc Jlortrinal
63
bizarre system
is
to
be interpreted.
critics
It
has been
occult
who have no
leanings as a serious attempt to devise a philosophical * but for myself I must confess that I do cosmology
;
it
is
and the
There are
those, of course, who discern in it a secret meaning, who remember, for example, that the letters of the Hebrew alphabet stand also for numerals, and do not fail to cite the scriptural statement that God made
everything by weight, number and measure. Indeed, the Sepher Yetzirah may be regarded as a commentary on this declaration. As a rule, how
ever,
I
philosophy, meant that which they said, and if they did not say all that they meant the unexpressed residuum was along the lines of the sense expressed.
When
really
made by means
meant
of the letters of the alphabet, they what they stated but if it be asked
;
whether they understood by those letters the symbols of arcane powers, it must be answered that they did.
The
letters are,
The warrant
of the hypothesis
must be sought
in
the Talmudic system, which believed that the body of the sacred text was divine like the sense which was
Dr.
Alfred
Edersheim seems
to
speak
in
this
sense in
hi-,
"History
Jerusalem."
White, M.A.
third, posthumous edition, revised by the Rev. H. A. London. See p. 408. 1896.
64
its
^he
soul,
jjirrtritu anfc
man
himself, an inner
spirit,
ing.
the highest of all, namely, the concealed mean Now, the letters of the alphabet were the
of
materials
the
textual
body,
to
the
care
and
discerned strange abysses of mystery in the smallest peculiarities of the Tkorah> there was a weird fascina
tion in the fact that all the
wonders and
sanctities of
Law and the Prophets resulted from the diverse combinations of twenty-two letters, and he came to regard this handful of conventional hieroglyphs as so
the
or instruments by which the divine wisdom was communicated to man. In a word, for him they ceased to be conventions a divine revela
many sacraments
it,
and the
noumenal world, vessels of singular election, instru ments of Deity, from which it was an easy transition
to
life
suppose that such channels of spiritual grace and must have fulfilled some exalted office in the
itself.
the body of the text, the and writing the Thorah, and special considerations on the mystic sense of the sacred characters. It was hence the criticism of the Hebrew text. It was also, as already seen, that which was openly delivered by the rabbins in contradiction to that which was supposed to have been communicated secretly. Thus it taught the true
rules as to reading
reading of doubtful passages, the true pronunciation of uncertain words, the correct subdivisions of the books, and so forth. Buxtorf s work
entitled
"Tiberias"
"
(Basilise,
1620,
4to)
deals with
the
Massorah.
pretend
Compare Molitor
that
its
Philosophy of
"
Tradition."
Occultists
exoteric formulae were designed to conceal every trace of a secret sense in the Thorah. See Mission des Juifs," p. 646, by Saint-Yves d Alveydre, who follows Fabre d Olivet in La Langue
Hebrdiquc Restitute. The Massorah compiled from MSS., alphabetically and lexically arranged, has been published by C. D. Ginsburg. 3 vols London. 1880-85.
65
is
it
Kabalistic
literature,
which,
improved very much as it developed. It was intimately connected with the idea of the pre-existence
follows,
of the Thorah, and to say that the world was created by the inscription of letters in the air was, in one
sense, only another manner of saying that it was created by the Thorah, while the latter affirmation is not incapable of being regarded in a philosophical manner by the help of the Kabalistic doctrine of
correspondences, for which the Thorah of Moses would be only the mundane type of the Eternal and Divine
Law.
VI.
In the Latin collection of Pistorius the marrow of philosophical Kabalism is presented in the form of certain terse propositions or dogmas,* according to one of which the ways of eternity are thirty-two
Vice ceternitatis sunt triginta
dno.-\
paths
of
the
Sepher
Yetzirah,
namely,
alphabet, a dependency of this fundamental treatise, but of much more recent date,
Hebrew
The
them
is
They are the extremely interesting theses of ims de Mirundola, which will be found in Book vii. t They are referred to the Scphirah Chokinah and are teniu-d occult channels, at once hidden and revealed. In the Faithful Chokinah is called the hi-hi-t of all paths, eml, Shepherd racing and including all that are beneath it, and the influx of all
J
"
"
i.,
therefrom.
The same treatise connects with Chokinah the words in The bird hath not known the path, neither hath tin7
"
i.
601,
66
and without even an imputed authorship. It tabulates the special graces and illuminations which may be
communicated
channels,
to
is
of these
and
shows that
had a philosophical part to the human mind, and was not practical application It is outside the merely a speculative system.
the
most
Kabalism
province of this work to offer translations to the student, but as in the present instance it would be difficult to summarise the tabulation more briefly, I
shall give
it
in extenso, premising
only that
it
has
is
The
first
path
is
called the
It
Admirable
is
Intelli
gence, the
Supreme Crown.
imparts understanding of the beginning which is without beginning, and this also is the First No created being can attain to its Splendour.
essence.
The second path is called the Illuminating Intelli It is the Crown of Creation and the splendour gence.
of the
Supreme Unity,
It
is
to
which
it
is
most near
in
exalted above every head and is proximity. Kabalists as the Second Splendour. distinguished by The third path is called the Sanctifying Intelli
gence and is the foundation of Primordial Wisdom, termed the Creation of Faith. Its roots are -p^N- It
is
from.
The
Receiving
fourth
path
is
called
the
it
Arresting
arises
like
or
Intelligence,
to
because
boundary
receive the
intelligences
Herefrom
all
of the gabalah
67
emanate by the way of subtlety, which emanates from the Supreme Crown.* The fifth path is called the Radical Intelligence,
it is
because
to the
Supreme
of
Unity
and
depths
the
Primordial Wisdom, f
path is called the Intelligence of Influence, because the flux of the emana Mediating
tions
is
The
sixth
multiplied therein.
It
communicates
are united with
this
it.J
men who
is
called the
Hidden
Intelli
pours out a brilliant splendour on all intellectual virtues which are beheld with the eyes of the spirit and by the ecstasy of faith.
The
eighth
path
is
called
the
Perfect
and
are in the depths of the Sphere Magnificence, from the very substance of which it emanates.
ninth path is called the Purified Intelligence. purifies the numerations, prevents and stays the fracture of their images,) for it establishes their unity
It
|
The
this
rendering
;
The
Receptacular
and from
essences
;
and is emanate all the spiritual they emanate one from the
it
Hebrew text of Rittangelius, makes fourth path is named Measuring, Cohesive, or so-called because it contains all the
virtues
other by the
power of the
primordial
emanation," i.e.,
"the
K cther.
Westcott, Sephcr
t Or,
"
Vetzirah, p. 28.
It
all
united."
According to Westcott
Ibid.
II
"it
is
the
Or,
"proves
and
"
Ibid.
68
^he
J)xrd;tine
to preserve
by
tenth path is called the Resplendent Intelli because it is exalted above every head and gence, it enlightens the fire of all has its seat in Binah
;
The
lights
forms.f
The
gence. and order of the superior and inferior causes. Who soever possesses this path is in the enjoyment of great
dignity
;
It is
to possess
it
is
to
Cause of Causes.j
The
Light,
twelfth path is called the Intelligence of the because it is the image of magnificence. It is
who behold
The
thirteenth path
is
It is the substance of glory, and it ligence of Unity. manifests truth to every spirit.] The fourteenth path is called the Illuminating
|
Intelligence.
It is
tion of holiness.
The
"
Countenances.
"
Ibid.
"
It is
the essence
placed close to the order of the disposition, and this is a special dignity given to it that it may be able to stand before Ibid. the face of the Cause of Causes."
Or
||
"It
things."
Ibid.
vlhe Jloctriual
69
According
darkness
cloud and
to
the philo
is
itself
that
9),
mentioned
by
the envelope
The sixteenth path is called the Triumphant and Eternal Intelligence, the delight of glory, the paradise of pleasure prepared for the just.
seventeenth path is called the Disposing It disposes the devout to Intelligence, perseverance
The
to receive the
is
Holy
Spirit.f
The
House
.
eighteenth path
of Influence, J and
the
concealed
the
shadow
thereof.
nineteenth path is called the Intelligence of the Secret or of all spiritual activities. The fulness
The
it
which
The
Will.
for
It
twentieth path is called the Intelligence of prepares all created beings, each individually,
the
demonstration
of
the
existence
of
the
primordial glory.
The
twenty-first
path
is
called the
It
Rewarding
receives
who
it
seek.
the
influences
by
its
benediction
existing things.
is
It constitutes
darkness."
Ibid., p. 30.
t Westcott adds
the state of higher
influx of
"It
things."
"
Ibid.
By
the greatness of
is
increased."
70
^he
Intelligence,
therein, until they pass to those dwell under the shadow thereof.*
and augment
who
The
gence. numerations.
twenty-third path is called the Stable Intelli It is the source of consistency in all the
twenty-fourth path is called the Imaginative It is the ground of Intelligence. similarity in the
likeness of beings
after its aspects.
The
who
are created to
its
agreement
The
tion
twenty-fifth path
is
the
first
tempta
by which God
The
reneweth
twenty-sixth path
for
called
the
Renewing
be He!
Intelligence,
all
thereby
is
God
blessed
which
is
the Active
created the
spirit of
every
is
creature of the supreme orb, and the activity, that to say, the motion, to which they are subject.}
is
called
the Natural
whereby
The
*
twenty-ninth path
called the
Corporeal
Westcott
increased,
Ibid.
and
all
literal rendering reads, by it spiritual virtues are dwellers on earth are merely under its shadow."
"
t
the
"
world."
"
is the Exciting Intelligence, and it is so called because through it is consummated and perfected the nature of every existent being under the orb of the sun, in perfection." Ibid.
This path
Westcott
s
is
version.
71
informs every body which is incor porated under all orbs, and it is the growth thereof. The thirtieth path is called the Collective Intelli
Intelligence
;
it
gence, for thence astrologers, by the judgment of the stars and the heavenly signs, derive their speculations
The
ligence.
thirty-first
path
is
Why
is
it
so called
Because
it
rules the
movement
of the sun
to their
in
its
constitution
and causes
gravitate
respective orb.*
The
thirty-second path
it
is
called the
Assisting
Intelligence, because
The modern
at
to
more that
it
was
the last resource the understanding of methodised,! and embracing, as such, the entire
attributed to
*
man
circle
human knowledge. |
to Kliphas Levi, this verse contains the secret of the The rca-on assigned is that path thirty-one
According
great
work of alchemy.
corresponds to the
Hebrew
letter
Shin
(Sh),
which
represents the
"It
is the magic lamp, or the light between the horns of Baphomet. Kabalktir -L;n of (iod or the Astral Light, with its two poles and equili brated centre." The sun mentioned in the paragraph represents gold, La the moon silver, and the planets correspond to the other metals.
It is needless to say that the Sepher Clef des Grand My stercs, p. 234. Yetzirah and its developments have nothing to do with alchemy. Man is the Kabalistic balance," according to Mr. \Y. t
"
1>.
Greene.
+
"The
Ula/ing
Star,"
p.
51.
However, it fi-11, a. may be expected, into superstitious uses and became a kind of theo^ophic divination, ba-.ed on the first chapter mentioned thirty-two time*. of Genesis, wherein the name hlohim
i-,
72
^he
Doctrine
anfc fCiterature
ot the
of completeness,
and because an
to
it,
been attributed
though
in
the absence of any real warrant, a word may be added a somewhat conventional piece of concerning
Kabalistic classification, entitled the
Fifty Gates of
referable to Binah, the third
Understanding.
Sephira,
It
is
and
all
is
universal observes,
science,
knowledge and
At
the present
day such
aspect.
classifications
There
science
is,
human
after
his
impossible
manner
I
of
Raymond
Lully and
Ars Magna
it
Sciendi.
infer
knowledge, acquired by the external way, and thus constitutes a kind of scholastic introduction to the
paths of Chokmah or of Wisdom,* by which the holy men of God may, as Kircher observes, after long toil, long experience of divine things and long meditation
thereon, penetrate to the concealed centres. t
principle of the enumeration
in the
The
signifies
of the
Hebrew word
consonants
fifty.
the
which
are
equivalent to the
The
number
question,
and,
according to
Kircher, by
itself,
to Papus, the thirty-two paths are deductive like the which starts from the notion of God and
proceeds thence to natural phenomena, while the fifty gates are established on the inductive principle, ascending from Nature to Deity.
La Kabbah^
p.
132.
,
fol.
vThc
godvinal Content of
the Jlabalah
73
The Gates
as
of Understanding, considered as an
Wisdom, which diverge, from Chokmah, are essential to the seen, higher knowledge approached by these.* It would serve no purpose to enumerate them all categorically
we have
they begin with the first matter, the Hyle or Chaos, proceed through the various elements of ancient
science to the theory of composite substances, thence to organic life and the physical, intellectual and nature of man, afterwards to the heaven of psychic
primum
and,
finally,
to
the
world,
that
of
A in
transcending human
said
that
Moses did not attain to this, the fiftieth, gate, and some stress seems to be laid on this point, one would think a little superfluously, as it is obvious that what is beyond all finite capacity must have ueen beyond
the law-giver of Israel. The scheme of the Gates of Understanding is late in Kabalism it is found in the treatise entitled
;
f which is full of references to the mystery of the word Koll (KL). All created it explains, have come out of these things, gates, so
"The
Light,"
Gates of
knowledge connects with the mystery of universal generation, in reference to which it may be observed that the addition of the feminine
letter
H=5
of
to the
word
KL=5O
the
gives
KLH = the
Bride
Microprosopns,
Lesser
Countenance,
They
no one can
attain
to the paths
74
"Ihc
Itortrirte
whence follows the whole mystery of spiritual genera tion in man, for KLH connects with KNSTL, i.e., the Church, Ecclesia Israel, and brings us back to that place called mystically Zion and Jerusalem, in which the divine is communicated to man, as stated in the
fourth section of this book.
It is
by
little
gleams of
Gematria
is
illuminated occasionally.
VII.
We
instruction
transition
powers and
archetypal,
attributes
thus
developed
through
the
creative, formative
and material worlds, the Kabalistic creation and the doctrine of tran
It
remains for us to
of spiritual present to Jewish theosophy. This is, essences according perhaps, the favourite and certainly the most recurring subject of the Zohar, and it is this also which was
brief
outline
the
doctrine
destined to receive fuller development than any other The history of its in the later literature of Kabalism.
growth
Pre-existence and the is also worth noting. subdivision of the spiritual nature are found in the
Talmud, but the Sepher Yetzirah has nothing to tell us on the subject, and there is very little in the first
commentators on that
treatise.
It
may be
its
said,
with
connections
75
were concerned rather with the physical forces which produced the universe, but the commentaries at least
are sufficiently discursive to have included it in their scheme if they had anything to say upon the subject.
It
with which
remains, therefore, that the fascinating hypothesis we are here dealing is in the main a late
growth.
"
The
distinction
and an animal
soul in
man
*
is
Book
of Concealment,"
its
judged from
the Zohar.
form,
The
as
latter cycle
may be
of
regarded, broadly
speaking,
pneumatology
in
Kabalism proper. The indications contained therein became a vast and ponderous system in the schools of This system Isaac de Loria and Moses of Cordova. influence on has at all times exercised the greatest
occultists, and, chiefly,
made
true
available in Latin
that of the
Zohar
itself.
Franck
it
states that
is
it is
not
full
of distorted
may
be doubted whether
there
is
any
real
canon of
criticism.
The
later
speculations are in any case founded on the Zohar, and the following slight sketch contains the general
is
that of
These
When
is
man descends (namely, into this world) him) two spirits, according to the supernal form. Man (therefore) is constituted from the two side.-, the liidu and the left. As from the right side he has a holy mind, as from the left an animal
"
the
inferior
(in
soul."
The
extension of the
left
side
Fall.
"Book
of Concealment,"
c. iv.
par. 7-9.
76
in other words,
it
is
that of the lesser or secondary gods. It is also called the world of archangels. It would not be exact to
much
less
that
Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Metatron and so forth, are deities according to the Kabalah.* The system is
much
tions.
In a general
way
it
may perhaps be
affirmed
when
regarded
in the
assumed, so to speak, by the divine world, may be as the Elohim. Thus, according to
vale of
three
archangels, but they were also Adni, the Lord, for they were the forms assumed by the Divinity.
Of
the
hierarchy
of
spiritual
beings
outside
various
classifications
by
which must
but,
as regards the
more
do
The archangels
sion
of
the
enumerated as follows
I.
METATRON, Angel
of the
Presence, World-
Shekinah
it
signifies the
angel
who
is
the
is
legate ofShekinah" also called Boy, and hence Metatron said to be a boy-angel. Kabbala Denudata, Apparatus, i. 528.
"
NGHR =
77
III.
TSAPHKIEL,
sponding
Contemplation
to BriaJi. of God,
of
God,
corre
IV.
TSADKIEL, Justice
Chcscd.
corresponding to
V.
SAMAEL, Severity
GeburaJi.
of God, corresponding to
VI.
to
VII.
HANIEL, Grace
Netzach.
of
God,
corresponding
to
VIII.
RAPHAEL, Divine
Hod.
Physician, corresponding tc
As
represented as resumed under the likeness of a man, Adam Kadmon, so those of Briah are resumed under
the form of a second
Adam, who
is
regarded as the
is
Adam Kadmon
is
of
Atziluth.
The world
of Yetzirah or Formation
said to be
are divided into nine choirs, which are very nearly identical with the hierarchy of
who
Those who
drew
It
that of the /.ohar represents the divine inferior to man and most certainly to the souls of the just, which ascend higher and attain a superior rank. See the Mantua edition, iii. 68 /
<>^ether
.
78
^he
and
the
Kabalah
both
Neoplatonism, but Greek and Hebrew thought had joined hands before the date of the Areopagite. Dionysius, perhaps, may be taken to represent the
point of contact between Hellenism and Jewry after The Kabalah may modification by Christianity.
represent, but at a
of
its
much longer distance, in the form extant literature, the point of contact between Hellenism and Israel unmodified by Christianity.
According to the most usual attribution the choirs
:
CHAIOTH
HA
KADOSH,
the
holy
living
creatures,
or animals of Ezekiel
and the
OPHANIM,
Ezekiel,
or
Wheels,
also
mentioned
in
corresponding
to
Chokmah and
the Cherubim.
III.
ARALIM,
or Mighty Ones, corresponding to Briah and the Thrones. or Brilliant Ones, corresponding
IV.
HASHMALIM,
to Chesed
MELACHIM,
or
Kings,
corresponding
to
and the
VIII.
Principalities.
BENI-ELOHIM, or Sons of God, corresponding to Hod and the Archangels. IX. CHERUBIM, the Seat of the Sons, correspond ing to Jesod, the Foundation, and the
Angels.
79
The
Sephirotic
tenth
order
required
is
to
in
complete
the
the
attribution
found
ISHIM,
or
men, corresponding to Malkuth and the great multitude of the redeemed seen by St.
in the notion
Adam, Yetzirah represented by the Malkuth of the Yetziratic world, man in the iiKeness of die
in a
angels
Adam
of Genesis.
is
The world
which
of Assiah, or of matter,
Fall, the
that into
Adam
descended at the
abode of the
the Shells, Envelopes and Cortices of the Kabalah.* It contains the orders of retrograde spirits corresponding by inversion to the angels of Yetzirah
evil spirits,
after
the
same
manner
They
I. THAUMIEL, the doubles of God, said to be two-headed and so named, because they pretend to be equal to the Supreme Crown. This is properly the
title
The
of the averse Scphira corresponding to Kethcr. cortex is CATHARIEL, according to the supple ments of the Zohar. Satan and Moloch are said to
be the arch-demons, but the attributions are hope lessly confused throughout, partly owing to the obscure classifications of the Zohar and the contra
dictions of later Kabalists.
II.
CHAIGIDIEL,
term
connecting
with
the
For
some
Ihrc
Kabbala.
information on Kabalistic demonology, see Die Hauptlehren und ihr vcrhaltniss zu Christcnthutn.
many
8o
ties, with that of obstruction, in the sense of an This averse impediment to the heavenly influx. to Chokmak. Its cortices are Sephira corresponds
the
OGHIEL
or
to illusory or
material appearances in opposition to those of reality and wisdom. This explanation is, of course, very
late.
The arch-demon
is
is
said to be
ADAM
of
BELIAL,
and so again
III.
Beelzebuth.
The Dukes
concealment
Esau
of
are
number.
SATHARIEL,
the
God,
meaning that
Binah, or
it
is
body
to
of
Esau.
The Dukes
of
Esau are
work.
this is
referred
this
correspondence
LUCIFUGE
is
obviously not a Kabalistic term it is known, however, to the grimoires and to some late demonologists of the Latin church.
IV.
GAMCHICOTH,
or
GOG SHEKLAH,
disturber
things, the averse correspondence of Chesed. According to the Zoharic Supplements the cortex
all
of
seems to be AzARIEL.
in late
The arch-demon
is
ASTAROTH
Kabalism.
V.
diarism.
GOLAB,
This
or burning,
is
the
averse
correspondence
of
The
is
cortex
is
UsiEL.
The arch-demon
of
Kabalism
ASMODEUS.
Isaac
supernal
Geburah.
The
Mhc
81
is
ZOMIEL and
the arch-demon
BELPHEGOR.
VII.
HARAB SERAP,
averse correspondence of Netzach. The cortices are the THEUMIEL and the arch-demon is BAAL
CHANAN.
VIII.
SAMAEL,
supernal
Hod,
the
according to the Supplements of the and ADRAMELEK is the name ZOHAR, assigned to the arch-demon by late writers.
IX.
THEUNIEL
in
averse
corre
attribute
to
averse
correspondence
in
of
Clused, seems
to
the
Zoharic Supplements, and the arch-fiend is LlLlTH, according to late Kabalism. X. LlLlTH * is, however, according to another tabulation, the averse correspondence of MALKUTH, with whom later Kabalism connects
NAHEMA,t
the
demon
of impurity.
In Zoharistic doctrine, however, the chief per sonalities ofAssta/i are SAMAEL, who is to some extent
the averse
Adam Kadmon,
though
is
in a better sense
we may presume
applicable to natural
his
bride LlLlTH.
The
and incomplete,
According
t
^
to the
Zohar she
brings
is
a strygc
who
in
slays infants.
after
succubus
who
forth spirits
and demons
various
con
nection
which
places further
82
^hc
in
but
a general
so
is it
way
it
is
Holy
said
Kingdom
circum
is
SAMAEL
is
to be the uncircumcised
and
is
his bride
the prepuce,
which,
I
it
adds
significantly,
the serpent.f
pneu
matic hypothesis of Kabalism, part of which is postZoharic, not because it is of any inherent importance,
or can of the philosophical doctrine,
have later on to give account of the connection between the Kabalah and ceremonial magic, and the
doctrine of angels and demons is necessary to the It should be understanding of this connection. J
added
and
infernal
of
The psychological doctrine concerning the nature man is of greater interest. It is now a matter of
knowledge that the belief in the soul s immortality, which is not found in the Pentateuch or the prophets, was held by the Jews in later times in
general
Hence
the true
"
name
of Satan
is
said to be that of
102.
"
YHVH
No. Kabbala
p.
reversed.
Pike,
Morals and
Dogma," p.
8.
Supplements,"
Irira,
c.
ii.,
Denudata,
et seq.
Part
3,
Tract
I,
i.e.,
Pneumatica Kabbalistica,
188
It has been even proposed that the mediaeval notion of vampirism is to be traced to Talmudic fables concerning stryges. See Des Hallucinations," A. Brierre de Boismont, c. Second ed.
prudence.
"
p. 395.
Paris.
1852.
83
and appears freely in the Talmuds.* remember that Moses was learned in
of the Egyptians, conceive
it
Occultists,
all
who
the
wisdom
should have
known nothing
known to all Egypt, and they hold accordingly that he communicated them secretly to a circle of initiation,
in the oral way. Others incline to the notion that were acquired they In the Graeco- Egyptian by the Jews in Babylon.
period it was, of course, impossible that the learned rabbins of Alexandria should not have been
acquainted with the great speculation of a future In one way or another it was inevitable that the
life.
Jews
should have acquired it, which they did accordingly, and the particular date or circumstances are a minor question, about which there can be no The
certainty.
doctrine, as
nising five divisions of the soul having names familiar to Kabalism, is it comparatively of a simple kind
;
does
not
possess,
for
example,
Philo,
in
that
philosophical
aspect which
discern
we
find in
Greek influence
that
pneumatology, after allowing for pre-existence, shows very little trace of Platonism.t
Broadly
"The
its
speaking,
the
Kabalistic
hypothesis
immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body Talmud as tenets of the Synagogue. They form the thirteenth and last article in the profession of faith of Maimonides."
figure in
the
"
Leroy-Beaulieu,
accurate, as
that
Israel
article
the nations," p. 17. This i, not quite concerns the resurrection only. firmly U- a resurrection of the dead, at the time when
among
"I
shall
"Text
Book
!>e
Hi-, name!"
."
4 th ed.
student
t For a good summary of Kabalistic pneumatology the German may consult, inter alia, Leiningen s Lcclenlehre der Qabalah.
1887.
Leipsic.
84
^he
of the
Jabalah
divides
man
and
are
spirit,*
below as
in
above.
NepJiesh
;
These
divisions
the
animal
;
nature,
f the rational nature, Ruach and the seat of individuality, Neskama/i. The system is, however, In the first place, in reality far more complicated.
Nephesh
body,
is
or,
is
more
the animal soul rather than the physical exactly, it contains also the triad.
of Nephesh, which is the principle of the whole, there is a Ruach of Nephesh, and a Nephesh of Nephesh, which is the physical
There
thus a
Neshamah
The whole together is, according to the Zohar, It may be gathered the living man in this world. also from the same work that the natural man is
part.J
complete in
this
one
division,
and that
it
depends upon
||
The
true
* The most universal and natural of all extant classifications. The Kabalah also holds that the higher rules the lower. Compare Mrs. Seeress of Prevost," pp. 125, 126, Crowe s translation of Kerner s
"
where the
"
revelation
"
given in the
"the
principle,"
not the
I find this material body, because matter has no existance essentially. doctrine nowhere in Kabalism, for which matter was a vile reality.
text will explain further in what sense Nephesh is and is not the But Papus also admits that Nephesh, Ruach and physical body. Neshamah are practically identical with the body, life, and will of
"modern science."
The
La
The German Kabalist, Carl de Leiningen, in a communication addressed to the Munich Psychological Society, includes the material
body under the Nephesh
applied to the
There can be no question that this division. view has the countenance of the Sepher Yetzirah by which the term is
human body
as long as
it is
alive.
Rosenroth,
however,
identifies
Nephesh
with
Psyche,
it
the
vegetative soul and the plastic part of the soul. the Anima vivens of the Zoharic Supplements.
He
regards
also as
Apparatus, Kabbala
Titulus
xiii.
Demidata,
||
i.
589.
;
e dictis
Cum homo
nascitur,
vlhc Soctrinal
85
to
The
man
given
by the
both
Kabalists.
The
junction of
Neshamah with
JecJiidaJi.
adds
another
principle
termed
highest
triad.
Neshamah are also said to be the The doctrine of the four worlds
is
still
more exalted
part of man, coresponding to Atziluth, and of which the Neshamah is only a shadow reflected. This is
called Tsure,
quits
its
which
connected with the NesJiamah by an invisible thread, and the aspiration of the lower to the higher opens
the path of ecstasy.* The doctrine of the Mystic Marriage in Christian transcendentalism has analogies
with some developments of this speculation. But its immediate connections in Israel are with the Ten
Degrees of contemplation described in the Babylonian Talmud, and with the later ritual of the Pardes. In the hands of the later Kabalists Zoharic pneumatology became
still
more involved.
The
Sephirotic
is,
et prccterea nee spirit it nicntcni cmn an fern dcinde inctdit in ria rirtiitutn, eidcni super additur Spiritns ct Mcns.
:
*
with
Compare Tauler
Saviour in
"
l>in<K
Institutiones eternity of His kingdom." Divina, c. xxxix. in the collection of Surius, Cologne, 1548. It is a part of Kaljalistic teaching that the path of ecstasy is nt entirely
the
the
closed to
man even
in
this
which may to some extent be held to life draws at once from Zohar i, 60 et Mantua.
life,
namely, that
se</.,
86
Ihe
was, however, taken up by the school of Isaac de Loria, and the operation of the ten Sephiroth is elaborated in each of the ten divisions. It is not
Zohar.
It
necessary to enter into these refinements. It should be added that the Zohar teaches the
pre-existence and foreknowledge of the soul* but the revolutions of Kabalism are not precisely what modern
occultism understands
by
reincarnation.f
The works
of Isaac de Loria treat very largely of this subject, but have been regarded as full of innovations. J It will be seen that the doctrines of the Kabalah,
taken
per
se,
are
it
nearly
all
of
consequence
to
add that the aspects under which they are presented do not increase that
occultists,
is
but
necessary to
consequence, while the presumption that they are part their surface. There is nothing in the doctrine of of a tradition delivered from generation to generation,
on
by no means appears
will
warrant us
All souls, moreover, were created together. Later writers introduced the idea of transmigration. Thus the treatise entitled The
"
Royal
says that the soul of a slanderer is transmigrated into a silent stone, and that of the murderer into water.
Valley,"
t They are
"
still
less
regeneration, a misapprehension peculiar, I believe, to the late Lady Caithness. See Old Truths in a New Light," p. 370. "We now know that the doctrine of regeneration was secretly taught among the
Jews
in the Mysteries, or Sacred Kabalah," the regeneration in question being the transformations and mysterious trials, the goings and Discourse of returnings of souls and spirits, described in the Zoharic
"
the Ancient
Man."
J In a general sense Mr. W. T. Flagg is correct when he states Gnostics and Kabalists held that perfection was arrived at by means of successive reincarnations." See "Yoga or Transforma
that
"the
tion."
New York
and London.
1898.
87
much in its modern presentation by some defend its antiquity, occultists, who most strenuously
and even
outside
its
it
philosophical
it
consideration
the
it
in
its
funda
all
mental nature
is
;
common
it.
inheritance of
human
speculation
The
is
doctrine of the
hand,
at
most a degree
better than any other system of emanation, and no such theory can be accepted as a satisfactory attempt At the epochs when these to explain the universe.
theories were possible they were serious and excellent in their intention, and up to that point their interest
is
human
is
beside
the
which
it
involves,
is
recourse to evolution, so the transition from infinite to from absolute per finite, from eternal to temporal,
fection
the imperfect order of the physical and moral world, from God, in a word, to the material, is
to
not assisted
This
human
the
;
it
God
of the philosophers
who have bridge that gulf, and occultists in particular abandoned the orthodox in faith, who are also very
proud
of
this
fact,
and
accommodation.
p odtinz
an attempt to give depth and significance to a form of religious faith which occultism has, at least in its literal
aspects, agreed to set aside.
Its
pneumatology
virtue
in
is
important
seriously,
to
those
who
take
ceremonial
magic
words,
much
in
but, taken altogether, the content of the Kabalah does not possess the momentous character
occultism;
which has been ascribed to it by those whose beliefs have invested it with something of interest
living
The next
little
Rosenroth
in
Librum Sohar.
Apparatus
BOOK
III
chief cycles of Kabalistic literature, in spite of destructive are referable, by their materials, to Talmudic times.
"
"
no reason why the Book of Formation should not be work of R. Akiba, as tradition affirms. There is no solid evidence to support the theory that R. Moses de Leon wrote the Zohar at the end of the thirteenth century. At the same time, the belief of occult students that these works represent a tradition dating from an early period of history has also little to support it.
is
There
the
The
philosophical system must be largely set aside ; it has its antecedents everywhere, but its analogies with other systems are referable to a
natural similarity between independent conclusions on fundamental problems of being. Antecedent Jewish influence through the school of Aristobulus and Philo must not be but also
it
The Kabalah
is
It
has
scholastic connections, and it has its Mohammedan corre If there be any preponderance in a spondences. direction,
its its
I.
"BOOK
WE
its
now in possession of the most important elements of Kabalistic doctrine and the chief heads of
philosophical instruction.
in its literature,
There
is
much, more
some
of which
90
work which
would exceed
its
purpose
if
it
a later stage of our study, because, although it is highly important to the right understanding of the
does not involve the points with which we First among these are concerned at the inception.
subject,
it
points
is
far
we
are warranted,
by
in
in the
open day,
summarised by the preceding sections as possessing an authentic character, or the doctrines themselves as
part of a tradition perpetuated in Israel from very
early times.
For
"
this
purpose
"
it
will
be convenient to accept
(i)
The
that
(2)
The commentaries on
quent thereto.*
report of an esoteric tradition in Israel did not begin to circulate through Christendom till the
The
fourteenth century, and this, as we shall see later on, is explained by the fact that the chief collection of its
archives
itself
till
was unknown,
at least generally,
in
Jewry
is
This collection
that
authorities
on
Dictionnaire de la
Themurah
Book I. (2) A dogmatic or positive part, which is, in fact, 4 concerned with the hypothesis of spiritual essences, i.e., angels, demons,
human
souls and their transmigration ; (3) speculative and It is not metaphysical part, namely, Sephirotic doctrine and so forth. a satisfactory classification, but there is no need to criticise it here.
<Sourre
91
which
that
is
The work
of Creation
for believing, to at so far back as the middle of the ninth century, but there was no consequence attached to it for Christen
ground
dom.
The Sepher Yetzirah is supposed to embody a tradition handed down from the time of Abraham, and
there
is
its author. This does not seem, however, as some modern criticism has loosely supposed,* to have been the view universally
adopted by the Jewish learning which accepted the document. That he received and he transmitted it
was undoubtedly held, but the work itself does not pretend to have been reduced to writing till after the destruction of Jerusalem, and tradition has ascribed its
formal authorship to Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph, the of R. Joshua ben Chananja, who was himself the pupil
successor,
as
the
opponent,
of
nothing flagrantly impro bable in this attribution, though it reaches us late in Akiba was a mystic with whose notions the history.
Rabban
Gamaliel.
There
is
scheme of the Sepher Yetzirah was in complete accordance, and he is the reputed author of another work dealing with the mysteries of the Hebrew alpha*
it
Dr. Edersheim,
"a
is
properly
monologue on the
God."
contemplation of
says that
it
all
History of the Jewish Nation," observes that part of Abraham, in which, by tinthat is around him, he ultimately arrives at the
3rd. ed. p. 407.
"
So
also (iin-Onir^
It
professes to be a
monologue of the
fifth
patriarch.
does
but the
Of course, the legend In the twelfth century, K. Judah Ha Levi stereotyped quickly. of "the Book of the Creation which belongs to our father Abraham.
92
^he
grrrtrine
bet*
Nahum
He
promulgated,
to,
or,
at least,
"
gave
every sentence, word and particle in the Bible had its use His literary labours were also very and meaning." f
great, for to
him
is
and
Subsequent generations were so impressed by his marvellous knowledge of divine things that he was asserted to have discovered
much
of which even
Moses was
is
ignorant, which, in
If
indubitably true.
we we
need
if
to question that
Akiba was
initiated
therein
we admit
Sepher
Yetzirah in the second century, we can imagine no more probable author for that work.J Nor is the date
essentially disagreeable to a
is
moderate criticism
it
;
||
called
the
alphabet
of
R.
Akiba,
it
being the
letters
at
"
fol.
An
earlier edition
iv.
of the
See Bartolocci,
274.
History of the Jewish Nation." J Curiously enough, M. Nicolas admits the date necessary but not the authorship it suggests, on the ground that Akiba was a rigid and
head-strong doctor of the Law and not likely to indulge in speculative This estimate, with which it is difficult to agree, has also lucubrations.
the authority of Franck, on the ground that the Talmud reproaches Akiba for his incommensurate notions of God, but Franck is possibly more influenced by his belief in the earlier origin of the work. La
Kabbah,
p. 87 et seq. Quite independently of occult prepossessions it has been argued that the language of the Sepher Yetzirah is a Hebrew wholly analogous
to that of the
||
Mishnah.
Dr.
book no doubt
belongs to Akiba,
in substance
and
form."
Encyclopedia Bri-
93
it
was known by
St.
Agobard.*
mony
of
to fix
not possible from any internal testi the work as belonging to the later period,
for obviously
its first
far older
quotation, while the fact, if established, that it was known in France in or about the year 85of would create a presumption that it was in existence
much
days. zirah
earlier,
We
is
mentioned
must remember also that a Sepher Yetin both Talmuds in connection with
by a
mysterious combination of letters, and that Franck characterises the attempt of modern scholarship to
tannica, 9th ed., s.v. Midrashim, a term derived from a root signifying to seek out or to question. Munk also takes this view in the article s.v. Kabbah, contributed to the ninth volume of the Dictionnaire de la
Conversation
*
"
et de la
The English
590 et seq. London. 1708. Agobard was Archbishop of Lyons, and wrote against trials by ordeal and other See the Abbe Migne s Dictionnaire dcs superstitions of his period.
History of the
Jews,"
this
apparent enlightenment
fuifs,
t.
v.
The evidence
pavs.i^e*
confined to
de fudaicis Agobatdi In the first, the Jews are branded for their gross Suftrstitionibus. notions of the Deity, on the ground lhat they believe Him to be possessed of a bodily form, having distinct members and lineaments, including organs of seeing, hearing, speaking and so forth also that they note only one difference between the body of God and that of man who is in His imnge, namely, that the fingers are inflexible, because God
in
two short
the
Epistola S.
effects
here
nothing with his hands. It seems certain that St. Agobaid chaws from the In the second Description of the Body of God."
"
passage
to
to
it
is
said
"
have existed from everlasting, and before the beginning of the worl-1 have received diverse offices, in virtue of which they should preside
things."
over created
S.Agobardi,Li4gduncnsisEpiscopi,
. .
.
<?
(.>/<;
Omnia.
Paris,
Patrologia
1851, p.
Cursus Completes
seq.
aaurante
J.
P.
Migne.
78^
94
^he
distinguish
identical
title
as
do If, however, we gross ignorance.* not place the work in Talmudic times, we may concede that it came into existence within a
founded
in
measurable distance of the stormy period in which the great Talmudic canons were forcibly closed.
We
which may be surmised for the treatise and that which must perhaps be attributed to the teaching embodied
therein.
Egyptian
as
its
legend
This
question must be answered by an emphatic negative. The doctrine under notice gives prominence to the sacred and divine character of the Hebrew alphabet,
writing was possessed by Abraham every probability is against it and every authority is agreed on this But the Sepher Yetzirah contains, by implica point. tion at least, the doctrine of an occult power and
sanctity
names, and
we
it
know
is
Akkadia and
so forth.
it
afflicting to
modern
as
it
intelligence, but
of great antiquity,
and
it
became part
of
of the religious
baggage
of
the
before
or
the
the
Akiba,
Occultism
has
On this fact Franck insists very strongly, maintaining that these references demonstrate the existence of a work reserved to a
few and that this work is identical with the Sepher Yetzirah as we have it. La Kabbale, Paris, 1843, P- 75 et Se1-
now
95
allow,
attached
itself to
this doctrine,*
and we must
of Kabalismf does embody something of tradition from the past, perhaps even from the period of the Babylonian captivity, as the Talmud itself indicates.
On
we have no evidence
to
show
is
that
much
;
which develops it it can therefore be placed has no history previously, and only in Talmudic i.e., in post- Christian times. It
should be added that the Sepher Yetzirah is part of a considerable literature of an occult or mystical com
plexion covering the period between the closing of the Talmudic Canon and the first report of the Zohar.
II.
MODERN
CRITICISM OF
THE BOOK OF
SPLENDOUR
The commentaries on
the Sepher Yetzirah which
make no
claim
And
so also,
"
it
less
pronounced form of
Christian mysticism. See, for example, the interesting col Letters from a Mystic of the Present Day," by an lection entitled
modern
anonymous writer. Second edition, London, 1889, pp. 205-207. "We seem to have to learn the various names of God before we can The Name grasps us, while the others are various grasp the Name. outer courts through which we come into the Sanctuary or Name of
God
us."
in that name we find pasture wherever our outer life may take Compare Saint-Martin, L? Esprit des (hoses, torn. ii. 65 et seq. f I ought not, perhaps, to omit that Mayer Lambert, one of the
latest
common
editors of the Sepher Yetzirah, attirms that it has nothing in with the Kabalah, by which he understand:, a mysterious
explanation of the Bible drawn from the letters of the text and a meta physical theory which connects God with the world through a series As regards its date, he agrees that it is one of emanations of divinity.
of the numerous
Midrashim produced by
the
Talmudic period.
96
on
antiquity,
con
Kabalism
may
deal with the documents consecutively. may, therefore, proceed at once to the absorbing problems
We
(i)
right
in
its
ascribing
period,
the
Zohar
to
the
thirteenth century as
Tob de Leon
existence at a
as
its
author.
and
much
legend
To
first
determine these
We
Yetzirah
shall get
very
little
contemporary
The Sepher
before
was
docu
mentary criticism can be well said to have been born, and so also when the Zohar was promulgated it was
among
it
a mixed audience
who
of Aristotle,
on a priori grounds. Those who loathed the yoke which Abraham ben David Ha Levi,
Aben Ezra
welcome
*
and
Moses Maimonides
would
it
have
a glad
The
:
"
Its
two systems is best shown by this fact. opponents were almost universally Jewish Aristotelians
it was and Pythagoras, and indeed emanated from the same sources, the Aryan and Chaldean
p.
12.
It
is
the fact
97
addicted to astrology and magic took it into their heart of hearts: it was neither astrology nor magic, but it harmonized with their transcendental aspirations. On the other hand, it was hated the Aristotelians
by
because
not
till
it
did not consort with their methods.* recent times that we have
It is
any
intelligent
defence on the part of Jewish thinkers Konitz in 1815, Franck in 1843, David Luria in 1857, Munk in
1859;
or,
hostility,
on the other hand, a strong and informed as that of in Germany, to Graetzf quote only
one instance.
In the influence exercised by the Kabalah upon certain minds of Christendom, the Sepher Yetzirah
must be distinguished from the Zohar. The former has had no influence it was indeed introduced to our
;
knowledge by a monk of exalted erudition and of eccentricity equally great, but it was not till the sixteenth century and it found no sphere of operation.
Some
of
its
Sephirotic
;
developments,
s
the
corn-
Mr. Myer
explanation
may be
read in the
When the Saracens became the patrons of philosophy the attention paid both by Arabians and Christians to the writings of Aristotle excited the emulation of the Jews, who, notwithstanding the ancient cur.e pronounced on all Jews who should instruct their sons in the Grecian learning continued in their philosophical course reading Aristotle in I It-brew translations made ln>m the inaccurate
.
. .
Arabic,
"
for
Creek was
ii
at
this
period
little
ii.
understood."
;
iould,
History of
Krt-una>oniy,"
London, 1885,
66, 67
is more I see no stiong than it is well informed. any real acquaintance with the Kabalah, about which he writes savagely and with the indiscrimination which we connect with a savage. Thus, he turns the Zohar a notorious whereas the
ip>
etz of
"
forgery,"
is
be found to agree in their estimate. part of his history we find continually things uncertain in the language of certitude, and things for which there is Described little evidence as if there were
Throughout
this
overwhelming testimony.
98
Abraham and Rabbi Azariel, met among a few men of learning, but they can bear no comparison with the appeal made
mentaries of Rabbi
by the larger cycle. For all Christian students the Kabalah was substantially the Zohar, and, as we shall see subsequently, the office attributed to it was almost
that is to say, the discovery exclusively evangelical that there had existed in Israel, from time immemorial,
;
as
it
was
contain
identities
mental dogmas of Christianity, put the Jews so clearly in the wrong, by their own showing, that their conver
sion
the
tradition
was deemed inevitable.* Thus, the antiquity of was not at that time challenged in
it
documentary
criticism
The
fourteenth
excusable,
century made the grave, but yet mistake of supposing that most people
They accepted
In
much
the existing state of scholarship to have challenged one might have openea an abyss beneath the other,
all
ancient literature in a
common
*
uncertainty.
Of
course, as time
went
on,
and
"
Some
them
(i.e.,
the Kabalistic
found them more favourable to the Christian religion than the recent commentaries of the Rabbins. But they failed to consider that these same allegorical books are filled with an infinitude of ridiculous fables, and that Jewish superstition is much more clearly proved from them than are the mysteries of our
books and
religion.
matter,
Zohar."
William Postel has imposed on several theologians in this having pretended to find Christianity in the books of the Richard Simon, Histoire Critiqi4t du Vieux Testament, p. 371.
99
mined motives.*
Zohar were
The
Christians
who
rejected the
it
like the
the latter
in the Ghetto,
credulity, or at least the disability, of early students has been amply atoned for in the spirit which has governed the later critics of the Kabalah. I must
The
some cases they seem, after their own manner, to have prejudged the question much as that
confess that in
laborious
it
in the
dignity of the Latin Church to suppose that there was a rival tradition, full of illumination and
wisdom,
the
it
rejected
has seemed
literature
modern
taste that
any occult
It is there-
Among
writers
who
by the alleged instrument of conversion, a high place must be accorded to Petrus Galatinus and his DC Arcanis Cat/ioliue Veritatis contra
Jmlo-ornin pcrfidiain, first published in 1518. t The connection between Christianity and the Xohar
still
finds
an occasional expositor in occult circles. Consult Stanislas de Guaita, Essias des Sciences Mauditcs. I. Au Seuil du Mystere. Nouvcllc The /ohur has wedded the Gospel edition, i-orri^t 1890.
"
P.iri>.
the spirit has fructified the soul ; and immortal works have been the fruits of this union. The Kabalah became Catholic in the school of
St.
John,"
&c.
A romantic criticism
inspired by Eliphas
Le"vi.
TOO
^he
xrf
the jiabalah
by
the Zohar,
is
We
must endeavour
is
literary fabrications
which do not
need a high degree of scholarship to expose them, for they may be said to betray themselves, often at every
point.
sufficient
In the
to
These, as
everybody is well aware, were forgeries pure and simple, and their disguise is so entirely spurious
it
that
can be peeled
to
off
without any
that
difficulty.
It is
not
necessary
add
they
possessed
their
believers,
of the
had
we
cation than he
not open to conviction, and the statement obtains in the case of all pertina
cious defenders of spurious literary productions.
The
position of the Rowley MSS. is fairly paralleled oy that of many occult documents, among which, as
typical instances,
we may
select
the handbooks
of
Ceremonial Magic. There are no works which betray themselves more transparently and abundantly than
the
"
Key
of
Solomon
Mage,"
"
Abramelin the
and the
"
day
good
faith of
Hebrew
origin, as
the case
may
be.
<ourre
101
has been arranged. One ready instance in point is found in the poems of Ossian, for which there was
indubitably
a
nucleus
of
floating
Gaelic
tradition
which was wrought into his imposition by McPherson. The result may deceive for a moment even sound
scholarship, but
time.
its full
exposure
"
is
only a matter of
"
Wallace
was
fatal
to
the possibility of
writings
Perhaps the
to
Latin
alchemical
attributed
Geber
may be
any
regarded as typical
this
form
of
fraud.
They
have
scarcely
Finally,
may
or
probability
is poised pretty equally concerning them, almost impossible to arrive, by impartial methods, at the determination of their claims. I do
and
not
it
is
know whether
there
is
in belles
lettres
"
of this kind
of alleged
is
Hogg s
Jacobite Relics of Scotland approach to a parallel. That collection undoubtedly contains a large proportion of genuine material, but it
is
Shepherd supplied a
his
by
it
own
skill in verseitself
and
criticism,
is
though
very
seriously,
perhaps
divided
on
the
question.
In occult literature
we have
several signal
examples of this suspected writing which has not been found out to the satisfaction of the impartial mind.
102
^he
Iptfrtrtrte atvb
literature
xrf
the giabalah
by
scholars
as
productions of the
Alexandrian period, and therefore post-Christian, are held by others to represent occult traditions of con
siderable antiquity,
and
all
we
foremost work was forged by a single writer, of indif ferent claims to our intellectual consideration, at the
end of the thirteenth century. There is, as we shall see, no positive evidence on this point which is worth
naming, and the presumptive evidence
strong.
is
not at
all
There
is
very good
by Moses
shoulders
de Leon puts an almost impossible burden on the of that questionable personage, and is
generally the
sufficient
work
of
writers
who have
is
not paid
much
of
summarised
in the
Zohar
at a period
preceding
its
appearance by some
Kabalistic
literature
centuries.
We
its
admit,
therefore,
class,
that
belongs to a suspected
but
how we
are to regard
impeachment
is
a different question.
The
fact that
this inquiry
my own
usually
As
regards its motive, spurious literature belongs to the most accountable class. It falls into line readily. Where there are complex workings of
the
human mind,
is
gource
usually present.
its
atvb
JUthorihj
of the
is
gabalah
103
The Kabalah
to
is
much
too singular in
mechanism
far
So
as
there
grew, and that in its was neither wholly old nor entirely new,
These
occult
facts are
circles,
now
in
in course of
recognition outside
places
the
academic
this
Of
Dr.
Schiller-Szinessy
when he
observes that
almost
age of the various Targumim and will have to be including the Zohar,
"
III.
ground that it was written by Moses de Leon in the latter half of the thirteenth century does not depend
merely on internal evidence
inference
late
;
it
is
not exclusively an
made by modern
criticism
from allusions to
in the
work
it
is
* This is very nearly the position of Solomon Munk, who maintains that the Zohar and its connections, that is, the various tracts and fragments which enter into the compilation, are not the inventions
of an impostor, but that ancient documents were including Midrashim which are not now extant.
sophic, /uive et
u>ed
Aral
,-.
Paris.
1859, p. 275 et
sf,/.
did not consider the Zohar, at least in its present form, as anterior to the seventh century, but rather that the Kabnlistic develop ments which it represents took place in the thirteenth century, and
Munk
common
to both.
104
^he
ipoxtritu an ^
$*iM5*tee
r>f
the
not a presumption arising only from the fact that the Spanish Jew who is suspected of the splendid
imposture lived by transcribing copies of it,* that it had never been heard of previously, or that the
original
MS. from which R. Moses claimed to have drawn has never come to light. It is based upon
evidence which claims to be contemporary, or there It abouts, with the appearance of the Zohar itself.
may be
such
highly probable that in the absence of any testimony the same point would have been
it
reached independently, but the fact remains that not the discovery of modern criticism at all
is
it
transpired without being sought for, and hence the case against the work is based both on external and
internal grounds.
It
is
not therefore at
it
first
sight a
weak
that
I
case,
and
have sketched
fully
and frankly
At
not be accused of any bias in the matter. the same time it is my purpose to show that the
may
indictment breaks
down
first
altogether.
of
all
Let us dispose
evidence.
In
at
the
year
1566
there
appeared
in
Hebrew
Constantinople
"
a work
entitled
Sepher
to
Yuhasin, or
Book of
Genealogies,"
by R. Moses
the
Zakut,
who belongs
critics
I have called this a fact, because it is accepted by all accept the account of the Zohar given in the Sephir The has an air of fable. Yuhasin> it seems to me that the statement Zohar is a very large work, and Moses de Leon must have employed a There very large staff of copyists in order to transcribe it frequently.
Although
who
is
no evidence, however, that he employed any one but if he worked made large sums," as alleged, by so single-handed, he could not have slow a process. It has been suggested alternatively that he profited much by the patronage of the wealthy Jews, to whom he dedicated his It is merely an works, but as to this there is no conclusive evidence.
;
<c
who were
his patrons.
gabalah
Its
105
point of
view with regard to the Zohar is that the splendour of that work is truly an illumination of the world
;
contains the deep secrets of the the concealed tradition in Israel that it
that
it
;
Law and
is
of
conformed
law
;
and
oral
that
embodies the sayings of R. Simeon ben Jochai, of the period of the Emperor Antoninus, under whose
name
till
it
appears,
;
but
is
really
it
disciples
and
that, finally,
of
his
after
the death
of
Nachmanides,
therefore
among
critics
those
who opposed
attempted.
It will
the Zohar, as
some modern
have
which so elaborately defends the Zohar, a narrative should appear which represents it as an imposture
devised from mercenary motives by Moses de Leon, yet such at first sight is the case, and as such it has
The explanation
became subsequently assured that the Zohar was not a sordid forgery, as he embodied some of its principles
in
one of
*
his
own
treatises.
The most
biassed of
Jew
That is to say, to the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. of Salamanca, but he taught at Saragossn. When the edict of
1
1
expulsion was published he retired into Portugal and was appointed His work embraces the Royal Historiographer by King Kmanuel. entire period between the creation of the world and the year 1500 A.D.
106
<&ht
Jtortnne
critics,
attb
Ipteratuu of the
gabala<t
modern
fact.
The
narrative
is
Nachmanides, who
performance of miracles
letters
by a trans
position of the
system which he pretended that he had learned from the angels. Independently, therefore, of the Zohar, he
after his
Hebrew
according to a
was a Kabalist
suspect,
own
In
fashion, and,
case,
we may
a visionary.
Italy,
either
he was at
Novara, in
Spanish Rabbin was in possession of the original Zohar MSS., and, being very anxious to see them, he
made a journey
into
Spain.
He
there learned
by
report that the erudite Moses Nachmanides was said to have transmitted the book to his son in Catalonia
from Palestine, f but that the ship which bore it was driven by the wind to AragoniaJ or to Catalonia, and
the precious volume came into the hands of Moses de Leon. At Valladolid Isaac de Acco made the
acquaintance of the latter, who declared upon oath that he was in possession of the MS. and that it was
at his
Isaac.
home
in Avila,
it
to
object, but
this
the
way.
* Isaac was I.e., Acre, besieged by the Sultan of Egypt in 1291. one of the Jewish refugees from that city, and seems to have suffered
imprisonment
f
It is
for a time.
was
curious that the disciple should first learn that his master in possession of such a treasure by a floating rumour from a great
distance.
% The reference
seaboard.
is
So
far
Moses de Leon
as acting with
107
prosecuted his inquiries among the relatives of the deceased. By one of these, namely, by David Rafon, of Corfu, he was informed that Moses de Leon had
been a spendthrift who derived great profit from his writings, but neglected his wife and daughter, while as for the Zohar he had made it up out of his own
How far Isaac was impressed by this state ment does not appear explicitly, but he next had recourse to a wealthy Rabbin of Avila, named Joseph, who communicated with the widow and daughter of
head.
Moses, offering for the maiden the hand of his son and a substantial dowry if they would produce the The women had been left original MS. of the Zohar. in poor circumstances, and there was every reason to
they would comply gladly. They, concurred in affirming that there was no however, such MS., that the dead man had composed the work
suppose
that
out of his
written
it
with his
own
hand.*
Acco left Avila and proceeded to Talavera, where he met with R. Joseph Hallevy, the son of a Kabalist named Todros,
failed, Isaac de
who,
in
reply
to
his
inquiries,
affirmed
that
the
genuine Zohar was in the hands of Moses de Leon, as he had himself proved conclusively. The nature of the proof does not appear, and the account of Isaac
breaks
off
abruptly
in
the
middle of a sentence
he received at Toledo as to an ancient Rabbin, named Jacob, who had testified by heaven and earth that the book
Hence
many. If idle, no money
lie
did
not
employ
transcriber*,
work he could not have multiplied assiduous, he could have had no time for squandering if
for copies of the
;
to spend.
io8
^HThe
Joctrine
Zohar, of author * *
I
which
*."
R.
Simeon
ben
Jochai
is
the
in this brief
account
awakened suspicion
it is
The
to
is
that
it
Zohar, and by the course which he subsequently took Isaac de Acco must have concluded to abide by these.
is
truthful, the
evidence
by
who has
recorded
criticism unenforced
by other
considerations.
So
far
therefore as the
concerned,
the Zohar
it is
"
account in the Sepher Yuhasin is not proved that Moses de Leon wrote
out of his
own
head."*
Zakut himself
it
under the
guidance of the Writing Name, i.e., by angelic revela tion, but I do not conceive that it is necessary to
discuss this possibility.
The
it
stands
is
confused, and
in the
controversy
less contradiction.
as nothing
Those more
than a transcriber have had to reckon as they could with certain damaging references to late events which
this document there is, moreover, no proof, so far as aware, that he was even connected with it as transcriber. Further, speaking still under correction, the Yuhasin is the one authority by which we can fix so important a date as the death of Moses de Leon.
t Outside
am
Who
this name and place, for whom Samuel, son of copy of the Moreh, anno 1452, which copy is still preserved in the Giinglung Library, Paris? It is numbered 771, according to Friedlander s preface to the third volume of his version of
Isaac, transcribed a
Maimonides,
p. xiv.
$ab;Uah
109
are found in the Zohar, and their explanations are those who regard the tran often quite worthless scriber as the concealed author have had to meet as
;
they might the extreme difficulty of supposing that such a collection was the production of one individual, and that individual Moses de Leon. Their explana
tions also are of
little
may be
reduced under the following heads (i) It refers to the vowel points which are alleged to have been invented in post-Talmudic
times.*
the
"
quotes or borrows from a book entitled Duties of the Heart," written by a Jew of
(2) It
Saragossa,t about the middle of the eleventh century. (3) It mentions two kinds of phylacteries, or Tephilim, which fact is supposed to prove the late origin of the
entire work.J
its
(4) It
alleged
period.
written
it
in
Aramaic,
in
is
ascribed Aramaic
of the
to the
first
Elias Levita, a German Jew of the sixteenth century, was one to affirm the late institution of the points, which he ascribed
Jews of Tiberias about the beginning of the sixth century. In it has been advanced that at the period the schools of Jucbea had been closed, and that Jewish learning was then centred at I, London, Babylon (see David Levi Lingua Safra, part i. c. iii.
reply to this
:
1785). Ginsburg, however, adopts the theory of Levita, subject to the modification that they were introduced by the Karaite, R. Mocha,
at
makes
the end of the sixth century. David Lcvi, on the other hand, their reception by the Karaite Jews a proof of their antiquity,
"
professed enemies to tradition and innovation." Unfortunately, there are no pointed Hebrew MSS. prior to the tenth
L t R. Behai ben -ph Ibn Hakuda. t For a general description of the 7
Jo>
<
/>////////,
iii.
p.
752
et
ss</
no 1lu
Zohar
x>f
the
$abalah
These
are
in the following
way
points are not the invention of times posterior to the Talmud the proof is that they are mentioned in the Talmud, and there is no question
(1)
;
The vowel
that
this
work
In the
is
long anterior to
the
thirteenth
century.
rule given to
said to have
Sinai.*
been a
pre-
The
system with the exception of a very few cases occurring in the Penta teuch, which, moreover, are not vowel-points, this is
point
Christian
existence
the
one thing, and must be left to those who affirm it its existence in Talmudic times,t that is, prior to the
;
is
another,
and
all
that
is
Zohar.J
(2)
is
The
treatise
on the
"
"
certainly a
work
its
is
advanced that
Zohar
in
Treatise Nedareem, also Bab. Megillah, Bab. Berocoth, and This is also the testimony of the Zohar, obviously re producing current legend, or borrowing from the traditional storehouse
Bab. Eruvin.
of the
Talmud.
?.,
is
who made
and, in particular, of the accents of the law, which might be shown and pointed at by the hand, consequently they must be visible marks or both of the vowel points and accents. figures, and are to be understood
Though belonging
is still
to
defence
worth reading.
p.
The commentary
that the vowel signs
Jerome on Jeremiah
is
positive proof
were not
<ourcc
Simeon Ben Jochai.* It is was a contemporary of Rabbi Abraham, who wrote a commentary of repute upon
the
Book of Formation, but this mysterious personage, the pretended instructor of Nicholas Flamel in the secrets of alchemy, died at the close of the twelfth
century.
As
it
is
assumption.
(3)
It is
existence of two kinds of phylacteries arose through a difference of rabbinical opinion as to the Scriptural passages to be used on them. The
The
question is whether this difference of opinion occurred in the eleventh century and later, or whether it
originated in earlier Talmudic times.
Certain state
set
are
tiie
forth
by
support of
second view,
but the use of two kinds of phylacteries before the tenth century has not been clearly demonstrated. (4) The citation by the Zohar of late authorities
belonging to the
ing
it
in
centuries,
school is met by represent form as the growth of several present which is provably true of most early Hebrew
its
Amoraim
The
it
indirect strength of
this
its
view
is
considerable, but
is
much weakened by
supporters when they attempt to argue that had the Zohar been forged by Moses de Leon he would
*
According to Jellinek the great classic of the Kabalah has passed under three names (a) Midrash of the Kabbi Simeon Ben Jochai (b] Midrash: Let there be Light! (c) Zohar, i.e., Splendour Of Light, after Daniel xii. 3. Die Kabbala, oder die Religions philosophic der Hebraei von Franc k. The Midrash is a symbolical 1844. Leipsic,
:
narrative or account.
ii2
<3Ehc
of the jiabalah
later authorities.
The
the opposite direction, and the objection demonstrates quite clearly that the work as we have it is later than
its latest
authority.
For
it
to
be otherwise
sible.
is
How
came
to
is impos be included
a distinct matter.
(5)
When
If it
Isaac de
Acco
set out
is
on
the original
"
MS.
if
of the Zohar, he
in the
it is
recorded to have
it
said
be written
in
Jerusalem idiom
not."
is
genuine, but
Hebrew
The
value of an
objection to the Zohar founded on its use of Aramaic is here exhibited by the express statement of a Jewish litterateur in the thirteenth century.* It is argued
furthermore,
by
its
defenders
(a)
That Aramaic
is
the language of the Targums, which are mystical. That the common language is used to increase the symbolism, but this may be regarded as a subtlety.
(7>)
(c)
scribe of
That supposing the antiquity of the Zohar, the Simeon Ben Jochai was undoubtedly the Rabbi Abbah that it mentions, and he as a Babylonian
must have been thoroughly conversant with Aramaic, t (^) That supposing the Zohar to be a forgery pro
duced by Moses de Leon, he was more
*
likely to
have
Compare
at
Midrashim
by
Dr.
"Encyclopaedia
Talmudic
Cambridge.
"The
Zohar
the second or early in the third century, A.D., and finished at the latest It is impossible that it should have in the sixth or the seventh century.
been composed after that time and before the Renaissance, as both language and contents clearly show."
t There is no evidence for the editorship of R. Abbah, but if anything Zoharic was committed to writing in the second century there would be good ground for accepting the express statement of the
"
Lesser Holy
Synod"
<ourrc
anli
113
written
it
in
Hebrew, which
other books.*
these objections and these answers the conclusion must be that the internal evidence general for the late origin of the bulk of the Zohar as it stands
is not of any real force. The two tabulations have by no means exhausted the difficulties or the counter-
From
evidence, as to which, even at the present day, Franck is in many cases the best and certainly the most lucid
expositor.
The absence
of Christian influence,
if
not
absolutely of all reference to Christianity, the absence also of Aristotelian influence, and some points of the
argument from the dialect in which the work is written, seem to possess as much force as they did
originally in
1843.
in
It does quote later authorities, objection against it. but this may exhibit that it grew like the Talmudic
Hebrew
it,
books.
if
Talmud, the
is
ought
to
have mentioned
and
it
replied that
*
On
Munk, Melanges
de Philosophic,
Juive
"The Aramean dialect of the Zohar is Arabe, pp. 280, 281. not that of Daniel and Ezra, of the Chaldaic paraphrase of Onkelos and Jonathan, of the Targums, the Talmuds, the Afidrashim or the
et
Gneonurn but an incorrect and most corrupt mixture of all. M. Munk Zohar of unfamiliarity with the language used. \\y this a double and altogether intolerable burden seems placed on the
t
:
its On this subject tin- question raised by reputed forger. Franck in 1843 remains still pertinent and still unanswered lu could Moses de Leon at the beginning of the fourteenth century treat matters of the most elevated order in an idiom which the most distinguished scholars had been for so long content merely to under stand and which, on this hypothesis, had not produced a single work capable of serving him as a model ? La Kabbale> p. 104.
shoulders of
ii4
^he
of
word
late
name, but by the title of the Secret titles which have been men
It
of an elementary work to pursue the subject further. The minute considerations are of course highly tech
nical,
it
is
One
of these
is
the
Moses de Leon was an unlikely person argument to have written such a work as the Zohar, because he was intellectually and morally unfit.* I have noted that he was unlikelv, but possibilities of this kind can
only be determined by the event.
Many
great books
by persons who were antecedently improbable, and after all, at the best, we know Moses de Leon only through the testimony of a hostile relative. There is no doubt that the Zohar was to some extent sprung upon the Jewish people at the period of its publication. The manner of its was not unmixed it was the kind of reception reception which would be given to a work which was
have
been
accomplished
old as regards
its
materials,
but unfamiliar
less
or
more
in its form,
and
this is sufficient to
account for
previous authorities, while in the shaping of those materials and the impressing of that form the individual who multiplied the copies may
any
silence
of
some
critics
In any
other branch of research such parallels would be held to prove nothing. t And by those who accept this view it is considered that he
interfered only to disfigure
it.
115
IV.
field of criticism
by a hypothesis of unmixed fraud, or that this hypothesis has always fastened upon the
is
entirely occupied
same person.* The most favoured delinquent is, of course, Moses de Leon, because he is reported to have
circulated the Zohar, but occasionally he appears as the tool of other conspirators. Thus, Samuel Cohen
maintains that the Zoharic writings were composed by a convocation of converted Rabbins, convened for the purpose in a Spanish monastery, employing Moses as
their publisher,
itself
seems to M.
H.
figure
as
an
like
Abraham
ben Samuel Abulafia, while the voice of Dr. Graetz is raised in favour of the school of Abraham ben David of Beaucaire. Abraham ben David of Posquiere and
Isaac the Blind are also favoured names, to
is
whom
it
indubitable, in
any
case, that
Meanwhile
is
extreme opinion
*
balanced by
tenth
Basnage
is
century, and, following Bartolocci (Bibliotheca Rabbinica, t. iv. p. 82), represents Moses de Leon as in possession of several exemplars which
he amplified. Histoire dcs t. ii. 781 t. v. 1775, 1776. t At the opposite extreme was Christianus Schojttgenius in lii.s considerable work, Hnnr Hcbmif.r ft TalmuJn;,- in Theologian
/////>,
;
<utti</nam
ct
1733,
1742.
Jfi ssia
ii.
impensir^
Rahlnnicorunt
Leetionum I.ibtr Sfcundns, c.\\.^docens R. Simfonem filium Jochai, auftornn /.//// .W/,/r, R.-ligionrm fuissc Christ ianam. There are
eight heads to the argument, the most important being that the Zohar contains the precise, orthodox doctrine concerning the Messiah and His divine and human nature, and this not in one place or mys teriously, but in many and openly.
n6 Ihe
counterviews which also denaturalise the literature. It may be suspected, therefore, with reason that on
is
an error of enthusiasm
there are
Egypt, or whatever land is for them the well-spring These of all truth and all truly sacred knowledge. remember, for example, that Abraham was in Egypt,
and, accepting at once the fairy-tale attribution of the Book of Formation to the patriarch, conclude that
"
"
this
document
is
It is useless to
not shaken
whose imagi
gulfs in evidence
by
is
fantastic
On
the crass
which rules
of the
it
pen
and imposture, as
or hallucination.
is
psychology into that of imposture does not matter that this criticism
It
proved Troy town to be solar mythos till Troy town was excavated it undermined, as it believed, the book of Daniel till fresh archaeo always
in disgrace.
;
it
which
it
had dug.
is
tradition.
The
and
collapse of
its
Its typical representative is Graetz, and one can scarcely conjecture by what principle he was guided in his estimate of Moses de It is the height of exaggeration, the account in the Yuhasin Leon.
transcendentalised
till it
117
It is clear
that
Rabbins,
sion,
the speculations, for example, of mediaeval or later if we waive the dishonesty of a false preten
will
literary,
historical,
or
tradition
far past.
We
are therefore
more concerned in ascertaining the state in which modern criticism has left the content of the Zohar than
The early is presented to us. who accepted and defended its antiquity, did not make this saving distinction, and in many instances modern hostility does not make it
the form in which
it
the surface of the history of Kabalistic criticism the first presumption is, of course, unfavour
either.
Upon
days when scholarship was insufficiently equipped for the determination of such a question. In the light of fuller knowledge it
seem
to
in
be thought that the claim has lapsed, or remains only as a pious belief prevailing among an uncritical
will
found whose
mental
bias
exploded views.
criminate rejection
not
much
less superficial
than an
unenquiring acquiescence in a non-proven claim. The history of debated questions of this kind teaches
another lesson, and the closest approximation to truth is found Now, usually in the mean of extreme views.
in
we
and were disposed to understand the genealogy more or less literally, but that further they
to
antiquity,
n8 ^he
JUbalah
regarded the books which contain both as belonging to certain dates and produced by certain writers with
out
much
suspicion,
literature.*
on the simple authority of the Later scholars, on the other hand, having
the
found something to countenance the modern origin of documents, have frequently overlooked the
The
reference to
something which deserves to be antiquity from the date of publication will regarded apart explain what I mean by the moderate and middle view
as
in
If
we
fail
entirely
here
we may regard
Now,
I
believe
all
and unbiassed
comparison of
but
is
interest.
may
refer
here to the Yetziratic notions concerning the virtue of Divine Names, for this is also found in the Zohar, as
it
is
its
also
is
All
this,
however,
it is
the worth
less,
Talmudic
literature.
With
reason,
"
Some modern
ecclesiastical
historians,
in
for
s
no
solid
compilation, Church Dictionary" (fourteenth edition, London, 1887), the statement that the chief Kabalistic author was Simeon ben Jochai, and also that
Thus,
we have
Dean Hook
in the primitive Christian Church fell into the vain conceits of the Kabalah, particularly the Gnostics, Valentinians and Basilidians. There is more warrant for the second than the first view,
as readers of Matter
will not
"
King
Gnostics"
need
to
be
told.
119
regard to the Scriptural exegesis which constitutes so large a portion of it, we shall not offend possibility by supposing that some of it may be a transmission from
Talmudic times.*
hints
If
we
existence
mystic
tradition,
and
follow
them
through the large mystical literature which intervened between those works and the Zohar as we now have
it,
we
shall
occultist,
that there
secret doctrine
which
became revealed
of tradition which
Israel,
was planted
the
growth put forth, not without something of transformation and of suddenness, the strange
As regards form its most the Book of Concealment, but probably it is entirely improbable that any conspicuous portion could have existed in writing till after the sixth
flower
of
the
is
Zohar.
ancient part
it
is
much
later
and subsequent
perhaps which
It
is
can be ascribed to
the Sepher
Yetzirah.t
In other
word>,
we may
"
on the Midrashim
the nucleus of the
its
in
the
author
in
the
Kncyclop;edia Britannica," who says that of Mishnic times and that K. Simeon was
that
Talmud, namely,
t
I
mention
why it is impossible that it should have been later than the seventh century, and subject to the conclusive-lie^ of those \Ve may -peculate what Dr. S/im-v-y would think of Mr. OS,
Zangwill did he read
in
"Children
of the
Ghetto,"
which
it
is
Spanish Jew
casually remarked that the Zohar was "forged by a in the thirteenth century." By the way, are copies of the
Zohar
likely to
be found
in a
it
is
i2o
advanced, as we. have seen, by its defenders that it is the subject of reference in several texts both of the
the Midrash of
Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud under the name of Simeon ben Jochai, and the parallels between Talmudic sayings attributed to this Rabbi
have been exhaustively compared with the Zohar, with a view to exhibit their identity. The existence of a
Mysteries of Simeon ben Jochai before the middle of the eleventh century and possibly
entitled the
"
work
"
much
earlier, is
It is
therefore reasonable to conclude that early written and oral materials entered into the composition of the
work
as
we now
possess
it.*
This
is
can be urged, and this is sufficient to prove that no one person wrote it out of his own
head.")"
must be confessed, on the other hand, that the legend which attributes its origin to R. Simeon ben Jochai seems to have made an unfortunate choice, for
It
this great authority of the Talmud represents a reaction against the mystical tendencies of R. Akiba, and there is some evidence for believing that he did
not investigate the hidden meaning of Scripture, but He is described by a rather its rational principles.
*
An
interesting
article
by
regards it as certain that the philosophical speculations which compose the Kabalah generally began to form during the century which preceded the Christian era, but they were oral, imparted to a few only, and
under the
seal of secresy.
it
does,
Unfortunately, the article is not trustworthy, the Ain Soph doctrine to be part of the
s of Doctrinal and Historical "Dictionary which argues that the variety of style and the disjointed character of its contents show that the Zohar is the growth of ages. Unfortunately, Blunt s work indicates no real acquaintance with the Kabalah and its criticism.
t Compare Blunt
Theology,"
<S0urce
121
modern writer as col d, exclusive and stoical. At the same time, if we accept the existence of a genuine tradition which became incorporated in the Zohar, it
is difficult
and central
figure.*
If
we
turn
now
for a
moment
to the standpoint
of
modern occultism we
we have
no warrant
possession of the alleged virtue inherent in divine names, and perhaps with some elements of legend concerning angels and demons, we are forced to take
all
that
remains
considerable
distance
it
into
the
Christian era.
embodies
is
not the
and
we have next
whether the antiquity of the tradition given in the second book is to philosophical be inferred from its points of contact and corre
to consider
The author
of
the
article
"Cabala"
in
Herzog
Real
Encycklopddie takes a middle view, namely, that the Zohar is not the work of Moses de Leon, nor is it of R. Simeon s period, though its doctrines are referable to him. It was completed in the eighth century.
The
this
far
as this
article is
f Take, for example, the following typical instance of the "The origin exaggerations which have found currency on this subject. of the Kabalah is lost in the night of time. Is it of India or of Egypt ?
We
do not know but it is certain that to Egyptians and Indians it was alike known. Pythagoras returned with it into (Greece after his
;
travels in the
East,
light.
One
asks vainly
whether
its
lir>t
revelation
inspiration."
M. Desbarrolles, Les Mysttrcs de la A/aiti, \$me Edition, Paris, n.d. Desbarrolles knew nothing of the Kabalah, but he reflected his friend
Levi,
strain.
122
V.
We
are
now
the materials collected in the Zohar are earlier than the period of their promulgation. cannot say whether the Sepher Yetzirah is much anterior to the ninth century.*
Christian
We
in
connection
Whether
it
existed prior to Christianity itself is the next concern of our inquiry. At this point the difficulties begin to because the range of research is exceedingly multiply,
large,
and
it
We generations of hardy speculators. must proceed step by step and shall do well to begin
successive
first
by a general survey of the subject. The doctrine of the Kabalah has been referred for its origin to almost every philosophic and religious system of antiquity, and its points of correspondence
of all
with each have been carefully tabulated. It has been shown to be derived from Akkadia, from India, from China, from ancient Egypt, | from Platonism and Neo*
Jewish
But we can say that one of the most pronounced opponents of See Graetz, theosophy assigns it to early Gnostic times.
Geschichte derjuden. t One of the exponents of the English school of Kabalism states that, according to Hebrew tradition, the doctrines of the oldest portions
of the
Zohar are antecedent to the second Temple. W. Wynn Westcott, Second edition. Translated from the Hebrew. Sepher Yetzirah. London, 1893. This is the view which obtains most widely among occultists. It is in Egyptian science," says Stanislas de Guaita, "carried from
"
123
Platonism, from the categories of Aristotle, from early Gnosticism.* The most philosophical conclusion which can, I think, be drawn from all this
Christian
rival
evidence
is
that
it is
them
specifically
and
not derived from any one of exclusively, but rather that the
certain fundamental
that the
Kabalah
;
is
largely an
outcome of
main
that
its
ages and nations. We must, of course, distinguish the fundamental part of the Kabalah from its developments. Included in
other attempts of the kind in
all
the
first
Ten Emanations,
that
Ain Soph, of the Macrvprosopus and the MicroprosopuS) some of which may go far back in
of
the
history
of
post-Christian
Jewish
literature,
The subsequent
developments possess
many
of Christian Europe during the Middle Ages.f Ain Soph is that final concept of the Deity which is
Mit/raim by Moses at the exodus of the Sons of
di-,cx-rn
Israel, that
we must
from generation to generation, by the oral of Simeon ben Jochai, who wrote, at the dictation of
the second century of the Christian era, the Great
(Zohar)."
about
An Settil du nth;-, pp. 183, 184. of course, merely an assumption of the vital point at * Even the so-called "Symbols of Pythagoras"
My
have
been
approximated
edited
to Kabalistic teaching.
vol.
v.
ilectanea
Hermetica,
&c.),
(Somnium Sapionis,
refer
here to the
Moses of Cordova.
124
Ihe
reached by
metaphysics
it
it
is
not necessary to
suppose
that
was
the
derived
exile
from
Babylonian
initiations
of
regarded
more
product
of
the
centuries.
But
the ultimate point of theosophic speculation possible to the human mind, at which the mind The doctrine of the always arrives.
is
in either case
Sephiroth is, in its turn, a very intelligible form of another widespread device of the world s thought when it seeks to bridge the gulf between finite and infinite, betweed absolute purity and that
material world which, in
to
always
prosopns
early
in
be
regarded
the
as
and
Microprosopus, whether
or
Jewish
the
history of
human
speculation.
They
are an attempt
in
to distinguish
in
between God as
He
is
Himself and
His children.
As might be
expected, they are the most characteristic of Jewry and, as such, offer the least connection with any
external system.
contact.
Yet they have some points of As regards each and all, the first point
mind
is
natural
results
of
legitimate
intellectual
and the circumstances, they are the kind of speculative doctrine which one might
Given the
times
have expected a
priori.
When we remember
of
all
when we remember
dispensation
the
Jew of
have
the
Christian
may
be said
to
<Scmrtt
125
lived in the
remembrance of
believe that
we can
an
well
atmosphere of mind was at work continually, out of which he never stepped, and it would be unreasonable to
suppose that
all
his glory passed away, he was encompassed by legend on which his fervid
all
his thought,
was not profoundly tinctured by this his intellectual environment. But it is a wide and an unwarrantable
step from the belief in such a natural and inevitable
operation to a belief that Jewish tradition must or may be referred to any distinctive source in the
it was perpetuated by some past, from which conventional initiation, as occult writers suppose, and some others also who have no such bias towards the
mysterious to intervene in apology for their opinion. We have no ground for affirming with Basnage* that old Egypt is the true nursery of the Kabalah,
though it is quite possible that Israel brought some thing from the Nile valley which does not appear in
Pentateuch. Nor are we justified in agreeing with the illustrious Grand Master of the Ancient and
the
Accepted Rite of Freemasonry, United States Southern Jurisdiction, when he suggests a direct communication of doctrine from the religion of
Zoroasterf to Kabalism which must be referred to the period of the cxile.J That the Jews derived
*
L.
iii.
c.
"
\iv.
t For some tables indicating the harmony and identity of the Chaldean philosophy with the Hebrew Kabalah," see the "Chaldean
Oraclesof/
edited by
s
The
libUhop Meurin
:id<m, 1895, pp. 8-n. sho\\n by such frenzied developments Synn^o^ue dc Satan, \\hich will be noticed in
.
is
Hook
vii.
"
19.
Morals and Dogma, Charleston, A.M. 5641, pp. 266, 267, J and elsewhere throughout the compilation. Compare Matter, Histoire
something from Babylon I have already noted, and amidst their chequered experience under Persian
domination, after their great body of Haggada
final
may have
is
received increment
theorists
and
colouring.
More
fantastic
have
is
which
all
things
from alchemy to the art of printing seem to have germinated, possessed, and still possesses, a vast
body of traditional lore, of so-called secret teaching,* is mere commonplace on which there is no call to insist, and if occultists will be so unphilosophical as
to term this Kabalah, there
is
as
little
need to dispute
"
with them about the improper and confusing use of That the book called Yi-King,"f or a mere word.
Mutation, contains
an
said,
esoteric
religious
tradition
which
listic
has, as
it
is
doctrine,
is
anything except
the
irresistible
the
human mind
in all
to reflect after
much
same manner,
lands and times, upon mysteries that are every where the same, ever urgent, ever recurring. Such
Critique du
*
Gnosticisime,
who
refers
the
Gnostic
systems to
the
"
"
Jfin
et la
Numeration,
p.
266
et seq.
A La Recherche
des Destines.
Paris, 1892.
of the
gabalah
127
analogies do not prove, as occultists would have us believe, the existence of a Wisdom-Religion, which,
if
they
may
be presumed
to
mean
soul in
tion.
fundamental
in
religion
the
common ground
of
all,
which stands
it
is
inborn
yet
race
in
And
the
in
undoubted
existence
of
the
Mongolian
Mesopotamia almost at the dawn of history may suggest that the Semite drew something from Mongolian Chaldea even in the days of Abraham,!
as afterwards the
certain
contact
with
earliest
admit, readily and reasonably, that the Jew received everywhere and always retained the
form.
We may
him everywhere his in mind that the process was everywhere natural and informal, not arbitrary and conventional.
reception, provided that
we
leave
own
intellectual initiative,
and bear
Passing over the regions of wild surmise in which Odin the Norse God becomes identified with the
Kabalistic Abba, Frea with
Anpin, the
*
I
Supreme
power of the Mongol rulers of Chaldea, alxnit the time of Abraham, was far more extensive than that of thecontemporary rulers of Thebes and of the Delta, and the victories of the great
f
"The
eighteenth dynasty in Egypt, extending over sonic three centuries at most, form only a passing episode in the story of Asiatic civilisation, which dates back probably earlier than the time of the Pyramids, which
original,
in the
greatest
rulers."
li.il>yl>nian
Discoveries,"
Edinburgh
128
^he
Jlortrine
which
the
it
we may
take
much
same view
the alleged Gnostic connections of the Kabalah. may concur cordially with King when he argues that whatever the date of the Zohar in its present form,
its
We
principles
and
traditions
are
similar
to
those
Babylon and Tiberias.f They taught are the same and they are also different, and the
in the schools of
growth of the
native
intellectual
its
proper
development
impulsions which it received between the period of Gnosticism and the period of the promulgation of the Zohar. may acknow
We
born Jew," devised ledge also that Marcus, as of the national heritage to the system something which he produced. Yet Gnosticism is not Kabalism,
"a
though there are striking analogies between them, and something of common source is attributable to
both.
M. Amelineau
There
is
when he
the
speaks of a
systems. J
coincident
are
development
analogies
in
of
two and
nature
* Pike, following no doubt some unnamed authority, affirms that the Druids were true children of the Magi, whose initiation came from
"that
"
is
to say,
Morals and
Dogma," p.
t
1897.
"The
Remains."
Second
London,
J Essai sur
le
origine Egyptienne.
in
Annales du
Guiniet, torn. xiv. Paris, 1887, but written so far back as 1882, the date affixed to the preface. Compare Edersheim, who believed
MusJe
that "Gnosticism, like later Jewish mysticism, sprang from the contact of Judaism with the religious speculations of the farther East."
<Source
129
glass
and a pebble
is
a pebble.*
back and
lies
unphilosophical because unneedful to go far far off when the explanation of given facts near in time and place. That is best which lies
It is
"
the
nearest,"
makers of verse
should shape our work of art or interpretation with out drawing needlessly from things remote. The
prototype of Yetziratic and Zoharic theosophy is close to our hand in Jewry. The fusion of all which is a characteristic of the present day, systems
has
its
parallel
in
witnessed the
rise
his
appearance
Sea,
all
in the
Dead
the old
philosophical
and
religious
other.
all
amalgamation of doctrines for which the expeditions of Alexander and the more peaceful occurrences that
followed, with the establishment in Asia
and Africa
of
colonies, had prepared the way. many After the intermingling of different nations, which resulted from the wars of Alexander in three-quarters
Grecian
of the globe, the doctrines of Greece, of Egypt, of Persia, and of India met and intermingled every where. All the barriers that had formerly kept the
*
The
Pistis
analogic
exaggerate
identical,
between
its
Sophia is the most valuable document for the Gnosticism and the Kabalah, but it is easy to evidence. Mr. C. W. King says that the doctrines arcit
and
that
130
^he
JUhalah
nations
and while the apart were thrown down of the West readily connected their faith with people those of the East, the latter hastened to learn the
;
traditions of
The Jews
exclusive
of
all
and
Egyptians,
their
most
Greeks
which prevailed
among
masters,
the
and
Romans."*
was impossible,
owed everything
Philo the
to the
divine
doctrine of
Palestine.
Greek of
the
that
he
might
if
the
better
Judaise
philosophy of Hellas.
the nearest approach,
least
in
From
form and subject, to Kabalistic theosophy There is no need as regards its source in Jewry.
who
elementary study to refer to Aristobulus, a century before had received a similar vocation. Philo, and the movement and mode of thought which
in
this
he represents, cannot reasonably have been without an effect upon the literature of later ages in Jewry ,f
*
"
Morals and
Dogma," p.
247.
Lillie,
who
has
much
argued a process in the Buddhistic origin of Christianity, has discovered in the Zohar not only the Trinity of Philo, but the Trinity of Buddhism, and he holds that the Kabalah "was one ot the secret books of the
Essenes."
p.
14.
He
also says
that
it
was
written
is
down from
tradition
by one Moses de
it
Leon,"
thus
showing that he
side the Zohar.
"
Ibid., p. 13.
book of
Magic."
Madame
Theosophy," p. 194.
After this
<Soun:f
.tub
131
though the history of that influence and the mode of its transmission cannot be traced conclusively. We must not, however, fall into the error of supposing that the Kabalah is Platonism derived through Philo and the Jewish school of Alexandria, or that it is
Jewish tradition modified by Philoism. When we find in the Sepher Yetzirah the alphabetical symbols
of the Logos
made
it
use of by
is
God
in the
formation
of the universe,
Greek
"
influence,
very easy to set it down to but the fact remains that the
"
Book of Formation
is
essentially
fact
lifts
and
it
charac
altogether the category of Platonic succession. Yet we know where to look for the explanation of its As regards the doctrine points of contact.
teristically
Hebrew, and
this
out of
developed
by the commentators on the Sepher Yetzirah prior to the appearance of the Zohar, as regards the literature which makes contact with these, and as the Zohar itself, saying regards nothing of the later
literature,
to
much
stronger.*
Philo
we
So
shall not
St.
Ibid.
also
Hell," have something supernal For similar speculations, see Buddhism in Christendom." * For example, the Porta Ccvhnim of R. Abraham Cohen Irira, which forms the third part of Rosenroth s Apparatus in Libntm Sohar, was written expressly to exhibit the correspondences between Kabalistic Later on the same theme was dogmas and the Platonic philosophy.
"Kingdom
was the
Scphiroth.
whom connect the Kabalah with and so we have works like Burgondo s Podromus Scientiarum Artinmve liberalinm ad ipsos Peripat cticce Scholce et Kabbah
So
also
et
doctrinat pnrissimos fontes revoeatus, Venice, 1651. earlier period Thomas Campanella in his De Scnsu
at
an
Kerum
Magia,
Frankfort, 1620, joined Neoplatonism and Kabalism in his attempt to explain the universe.
132
^he
Jlxrrtrirte anfo
insists
on
the
antithesis
infinite
between
God and
finite
;
the
let
and the
so,
us say, does the Zohar, which stand for the whole literature.
;
may
be taken to
the
Philo affirms
absolute transcendency of God so does Zoharic Philo regards the divine nature as in doctrine.
itself
itself
without quality
Kabalism denounces those who would attempt to describe God as He is in Himself even by the
attributes
of
s descriptions the latens Deltas compare negative of the Kabalah. Philo says that no name can be
which
all
He
manifests.
;
Philo
God
are
given
Him
all
all
Kabalism
agrees.
and
allegorises
the descriptions, attributions and manifesta tions of Deity therein compare the doctrine of the
upon
Two
anthropomorphisms.
Scripture
interprets
his
as
it
veil
so
or
the
letter
of
Zohar.
Philo
mystically according to Philo Kabalistic exegesis. purpose the visible world as the gate of the world regards
literally
;
so
does
archetypal world, that things seen are a counterpart of things unseen,* in all of which we are enumerating
express
*
points
is
of
Kabalistic
doctrine.
These
There
and
inferior things one transcendental, being that of phenomena with their archetypes in the noumenal world, and one natural in the narrower
"
sense of the term, being that which is summed up in the axiom There is no herb on earth to which a certain star does not correspond in the
:
See Kircher, Mundus Subterraneus, ii. 401^. theory of natural magic is contained in this maxim.
heaven."
The whole
Jewry, and of Philo as explicit testimony to the existence of a mystic doctrine in Jewry.
Kabalistic
of
teaching pre-existed
in
we have
further the
Spontaneity, initiation, subsequent influences, allj remain unimpeded and are all necessary to explain the existence of the Zohar and its connections, but
its
source
is
Philo exclusively,
not indeed Philo of necessity, much less but that which produced Philo._
all, it
is
wearing
its
tradition like
conceal
essential individuality,
its
ourselves at times in
spirit
than
we should
ever
it
suspect from
its
form.
on
philosophical grounds, for however concealed behind the veil of symbolism, however much distorted in
strange
glasses
of
vision,
the
sentiments
and
aspirations of
and
under
through
common
many
covers and tinctured by many fantastic artifice, we see that our own
yearnings and
own manner,
in this
longings find expression, after their book of the words of the exile.]
all
the lore
part
Of the hunger and thirst of the heart, The frenzy and fire of the brain, Which yearns for the fruitage forbidden, The golden pomegranates of Eden,
To
quiet
its
fever
and
pain."
When
the
"
Faithful
"
Shepherd
i34
^he
Jtortrine
mouth of
in the
this
world
my Name
written
YHVH
shall
be read as
all
sides,"
it
is
written, so that
Mercy
be
from
the
we
see
that at
the beginning of
century we might have expressed the longing, the hope, the faith, for which differently
twentieth
this
it
is
still
that which
I
we
all
do not know
our modern terms could have represented it better. Herein is the justification of the ways of
that
herein the pious conviction of the heart that in the great day of the Lord believing there shall be no scandal to His children that in
;
God
to
man and
spite of the darkness of our ways we have held rightly that He is light, that though we write Mercy in our
Law and
its
around
every
us,
we
side,
Law
is
is
manifested.
in
messages
like
this
that
the
abiding beauty and significance of the Kabalah are contained, not in the beard of Microprosopus or in the number of worlds suspended from the hair on the
of the Rabbis of the Zohar expressing the language of the heart of Israel needs no Temurah to expound
its
meaning, and
it
is
made
conscious
men who
Cremona
edition, part
ii.
fol.
io6a.
135
As
this
divine authorship, and places the theory of aboriginal tradition among fables, so also it forbids us to
suppose that Kabalistic doctrines are the work of any single mind.
One
feels instinctively,
evidence, that these things are not and cannot be the unaided work of Moses de Leon.* They are a
however,
the
Zohar
hands
may
at the
of this
That
his
Cervantes wrote
many
and
"
after
the
chivalry.
"
The
"
Galatea
did
Don Quixote impossible. So also Beroalde de Verville wrote books on alchemy which are despised even by alchemists, but he wrote also the Moyen
de Parvenir.
Every magnum opus is antecedently and the intellectual distance between improbable, and the second part of the Sorrows of Werther A in Soph and is like the void between "Faust"
"
"
Malkuth, which
to
fill.
it
But
able,
it
if all
is
masterpieces are antecedently improb true also that they are impossible without
antecedents.
dull
old
histories
known
to literati
of Shakespeare.
According to the Zohar itself, or more precisely, to a tract Faithful Shepherd," nine includes under the title of the authors combined for the production of the work, but it is not necessary o attach any serious import to this statement.
which
"
it
136
Ihe
Doctrine
anfc
must have been preceded by much raw material, both oral and written, parts of which were no doubt incorporated without any change in their formulation.
For example, the Book of Occultation bears all the marks of antiquity, no less considerable than
" "
that of the
"
Book
of
Formation."
of course, a point beyond which the not pass. So far as it goes we on safe ground with the meagre testimony of are
is,
There
reasonable
critic will
St.
Agobard
purely
traditional
supposed for a moment that more authenticity resides in the dramatis persona; of the Holy Synod than in
I do not mean those of the Turba Philosophorum. that such names are entirely pretexts, for they may possess an honest basis in legend, but they are not
literal or historical.
They occupy
a middle position
between
the script of a shorthand reporter and imaginary conversations like those of W. S. Landor.
VI.
KABALAH
When
in
the
Jew
external
receptions,
his
longings,
the
memories of
in
his election
all
and
its
glory,
we must bear
exotics adjust themselves to their environment, not without certain changes even in the most persistent types. Now, the Jew is an anthro-
mind that
137
pological exotic in
because his
explained by a special law of Providence, we find that in all countries he has been modified sufficiently
to
as
in
in
order,
The
nothing but he assumed much. Jew of Salerno differed from that of France,
and the Jew of Spain offered contrasts to both. Without attempting to add another hypothesis to
the
I
scores
extant as
to
to
the
that
origin
this
of
Kabalism,
is
propose
indicate
literature
naturally,
its
if partially,
partial birthplace.
Having
made
reasonable
allowance
for
spontaneity in Jewish thought, and having noted its observed connections and correspondences in distant
times and places,
it
seems
fitting that
we should look
Without
dis
now
to that
which
may
have
down by
the oral
way
from early times, of which we have enough evidence to warrant the presumption that it existed but not enough to determine what it actually was, let us
begin by considering where the Kabalistic books
to circulate.
first
That was in Spain. Now, what began was the environment of the Jews in the Peninsula at
the period in question
let
It
differed considerably
from
in the great wilderness of the Exile, for the simple reason that
138
Ihe
of
gjortrint atrb
it
pteratuw
ot the gabalah
rule.*
;
much
Jew
The
he
he rose occasion
not surprising, centre of Jewish
is
power.
It
Spain became and philosophy. Thence Jewish treatises passed into France and Italy under the Arabian authors names, and were equivalents of their
therefore,
that
literature
accepted as the speculations or teachings of the learned among the Moslems. Avicebron is a case in
point.
erudition of
Mohammedanism
The
exercised an influence
in their turn
on the
Moslem
doctors.}
questions
of
priority
and
have concluded already that the Zohar the mystic thought of preceding centuries presents in Israel under a certain aspect of transformation.
We
The
traditional knowledge, of
its
as to
the influence of
many developments from many sources and under many minds. There is ground for
supposing that the nucleus in Christian times is first heard of in Palestine, which indeed follows
from
*
its
Simeon
So also the necessities of the Christian princes in Spain till the thirteenth century led them usually to protect the Jews. t The translation of the Talmud into Arabic by R. Joseph, disciple of Moses the sack-clothed, during the reign of Haschem II., King of
Cordova,
is
Islamic mysticism is almost coincident with the mission of the For example, the Ghoolat sect, famous for the great Islamic prophet. See extravagance of its doctrines, is referred to the time of Ali.
"
"
"Secret
Societies of the
Middle
Ages,"
31.
Jmbalah
139
But despite the legend which represents the Zohar as sent from Palestine by Nachmanides, everything points to Spain and the South of France
Ben
Jochai.
as
the chief
scenes of
it
is
has been affected by the prevailing tone of mystic thought in one or both of these places. There is evidence to show that such influence was
at
its
prior
it
perhaps to
possesses.
the
form
that
now
It
influence of Avicebron.
and
Kabalism as referable
This was the
to Islamic
mysticism for
at
its
Greek influence
hypothesis of Tholuck. We are concerned only with a question of complexion and of tincture, and have other criteria by
in
work
Islam.
which to judge the true significance of the points of doctrinal resemblance between Sufi and Kabalist
concerning the latent state of Deity, the operation of the Divine Will at the beginning of creation, the
emanation of the
world,
&c.
The
analogies
are
interesting enough and the Orientalist who first specified them had everything to justify him at his
period.*
As
it
may
* See F. A. D. Tholuck Sufismus Sive Theosophia Persarum Also De Ortu Cabbala, Pant heist ica, Berlin, 1831, c.v. passim.
Hamburg,
1837.
140
^he
Jtortrin* anb
ttet*ittre of the
Jubalah
cases in point derived from other sources, let us take a fact, one of many concerning which we possess impregnable testimony. About the middle of the
fifteenth century, or, more exactly, from 1414 to 1492, there flourished a Sufi poet named Nuruddin Abdur-
rahmann, known as Jami of Herat, among whose works the Seven Thrones is most famous. One of
"
"
the
poems
"
Salomon and
a mystic story of earthly and heavenly love. In the epilogue to this poem, where the author unfolds his meaning, the following lines occur
Absal,"
:
The Incomprehensible
Creator,
first
when
this
world
He
of
all
The First Intelligence, First of a chain Of Ten Intelligences, of which the last
Sole agent is in this our Universe, Active Intelligence so called.
It
may
if
we
are to accept
the
who
in philo
sophy and
this
religion,
we
passage that somewhere about the year 1450 a away from Spain as Herat, was with slight variations of a verbal kind, the adapting,
Sufic poet, so far
Sephirotic doctrine of the Kabalah a century before the Book of Formation and the Zohar came into
I have through the medium of print. chosen this instance because it proves nothing of
circulation
on account of its lateness, but it gives a point of departure backwards for tracing a possible con nection between the mystical sects of Moham
itself
sects of Israel.
a nil
141
us compare for a moment the doctrine developed in the Celestial Desatir," which has been described as a very early attempt on the
With
this
let
"
"
The
Desatir,
it
should be observed,
is
Abad, who is identified with Abraham. The nature of God cannot be known. Who can dare to know it but He (Himself)? The entity and the oneness and the
revelation addressed to the great prophet
"
personality are
Him.
"him
"
From this Being proceeded by free creation whose name is Baluiaui, and called Prime
and
of
First
Reason,"
intellect,"
Intellect
"
and
through
him
Asham,
the second
the
who
created in turn
the
"
intellect
next
lower
heaven
named
From
Jupiter
,
Bahram, or Mars of Khurshad, or the Sun of Nahid, or Venus of Zir, or Mercury and of Mah, or the Moon.
;
of
Here,
again,
we have
the
production
of ten
emana
At
the beginning
of the twelfth century, or actually in the year iioo a noted Arabian A.D., Abu Bakr Ibn Al-Tufail,
physician, poet, mathematician
and
Sufi philosopher,
was born
in
1 1
at
86.
Guadix
romance called
*
The
Life of
My knowledge is confined to the translation by Mirza Mohamed Hadi which appeared in successive issues the Platonist," vols. iii. and iv.
"
<>f
142
^he
^.elf-taught
\vc
In this
curious narrative
Ibn Al-Tufail using a form of comparison \vhich occurs almost verbatim in the Kabalistic books.
find
"
is
material
sun, which expand over opaque bodies and appear to proceed from the eye, though they are only reflected
from
its
surface."
We
find
also
substantially
(a)
name
of
of
The
reflection
that
the
is
highest
sphere in
a
and
free
beyond
from
which
there
no
matter,
which
nor
was
the
Being
Being of that
nor yet but was like the
itself,
image of the sun as it appears in a well-polished mirror, which is neither one nor the other, and yet
not distinct from
them."
(c)
scheme of the Desatir^ ending at this world, which is subject to generation and corruption, and compre
hending
all
that
contained within the sphere of the of the material essences were identical
is
different, either as regards the rest with the One True One.* or in comparison The doctrine of the Divine Absorption is the
is is
contemporary
also
its
mainly
may
be gathered from
proposed
See the
Life of
Improvement of Human Reason exhibited in the Hai Ebn Yokdhan. Written in Arabick above 500 years ago,
"
Newly
London, 1711.
143
Some
refer
it
us, for
the
significant fact
is
whom we are
The
indebted for part at least of the Zohar. was felt outside the
confessed
Kabalists,
and was
even
by the
most
Jewry
all
or Literalists,
who
rejected
innovations in the
Talmud
as to the
who set no store by much opposed to the Zoharic writings. The proof is
indeed one might say their fusion, with the Motozales, a sect of scholastic Arabs.* A
their analogies,
Kairite
assumed
name.
The purpose of this section should not be mis construed. Once more, it is by no means designed to indicate that the mystic sects of Mohammedanism
are responsible for the peculiar scheme of the Kabalah, or that the Sufi drew from the rabbin. Such devices
Sufism
it
is
that
they are
Neoplatonic, and that the Gnostics of the early Shiite sects were attracted to it because of these
connections.f
*
:
Munk La Philosophic chez Us Jnifs, p. 10. On this point the reader may consult with
of Islamic mysticism
in
"
admirable account
Persians,"
by E. G. Browne.
London, 1893.
It
to
Kabalism, with which the author seems unacquainted, but it may be gathered from what it tells us of Sufic commentaries on the Koran that
144
^he
is
ot the Jiabnlah
ticism
To woman who
Jerusalem in the first century of the Hegira is to say that Sufism began to live and move in an atmosphere
of Jewish
say that Spain was the forcing-house of the Kabalists is to say that the mystic doctors of Jewry brushed arms with those of
tradition.
To
deny that there was any consequence of such contact is to deny nature. Sufism was Pan
Islam, and to
theistic
and emanationist
Kabalistic emanationism
was saved from Pantheism by the doctrine of divine immanence, and their literatures have no real like
ness
;
and
not only the connecting link of the analogy between all mystics but a bond even in history.
VII.
ON JEWRY
There
is
certainly no
these,
student
of
the
although Pantheistic, have many points of contact with later Kabalism. We find not only the unmanifest state of Deity, but the attempt to explain why the contingent world (compare the Liber
"
non-existent,"
p. 129 for Mr. Browne s philosophy in Persia were adaptations either of Aristotle or Plato, and
so typical of the Ain Soph doctrine. See opinion that the early schools of Mohammedan
Source anb
subject,
Jtuthoritji of the
JUbahih
145
who is in a position to say exactly what kind of profit accrued to the mind of Jewry from the promulgation, let us say, of the Zohar. From one point of view such an inquiry may be held to strike
and philosophy, and one of those subjects which do not I remember a con readily occur to the occultist. versation which I once had with a priest of the
for the rest
it
am
my
He
in
me
that
the
all
most
among
students
whom
student of
was a Jew I think of Poland. Let us make the most of this statement, since we know that there are initiations, and that the Jew is in most of them, concerned as he is in all in
his long experience
interests,
evidence as he
is
in
all
due con
Burton and his posthumous treatise,* much better described by the famous passage in Coningsby than by a somewhat vexatious criticism pivoted on a monstrous charge. But it is quite certain that the of the
" "
secret societies,
Jew, are not in any sense possessed by the Jew, while as regards all such external signs of activity
1
Sec
is
"The
I>lam."
London, 1898.
l,
The
charge
human
/.
/,/,/,-,
a , l.ccn
omitted hy
the editor on grounds that Cf. Desporti may be conjectured. sang chez Us Juifs de tons les temps, Paris, 1890, of Burton s death. Readers of Josephus will remember the curious
Mysore
</u
th<
story
Temple
p. 321.
adduced by Apion concerning the Greek captive found in tinat Jersualem hy Antiochus. Contra Apioncni, ii. 7. Cf. Dr. H. Hay Trumbull, "The Blood Covenant," London, 1887, Apoendiv.
146
^he
by current literature of occultism, any bibliography will show us how little he has done in this respect. What is much more important,
however,
the
influence
is
as are manifested
that, so far as
it
is
possible to ascertain,
upon
point
to
the
Children
of
the
for
Exile.
We
it
can
certain
enthusiasms
which
partially responsible, and they are those pre cisely which did their best to wreck Jewry and of
is
which
Jewry
Abraham
now ashamed.
of the Chassidim,* are typical cases in point, which warrant us in saying that the Kabalah gave spurious
Messiahs to
of
its
Israel.-f-
It
last instance
activity
before
ceased
to
exercise
it
any
if
powerful influence,
the
"
and with
in
this also
began,
we
Book of
Formation,"
supreme sources of Kabalism is connected with the bogus or at least the frenzied mission of Bar Cochba.
When
by
the sword, his disciple, or perhaps his instigator, and the inspirer also of R. Simeon ben Jochai, the head
the
its
new
is
still
representatives in a number of Jewish communities and Israel among the Nations," pp. still holds the Zohar in high esteem. The sect has its chief hold among Russian and Galician 61, 40, 345. In the time of Judas Jews; the name signifies "pious ones."
said to have
Maccabseus,
"
it
was the
strict
Nation."
among
the
Jews.
s
of mythical elements.
this
t Mr. Zangwill in his "Dreamers of the Ghetto" has brought notion recently to the knowledge of the external world.
<Soura
aiib
147
unhappy rebellion. If a literature be judged by its influence, that of the Kabalah may has been small it has encouraged false enthusiasm, and has been the warrant for direct imposture.*
;
So
far as
its
is
very good ground for thinking that its Christian rather than the Jewish mind.f
was the
having
And
established one useful point there is an opportunity here of making another. Kabalistic influence on
Christendom has been of two kinds, but it has been much more of one kind than another. It has been an influence exercised by an occult claim upon the students and the acceptors of occult claims. But it has been much more the influence of
possible
missionary material on the missionary enterprise of the Christian Church. To begin at a late date What gave the Kabalah of the Zohar to the Latin
reading scholars of Europe ? The magnum opus of Rosenroth. What impelled Rosenroth? The
"splendid
spectrum"
of
if
the
conversion
And
*
now,
we
of
It has given also a few obscure sects to Jewry. knowledge of Kabalistic mysteries was alleged to have imparted superhuman power to chief Rabbi of Prague to Lobele, Jacob Franck, the Polish distiller, of whose followers the so-called Christian Jews of Poland are still a small survival ; and to his contemporary, Israel of Podolia, who established the New Saints and had a recipe for miracles by means of the IIP me
Tetragrammaton. t Mr. /angwill is not of this opinion. which antedated immediately the mission of The Zohar the Book of Illumination,
"
cmnp.>M-d
century
printed
now
for
the
first
time, shed
its
and further over every ghetto." But perhaps he follows here the principle he has borrowed from Spiim/a, "to see things specie fttrnitatis." I wish the same principle had inspired him to lay less stress on the exact date of the Zohar.
sul>
148
^he
gabalah
beginning of the Christian interest in Kabalism, almost coincident, in fact, with the appearance of the
Zohar, and suppose that Raymond Lully was really, as it has been said that he was, the first Christian
student of the Kabalah, what was the life-long labour of that amazing seneschal of Majorca, and for what
did he renounce the world
?
To
wrest, as
it
has been
said, from reluctant Nature the elusive mastery of The Nature, the Great Palingenesis of alchemy?
Hermetic
Yes, but
school
of
we know
that they are the products of the forgery which produced the spurious
of
Geber,* and that this was by no means the ambition Raymond Lully. But was it the attainment of
religion
is
the
behind
all
religions?
Nothing of the
of
sort; that
modern
fantasy.
The work
Raymond
Lully was apostolical and missionary, and it closed with martyrdom at Bugia, in a feverish attempt to
Mahound." What prompted evangelise of Picus de Mirandola, that he energy
"
filled
Papal Court with the rumour and the wonder of the Jewish tradition ? The fact that he also regarded it
as a certain mystic
the princes of the Exile might be brought to the gates of the Eternal City and the Ghetto might be transformed into a
way by which
baptistry.
Suppose,
lastly, that
"
really initiated
by the
Book of Abraham
what prompted the unostentatious scrivener of old Paris to make precious metals by occult arts when his wants were few and his trade sufficient for a
*
M.
Berthelot,
La Chimie au
Essai
sur
of the glabalah
149
also had the Why, missionary witness his bequests, real or fabulous, for the spirit conversion of the heathen.
modest man?
he
The
out
inference
is
that the
prove were handled wisely according to the lights given in the Holy Synods.* Now, I do not need to say that there are very few occultists who would take interest in the
Christianised
if it
of
Jewry
to
any
this
point
of view.
They
stands, does
for the
not
by missionary zeal for and their literature, as manifest more than sufficient
respect
On
immense misapprehension
of the Jews can
religion behind all religions.
falls
be supposed
offer
them
the
What
almost infinitely short. At its highest a bizarre but truly strenuous attempt to unriddle the universe,
the
most unaided of
all
mundi excogitated in a darkened synagogue with the praying-shawl drawn over the eyes. What darkness
to be felt in the void
in
strange lights flashing In such a state Spanish Jew or Spanish Mystic of the Latin Church, Moses de Leon,
!
What
the darkness!
One
that
writer in
far as to
maintain
"Christian
Talmud." Alexander Weill, Moist, le Talmud et The statement sounds perilous, but M. \Vcill is rEvangile, ii. 92. not to be taken seriously. Compare ibid. ii. 91, "The Talmud is itself the most violent adversary of Moses," i.e., the Moses of M.
doctrine, except the Trinity, which is IMat.mic, i-ucs its details, from the Talmud. Christianity is son and
Weill.
One paradox
150
if
^h*
you
will,
or
recluse
communication of the
this is frenzy.
But
to say
is
more than
to say, on
And
at
it
lowest, that
that side
upon which
is
understood
by
occultism, finite
of
all
things
finite,
what sombre
trifling
unredeemed by the saving sense of triviality, the physiognomy of the section Yithroh, the astrology
of the processes of Gaffarel, the star messages of the
Hebrew
Levi
planisphere,
the
paper tubes
of
Eliphas
metathesis, gematria^ ;* or, again, notaricon, the arcana of the extended name, the virtues of
for conjuring heaven and earth. here that occultism illustrates how it receives
it
only what it can give and how that the interest of the occultist
less
comes
to
pass
is
in the
Kabalah
inspired
by
than by the magic garters of the Key of Solomon." Hence even writers, like Papus in France, who have exceptional claims on our consideration, find it
necessary to include in their scheme of Kabalism the sorry literature of the Grimoires.J And they and he have nothing to tell us of the Zohar. But
we do not
or in
*
de Mirandola,
Raymond
And
Lully
we do not
find
much
trace
works
t Observe also the developments which these subjects received in like the Caballa Anagrammatica of Ranutius Longelus, Placentice* 1654 ars mirabilis indeed, as the author terms it.
La
Kabbale, pp.
10,
16,
26,
the
last
"
especially,
where the
"
reference to Molitor
Philosophy of Tradition
of the
clavicufa
apparently responsible
"magical MSS."
the
identification
and
gabalah
151
The Lexicon of magic in the Kabbala Dcnndata. of Rosenroth does not include the occult wonders
of Agla, nor does
it
tell
us after
extended name
is
compounded, by a
of
do find acrostics, out of three verses in Exodus. all these in Agrippa, who wrote as a young man of things that he had heard and read, making a very
dignified retractation of
it
We
all
in
his
book of great
course, the mystic side of of the soul to God, and that Kabalism, the return
path of ecstasy already mentioned, by which it was conceived that the soul might effect such reunion
even
in this
life,
but
it
is
of which
this
we
see
no
is
effect in
Jewry, and
it
is
also
neglected by modern occultism. For example, the present work is the first published in England which has any reference to the highest principle of the human soul in Kabalism and the
side which
BOOK
IV
PERIOD
ARGUMENT
The
traces of Kabalistic literature outside the
to the publication of the
Sepher Yetzirah,
and prior
Zohar, are enumerated briefly to indicate that there was a gradual growth of the tradition and
ancient
to correct exaggerated notions concerning it. There are several treatises which connect with Kabalism, but are not
regarded by modern scholarship as Kabalistic in the technical sense. This is the case with the Sepher Yetzirah itself ; but there is no
doubt that
or that
it
all
these works pretend to embody an occult tradition, oral tradition which subsequently
received
commentators
on
the
Sepher
Yetzirah, as well as from the Zohar, and, later still, from the The attention of early Kabalists expositors of Zoharic mysteries. was concentrated on the "Book of Formation," and numerous
elucidations of that
thirteenth centuries.
work
appeared
I.
beyond controversy that there was a great body of mystic speculation and doctrine grown up in
IT
is
Jewry, of which the roots are to be found in the Talmud, while it is connected occasionally with
brilliant
and even with some great names. It is this transcendentalism which led ultimately to the Zohar,
clritttn
<&lorb
of iuttmliem
it
153
the
must
defer to scholarship, though with the mental reserva tion that if the question be more than of words it is
at most one of stages of growth, for that which was of mysticism in Israel between the period of the Talmud and the period of the promulgation of the
Zohar is that which in the course of became the Kabalah and the Zohar.
its
evolution
The
title
of this
section
is
to
some extent
tentative or
modest conclusions
of the previous book are a sufficient warrant for supposing that there are traces of Kabalism, outside
the Sepher Yetzirah, prior to the promulgation of the
It is Zohar, and possessing some literary remains. indeed essential to the natural history of the later
work that
literature.
it
should
have had
to the
its
antecedents in
most acceptable view According these were certain Midrashim which, for the most
part, are
that,
not
now
extant, and
it
is
fair
assuming
such
memorials,
they
to
exercised
some
influence.
So
in
also the
it,
ascribed to
Sepher Yetzirah, whatever the date was of high authority, and the veneration
which
it
literature.
We
was held was of the kind which creates must beware, however, of supposing
line of Kabalists
that there
was an unbroken
from the
second to the twelfth century, as some occult writers have pretended. Supposing the Sephir Yetzirah in its present form to be later than the second century,
*
There can
"reception"
be, I think, little doubt that the Kabalah was the of the Bereshith and Mercabah mysteries mentioned in
the
Talmud, or
that this
154
^he
Jtortritte
we must regard
prototype a work already mentioned under the title of the Alphabet of Akiba,
while the antithesis of
"
The Book
of
Occupation,"
one of the most important sections of the Zohar, must be sought in the anthropomorphic Schiur
Komah
"
i.e.,
"
The Measure
of the
Height,"
in other
Description of the Body of God," or development of the various Scriptural places in which The dates of the divine members are mentioned.
words, the
these fragmentary works are conjectural, but there can be no doubt, as indeed there is no question, of
comparative antiquity. Connected with these are the Greater and the Lesser Palace, known also as
their
the
in
"
common
Temples,"*
which,
modern
all
were instrumental
calling
the
Kabalah
into
to represent all
in hostility to
that
is
He
is
followed, as
we have
seen,
by
* Not to be confused with a work mentioned by Bartolocci under the name of R. Eliezer and dealing with the measurements of
the earthly temple. t By the difficulty," says Ginsburg, in which they placed the Jews in the South of France and in Catalonia, who believed in them
"
"
almost as
much
as in the Bible,
to contrive this
system whereby they could explain the gross descriptions of the Deity and of the plains of heaven, given in these Haggadic productions." It may indeed be affirmed that one spirit informed the chief works of
mystical complexion which preceded the Zohar.
(bdrittcu
SBorb
of Xlabalism
155
Ginsburg,* but
is
it is
indispensable
to
and fundamental part thereof. The tenth century is, however, an important period in Jewish history and Jewish letters, for at this epoch the
integral
and
for a
in
was
sometimes
a
lull
eclipsed
thereby.
;
There was
academies
moment
in persecution
the
Spain ensured a breathing space to the Children of the Prior to that period, from the sixth century Exile.
and onward, there was a hiatus in the literature of The canons of the Talmud were closed, by Israel. the terror and peril of the time rather than inherent
necessity,
Israel
became one of
hazardous
bitter struggle
existence.
certain
dominion, and the intellectual lamp of Israel shone forth ultimately clearly and steadily during the Moslem domination of Spain, which country from that period till the
shelter
was
found
under
Persian
beginning of the thirteenth century was like a second Palestine to the Jew, and this land of refuge, under
the tolerant and enlightened sway of the Spanish Khalifs, became almost as dear to his heart as the
Land
in
of Promise.
Montpellicr
in
Jewish schools, but that of Seville was, perhaps, more illustrous than either. Spain also was a nursing-land of Kabalistic
for their
literature,
Kitto
"
Cyclopaedia,"
Kabbalah
1503
et
se</.
4, torn. v. p.
156
^he
between the epoch which produced the Book of Formation and that of the Book of Splendour must be sought chiefly therein, though in the twelfth
"
"
"
century something
may
France
and
earlier
the borders of the Caspian Sea.* There is neither space nor occasion
here
to
list, produce bibliographical materials at our command can scarely be regarded as extensive, serving mainly to correct false and highly
and
indeed
the
coloured impressions regarding the claims of Kabalistic tradition. The chief names of the period with
mystic system, as presented in the Pirke, connects on the one hand with the Sepher Yetzirah, and on the other with
Eliezer,
Rabbi
whose
Zoharic teaching.
with his Ineffable
We
have, in the
first
place,
God
Name
Thorah or Law, together with the Throne of Glory, the Name of the Messiah, Paradise, Hell and the Temple of Jerusalem, i.e., the
to the visible world, of the
archetype of the earthly temple subsequently, the creation of the world by means of ten words. With this work may be connected the ancient
;
It
is
a matter of con-
Outside the dates and authorship ascribed by the old Kabalists Sepher Yetzirah and the Zohar there are other treatises attributed to the early days of the Exile. Thus tradition regards Eliezer Hagabite, son of Jose, a contemporary of Simeon ben Jochai, as a Kabalistic doctor and the author of a treatise on the thirty-two qualities of the
to the
Law.
The
antiquity of this
work
is
doubtful.
157
later
whether
these
or
II.
The Gaon
Academy
commentary
L>
on the Sepher Yetzirah preserved in the Bodleian Library and only printed recently in France, as \\
shall see in the third section of this book.
III.
The Gaon
academy
of
of Babylon, was perhaps more distinguished for the violence with which he wrote against the Christians than for his Kabalistic knowledge. But
Pherruts
Schibbur*
the
neighbourhood
Nachmanidesf
"
Delineation of
or
more
correctly on the
title
fragments which
"Proportion
"
of the
the
of
the
otherwise called
Description of the Body of God," which shows the Kabalistic leanings of Shereerah and creates the
to the anthropomorphism of these early works which has been mentioned already as a key
antithesis
"God he exclaims, forbid," should speak of the Creator as if he had This Rabbi was bodily members and dimensions despoiled of his wealth and hanged by order of
"
note
of
Kabalism.
that
man
"
The Gaon
R. Hay, son
and successor of
Shereerah as the head of the Babylonian School of Schibbur, is also credited with a commentary on the
will
to
be dealt with
some
authorities,
in
its
Or
of
Pumbaditha according
including
Graetz.
t In his commentary on the Thorah. $ Attributed to K. Islnnael, apparently the doctor of that name sentences are sometimes quoted in the Talmud.
158
3&ht
|B0.cttitt.e
anb
Dit*rature of the
proper place. The interpretation of dreams was one of the daily occupations of the Jewish academies, and their skill exhibited therein, or the credulity of
the times, often purchased toleration and respect for To Rab the Rabbis at the hands of the Khalifs.
Hay
is
was
printed at Venice.*
on the have
be
entitled
"
especially
Power."
that
It will
peculiar
theory
of
mystic
contemplation.
He
possessed enormous influence and became subse quently the head of the academy of Pumbaditha in
He died in 1038. the neighbourhood of Bagdad. V. R. Chasdaif was a Prince of the Exile and He was temporal head of the Jews in Cordova. He is also a political minister under two Khalifs.
said to connect the school of
Hay Gaon
Ibn
with that of
Gebirol.J
VI. Solomon
scholastic
ben
Yehudah
in
all
Gebirol,
the
Avicebron and
respects, Kabalistic
and otherwise, a focus of intellectual and literary interest, was a contemporary of the famous Nagrila. VII. R. Abraham ben David or Ben Dior Ha
Levi, the great orthodox apologist of the twelfth century, has been included in the chain of Kabalism.
one of the
ii.
387.
He
See
Ezra,"
in the Transactions
of the Society of
Hebrew
Literature.
159
Jews of
in
his
time,
flourished
His work
"
the earlier part of the twelfth century. entitled the Garden of Aromatics" shows
"
it
appears by
Commentary on Isaiah
this
"
that he
was
in
dis
agreement with
did not reject
doctor.
Kabalah, though he knew its weakness, because he did not wish to be embroiled with contemporary writers.* He wrote upon the
the
the mystic attributes of numbers in connection therewith.
Divine
Name and
IX.
The names
of Juda Hallevi,
Kusari, of Jacob Nazir, of Solomon Jarki, of R. Abraham ben David, the younger, bring us to the thirteenth century and to the period of (a) Maimonides,
who
is
reported,
chiefly
on
the
authority of
R.
acquainted at least with the existence of the twofold mystic tradition distinguished as that of the Creation
and that of the Chariot (&) R. Azariel, of Valladolid, famous commentator on the Sepher Yetzirah (c) Shem Tob Ibn Falaquera, a disciple of Maimonides,
;
;
who
connects
with
Gebirol
(d)
R.
Abraham
Abulafia.f
*
who wrote on
Basnage quotes Skinner s letters and Usher in support of this view, hut he and they are in some contusion as to important date* in Kabalistic history and literature. Graetz has a good account of
Il>n
Ezra, but it unnecessary to say that his analogies with Kabalism are not mentioned.
i>
t See
dfs
Frankcl,
vol.
Monat shrift
\.
/..
IVeisscmchaft
(ii.vct/ has also a long 27, Leipsic, 1856. account of Abulafia, designed to ridicule the mental condition to which he refers the Knbalah.
Judenthumsi
p.
160
<<2Ehe
been published.*
theoretical
He
a
and
adventurer
opinions
noted,
and
Messianic
may
be
Christian
tendencies.
writers
and
something to their purpose in all these personalities, but they often proceed on a
misconception.
of
What,
for
example,
Levi,
is
more
likely
by the mere
fact of
its title ?
Seder
a
Ha
of the Tradition, j-
As
fact, it is
productions, and though I have termed its author a great orthodox apologist, he had a strong
of
all
Aristotelian leaven.
The
and
Leon,
of
Abu
Alphrag,
that
the
true
synagogue
of
of
was
the
suc
be
found
among
the
Sadducees.
the
The Seder
Ha
Kabalah
claim
vindicates
authority
orthodox
cession
under
the
two
It
heads
and
all
universality, or
community of doctrine
embraces
the
among
petuation
*
the
synagogues
the Jewish
entire history of
of
the
Mosaic
"The
They
to
Fount of Living
of three.
of which
there
his
is
works
t
It
twenty
Bartolocci
knew only
Ghedalia on
the Chain of the Kabalah, the Yuhasin of Zakut, famous in connection with the Zohar, and the Tsemach David, already quoted.
Slrittcu
tradition
<DQor&
of
gahaiiem
of
161
named
in the title.*
The work
forth.
Abraham
ben David
occasion
Ha
Levi
is
divided
which
which Sadducean pretensions were certainly not the most important. The great distinction of the time for the purpose of our own inquiry was between the Jews who had adopted Aristotelian principles and the
Jews who opposed the innovation. The enlighten ment and culture were incontrovertibly on the side of
the former; the fascination of mystic thought, in a all that we connect with the ideal of rabbinical word,
Israel, went, however, into the opposite scale. There were great names on both sides. Rabbi Abraham and his Sepher exercised a large influence his con
;
temporary, Maimonides, who survived him by almost a quarter of a century, was described by the
enthusiasts of his period as
race,"
"
human
and by a play upon his name it was said of him that "from Moses to Moses there was no one
like
unto
Moses."
The
rival school
was
to
by Avicebron, and some of those who assert that the Zuhar incorporated traditions belonging to
centuries arc content to rest their case on the writings of this poet and philosopher. The evidence, howis in a On the one hand, very confused state.
the
has
it
many
Aristotelian
Maimonides has much to connect him with Avicebron, though he was not acquainted with his works, while,
Magua
Bibliothcca
i,
Ral>binica t
i.
p.
18 et scq.
162
^he
Talmud ic Jew
of
Cordova, entitled
offers
"The
Guide of the
Perplexed,"
many
indications of his
In a general sense, however, speculative Kabalah.* those who wished to introduce Aristotelian principles
into Jewish philosophy belonged to that school
which
subsequently opposed the Zohar,-f- as, for example, Abraham Ibn Wakkar of Toledo, at the beginning of
the fourteenth century^ while those who accepted the Zohar belonged to that school which connects with
Avicebron,
David of Posquiere,
whom
and
The favoured by Ginsburg. Kabalistic interests of this school are outside all
is
;
There
does
not
seem, however,
the
slightest
ground
for
supposing, with Isaac Myer, that Maimonides was acquainted with the Zohar. On the contrary, there is more perhaps to be said for the
conjecture of S.
Munk
that the
Maimonides.
p. 278.
Among
(i)
Scripture ; (2) Of the inaccessible nature of God ; (3) Of the universe as an organic whole. The student should also consult an interesting
Notice sur la Cabale des Httreux, prefixed by the Chevalier Drach to the second volume of his work already cited on the Harmony between
"
the
Synagogue."
He
establishes (a)
That
where
Buxtorf supposes the Talmud (Tract Rosh Hashanah] to allow the same authority to the Kabalah as to the text of Moses, the reference is
really to the spiritual
power of the Synagogue and (b) that the alleged mention of the mystic Kabalah by Maimonides is a misconception It is ( Harmonic, ii. xvi. xvii. xviii.). certain, however, that Maimonides mentions a lost tradition.
;
t In
which,
however,
Munk
traces
Aristotelian
influences.
Melanges, pp. 278, 279. See the English translation of Steinschneider, Who follows Graetz literally.
p.
114.
vl
he aariitcn
SI orb
of
gabalism
163
treatise
the
made with regard not be discouraged at finding that writers like Isaac Myer have much enhanced the
investigate the claim to Avicebron,
When we
we must
We
find,
is
true,
the doctrines
of the
Inaccessible
God,
of
the
intermediaries
universe, of the
of the universal
existent soul of
knowledge attributed
to
the
pre-
man by
like to
is
all
Jewish mysticism.
in a
But
what we should
eleventh century
doctrine, let
meet with
mystic of the
a distinct trace of typical Zoharic us say that of the Countenances, and not
so forth.
Yetziratic references, Sephirotic correspondences and The latter are to be expected at the middle
sufficient to
perhaps even to warrant the inclusion of Gebirol among the precursors of Zoharic Kabalism,
this
author
may be appended
At
that period
when the
influence of Arabian
scholastic
theology were
receiving thought, but as, on the one hand, this tincture was received sometimes without much consciousness of
its origin, so,
the
tincture
referred to
on the other, influences were occasionally Arabian sources which were in reality
the
referable
only to
Spanish
Jews
living
under
the protection of the Khalifate during the Moslem domination of the peninsula. case in point was
164
Ihe
Jtoctrtne ant)
^iUratnre
erf
the
gabalah
the once renowned Avicebron, whose identity with Solomon ben Yehudah Ibn Gebirol, a Jew of
Cordova, was
early
first
demonstrated by
present
"
Munk
His
in
in
the
chief
part
of
the
century.*
Life,"
Fountain of
the
a Latin
twelfth
version
ascribed
to
middle
;
of
the
Albertus Magnus, century, became widely diffused St. Thomas of Aquin and Duns Scotus, all cited and it is said to sum the philosophy of the it
;
thirteenth century.
preceded the school of Arabian philosophy which arose in Spain. He wrote philosophy in Arabic
and poetry
the
in
Hebrew
repute
among them
ideas,
and
By both
greatest
celebrated
as
greatest
his
poet of
;
time.
like
nominalists
entailed
is
denounced him
to
realists
Duns Scotus
;
while he
said
have exercised an influence upon the mystics of the Middle Ages, he was proscribed by the University
Paris
at
of
the
of the
Zohar on the ground that he favoured Aristotle. When the school of Averrocs arose he was unknown
among
it
at
;
a later period
he was unknown to
he was unknown also to the encyclo and on the paedic learning of Picus de Mirandola
Maimonides
et
Arabe.
The
hostile school of
discovery, but he is not a persona grata on account of his theory that the Zohar was founded on genuine ancient Midrashim.
(Ltlritten
SHorb
of
gabnlim
165
his
memory may be
said to have perished at the pyre of Giordano Bruno. Avicebron was born about the year 1021 at he was educated in the University of Malaga
;
at
Valencia
in
1070.
He
was patronised by Nagdilah i.e., Samuel-ha-Levi ben Josef Ibn Nagrela a Prince of the Exile, who was also Prime Minister of Spain under the Kalifate of Habus. Nagdilah was the centre and mainspring
of Jewish learning in that country, and it is thought that through him the sacred tradition of the Hebrews
was communicated
the Zohar and
its
to
connections were
in
course
certain, in any case, that and the system incorporated in these books may be found in his writings, more and the Fountain of Life especially in the
of formation.
It
seems
some
of the conceptions
"
"
"Crown
of the
Kingdom."
The
The
is
first
"
is
affirmed
to be the earliest
known
exhibition of
the secrets
of the speculative
Kabalah."*
life,
second, composed
"
hymn
celebrating
true
His
The
existence of
the
some
centuries previous to the time of Moses de Leon, the reputed forger of the Zohar, has been rested,
among
other
supports,
on
the
writings
of
this
Spanish Jew, and he seems to have been acquainted In the indubitably with the Book of Formation.
second
*
book
is
and
twenty-second
section
of
is
the
There
some confusion
certainly
speculative as contrasted with the so-called practical Kabalah, which was mainly the working of miracles by the use of the Divine Names.
i66
"
^lu
Fountain of Life
hath
this
passage occurs
the
the
"
Hence
of
the
of
it
been
said
that
construction
world
was
accomplished
letters
in
by
air,"
inscription
is
numbers and
the
in
the
which
fundamental
question.
arises
notion
table
of
the
The
of the Thirty-Two
which
the
Formation, was
later
theme of one of
poems.
Whether the
from a
common
source cannot be conclusively determined, but having regard to the Jewish indifference for his
philosophical writings, and to the probable existence of a vast mass of floating esoteric tradition, there can
in
which probability
the
is
surface
Fountain of
to
Renan
while Kabalistic
the system which it develops to the ten Sephiroth^ others suppose it to be based on the
refer
ten categories of Aristotle, a pantheism analogous to that of the early realists. On the one hand," says
"
application of Peripatetic principles to doctrine alarmed the theologians on the other hand, his concessions to orthodoxy concerning
"
Renan, Mosaic
his
the creation and the free will of the Creator did not
satisfy the
extreme Peripatetic Jews." Of his alleged Kabalistic connections Renan was either unaware, as
opposite
view,
saying
that
the
He, of course,
offers
Kabalah no
Hhe
(Slrttteu oBorfo of
gabaliem
"
167
An
Life
"
Fountain of impartial examination of the makes the pantheism of Avicebron less apparent
Kabalistic correspondences.
than
his
So
far
from
God,
it
establishes
no
the abyss, and to make it being from the other, he supposes nine intermediaries,
who
is
"
corporeal
universe."
The
and do not need enforcing, and yet our impartial judgment must pronounce the philosophy of Avicebron
to be of
at least
after
Greek rather than Jewish complexion. It is clear that the Fons Vita, which is a dialogue
the
manner
of Plato,
is
tinctured
deeply by
three chief
:
Hellenic thought.
Modern
Kabalism
(a)
that
of Isaac the Blind, to which belongs Azariel with his celebrated commentary on the Sepher Yetzirah
;
which is largely of (b) that of Eliezar of Worms, the theurgic order; and (c) that of Abulafia, which to some extent united the preceding and made use
of the theurgic formulae combined with contemplation to achieve union with God.
II.
In developing the Kabalistic doctrine of the Instruments of Creation, in describing the Paths of
Wisdom and
in
of the
Book of Formation
as
to
in
authority of the Kabalah, we have nearly exhausted the subject of the tiny treatise which is regarded by most scholars and by
investigation
It every occultist as the nucleus of all Kabalism. is difficult, however, to omit it in giving an account of the documents, and it will perhaps be best to begin
the
this
brief bibliographical
notice
by a summary of
the
points which
it.
concerning
to the patriarch
by
in
it
turn
till
finally
to
sages writing, so
the
"
the tradition might not perish even when the chosen people seemed themselves on the eve of
perishing
interesting
this,
we have
seen,
in
is
legend.
It
is
and
period a tract
when we
it
its
At the
Those
honest
who
take the
myths
historically
convert
We
must
be content therefore to say that the Sepher Yetzirah is first mentioned probably in the ninth century
there
in
is
some reason
Talmud, but
to
it
suppose that
is
it
is
quoted
it
the
* The treatise Sanhedrim contains the following passage: "By means of combining the letters of the ineffable names as recorded in SPR ITsIRH (/ .*, the sealing names enumerated in the first chapter, being permutations of IHV), Rava once created a man and sent him to Rav Zeira. The man being unable to reply when spoken to, the Rabbi
said to him,
Thou
art
a creature of the
:
company
(initiated
in
the
mysteries of necromancy)
return to thy
dust."
The
(Saritten
SRorb of JUbalism
first
169
literature
may have
antedated
its
citation
in
by a generation, a century, or an age. Let us realise that we do not know, and that those who judge the question dogmatically on either side deserve to be
classed as intemperate.
little
more
closely at the
work
It is
divided into five chapters, the first being office of the Sephiroth in creation
namely, the
after
letters of the
Hebrew
these
was
the
revelation
of
mysteries to
tion of
Abraham
God and
to
was
instituted.
"
According original, God bound the twenty-two letters on the tongue of the patriarch and discovered to him all their secrets.*
the expression of the
"
The symbolism
of
the
Book
of
Formation
having been sufficiently considered in the second part of our inquiry, there are only two points which One is the absolute dis require to be noted here.
tinctness
between
whether
God
creation,f
*
pantheism
argue that,
cendental
Lois
et
involved
It
is in error when he implies that the Sephirotic system, and thence proceeds to takes no account of the element of illusion which is
in
necessarily implied
in
the
theophanic
doctrine."
Universe,"
87.
Cf.
My stores de
1896.
forty
la Crsation confermts
Paris,
The
writer refers to a
work under
issued
Hebrew MS. by
from
Weill
all
years previously, purporting to be the translation of a a master of Kabalah. "This writing distinguished rabbinical and philosophical treatises by proclaiming the identity
i>
itself."
pretends to separate the frauds and contra dictions which Esdras and his assistants introduced into the Pentateuch
a fantasiast
who
70
^hc
established
from
is
all
by this early Kabalistic work. Separated number and transcending all expression, He
as
represented
faithful
king
sojourning in
for ever
from His
holy seat. The second point concerns the emanation of the Sephiroth, to which, in preference to their
creation, all later
Kabalism
inclines.
There
to
is
little
countenance
view
they
appear
as
the
instruments
and
servants of the
King
"
of
word they go
that their end
forth
and
prostrate in
Throne."*
said,
however,
joined principle of emanation is contained implicitly in this have no reason for rejecting a con statement.
flame
is
We
it
is
draw attention
first
work
this point in while it certainly depicts God as the active obscurity, architect of the universe, who graved, sculptured and
builded.
Sephira is described as the Spirit of the the blessed and again blessed name of Living God, God living eternally. Voice, Spirit and Word these
first
The
are the
Spirit
;
Holy
Spirit.
Two
is
the twenty-two tetters depend herefrom and each one of them is Spirit THREE is the moisture
from the
et
real
work
of Moses.
Cf. the
i.
same author
Motse,
le
Talmud
fEvangile.
last
According to Franck, the word of the system developed by the Sepher Yetzirah is the
Paris,
1875, torn.
p. 99.
La
Kabbale,
159*
i.
171
herewith God comes from the Breath and engraved the first lifeless and void sculptured He built TOHU, the line which circles snakematter. like about the world, and BoHU, the concealed rocks
which
imbedded
in
the
abyss
Spirit,
FOUR
;
is
with this
God
Throne of Honour, the Ophanim or the four Wheels, the Holy Animals
/>.,
living creatures and the other serving Spirits. their dominion He established His habitation.
W ithin
r
This
in itself the
conceptions
and angelic
should be remembered, however, that the Book of Formation is concerned only with the sphere
of
operation tabulated subsequently as the third world of Kabalism. As each Sephira was supposed to contain all the Sephiroth, so there was a superincession of the four worlds which were
each.
all
contained
in
The arrangement
not exhibit this clearly, but the numerations from five to ten inclusive must be held to represent As^iah.
FIVE is the seal with which God sealed the Height when He contemplated it above Him. He sealed it with the name IEV. Six is the seal with which He sealed the depth when He contemplated it beneath Him. He sealed it with the name IVE. SEVEN is the seal with which He sealed the East when He con templated it before Him. He sealed it with the name EIV. EIGHT is the seal with which He sealed the West when He contemplated it behind Him. He
172
^he
it
name VEI. NINE is the seal with which He sealed the South when He contemplated it on His right. He sealed it with the name VIE.
sealed
with the
TEN
is
He
when He contemplated it on His left. He sealed it with the name EVI. The ten numerations are finally
classed together under
the one
title
of
"
Ineffable
Spirits of God." The sealing names are combinations of three letters, successively transposed, which enter into the name Tetragrammaton.
at
Mantua
had
Latin translation
of
Postel
edition
preceded
by ten years.*
The Mantua
was
accompanied by
is
five commentaries.-]-
Another Latin
;
it
In
1642 a
in
further
was
published
at
Amsterdam
It
Rittangelius.
1830, with a
was issued
transla
German
and
notes,
and
German
translation
The
full
title
of this
curious
sive
little
volume
is
ABRAHAMI
Formationis Mundi, Patribus quidem Abrahami tempora pr&cedentibus revelattis, sed ab ipso etiam Abrahamo expositus Isaaco, et per Profetarum manus posteritati conservatuS) ipsis autum 72 Mosis auditoribus in secundo divince veritatis
loco,
Vertebat
et
ex Hebrtfis
corrupti mundifinem,
1552.
GULIELMUS POSTELLUS,
Parisiis,
t It also contained two recensions of the text, the differences between which are regarded by some authorities as considerable and by others as unimportant variants. t The "American Encyclopedia," iii. 521, 522, mentions the
Amsterdam
connect
it
edition of 1642, with a Latin translation, but does not with Rittangelius.
The
In 1887
173
which
With charac
was superseded
for
con
how we
its
attributed
by occultism
Yetzirah.
Do
com
all
all
the rest with Beth, &c., &c., actually produced the universe ? That seems an insupportable assumption.
Do
hold
letters as
Sepher Yetzirah teaches that the universe originates in the orderly combination of
the
?
certain forces
That
is
it
is
a commonplace which seems scarcely worth stating and certainly does not require a secret tradition to
secure
it.
letters
represent
character,
of
fixed,
determinable
and that
initiation
will
meaning
nature,
of Kabalistic
tradition
discover
their
explaining thus the secret behind the arbitrary doctrine of a virtue inherent in words and letters ?
This might indeed be valuable, but I have never met with an occultist who took such a view, or
had
anything
to
substantiate
it
if
he
did.
In
the absence of any light on this point we can only conclude that it is the arbitrary doctrine in question which accounts for the interest taken in the Sepher
Yetzirah
have
174
^he
gabalah
III.
that
reported to have affirmed, write the Zohar bodily "out of his own head," there would still be substantial evidence that the Kabalistic system which
relative
it
contains was
The
existence
Sepher Yetzirah is part of this evidence, which appears, however, more fully and more strongly in the commentaries and developments of that work.
of the
We
have seen
at
printed
by five such connections, which at same time do not exhaust the list that might be given in a full bibliography. The best known
accompanied
the
Com unquestionably the Sepher Sephiroth, or mentary on the Ten Sephiroth by way of Questions
"
is
and
Answers,"
Menahem
that of Rabbi
Abraham
from
most important
Another, which
has
been attributed to Hay Gaon in the early part of the eleventh century, would rank next in antiquity,
but
it
has
been
are
Commentaries
175
Botrel,* R.
Levi the younger and R. Eliezer. With the exception of the one last mentioned they are
David
Ha
all
prior
to to
the
period
is
supposed they have been used to is of form rather than that work
"
have been
Saadya Gaon was commentary published in Hebrew at Mantua together with the Sepher Yetzirah,+ but it was written originally in
The
of
R.
Arabic,
Library.
and a copy
this
is
preserved
in
the
for
Bodleian
After remaining in
MS.
over eight
hundred years
printed at Paris, in 1892. In the introduction prefixed to his version, M. Lambert observes that Saadya Gaon appears as
a theosophist in his commentary, which is equivalent to saying that the first expository treatise on the
is
It
Saadya
offers little
We
have noted that the Sephiroth of the Sepher Yetzirah show scarcely any trace of an emanational
For Saadya Gaon there between God and the world, but
system.
air
air
is
one intermediary
is
this
everywhere present, and it penetrates all bodies, even the most compact. Of the doctrine It is, of Ain Soph there is also no real trace.
is
*
God
He
176
IJiteratttr* ot the
Jiabalah
however, recognised, on the one hand, that we cannot have an adequate notion of the Divinity
or His correspondences with the world, but,
other, that
on the
may may be shown forth by means of figures and comparisons. One of these illustrations tells us that God is the life of the world as the soul is the life of the body, and as in man
as to the latter and that they
some approximate
idea
be obtained
the soul
is
all-powerful,
so
the world.
in
He
is
also
its
God
man
is
Above
elementary and commonplace form of natural theology the commentary never soars, and
this
in
no inherent
though
it
is
pneumatology, Saadya
Gaon devotes
a certain space to the consideration of the soul in man and here, in a sense, he connects with Zoharic
;
Kabalism, though he rejects metempsychosis, for he recognises its five aspects and calls them by their
conventional names, which
as
his
we have
seen, in
is
the
Talmud.*
classification
On faculties reason, concupiscence and anger. account of reason the soul is called Neshamah, on
* Despite his hostility to reincarnation as understood by the Kabalah he accepts the pre-existence of souls and teaches that the resurrection of the body will take place when all souls destined for earthly life have passed through it.
vlhc
<I<Llrittcn
<l<Uorb
of
is
^abalism
called
177
account of concupiscence
it
it
is
(living)
it.
The
names
is
doctrine
concerning
and
angelic
some
references which
are important to our inquiry because they establish the fact that Saadya Gaon did not ascribe to them
of the angels vary according to the events which they are commissioned to accomplish, and, in like manner, those referred to
virtue.
any occult
The names
the Deity are descriptive of His In the operations. work of the creation He terms Himself Elohim ;
with
it
stars,
their
brilliance, their
When explaining the object of the Sepher Yetzirah as representing the manner in which created things come into being, there is a reference to the
ten categories
tin- name AIIIH, which signifies I AM. and concealment of all things in such a manner that no distinction can be established between them. The n;mir ASLR All IK, I AM, represents God on the point of manifesting all
The Zohar
teaches that
WHO
H
I
including
II
lli.->
Supreme Name.
I
On
name
to
th-
Jehovah or A
Deity,
or
is
AShK AHI1I,
AM UK WHO
iii.
that
the occasion
65^, Mantua.
78
^he
ga
time, powers, position, activity, these are to be regarded as referring passivity, to the numerations of the Sepher Yetzirah, it is
relation,
and
clear that
Aristotelian philosopher.
ten
commandments
an arbitrary manner. For example, that against adultery answers to the category of position, for the act itself is a position and a contact.
Lastly, in his analysis of the Hebrew alphabet, the commentator seeks to account for its sequence. it is vocalised Aleph is the first sound pronounced
z>.,
at the
Shin
is
vocalised in the
fortunately for the the alphabet, and indeed the design of the speculation
ascribed to
Hay Gaon
Isaac
Myer
"Book
increases
by representing that
it
of
Concealment,"
are no historic notices and no traces whatsoever of the former tract before the appearance of the Zohar, The work of Hay in which it was first made known.
to be
mentioned
in
passing on
disputed authenticity.
a
that
Other works
it
attributed to
suspicion, but
may
be admitted
general
way
he had more
The con
demned commentary
of the
Tetragrammaton and gives perhaps for the first time the curious quadrilateral method of writing it by means of letters and circles, to which so much
"(The
ofcirittcn
<!&orb
of Jtobalism
179
importance
writers.*
was
afterwards
of
attributed
by
occult
The commentary
Levi,f the younger of that name and a con temporary of Maimonides, whom he attacked
is
Ha
Mantua
edition
of the
Book
of Formation, and was used largely by Rittangelius in that of Amsterdam, 1642+ Theintensest confusion
prevails with regard to the personality of the author, who, on the one hand, is identified with
frequently
Ha
Kabalah, and
is,
on the
many
Eliphas Levi,
"
and
of the Magnum discovery makes a great deal of mystery concerning it Opns,\ and its rarity, but he has used evidently the edition
By El iphas Levi above all, additions which I regard as fanciful
dealing with
the
*
reality of his
own
"
who
reproduces
la
its
diagram with
section
(Dogme de
Haute Magic,
Kabalah), and elsewhere (La Science des Esprit s) illustrates these additions by a Kabalistic document which I think also is one of his specimens of invention.
t Bartolocci,
i.
15.
ijiii Abrahamo patriarchs Abraham F. D. (i.e., Ben
+ I.iber Jesirah
adscritntitr,
una
Dior) super 32
Sctnitis Sapientiic
Translatus
et
Notis illustratus a
Joanne Stephana
The thirty-two Rittangelio...Ainstelodatni, 1642. Paths referred to at the beginning of the Sepher Yetzirah are given in
Latin and Hebrew, each followed immediately by the commentary of R. Abraham, likewise in Latin and Hebrew. Then comes the explanation of Rittangelius, which sometimes extends to many pages,
quoting
many authorities, including the Zohar and its Supplements. After the Paths, we have the Sepher Vctzirah itself, in Latin and Hebrew, with the editor s commentary, also in both language.^ I;
should be added that the entire commentary of R. Abraham is not given by Rittangelius, who is content with presenting that part only which is devoted to the Paths of Wisdom. Ritufl de la Haute Magie,
cited
is
33>
c.
12,
completely unintelligible.
23.1.
Cf.
La
PP- 2
i8o
ihe
Ipoctritu
<wb
of Rittangelius, which
attainable in almost
perfectly well
library.
known and
any national
We
have
admitted that
the
commentary of
;
in Kabalistic material
because
;
its
in
the
however, there are Zoharic elements which admit of no question, and it is indeed to the school which he
represents that Graetz and others have referred the authorship of the Book of Splendour. There is the
peculiar distinction between upper and lower Sephiroth which is not only characteristic of the Zoharic period,
and the
than
Abraham
But more
there
is
Unknowable
is
not appre one outside Itself," being void of all hended by any It has not distinction and all mode of existence.
God, of
assumed the final shape in which it is presented by the Zohar, and it appears to be something more
concealed and latent than the
Soph, the
conception of
Am
Sut/tma, which again Abraham from Kether, the is distinguished by R. Crown of Creation, on the ground that the accident
or Corona
"
Non Ens
is
made from the essence nor the Res from the Non Res or Non Ens" thus occasioning an insoluble
not
difficulty as to the
For the
rest,
described in
A in
* There is no doubt that the ten Sephiroth were an evolved system in the time of the Yetziratic commentator.
The
Zoharic
<33ritteu
<&torb
of
Jubalism
nor
181
"
teaching.
Neither
It,
unity
plurality
can
be attributed to
to
ascribed
essence,"
that
which
incomprehensible
in
its
the reason being that number is an acci dent belonging to the world of extension, place and
time.
Among
it
may
be noted that a peculiar importance is attributed to the letter AlcpJi ; it is the form of all the letters, and
the paths of wisdom are contained therein, but after the universal mode. There are also traces of
all
the peculiar angelical system which was destined to receive so much elaborate extension from the com
Before dismissing this commentary we may note connection of its author with that alleged
the
Abraham
alchemy. transformed Nicholas Flamel from a simple scrivener into a seeker after the Great Work a search, moreover,
Jew* who belongs to the literature of The testament of this mysterious personage
which legend represents as a success. The memorial in question was addressed to the nation of Israel
dispersed by the wrath of God in France, by one who styled himself priest, prince, Levite, astrologer and The description which constitutes our philosopher."
"
testament, that
it is given in another of Nicholas Flamel, and it is very difficult to decide how far this can be regarded as
sole
knowledge concerning
authentic.
is
Belonging as they do to alchemy, there no ground here to discuss their respective claims,
This title is used by Bartolocci in his bibliography numerous writers who cannot be more closely identified.
to
describe
82
^he
it is
but
made by Eliphas
Abraham
commentator on the Sepher Yetzirah not only insti tutes a connection between alchemy and Kabalism which is unwarrantable in itself but has no colourable
evidence to cite in
trace
its
own
support, as there
is
no
the
in
the
years
later,
scarcely have existed in Jewry, on the Levi hypothesis, for such a space of time without something transpiring
concerning
it.
a literary and philosophical work the first place among the dependencies of the Sepher Yetzirah
As
seems
Azariel.
correctly
Its
about the year 1160. According to some authorities he was a pupil of Isaac the Blind,* but others say He that his teacher was R. Jehuda, son of Rabad.
became
in
R. Moses Nach-
manides, who
tradition.f
He
secret
is
much
in
search of
was an age when men of wisdom, learning were frequently wanderers, and it was
but
it
perhaps less recondite motives which actuated himHe connects with the Kabalistic system which was
He
metempsy
great
chosis
extant.
the
influence
of his
of Jtobalism
183
supposing that he acquired know ledge elsewhere, but he added the result of his own reflections. Many works have been attributed to
grounds
for
some have remained in MS. "The Explanation of the Ten Sephiroth by of Questions and Answers must have helped to way shape the metaphysical speculations of the Kabalah and may well enough have originated more than it
him, of which
are lost and
"
some
derived.
of Azariel aroused the opposition of the Aristotelian Jews, and it is thought by Isaac Myer that the logical form of his commentary was
a concession to this school of thought. Whatever its motive, the fact, broadly taken, is of importance to
The teachings
our inquiry
earliest
shows that the Sephirotic notion in its development could not really have been that
;
it
it
espoused
by the
of
Aristotle.
The Jewish
exaggerated.
and the
secret
The
votaries
of the so-called
it is minority. needless to say, was very little known in the West at the period in question, though it appears in the later
Platonism, as
Kabalism.
regards both matter and form, Azariel s com mentary has been the subject of high praise. It contains the doctrine of Ain Soph, which is not in
As
it
emanation of the Sephiroth, which are said to be contained in Ain Soph and of no effect when
separated.
it
to
84
^he
Jloxtritte
assume a
of
all
limit.
The
is
finite
;
things
the
Being
empty
that were withdrawn, they would be left as shells, and this is true not only of the visible
if
God and
the
With
philosophical
the
Sephiroth.
Kether
light
"
is
like
the
in
Concealed
darkness,
Light,"
or
the
which
is
veiled
the comparison intended being probably that of a luminous mist. Binah is sky-blue, because Binah
is
Chokmah
;
is
yellow,
red, or pink,
Netsach
is
is
white. Jesod
triad,
all
the
combination
is
of
the previous
while Malkuth
which
reflects
Azariel also countenances the Sephirotic of the human body which is found in later division
colours.
Kabalism.
or Nachmanides,
was born
Before he
made acquaintance
had a prejudice
enthusiastic
said to have
but
he was afterwards an
its
and both by
his writings
tion of the
Explana was completed in 1268, and among Garden of his many other works that called the and another on the Secrets of the Thorah? Delight,"
its
much
to
development.
Law"
"
"
According
sapphire.
to the
Tiphereth, purple
Malkuth, clear
o he
185
are
his
full
of
native
He
left
where he
what precise
time
is
not known.
The commentary on the Sepher Yetzirah which passes under the name of R. Eliezer seems to have been the work of a German Jew of Germesheim,f
author of the
"
Vestment of the
Lord,"
one of the
That he was the greatest Kabalists of his period. instructor of Moses Nachmanides, as some authorities
have stated,
is,
His works,
(i)
"The
Vestment
printed-
the
"
Lord,"
but
this
The
Guide of
Sinners,"
exhorting
life
them
to
of
(Venice,
1543).
in
by Mirandola
(4)
An
explanation
commentary on the Sepher Yetzirah, appended to the Mantua edition of that work. The author flourished before and after the middle of the fourteenth century. Commentaries on the Sepher Yetzirah are ascribed to R. Aaron
of Psalm cxlv.
(5)
*
His other works include an epistle on the use of matrimony in a work on the nature of man from the text
;
\Var^
book of Faith and Confidence another on and yet another on the Pomegranate. These are not professedly
;
Treasure of
Life,"
the
"
Treasure of the
Lord,"
Garden of Pleasure" (mentioned in the text above), or the mystical As regards the practical part of the epistle on the thing desired.
the
"
Kalulah, he treated it with grave consideration, including its arts of necromancy, the evocation of evil spirits and the methods of their
control.
c.
vii.
t.
v.
p.
1859.
See also
186
JDitn-ature of the
title
Jabalah
"
of
"
R.
Judas
Levi ;f
Sabbatai
Barzillai;
Bartolocci,
i.
15.
BOOK V
THE WRITTEN WORD OF
KABALISM
:
SECOND PERIOD
ARGUMENT
The
divisions of the
Zohar are
as to furnish a clear and comprehensive notion of the materials in Its doctrinal content is corporated by this composite work.
established by means of copious quotations, selected with special reference to its importance from an occult standpoint.
I.
ITS
THE
manageable
dependencies are all available to the student by means of Latin translations. The Sepher Ha Zohar,
is
large in
itself, it
has consider
translated
into
Latin
nor into
any
European language.*
The consequence,
especially
* The Italian reader may, however, be referred to an analysis of the Zohar by the Abbe* de Rossi, which appeared in his Dizionario The writer follows Morin as to the late storico dcgli Autori Ebrti.
i88
to
literature
rrf
the
gabalah
students,
has
been
very unfortunate.*
in
Great
to
confusion
has
of
obtained
the
regard,
firstly,
the
content
work
and,
secondly,
to
the comparative importance of its various divisions. Part of this must be undoubtedly attributed to the
great collection.
The
Kabbala Denudata, by attempting to cover much too wide a field, gives no adequate idea of the work
which
it
is
meant
to
elucidate.
It
attributes
an
exaggerated, though not inexcusable, importance to three tracts introduced into the body of the Zohar
and
to late
commentary on these
fills
it
the apparatus in
most of the
late
first
is
and early
prominence
undue
discussions and
correspondence between the Editor and Henry More, the English platonist finally, the second volume
;
With
all
its
defects the
it
Kabbala Denudata
price
arrange
are most
ment.
*
As
who
may be mentioned
as that of a well-informed writer, whose history of the Jewish people from the time of Jesus Christ to his own date the beginning of the
eighteenth century is memorable in several respects, yet whose know ledge of the Zohar does not even extend so far as it might have been taken by Rosenroth. He terms (Livre iii. p. 775) the Book of Con
first part of the work, and seems to regard it as comprised In a word, he had not read the simply in that and the two Synods.
cealment the
ii.
irittm
ofclorli
of Jpatulism
189
concerned with
the subject have been content to follow the lead of Rosenroth, and to accept a little
tract
known
as the part
"Book
of Concealment" as the
fundamental
of
the
whole
Zohar,
and
the
developments of that
highest consideration.
tract as entitled
to the next
There
are,
of course,
many
might France
sources of information, for the most part not of an occult kind, by which this false impression
the
work of Franck
in
and that of Ginsburg in England, to name two only but it has endured notwithstanding, and the latest
instance
is
found
in the latest
that
There the bibliographical appendix states the only complete translation of the Zohar is that of M. H. Chateau,* whereas the enterprise in
Papus.
"
question is confined only to the tracts rendered into Latin by Rosenroth, and these have been available
for years
in
The
Zoharistic commentaries
are only accidents of the Zohar, and they furnish no real notion of the scope of that work. I should add
that from the occult standpoint only an accident of the Kabalah
is
an accident
as,
in the
New Testament
not the exclusive foundation of the Church but an event in her development.
The Zohar
*
,
proper,
as
have stated
in
my
Chateau.
Le Zohar Traduction fran^aise et Conuncntaire M. II. The bibliographical annotation accredit^ the translator with
d<-
w///////r-i/jf
Erudition
and
adds thnt
he
has
carefully
collated
is
the
Hebrew
texts, the
it
l>ears
The
\\..rk
produced,
to
it
commentary
i.-,
of slight value.
190
"(Ehe
Bortrtne
Jiabalah
preface, purports to be a
teuch,
and
to indicate
its
I
general scope
shall deserve
my depart from my general rule of confining quotations from modern authors to foot notes and summarise the admirable observations of
well of
readers
if
"
Ginsburg
not
(apparently)
dilates
pro
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
and
in
national stories.
author, R.
The long
conversations between
records
therein
;
Simeon ben Jochai, and Moses, which it the short and pathetic prayers inserted
the
religious
anecdotes
the
attractive
spiritual explanation of Scripture passages, appealing the descriptions of to the hearts and wants of men the Deity and the Sephirtth under the tender forms
;
of
human
bride,
mind, such as father, mother, primeval man, matron, white head, the great and small face, the
luminous mirror, the higher heaven, the higher earth, &c., which it gives on every page, made the Zohar a
welcome text-book
who, by lose themselves
its
Deity."
Kabalah,
the
rapturous
this
embraces with
We
are placed
firstly,
by
quotation
in
understand,
after
what manner
It
is
in
this
respect
that
the
Arabian Sufism.
The
>l\lrittcn
&iorb of Jtabalism
191
of Kabalism affected the fervid imagination of the Jew and the kind of influence which it had on him,
well illustrated in the fascinating
and
terrible histories
of
Messianic enthusiasm
and
illusion,
as
noted.
We
is
already
can
understand,
secondly,
how much
know
system
there
traditional
religions.
is
No
responds
less readily to
;
what
involved in such a
less
conception
no person could be
full
disposed than
Kabalistic notion of
therewith.
in
were he
really acquainted
I
The
the
have sketched
of the
that
is
seems to connect magnetically with everything unsound in faith and unreasonable in doctrine.
is is
The connection
that neither
in the present instance can only show of serious account in the last analysis.
That God
immanent
in
is
simpler and more rational hypothesis than to establish intermediaries between finite and infinite,
much
difficulties
without resolving
Far more truly philosophical is the doctrine of the Countenances, which I have described already as
the chief glory of Kabalism, but, so far as all effect is concerned, it has passed away, like the Shekinah from the Holy Place. At the present we have other
day and better means of excusing the anthropomorphisms of the Bible, and, for the rest, no attempt to excuse them has any connection, approximate or
192
^he
jpo-ctriue
is
The Zohar
what
artificial
parts.*
I.
The
They
The
Apart from
(b)
text of the Zohar, properly so called. all its additions this is not of
unmanageable dimensions.
The Sepher
Dzenioutha, or
Book of Con
cealment.
(c)
(d)
(e)
The Idrah Kabbah, or Greater Synod. The IdraJi Zuta, or Lesser Synod.
Sabah
or Story
of the Ancient
Mishpatim.
the
are
fragments only.
(g)
Sepher
Illustrious
Ha
or
of
Brightness.
(Jt]
(z )
Faithful Shepherd.
(/)
(k)
i.e.,
the Law.
(/)
Com
mentary.
From
tracts
this
account are
omitted
the following
Kabbala Demidata,
vol.
ii.
p. 8.
193
appear
in the
Mantua
*
:
known
as
(d)
Maamar
To
Hasee,
See.
or
the
discourse
beginning,
(e)
Come and
and
;//
in
edition.
tabulation are also wanting in the The Great Zohar, the Cremona
all
Mantua
edition
(1558-60), contains
lists.
am
parts
Tikkunim
Book of Splendour,
later additions.
and
(b)
Zohar Chadash
in
matters omitted
commentary
is
Hebrew
translation in
MS. by
ISarachiel
ben Korba
pre
194
^ht
Jtoctrine
(1)
an ^ $itcratnre of the
text of the Zohar
is
The
itself,
scattered
through which
in the original
(2)
Tikkunim Chadashim^ or
New
Supple
ments.
(3)
or Exposition of
Zohar.
(4)
tions,
Zohar
Aike, or Exposition of
Lamenta
In the above
come down
its
to us.*
It
authenticity did
of
the
cycle
is,
the
Way
of
being
various
readings
in
the
Zohar
vocabulary.
(c)
Zohar Chamah,
edition.
Mantua
(d) Pardes
Rimmonim,
or
Garden of Pome
granates, by R. Moses of Cordova, an explana of numerous texts in the Zohar and tion
Tikkunim.
(e)
Mequr Chokmah,
*
or
ii.
Fount of Wisdom,
p. 9.
Kabbala Denudata,
gabaliem
195
Way
Marah
appears
(g)
Kabbala Denmiata,
or
vol.
ii.
part
i.
Zar Zahab,
(h) Pathach Ainitn, or Gate of the Eyes, for the Biblical quotations in the Zohar and Tikkunim.
Rosenroth also highly recommends and largely reproduces the vast manuscript treatises of Isaac de
compiled by R. Chaiim Vital, and further acknowledges his indebtedness to two other un printed
Loria,
Law
and a
treatise entitled
Chesed Abraham.
The Zohar
Simeon
ben Jochai with the prophets by whom he was visited, with the disciples by whom he was surrounded and
seen, with each other, is not a be judged by the same standard as the purely allegorical portions which have been incor
of these, as
we have
to
work that
is
porated therewith, and to which Christian students of Kabalism have given so much prominence. It is, in the
first
place, far
less
distorted
much
trace
hun.hxd rabbinical histories, fables and apologues are sometimes elucidating a knotty point of Scripture, as, for example, whether the destruction of animal life at the Deluge may
narrated in
it,
al.v,
sinned,
MUetinMi recounting
and narrating
the death of
man, sometimes
de.-cribing
viM.,n>
tales of
wonder.
196
^Iu
of that inner
of
its
meaning which
for
entire content,
is
Pantagruelism.*
is
To determine
important from
occultism, I shall now standpoint give a short synopsis of its doctrine on several vital questions of religion and philosophy.
of
modern
We
on
have
the
seen
that
in
certain
it
manner
a
somewhat
occasional
and informal
is
commentary
Pentateuch, and it is understood and passed over that it is a forced, arbitrary commentary, which
upon
to
enlarge
Kabalistic
exegesis.
The governing
is
pretation or treatment
senses
in
the
written
word.
These are
differently
enumerated, and there seems no reason why they should not be extended indefinitely, but they are reducible broadly under three heads, which are
compared by the Zohar to the garment, the body which is within it and the soul which is within
the body.
"
"
unwise," it
says,
who
vested in a comely garment, but see no farther, and take the garment for the
behold
how
man
is
something more precious the soul. The Law has also [than either], namely, its body. Some of the commandments may be
body, whereas
there
is
called
the
body of the
Law,
and
the
ordinary
in
Lc Sorcier de
Meudon.
cjthitteu (udorb of
recitals
JUbalism
garments
197
mingled therein
are
the
which
body. Simple folk observe only these garments, i.e., the narrations of the Law, perceiving not that which they hide. Others more instructed
clothe this
body
And
there
are
the
Wise, the
servants of the Great King, who dwell on the heights of Sinai and concern themselves only with the soul, which is the foundation of all and the true Law.
These
shall
be ready
in
I mean by the which the Kabalah significance reads into the Bible,f and it is, I think, also an
This passage
illustrates
what
instance of
intellectual
rabbins of the
Kxile
who
Scripture which exceeded their loving penetration,}: so that after all subtleties of exegesis, all the
symposiums of synods, the Word of God issued in a mystery, and the key of this mystery was the
reward of
to come.
the just
in
the
world
The
necessity of the
from the insufficiency of the letter. Simple recitals and common words suggested only the human lawgiver if those only were the sum of the Thorah, it would be possible to equal, perhaps even to excel
;
Zohar, part
I
iii.
fol.
152^,
Mantua
edition.
The
t Mr. Isaac Myer supposes that the higher soul of the Thorah God Himself, but no doubt it is the divine sense of the Word which gives knowledge of the Word Itself.
signifies
198
it.
^he
of
Moreover, the sayings of Esau, Hagar, Laban, the Balaam and Balaam s ass, could not be
"
Law
of
in
God."*
And
Israel
which was the true Law, was supposed, to save from scepticism, and it postponed rationalistic
for
criticism
some
;
centuries.
It
extravagance
became
in its turn
inadequate and one more concealed was inferred. So also, besides a general latent meaning, there was
that
more
As
the possibilities
it
infinite,
is
suggested unnecessary to
a
that
these
senses
consecutive
form either the allegorical or mystical meaning. It gives glimpses only, and it may be in this sense
that
the original
s
Zohar
is
said
to
have
been a
camel
load.
That
original
As
the
concealed
outward, arid as the sense of such insufficiency is indubitably a late event in the history of sacred
documents, we have
evidence for deciding the value of the claim which it elsewhere makes to a
full
high antiquity for its interpretation. Had the Jew never come in contact with culture outside Judea he would never have conceived the tradition," and
"
him
to the sense
Mantua
edition, fol.
149^.
vlhe
<&lrittcu
a21orb of Jfiabaliem
199
of insufficiency is not to be looked for in Egypt or in Babylon, but in the Hellenised thought of
Rome.*
Having
established
let
the
general
principle
of
Zoharic exegesis, which it cast upon the letter of Scripture and, in We the first place, upon the creation of man.
know that, according to Genesis, he was made of the dust of the earth, that the breath of life passed
The over him and that he became a living soul. Zohar is able to tell us what transpired before this
event
One
It
is
entered into the will of the Holy to create man, He called before Him many"
When
the
it
hosts of
superior
my
will
will to create
man.
Man
Then
them.
his
dignity. !
the
Holy One extended His finger and burned Thereafter He summoned other hosts into
create
His presence, saying unto them, It is my will to man. They answered, What is man that Thou rememberest him ? J He said unto them, But
4
this
man
shall
shall be in our image, so that his wisdom When Rlohim be greater than your wisdom.
had created man, when man had fallen into sin, going forth as one guilty, there came Uzza and
Azael,
saying
to
the
Holy
One,
We
have
an
* latonism. It was the It does not follow that the Kabalah is consequence of a contact, hut the growth and the increase was in the mind of Jewry. N. xlix. 12, and the pleasing anachronism, t The reference by which the angels are made to quote David before the creation of man, is paralleled, if Poe may be trusted, by the Aristotelian
I
i->
t<>
% Quoting \\.
viii. 4.
200
^hc
JJ-oxtrine anfc
Ipterature oi ihz
Behold
this
son of
man
how he hath
sinned before
If ye had been in them, like case, ye would have done worse than he has. What then did the Holy One ? He cast them
answered
down from
It
from heaven.*
has
neither
inward
sense
nor
an
outward
light.
We
the
know
fall
sufficiently
but
it
in
is
which the superior good sense of the hierarchy punished by burning and expulsion. There are,
other passages in the Zohar which The are explanatory of the creation of man. breath of life is said to be the holy soul which has
of course,
many
its
on
life
mundane
course
with a sanctified
(Nephes/i)
communicated
in this
"
from
the
is
heavenly
Chaiah.
And
connection there
a suggestive
and beautiful thought. So long as that holy soul communicates with the son of man, he is the wellbeloved of his Master.
How many
!
and encompass him on all sides of goodness both above and below, and the Holy Shekinah rests upon him. But when he turns aside
from
this
soul has
path the Shekinah abandons him, the holy no longer any intercourse with him, and
evil
spirit
[Samael]
iii.
2o8a.
201
there
is
down
from
put in action a spirit which goes up and in the world, resting only in those places
which
of
the
sanctity
has
withdrawn,
and
thus
the child
that
man
is
corrupted."*
We
six
"
learn also
Throne
sit
of
Glory
had
steps,-)-
and
is
man was
worthy
to
because he
on
this
throne."J
obscure references to the original physical condition of humanity. Adam and Eve were created side by
side,
not a
that
is,
does not, however, appear that the awakening of this desire was the real cause of the lapse from perfection,
a notion quite discordant with rabbinical views upon the sanctity and symbolism of sexual intercourse.
it
It is of the nuptial state. true that in the fragments of the Bahir the sin of
Eve
is presented as sexual, but if this is to be under stood literally it was one of monstrous intercourse.
According
to
Maimonides,
however,
to
the
serpent
is
curious theosophic lore in the Zohar concerning the creation of man, but there is nothing of any real
occult significance
;
it
is
is
it
is
most interesting within its own that of mythology and not certainly
is
ii.
ed., part
fol.
2ia.
Ex
I.
Hypothcsi.
cribed in
Kings
fol.
x.
The prototype of Solomon s throne, as des The Throne of Glory is in the Briatic world. 19.
ii.
Cremona
Ibid.
ed., part
fol.
25<j.
26a.
202
xjlhe
of mystic religion.
further
We may
Adam
fall.
We
are
that
he was clothed
in
Upper Splendour,"* for which Jehovah Elohim after wards substituted the garment of skin, thus indicating that the fall was followed by a change of physical
condition.
There
is
this
it
is legend many on the one hand, the special inheritance of the not, Kabalah, nor can the latter show that it really came
prevailed in
by
it
As
often
happens
in the
Zohar, there
is
is
a poetical
itself.
the son
of
man
accomplishes
in this world draw from the Light of Glory above, and he prepares for himself a garment against the day when he shall enter that world and
One."f
The
l
Fall of
man
in
the Zohar, as in
it
its
con
nections, insists
but this
to
some extent
soul
said that
"the
\Ncshamoth\ of
but
*
tree
I03<.
is
allegorical
and
ii.
Cf.
Mantua
Edition,
229^.
t Ibid. Cf. the parallel mythos of Talmudic times, which represents good deeds as creating good angels. J Cremona ed., part i. fol. 280.
Ibid. fol. 126*.
203
the
Adam
of
also
his
descendants.
dealing with other sections of the Zohar we shall have occasion to refer again to the mythos of the
Fall
and
If
it
is
further involved
by
sin,
the introduction
of monstrous elements.
we
turn
find
now
that
to the
it
mystery of original
intensified
11,
it
we
shall
is
rather
"
than
shall
explained.
In Psalm xci.
is
said:
He
give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways," which passage the New Testament applies
in a special
manner
"
to Christ.
The Zohar
explains
it
as follows
This evil spirit never always arraigns him. forsakes man from the day that he is born into the world. But the good spirit comes to the man from
.
When does a man the day that he is made clean. become clean ? At the age of thirteen years. Then he joins himself with both spirits, one on the right
hand and one on the
and the
evil
left,
to the
left,
even the good to the right and these are the two spirits
If
he
restrained, so
left,
secure him in
all
his
ways."*
is
it
an especial manner, as
it
angel until
reaches the age of puberty. connected with the doctrines of the Fall Closely of man and original sin is that of the Messiah, who,
*
Ibid. fol.
^.
204
for
Ihe
Jabalah
Jew and
Christian
alike,
is
a deliverer and an
find
in
atonement, and
recalls a host of
much
that
we
all
the
Zohar
of
subject.
In
is
common
souls,
that
spirit
the
Messiah
pre-existent.
was the
of the
King Messiah which brooded over the waters at the creation.* He governs both above and below,
gladdening the heart of
idolatrous nations.
Israel,
but a judgment on
When
the just suffering for their Master they return and inform the Messiah. When they inform Him of the afflictions of Israel in exile, and of
"
Eden behold
sinners in Israel
their Lord,
who
reflect
may know
it
written,
[Is.
liii.
is
5].f
Children in
our transgressions We read, again, of a Palace of Wicked the Garden of Eden, to which the
"
and there invokes upon Himself all the tribulations of Israel. If He had not thus
Messiah
repairs,
taken upon Himself the punishments for the trans gressions of the law, no man would be able to endure
them."J:
More
curious and
more
significant
is
the
"Whilst the passage which follows immediately. children of Israel abode in the Holy Land, they averted from the world all pain and suffering [? in
punishment for trespass] by their prayers, worship and sacrifice, but now this is per formed by the Messiah," yet so long only as man
remains
in the world, for
the
sense
of
tion afterwards.
As
it
Cremona
ed., part
i.
fol.
127^. Ibid.
f Ibid, part
ii.
fol.
95^.
The
205
of the world.
We
must remember
a medley, and that medleys are not in correspondence I must be content to refer briefly to a at all points. very long passage which has been the subject of much controversy as to the date of the Zohar and is
concerned with the appearance of the Messiah. It will be a time of woe and salvation, and of special
affliction
for Israel,
but
"
he who
is
persistent in the
King."
After this
tribulation
further
distress
shall
follow
from
the
combination of nations and kings, and then a pillar of fire extending from heaven to earth shall become
visible to all
men,
at
come
Galilee,
which
was
destruction in the
in
which
stir
He must
reveal himself.
signs in the heavens, stars warring against the star of the East, after which the Messiah will be
many
months and
up
at the expiration of
into
heaven to receive
will
the
Crown of
It
is
the
Kingdom.
He
again reveal
a
to
suppose that
such
the
Messianic
doctrine,f
speaking
Amsterdam
generally,
scheme
of
Zohar,
ii.
fol.
7,
edition.
t For very
feld
s
full
MessiasJutLrorunti
1869,
and Vincent
II.
Stant>n
"Jewish
and Christian
Miiah,"
Edinburgh, 1885.
206
^oEhe
Bodrine
anii
Kabalistic
scriptural
can
have the
it
is
essentially a Jewish
we
has
absolute
religion
far past.
Understood as
theosophy,
actually
is,
thesaurus
doctrines,
of Jewish
yearning and because Jewry is part of humanity, aspirations, which, is in contact at a thousand points with the aspiration
Jewish
visionary
Jewish
it
is
Because
of
it is
has, course, although Jewish, connection with other occult systems, and not infre quently with matters which are beyond the range of
its
theosophical points of
that which
is
with the things of mysticism, as, for example, in its transcendental speculations on the identity of subject and object in God and perhaps even in the mystic
experience
into
of
the
soul.
It
enters
good
deal
that
strange
doctrine
of
correspondences
which we meet everywhere in the domain which is embraced in the higher understanding of the It might be described indeed as term Magic.
extended mystery of correspondence. soever is found on earth," says the Zohar,
the
spiritual
it.
"
What
has
its
"
is
When
also affected,
because
are
united."
From
the
first
of talismanic magic
is
logical consequence.
vTlu
SHritteu
lorb of
"
ubali-?m
is
207
is
Elsewhere
it
is
said
That which
is
above
in
is below is in the sea [regarded as the mirror of the inferior heaven], but all is one."* This is, of course, identical with the pseudo-Hermetic
of that which
cst sic u t
supcrius, &c.,
The peculiar philosophical system of the Kabalah of course receives a very full development in its chief literary memorial, but we are sufficiently acquainted
with the heads of this system to
make
extensive
quotation superfluous. primordial manifestation of the unknown God was the production of a luminous
point,
The
which
is
Kether, and
it
hereby the Zohar understands the Ego, for it says expressly that this was the light which Elohim
created
before everything.
The
nucleus
of
the
luminous point is Thought, which is the beginning of all things. In its union with the Spirit f it is
called
Binah, and the diffusion of this Spirit brings forth a Voice, which in turn produces the Word, for
is
the Zohar
a philosophy of
all
the Word.*
In
this
Thought
light of
first
the forms of
The
therefore the
"
matter of
the
to
manifested
universe.
When
FJ him willed
make
the world,
He
produced a
concealed light from which all the manifested lights were afterwards radiated, thus forming the superior
*
7.<har,
Cremona, part
is itself
c<l.,
"
ii.
fol. f)a.
Cf. parl
i.
fol.
gi<i.
A-
it
is in nil
tiling below, so
it is above."
t Kether
Mion.i
part
fol.
131^.
208
^he
world,"
or
from which
It
the
is
other
worlds
as
said also,
in the
came With
emanation from
connected the notion of thought the principle of all things, but unrealised in the as primordial condition, and contained within itself.
The expansion
of
thought
produces
spirit,
which
title
the thought is no longer self-centred. The spirit in the course of its development produces a voice
or
the
is
word, but the thought, the understanding and word are one alone, while the thought itself bound up with Ain Soph and is never separated
therefrom.
This
is
one.J suggestive and also the most recurrent teachings is the importance and universality of man in the scheme of things. For the Zohar,
one and
his
Name
is
Among
the
most
is
"a
disguised
is
man."
humanity,"
and
"
all
that interests a
celestial
man
It
was the
at
form of
man
that
God assumed
This
is
the
the Shekinah,
also
is
the
Mercabah
or chariot,
and
this
the
sacred
prises
name
all
of Jehovah. The form of man com that is in heaven or on earth, and prior
to
its
manifestation
no form could
subsist.
It
is
the perfection of faith in all things and the absolute form of all. It is the summary and the most exalted
term of creation.
*
As
soon as
man appeared
ed., part
i.
all
was
t Cremona
i.
fol.
56.
Zohar,
246^, Mantua.
vLhe
u&ntten SQorb
of Siabalism
209
completed, both of the world above and the world Even those physical parts which he puts aside ultimately are conformed to the secrets of the
below.
So also in his threefold nature a faithful image of that which passes on high, and the souls of the just are above all the powers
he
is
Supreme Wisdom.
and all the servitors that are on There is high.* even a certain withdrawn and inconceivable sense in which man through Sephirotic mediation
brings
things exist and subsist for man, so the problem of evil in the universe is solved in his interest, as it is the
all
condition of his development while with a Catholic comprehensiveness which has no parallel in
;
sacred
is
any scheme of human existence regarded by the Zohar with an optimism strange
literature
the
in
its
profundity, from
man s
pre-existence
in
the
archetypal world to the beatific vision, the absorp tion and the eternal nuptials which await him.
The pneumatology of
developed
the
in
the Zohar
The
;
spiritual
man
is
the
in
him
it
was completed
The
soul originates in
Supreme Intelligence. "At the time when the Holy Blessed One desired to create the world
,
the souls which should be given after wards to the children of men."f It is also stated
all
He
formed
expressly that the soul enters the body has come with protestations, grief and
*
when her
time-
unwillingness.
;
1910;
ii.
fol.
42
iii.
n^
iii.
144,,
ijj.
4ya
t Ibid., part
fol.
43^.
210
It is
^he
Sortrine nub
ffijiterahtre
of the
equally clear that it acquires nothing by the experience, unless it be the dignity of an ordeal all that which has been withstood successfully, for
"
knew already
before
they came
Talmudic doctrine that they were acquainted with Their proper end is the return
into Deity, but there are various abiding places
destinies for the higher spiritual principles,
in this life
It
and
and even
may
they may depart from an unclean person.f be added that souls are created in pairs, but
come
at the
same time
In the excerpts which have been now given the Zohar appears at its best, but I may observe in
conclusion that, again after the manner of a medley, it combines with things precious others that are of little value and not a few that are indescribably foolish.
There
are,
for
example, gross
absurdities
in
the
pneumatological portions. When the soul enters the body of the infant it cannot find room and has to
await the growth of its envelope in considerable dis Points of this kind might be multiplied comfort.
indefinitely.
They extend
doctrine and obtain especially concerning the resur rection of the dead, which, according to the Zohar, as
there
is
no need to
say,
is
the
restitution
of the
As this its proper soul. can take place only in Palestine the bones of Israel in exile will be transported thither.
physical
resurrection
p.
Ibid., part iii. fol. 280. Compare, however, Franck, La Kabbah, 236, where the very opposite teaching is ascribed to the Zohar.
t Ibid,, part
i.
fol.
376.
TTht SBritteu
It
<$Iorb
of
gUbaliem
211
may
Yetzirah into
be added that the Zohar took the Sepher its heart of hearts, dwelt upon it,
extended, magnified,
bolism.
earlier
it
almost
letters
transformed
its
sym
the
The Hebrew
tract
which figure
in
the ciphers or vestures of the written law, the expression of the Thorah, and the Thorali is the Whether or not we archetype of all the worlds.
are able
to
Yetzirah
ends
agree with Franck that the Sepher where the Zohar commences, and
is
complements of each other, certain that the instinct of the early students
singled
who
rest
the
"
Book
it
of
Formation
head
"
from the
not
at
of
in
the
pre-Zoharic
as
Midrashim
the
was
fault
regarding Kabalism.
and source of
incorporated the latter; both in the process underwent a species of transmutation, and as I venture to think the
process, like that
"sea-change"
But, in conclusion, as there was an occultism and mysticism in Israel prior to the Sepher Raziel and to the Zohar, so both were in
something
in
more
of
strange
and
There
are,
at least, flights
this
mystic thought
of
and
aspiration
theosophy which are unknown to Gebirol and Ibn Ezra, and are more direct and strong in their appeal to the inner con
great
sciousness of
book
man
in
this
dawn
of the twentieth
century than in the famous commentary of Azariel or in the School of Isaac the Blind. And to confess
this
is
to confess out of
still
a message for the mystic. Perhaps all that is of value therein would be contained within a few leaves
212
^ht
JJxrctnitt
poems of
Coleridge,
it
II.
Book
is
of Conceal
they occasionally seem to suppose, the beginning of In the Sulzbach the great cycle entitled the Zohar.
edition, edited
begins at fol. i?6b and ends at fol. ij$b of the second volume. Most editions are either paged in correspondence with one
by Rosenroth,
it
the
of
Among
the
early
codices
edition,
that
Cremona
for
which,
his
references,
was
regarded by him as inferior to the simultaneous or slightly prior edition of Mantua. The latter he terms
invariably
occultists
Codex
correctus.
From
the
silence
of
on the subject of the Zohar proper it might be judged that they do not regard it as of great
occult importance
;
which, as seen,
Concealment,"
is
in
;
its
dimensions,
is
is
generally understood, and also as the most ancient portion of that collection, which is almost
as
is
"
Mathers,
Kabbalah
Unveiled,"
p.
14.
213
it is
provably correct.*
a
It
few pages, but with theogony comprised developments more numerous than the Talmud.f In
a
a word, for occultists, the Book of Concealment and the Book of Formation are the fountain heads of all
Kabalism.
is
rendered
Mystery, Concealment, or Modesty by Isaac Myers, is given as Concealed Mystery by Mathers, without
pretending that the version is actually literal. For Sepher Deznioutha Rosen roth gives Liber Occultais concerned with the manifestation of the Divine Being as the term of His concealment in the eternity which preceded manifestation. The
tionis.\
The work
chapter deals with the development of the Vast Countenance, the image of the Father of all things, the been Macroprosopus, when equilibrium had
first
Countenance, which
is
referred
to
Kether, or the
Crown,
to the
is
When
mani
from
Ancient of Days appeared, God issued His concealment. This symbolism of the
Myers,
t Eliphas
"
Qabbalah,"
Le"vi,
/>
p.
118.
Livre
des
Sfilendcurs,
preface,
p.
ii.
Mysteries of Magic," 2nd ed., p. 97. t Rabbi Loria says that it refers to things which are secret and should be kept secretly, and compares Prov. xxv. 2, The Glory of God is to conceal the word. But he also supposes nn allusion to the cirmni
stances under which the
cave.
work
is
See
second
Cotnmentarius
in
Emek HammeUih
part.
Libro
of the
et seq.
214
is
^he
Jl-oxtritte
the key-note of the treatise, which, in its own the libration of the words, is the book describing balance." The balance is suspended in the place
"
which
is
no
place, that
is
Deity, and
it is
said to be the
body of Macroprosopus,
and Understanding,* which are the sides of the balance. The Countenance, which no man knoweth, is secret in secret, and the
hair of the head
is
like fine
wool hanging
in
the
The eyes are ever open, and the nostrils equilibrium. of the Ancient One are as two doors whence the
Spirit goes forth over all things.
all
dignities
is
is
also
the ornament of
as
It
covers
Macroprosopus
Sephiroth
with
vestment, but
Wisdom and
the
Father and
MicroprosopuS) and
flowing
lips free.
down
!
divided into thirteen portions, as far as the heart, but leaving the
is
Blessed
who
receiveth
their
kisses
From
all
the
thirteen
portions
there
descend as
influence
many
of
do
all
things
exist
and
all
are
concealed.
For Wisdom is on the right upon the side of Benignity ; Under is on the left upon the side of severity ; and the Crown is the tongue in the centre which abideth above them." Ibid., p. 48. The meaning of the symbolism is that the equilibrium between Justice and Mercy must be assumed before the universe, having man for its object, could become possible, and the source of this notion must be sought in the Bcreshith Rabbah. Compare also the teaching of the pre-Zoharic Midrash Conen, according to which the Grace of God prevents the opposing forces out of which the world was created from mutual
"
standing
destruction.
Ie.,
215
The
I
"
Book of
in
its its
Concealment,"
though small, as
of
digressions
have
said,
compass,
is
full
which destroy
difficult to
continuity and
make
the
sense
extract
it
of MacroprosopuS)
One expanded into Microprosopus, to whom is name Tetragrammaton, whereas I am is that of the first Ancient* The letter I, which
referred the
is
the
first
of the
Tetragrammaton^ corresponds to
the
H
is
to
Under
issue,
standing,
which
Microprosoptis
the
Sephiroth
from Mercy to
the primal connected with
V.
It
will
be
of
seen,
therefore,
that
is
Deity, the conception of the Crown, has no other name than that which proclaims His self-existence, and
that the
manifestation
which
Hebrew Jehovah
is
in a
sense a reflected
God.
Crown,
is
is still
by way of
who
life-
When
the
giving influx rushes forth from the Ancient One, amid the intolerable refulgence of that great light the likeness of a head appears. The distinction
is
the distinction of
full
face, for
fully,
manifested
perhaps inexact
AHIH
;
Compare Bk.
i.e.,
ii.
4,
where
it is
stated that
,-////
is
referred to
Kether,
Soph
grammaton
ymbottsm,
l>ut
216
to
is
^he
IBrurttine anfc
$iterature of the
He
in
Lesser
Countenance
;
depend black locks, flowing down to the ears the eyes have a three-fold hue, resplendent with shining
light
;
issues
from the
nine
nostrils.
The
beard, considered
itself,
has
portions,
but when that of Macroprosopus sheds down its light and influence they are found to be thirteen. Though
the Ineffable
Name
also
is
referred to the
Vast Coun
of
letters
tenance,
it
is
said
that
the
manifestation
Microprosopus is represented by the ordinary of the Tetragam, his occultation by the transposition
of the
letters.
The Book
of Concealment
is
described
in
its
closing words as the withdrawn and involved mystery blessed is he of the King, and as it is added that
"
therein,
there
is
urgent need
This, as
for
its
significance.
in
we
was
unfolded
all
many
rabbinical
commentaries,
confessedly posterior to the period of There are, the public promulgation of the Zohar. two works possessing the same authority however,
which are
as
the
Book
that
of
Concealment,
is
for
same authorship
sions of
work.
subject of
*
some consideration
Le"vi
next section.
his
It is
method
of interpretation.
The
aiBritteu
SBorb
of
^abalism
217
III.
The Book
to the
utmost
preceding account.
is
It
may
be
now added
a clue to
its
that
anonymous
it
quotes
no
rabbinical writers
date
may
be obtained.
it
It
has, however,
two
a
characteristics
which give
document than immediately, and are designed, as already said, These are its rudeness to develop and expound it. and the mutilations which it would appear to have
older
it
much
undergone.
The
first
by con
words and passages placed within brackets, but even with these it is in an exceedingly faulty The treatise now under consideration is in state.
most respects
entirely different.
It
in narrative
the ensuing dialogues in a manner which is perfectly It explicit and stands in need of few emendations.
deals, of course, with the
far is
modern
one sympathetic critic who was himself an elegant and highly suggestive writer.* The first point which
otherwise calls for notice
is
Synod claims Rabbi Simeon Ben Jochai as the author Book of Concealment," and itself contains of the
"
218
field
^he
Jlxrrtiitu
beneath trees
namely, Rabbi Eleazar, his son, Rabbi Abba, Rabbi Jehuda, Rabbi Josi, the son of Jacob, Rabbi Isaac,
Rabbi Chiskiah, the son of Rav, Rabbi Chia, Rabbi These are historical names Josi and Rabbi Jisa.
belonging
to
the
period
which
succeeded
the
Simeon himself we
to tract
Babylonian recension, which contains the narrative which I will here give in its substance
:
"
On
R. Shimeon were sitting together, and with them also R. Jehudah was Jehudah, the son of proselytes.
opened the conversation, saying, How beautiful are the works of this nation (the Romans). They have established markets they have built bridges they
;
have opened bathing-houses. Whereupon Josi was silent. But R. Shimeon ben Jochai answered,
saying
their
for
:
R.
own
All these things have they instituted for sake. Their markets are gathering-places
;
harlots
own
to collect
from those
who
cross them.
and
*
it
came
to the ears of
who proclaimed
;
be extolled
Josi,
(i.e.,
exiled to Saphoris
us, shall
Jehudah, who extols us, who said nothing, shall be Cyprus) Shimeon, who has
;
be put to death. R. Shimeon disparaged and his son then went out and hid themselves in the
lecture-hall, but afterwards in a cave,
where a miracle
took place, a date-tree and a spring of water being raised up for them. They laid aside their garments
219
and
sand up to their necks, studying and assuming their vestures only at the whole time, the same might wear out. prayer-time, for fear that
sat covered with
In this wise they spent twelve years in the cave, when Who will Elijah came to the opening, and said
:
inform the son of Jochai that Caesar is dead and his decree is annulled? Hereupon they left the cave."*
The
secret
wisdom embodied
in the
Zohar
is
supposed
Roman
decree.
The Talmud mentions expressly the learning obtained during this period, but without specifying its kind, According to the tradition of the Kabalists
the
"
Book of Concealment
it
"
was the
first
form
in
which
the
"
was reduced
to writing.
"
The
"
discourses of
Greater Sacred Synod were recorded by Rabbi Abba and so also in the case of the Lesser Synod."
the conversation was about to begin a voice
in
When
heard
Synod had
the
assembled
heaven
that
to
hearken,
and
com
in
mentators add
round
the
speakers,
Paradise, and
the
rest
Divine
Presence.
the
Countenance,
prosopus,
Macroprosopus, as
also
of Microafter
the
what
manner the inferior depends from the superior. It must be said that the expounding and the extension
*
vol.
i.
pp.
57-59.
with the mysteries of initiation, by saying that he is blessed who has known and beheld the concealed
err therein.
In an account like
does
not
even pretend to be
synoptic, it is impossible to attempt a tabulation of the singular typology with which the Greater
Synod
is
concerned, and
it
who
claim to speak magisterially and from within an occult circle of knowledge, may have shown us
glimpses in one or two rare instances of the system on which the typology is constructed, but have done
hard to approach from the side of the literal sense, and to the occult student, in the absence of initiation,
is
aspects of the literature are chiefly a of curious speculation. subject Fortunately it has
the esoteric
other aspects which make it deserving of considera tion, or there would be no purpose in the present
inquiry.
The unbalanced
in its
void state, are considered under the symbolism of the kings who reigned in Edom before a king
was
that
raised
is
up
to rule
Israel,
emanation of Microprosopus*
The Kabalah represents the present universe as preceded by others which passed away quickly. According to Basnage, this notion also occurs in the Talmud, where it is said, with characteristic crassness, that
He
diverted
221
At
and the Edomite kings were without subsistence. According to Rosenroth this signifies the fall of
creatures partly into a state of rest, such as that of matter, and partly into one of inordinate activity, such as that of the evil spirits, in which case we
are dealing
not so
much
So
Synod
preter,
the
same
inter
who speaks
knowledge, as
in other
to the
Law,*
words, to the letters of the alphabet, by the transpositions of which the Law was recorded subse
quently.
For the
rest,
its
discourses
only the
"
Book of
Compare, example, the description of Macroprosopus with the indications on the same subject contained in the
for
Concealment
"
previous section.
"White
is
as a face manifested.
He
is
seated
upon a throne of glittering brightness, that subdue them. The whiteness of his bald
He may
head
is
He
destroyed forth
uccessive attempts at creation, by which Deity became experienced and at last produced the existing physical order. Histoire des Juifs, t. ii. p. 712. Compare also the rirki of
The
R. Eliezer, according to which the basis of the existing universe is the This work is referred to repentance of God over His previous failures. an early period of the ninth century. For other Zoharic references
to this subject see
*
light.
222
four hundred
come."
The
brain
Vast Countenance
The
the Hidden
Wisdom,
this
Wisdom
passes through a
The
and
One.
hundred
known only
is
to the Ancient
The
described as a path
shining into
therefrom
this
two hundred and seventy worlds, and another path diffuses its light, and in
just
shall
the
shine in
the world
to
come.
is
When
the
benevolence
of
benevolences,
is
uncovered,
the
prayers of the Israelites are received, and the time of its uncovering is at the offering of evening prayer
on the Sabbath.
The
hundred and seventy thousand lights of the lights For there is an Eden which of the supernal Eden.
shines
in
and
is
Eden unknown
it
is
withdrawn
in
concealment,
The
eyes of the Vast Countenance differ from other eyes, having neither lids nor brows, because the guardian The two eyes of the supernal Israel knows no sleep.
shine as a single eye, and were that eye to close even for one moment the things which are could subsist no
longer.
Hence
is life,
ever glad.
nostrils
called the
is
the
life
of
life.
With
regard to the Beard of the Vast otherwise the decoration of all decorations, neither
Countenance, called
men
TThe ftUritteu
saints,
Its
SEorb of $abnli$m
it
223
all
have beheld
forms
it,
for
is
the truth of
as
truths.
thirteen
are
all
Greater Synod Thirteen chapters of the are devoted to the consideration of this subject,
including the number of the locks in each portion, the number of hairs in each lock and the number
of
worlds
attributed
to
them.
This
ends
the
discourse concerning Macroprosopus, and the treatise of the the consideration to proceeds thence
Lesser Countenance.
The conformations
are
of Micro-
expanded
form.
When
all
is
the Lesser Countenance gazes on the Greater, inferiors are restored in order, and the Lesser
vaster for the time being.
There
is
an emanation
from the Greater towards the skull of the Lesser, and thence to numberless lower skulls, and all together
reflect the brilliance of the
towards the Ancient of Days. From the brain of Macroprosopus an influence descends, from the hair
an
emanation of splendour, from the forehead a benevolence, from the eyes a radiance, from the
a
spirit
nostrils
and
all
the spirit of life, from the these fall upon the Lesser
the
of
brain
of
Microprosepus
of
in
are
emanations
understanding, and
each lock of the hair of Microprosopus there are a thousand utterances his forehead is the inspection of
;
it
is
uncovered
the
sinners
are
with
judgment.
For
lesson
of
the
224
"
is that wrath Greater Synod may dwell with So Microprosopus, but not in the Ancient of Days.
when
the
lids
are
closed
lids
the
Israelites
for a
moment
it
of Kabalistic symbolism,
is
and
to
the
Holy of
in
Holies,
Israelites,
issue therefrom
in
the great sea of wisdom, and they mercy upon the chosen people.
is
The
when
the
forth
therefrom,
except
is
the
forehead
of
is
the
Vast
Countenance
uncovered,
when mercy
found
in all things.
Ancient of Ancients, the discourse appertaining to the beard of Microprosopus fills many chapters, full of strange scholia on various
in the case of the
As
passages of Scripture, and details minutely the con formations of its nine divisions, what it conceals of the
Lesser Countenance, what it permits to be manifested with observations on the descent of a holy and
magnificent
a general
differences of the
It
two adornments.
prosopus
androgyne, and as at this point the symbolism is concerned very largely with the sexual organs, it will be obvious that it becomes still more
225
discordant with modern feeling, and exceeds occasion ally what it is considered permissible to express in A modern symbologist has said that nature English. is not ashamed of her emblems,* and there is no
doubt that
peculiarly
for the
sacred,
whence
in
nothing repellent
typology.
But
it
will
summary to do more than allude to it. The student who desires to pursue the subject must be referred to
the Latin version.
The sum
is
may
;
Microprosopus
;
things
shall
He
is all
all
change.
"f
Thus God
in
manifestation
God
in
in
concealment, and
the
likeness
if
symbolism
it is
depict
Him
"
of
humanity,
At
we
company died during the deliberations, and their souls were beheld by the
remainder
carried
by
angels
behind
the
"
veil
expanded above." J Amidst all its obscurity and uncouthness there are sublime touches in this treatise. The Kabalah is
perhaps the
first
of
all
in the
Spiritualist.
t Idra Rabba, sen Synodus Magna, Kabbala Denudata, t. ii. J Ibid., $ xlv. par. 1138.
sectio
xxxix.
par.
920,
in
226
^he
Jtortritt-e anfc
Jfiterature
.of
the
western world reciting with no uncertain voice that God is altogether without mutation and vicissitude
that wrath and
alone, placing
"
warning, be judged"; and showing also ye the higher significance of the not less divine promise, I will Never for the true Kabalist could repay."
"Judge not, lest
thus a
new
construction
divine
this
mean
that
sinner in his
own
spirit,
ment of God
outrage for outrage, hate for hate. The repay is the compensation of the everlasting
In
a sense the writers of the Zohar anticipated the most liberal conclusions of modern eschatology.* Amidst
the firebrands of the Papal Church, it promulgated for the first time the real meaning of the forgiveness of sins.
IV.
Similar in most of
characteristics to the
"
more
extended discourse which preceded it, the Lesser Holy Synod," or Idra Zuta, is termed by Rosenroth
the
Jochai, a supple not exhaustively treated in subjects the Greater Assembly. As the master s death is
Swan s song
to
of
Simeon ben
ment
the
recorded at the end of the treatise, the translator s words must be understood of the instruction it
contains and not of
*
its setting.
The Synod
as
consists
Franck
summarises
is
the
position
follows
Nothing
is
accursed for ever, not even the archangel of when his name and angelic nature will be
p. 217.
La Kabbah,
The
Sfclrittcn GEorfc of
gabaliem
227
is
a time of grace
;
he
is
conscious of his
he desires to enter without con approaching end fusion into the world to come and he designs to
;
reveal those
Shekinah
sole
sacred things in the presence of the which hitherto have been kept secret.
is
Rabbi Abba
speaker.
appointed as scribe, and Simeon is the The discourse still concerns Macro-
prosopus and Microprosopus, with the correspondences between them, but it sketches only the subject of the
concealed Deity and deals at great length with the manifestation of the Lower Countenance. In both
cases,
as
would
indeed
be
expected,
it
repeats,
Synod
for
but
it
gives
some
example, concerning the three heads of Macroprosopus, one within the other and the other above
"
at a later stage a very considerable other," and extension of symbolism regarding the first manifesta tion of the Ancient One under the form of male
the
is,
in
fact,
the
emanation or
forming
or
forth
Wisdom,
a
"
instruction
concerning
reflection
not
deals
close
with
His union
with the Bride, who cleaveth to the side of the male until she is separated, et accedat ut copuletitr cum eo,
face to face.
Out of
this
doctrine of the
sexes, so
we may
elect to
228
^he
Jabalah
or,
separated
are
but
mutilated
humanity,
as
it
expresses the idea, are but half the body, that no blessing can rest on what is mutilated and defective,
that
an eternal blessing,
for the
completed by the beauty of the male."* junction of the supernal male and female
said to
be in the place called Zion and Jerusalem, which further on are explained to signify Mercy and Justice.
"
When
the
Bride
is
united
to
the
all
King
in
the
things
made
one body. And then the most Holy God sitteth on His throne, then are all things called the complete
name, the Holy Name.
all
When
this
Mother
is
united
the worlds receive blessing and are to the King, found in the joy of the universe."! About this point the discourse of Simeon ceases
and Rabbi Abba, the scribe, still in the act of writing and expecting that more should follow, heard nothing. But afterwards a voice cried, Length of Days and
"
Years of
from
;
Life,"
Thee."
A
it
and yet another, He seeketh Life fire abode in the house the whole
"
was taken away Rabbi Abba saw that day the holy light, the holy of the holy ones, had been wrapped away from the world he lay upon his right side and a smile shone upon his face. Rabbi
when
"
But
I,"
feet"
It
viii.
passim.
state
The foundation
in
of this
concerning
the
nuptial
must be sought
Talmudic
t Ibid.
xxii. par.
746
et seq.
229
raised in
was
shone about
it,
while a
voice cried,
Simeon."
in
It
will
be seen that
spite
of a
somewhat
monstrous symbolism the Kabalistic narratives have at times the touch of nature which gives them kinship
with this world of ours.
V.
The prominence given by Rosen roth to the Book of Concealment and its sequels was not without
its
I
warrant, as they are certainly the most arresting, might almost say sensational, of all the tracts
in
imbedded
the Zohar.
to be
examined
will
now be taken
in
inferior, or at least
more
to be
by the
short
accompany
is
their
tabulation.
The
enumerated
term
is
that entitled
Sabah
sectione
D Mishputim
Mishpatini).
(Historia de sene
The
ancient
are the
the conclusion of
c.
xxiv.
ii.
The
fol.
Cremona
vol.
ii.
edition, pt.
fol.
43, col.
Mantua,
It
94
in
the
Sulzbach,
ii.
94^.
narrates
conversation
between the prophet Elias and Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai on the subject of the ordeals and
metempsy
230
^he
some length
the
"
Revolutions
of
Souls
is
drawn
from
this
discourse of Elias with the mystic light of Kabalism. shall have again to consider this doctrine in
We
contained
given in this place, separated from many technicalities which would be burdensome to the beginner.
All souls go up with the revolutions or windings [that is, are subjected to the law of transmigration], but the children of man do not know the ways of
"
the
the the
Holy One
children
spirits
of
know
not
(Neskamotk, the higher soul, anima of Christian theology) ascend to be judged animce into this world, or again before they descend how they go up to judgment after that they
have
departed
from
this
world
to
how many
revolutions
essential
and
mysterious
are
ordeals
substances)
;
subjected
souls
Blessed
One
naked
spirits enter the other world, yet not through how many worlds revolve with the King s curtain
itself
And
the children of
not know, neither do they revolve like a stone which is cast from a sling, even And the souls of thine enemies as it is written
:
turns about in
them
sling.
shall
He
middle of a
But while
permitted to reveal,
now
is
the
231
these mysteries, and how all the spirits go out from that great tree and from that mighty river which flows from Eden, but
time to
make known
all
(Ruachin, Ruach, the anima or pysche) issue from the small tree. The higher spirit
the
lesser
spirits
comes from above, the lesser from below, and they are united as male and female."*
The
Kabalistic
division
of
the
soul
into
five
parts has been given in Book II. of the present work with the necessary elucidations. The basis of the
doctrine
is
"
Discourse of
the Ancient
"
One
"
When
is
the child of
man
is
there
appointed to
the
him animated
(Nepkesh)
side,
from
Holy. Wheels
appointed to him a rational spirit (Ritac/i) from the side of the Holy Living Creatures (Chaioth Ha
to Kcther,
Kadosh, another order of angels, commonly attributed which seems, however, inconsistent with
appointed to
this tabulation).
is
Should he still deserve more there him a higher spirit, even from the
(i.e.,
side of the
Thrones
to
come
the
according
proper).
the
Bereshith
three
are
section
These
mother, the
male
Zohar,
Cremona
ed. part
ii.
fol.
450.
232
^he
way
of Atzilnth (that of
soul), from the side of supernal portions the Daughter, /echida, the only one (Jechida is the quintessence, the highest nature of the soul), and
the
the
still
same
is
called
If
he
rational
(Ruacti)
of
Atziluth,
is,
to
him the
Benignity, the middle pillar of the Sephirotic Tree), and he is called the Son of the Holy Blessed One, whence it is written
:
Ye
xiv.
And
if
he
appointed to
him a higher spirit (Neskamah) from the side of Abbah (the supernal Father, attributed to Chokmah in the Atzilutic world) and of the Supernal Mother (Aimah. attributed to Binah in And the same world), whence it is also written:
He
It is
life
(literally, souls
Gen.
ii.
7).
What
is
life?
Jah (the Divine Name attributed to Chokmati], Let everything that hath whence we have heard breath (i.e., life, i.e., all souls) praise the Lord (i.e.,
:
Jah\
(i.e.,
Tetragrammaton JHVH) perfected. But if he J.D.V.D, deserve still more there is appointed to him JDVD,
(Ps.
cl.
6).
And
in
it
is
*.*.,
in
its
full
completeness,
the
letters
of
which are
man
to
in
Heh, Vau, Heh, Jod, which is the path of Atziluth, and he is then said
:
He
be
in
the
it
likeness
is
whence
the
fish
also
said
of the sea
(Gen.
28);, that
all
is,
he shall
the
Auphanim
SBritten SBort)
gabalism
the
child
233
and
below.
When,
therefore,
of
man
deserves the Nephesh from the side of the daughter She shall not go out as Jcchida, this is to say
*
:
the men-servants
shall
do"
serve
7).*
God
in
xxi.
This passage
illustration
is
of
it
the
discourse
gives a clue to the probable meaning of occultists when they speak of a concealed sense
but because
in
not to be supposed that when Kabalism divides and subdivides the soul it means
the Zohar.
It
is
anything
else
than
to
;
distinguish
in
certain
it
essences
and
it
qualities
therein as
a word,
means what
does
at
just
the
in
principles
man.
from
sight
The
is
indicated,
its
vast
simply the extraction of some method and confused mass, whichat first
instance
appears altogether delirious. In the present it will be seen that the animistic nature
has
a
of
man
sevenfold
aspect,
it
whereas
other
these
to ten.
When
discrepancies are harmonised we have the concealed sense of the Zohar as to the inner nature of man.
it
discourse of Elias really describes the development of mystic experiences in seven stages, ending, as it
states literally, in the
man.
*
Zohar,
ii.
94^,
Brody
ed.
234
^he
5oxtrtne
anfc
VI.
Excerpts of considerable length, purporting to come from a work entitled Sepher Ha Bahir, or
Liber- Illustris, are given in the
Cremona
122,
col.
edition of
Part
125,
I.
}
76,
79, 82,
127,
130, 137,
145 and
259.
Part
151,
176,
and
333.
They
in
"Little
Zohar"
of Mantua,
but reappear
in
Rosenroth
In 1651
and published
at
at
that
reprint
of
1706.
Some
complex questions are involved in the consideration of this work, which is thus known to
us only by quotations. It is alleged on the one hand to be of higher antiquity than any Kabalistic book
and
hence
of
Yetzirah
itself;
manifest forgery, included in the condemnation of the Zohar, and by implication also the fruit of the
inventive faculty of Moses de Leon.
Between these
is
treatise,
under the
same
title,
which
now
An
I
examination of the
think,
ascertainable
respect for
does not,
The
safest to form.
235
is
evidence that
prior to the
the Sepher
that
Ha
Bahir was
in existence
is
no evidence
are no
period, and there means of knowing whether or not the extracts which occur in the Zohar represent in some sense the
preceded
it
by a considerable
original work.
be regretted that occult students have passed over the fragments of the Sepher Ha Bahir as they have passed over the Zohar proper, and for the
It
is
to
it is not available by would have been interesting to know whether they would have accepted the Kabalistic Of legend which has gone abroad concerning it.
same
translation.
that legend one aspect appears in the bibliography of Papus, which, however, indicates no first-hand research, and simply reproduces information of which
Molitor
is
the
of
avowed
the
source.
In the
"
Methodised
of
all
Summary
renders
"
Kabalah"
the
H<i
president
Bahir, which he
to R.
the
Darkness,"
Nechoniah
legend concerning the authorship of the work. Some notable sayings of Nechoniah are preserved in the Talmudic collections, and other works are also
ascribed to him, namely () Letter on Mysteries or
:
Secrets concerning
it as a forgery by Rabbi Meir ben Simon in the first half of the thirteenth century, thus antedating the period at which hostile criticism places the public appearances of the Zohar.
* Because
was denounced
may be
236
^he
xrf
the jtabalah
This epistle was addressed to his son, who is said to have embraced Christianity. It betrays the hand of a Christian, and there can at least be no
resurrection.
question that
it
is
late
imposture.
it
Paulus de
Latin
Heredia
dedicated
Hispanus
it
translated
into
and
Mendoza, Henry King of Spain. () Sepher Kanah, the Book of the Fragments
is
to
of
legate of the
(Samuel) ben Eliezer. It is in any case another forgery, which deals with the generation of Christ, embodying apocryphal narratives taken from the
Talmud.
by pupils on entering or leaving the gymnasium. It is included among the Mishnayotk, a fact which shows that it is
(c)
SepJier
of the
name
The
the
"
other aspect of Kabalistic legend concerning Illustrious Book may be used to colour the
"
pretension
quotations do not It is said to be of such pro represent the original. found occult significance that it has been preserved
that
the
Zoharistic
among
the
hidden
treasures
of
Israel,
in
Manus
quoting
Cabbalistorum
Gennanorum,
says
Wolf,*
Shem
*
Too.
Bibliotheca Hebrcea,
% Bibliotheca
Introductio
Magna
Rabbinica.
"Che
2 37
relate
the
same
the excerpts
found
the
explicitly as genuine, while all likewise agree that the Bahir was regarded by Kabalists as their oldest
document.
recent times
The
first
question
raised
of
authenticity
was
in
It does not the book printed in Holland, observes Bahir of the Jews, appear that this is the ancient
:
which
is
printed."*
obvious that
this
is
we language of criticism nor of knowledge infer that Simon was unacquainted with the
that the
may
fact
Amsterdam
extracts,
Zoharic
and
collected the
not
have
of
impeached
the
extracts
had
he
been
aware
Bartolocci mentions a general that circumstance. opinion that manuscript copies of the Bahir were to
be found
ticularises
in
many
Continental
in the
libraries
and
par
Vatican collection.
the
The impeachment
of
Zoharic
excerpts
naturally became part of the general charge against the Zohar itself; the theory which ascribed that work
Moses de Leon was exceedingly comprehensive and made a clean sweep of everything included
to
therein.
It finds
an almost exact
parallel in the
con
to prove the
plays
and
as
all
serving equally well for Marlowe, Massinger Elizabethan literature, that literature directly
is
or indirectly
attributed to Bacon.
Legend says
we have
238
^he
Jtodrin*
s
anfo fit*rattt
ot the Jlabalah
it
ally a
camel
load
now
extant
its
have been
said to
;
Raymond
Lully
have
list
hundred
in the first
separate
treatises
the
may
be seen
impossible attempt to collect them into a folio edition, the editor supplying not only the precise years but the months in which they were composed. What
they say, could not have been im possible to Moses. But, as a fact, the doctor illuminatus wrote only a low percentage out of all that gorgeous
Raymond
did, as
list,
and reasonable
as
Israelite
possible
who
may have played a little at writing out of his own head," and that is all, not, however, because it regards
the Zohar as the
Jochai, or even
of
regards
R.
Moses as
whose
has
human.
Graetz, the
distinctive
German
of
historian of Jewry,
criticism
Kabalistic
literature
obtained
a principle of critic ism which ought to be written in capitals at the head of most impeachments of the Zohar, namely that it is
much
vogue, lays
down
not compulsory for a hostile critic to be more careful in his arguments than those who plead in defence.
Without seeking
criticism,
it
may
binding law to enforce serious consideration for a What Graetz did scholar who adopts that principle.
openly has been done tacitly or unconsciously by others. Taking the case now under notice, I do not
know
of one instance in
239
it is simply part of the programme to get rid of anything which goes to show that the whole anyhow Zohar was not written at the end of the thirteenth
reason
century.
the excerpts involve the existence not genuine, merely of purely Kabalistic but of typically Zoharic teaching prior to that date as this proves too much
is
;
The
reason
if
down as part of the imposture. One critic who espouses the antiquity He of the Zohar has, however, rejected the Bahir.
for the
says
The Sepher Ha Bahir, attributed to Nechonia ben Hakana, contemporary of Hillel the Elder and Herod the Great, is often cited. Various fragments,
"
manifestly
this
pass for extracts from but why, if so ? It is for some determinate and material reason that one looks
unauthentic,
still
;
book."*
Perhaps so
and waits
in vain,
failing
Placing they are older than the Sepher Yetzirah. this cosmogony somewhere about the ninth century, because it was then almost indubitably quoted and
it
is
how long
it
antedates the
reference
made
to
it
regarding the
Zohar
that
itself as,
at least, a gradual
growth between
the
period and
the date of
to
its
publication, there
seems
*
no
objection
considering
Bahir a
Htbreux.
that
it is
1843.
from the
fact
falsely attributed,
same category.
240
^he
|p.oxtr:tne
production of the formative age of the work which is made to quote it. When the extracts were inserted
therein
edition,
we do not know
Cremona codex which contains them, it is possible that they were first added when the Zohar was
prepared for press under the supervision of R. Isaac Delates, that unknown but highly learned Jew un in all the branches of knowledge required," surpassable
"
whom
unanimity in hostile or indeed any Kabalistic criticism. As, on the one hand, a defender of the Zohar challenges the Bahir excerpts,
is,
There
little
any case of little moment, involves the existence of the Bahir prior to the alleged date about which the
Zohar was produced out of the head of Moses de Leon, like Minerva out of the head of Jupiter, ready
made and
opinion
at
one
leap.
Morinus,
who has
a
left
perhaps
of
the
Bahir was
product
the
to
that date,
and especially of Moses Nachmanides, a Kabalistic Jew of Jerusalem, whose literary labours
According
Wolf
the
first
is
made by
R.
of
Moses de Leon,
but belonging to a younger generation. This, however, is a mistake, because R. Azariel, the author of the great
treatise
seen, about
on the Sephirotic system, and born, as we have 1 160, in his commentary on the Canticle of
vLhc SBritten
oEorb of gUbalidin
241
Canticles,
sometimes ascribed to Nachmanides, quotes its own name but under that of
Yerushalmi.
The proof
is
that the
Italian
Jew
Recanati, contemporary of Moses de Leon, used these quotations, and, misled by the name, inferred that they were from the Jerusalem Talmud, but afterwards
discovered them
origin
is
in the
BaJiir, to
which a Palestinian
the lost treatise
ascribed.
By how much
antedated Azariel we have no ground for conjecturing, but the position of Wolf and Morinus is destroyed by the fact here recorded, which leaves the Bahir where
place
is
it,
first
is
referred to
Job xxxvii.
21
see not the bright light which is in the clouds," according to the Authorised Version, or according to Dr. Durell s amended rendering, And now men see not the light which is above (or Hence light in darkness," within) the clouds, &c."
"
"
good equivalent of the Hebrew word. The subject-matter of the book, which is in the form of a
is
dialogue between certain illuminated doctors, is the mystery inherent in the divine names, and it contains
a very
full
phoras, the
expounded name of
deity.
It
belongs
understand and sympathise with the Franck to accept the excerpts by which it is known to us. Facts, however, must have precedence of predilections, and though the
instinctive dislike of
later history of the doctrine of divine
and we
can
make an admirer
K
242
^he
portrine
it
the
connection,
or
far older
than
that
of
the
Sephiroth matters are also discussed, including a single reference to Ain Soph, and the two quotations which here
follow exhibit a close connection between the Bahir
the two
Countenances.
Some
other
and the
soul.
"
"
Man."
principle of the
written
The
silver is
is
Lord of Hosts.
What
does this
mean
It
is
like
one of
silver
and one of
his right
saying
This
is
He
is
has done
said
in
:
Thy
(Ex. xv.
it
6).
Lord, If a man
is
become
glorious
power.
may
good, but if not, it is said Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. (Ibid) What does this signify? Surely this is the gold. It
is
is
written
The
silver is
it
is
mine.
Why do
they
call
it.
gold
are included in
[That
to say, the
word
consists
of three letters,
is
H
He
The Dzain
Th,
seven
7]
measures
;
this
letter
[>>.,
represents the
number
the
is
Unity
A Ch D V
Unity = 4.19= 5
and
the Beth [representing the 5 is the number of He] number 2] signifies Chokmah and Binah, and they are called Neshamah because of the last five Sephiroth. The Neshamah has five names Nephesh, Ruach,
:
Zohar,
Cremona
ed., part
i.
fol.
gUbalism
of
for
243
and
The second excerpt concerns the Fall its quotation is of some importance
this study.
"
Man,
the
purpose of
It is
written
Now
more
subtle
field
is
That
said
:
[the serpent]
It is
Judah
This
is
a real serpent.
When
they came to
Surely it is all one; Samael, and he has been seen upon a serpent,
:
them
all
are
When Samael
and
on
this serpent,
his
shadow was
from him, but coming to the woman with soft words he brought death to the whole world. Surely with wiles he invoked curses on the world and
fled
despoiled the first tree which the Holy Blessed One created in the world. [The reference here is apparently to the Sephirotic tree and, by implication, to the pri
mordial
truncatio MalkutJi ab arbore The Neshamah of the male Sephirotico} comes from male, and of the female from female from the male and female sides of the Sephirotic This is why the serpent had recourse to tree]. Chavah. He said unto himself: Because her soul
[?>.,
de Mirandola
Ada fuit
is
can persuade her quickly. [The North, says Myer, is the left side, facing eastward in
I
;
worship it is therefore the side of wrath and severity, connected by the Kabalists with the idea of the female. But the Tikhtne Ha ZoJnr terms Netzach
and
Hod
sistency in
There
is
no con
And
her.
the persuasion
he
came on
The
disciples
244
i&ht
the jfobalah
asked
How
he that
He
said
unto them
l, one, intrigued with all the hosts above against his Master, because the Holy Blessed One had said unto Adam Thou shalt have
:
He, Samae
the wicked
fish
of the air [understood of the evil spirits and the Samae l asked How therefore can I make angels].
:
Adam
sin
before
Him,
sight?
So he descended with
all
and he sought upon the earth a companion unto himself, but it had an appearance even
as a camel. [This curious comparison is based on L means camel when the fact that the Hebrew G
The
:
signi
developed
in
of the Zohar, commenting on Gen. xxiv. 64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac,
The camel is here said she lighted off her camel. to signify the mystery of death, referred to in
Prov. xix.
17
:
will
He
that
The connecting
idea
is,
firstly,
came
into the
world by the serpent, and, secondly, that the peculiar nature of the Fall is indicated by the alleged hidden
sense of the term camel which represents Compare Cazotte s Diable Amoiircux,
\.\\Q
pudenda.
the
where
impure demon
that animal.]
is
So he rode upon
said
the
woman and
?
unto her
garden
She answered
We
in the
garden
(L\\c
ftlrittnx
fcttorb
of
gabalism
245
of that only did Elohim say, Ye shall not partake thereof, neither touch it, lest ye die. What, then, did
He
said
touched the
tree,
I
and
thou
Then
yet
I
Samael
Lo,
have
touched the
touch
the
it,
tree,
Do
Whereupon
woman
angel of death approach her, she said Surely I shall now die, and the Holy Blessed one will form another
woman and
I
Adam. But
if
will
do thus
will
if
we
die
we
shall
and
the
we
live
we
shall live
together.
Then
Holy
Blessed
One
said
unto her
Is
it
but thou must also bring sin unto Adam ? Then answered she Lord of the world, the serpent induced me that I should sin before Thee. So the Holy
:
Blessed
One caused
all
three to
come
before
Him
and condemned
death.
He
also cast
them with nine curses and with Samael and his followers down
;
from the place of their holiness in heaven He cut the feet off the serpent and cursed him, yea, more
than
all
beasts,
lose
this
it
which Kabalistic
literature casts
upon the
first
and
as
it
man
by the addition
in
i.
fol.
28a,
b.
246
^he
Jlortrine
ftrci
Ha
Bahir exhibits
Like the place neither depth nor dignity. Zohar itself, and most other tracts which it embodies,
this
it
has
occasionally
it
a
that
a example, world that has come to pass already, because six out of the seven portions of the primordial light which
affirms
is
For
was
produced
by
God
for
the
creation
of
the
universe are reserved as the portion of the just in the life which is beyond.
It
is
reported
to
I
have rendered the Bahir into Latin, but, if so, can find no record that the translation was ever
printed.
VII.
The Zoharistic treatise bearing this title records conversations between Simeon ben Jochai and Moses, who appeared to the great light of Kabalism and gave
him many
only
instructions
and
revelations.
Elias took
Abraham,
the
Two
in
to the
are
the Talmud. The chief Ginsburg says of this portion is to show the twofold and object allegorical import of the Mosaic commandments and
found
and
247
The extant
col. 104,
126,207, 21
II.,
1,
214,
165,
247,322, 343,346, 37 8
203, 281, 328
;
>
483;
I,
Part
col.
72,
Part
III., col.
5^ 57,
187,209,214,233,235,277,289,
45,
459,
regards their Franck classes these excerpts along with authenticity, those of the Bahir, but, as in that instance so in this,
As
he gives no account of his suspicions, which may be taken, however, to follow from his conviction that
much
of
of the Zohar is really attributable to the period Simeon ben Jochai and the disciples that came
In
either
"
after him.
case, the
"
Discourse of the
that
is
Faithful
Shepherd
contains
much
important
to our purpose.
Its
views on
vicarious
atonement
to
come
will
enable us to appreci
;
some
moral
;
teachings
will
illustrate
its
ethical
position
its
on
Kabalism
will
tions on angels
and demons
the later system of pneumatology which was developed by Isaac de Loria. The discourse introduces two phases of vicarious
foundation
for
atonement,
ings of just
the
one
effected
through
the
suffer
men and
the other by
means of the
Messiah.
"
When
it
other
world,
the righteous are afflicted by disease or sufferings in atonement for the sins of the
is
so ordered that
all
248
^he
generation
may
all
obtain
redemption.
How
is
this
demonstrated?
body.
evil
By every member
these
of the physical
When
some
disease, one of
them
afflicted
[i.e.,
by the
so
that
the
others
may
Which member?
The
arm.
It is
chastised
by the blood being drawn from it, which ensures It is healing in all the other members of the body.
in
manner with the children of the world the members are in relation with each other even as those
like
;
When the Holy Blessed of the body. health of the world, He afflicts a just the
One man
:
willeth
therein
with pain and sickness and heals the rest through How is this shown ? It is written But He him.
was wounded
for
for
our
iniquities
stripes
we
are healed
bruises
5).
By
is
his
stripes,
as
by the
[incisions]
made
in bleeding the
arm, are
that
is,
recovery
will
insured to us as
we members
healed,
of one
body."*
Here,
great
it
be
said, the
and
fruitful
doctrine
solidarity
of
humanity.
That
is
is
one of those
modern
it
ideas.
But
if
we take
it
gives,
we
his
is
most arbitrary hypothesis can we suppose that the patience with which he may suffer will reflect credit
*
iii.
fol.
ioia.
249
on any one but himself. It would be barely reason able to dispute about such a position were it not
necessary to show occultists the real messages of the Kabalah on points with which they are concerned.
Now
the
modern students of
where
reject with
atonement.
Let us pass thence to the question of Messianic atonement, concerning which it is said in
:
"
the Vision of the Faithful Shepherd This is also exemplified in the history of Job. For the Holy Blessed One, seeing that the entire
foundation was
sinful,
to
accuse them, said unto Him, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the
earth* (Job
him?"
save his generation through be illustrated by the parable of a may shepherd who beheld a wolf approaching to rend his sheep and destroy them. What did this shepherd ?
i.
8),
to
This
Being wise, he gave unto the wolf the strongest and stoutest bell-wether, even that which the flock was
accustomed to
it
follow,
place of safety, and then returning rescued the bell wether from the wolf. So does the Holy Blessed
One
deal
with
generation
He
surrenders
power of the accuser for the salvation of the generation through him. But when
righteous
into the
is strong like Jacob, it is said, A man wrestled with him (Gen. xxxii. 24). But he (Satan) will be unable to prevail, and in the end he will
man
such an one
supplicate the righteous man to release for the righteous man, chosen by the
him
Ibitf.
26),
One,
is
Holy Blessed for the evil one and bears the most too strong
250
&he
generation whence also he is held as their saviour, and the Holy Blessed One constitutes him shepherd
;
over
all
them
in this
world and to
rule over
them
in the
world to
come."*
parable which thus represents the Almighty flying from Satan as the shepherd flies from a wolf, and in accordance with
which the just man is at first compared to a bell wether and afterwards to the shepherd of the flock, is
something more than a literary failure. Theologians have, I believe, found some trouble in locating the
accuser of Job, and with the poet that
the Zoharic
it is
"
most
respects a match for the Almighty, who must have recourse to a stratagem in order to save his people-
The Kabalah on
fact, crass
is
therefore, in
it is,
nor reassuring;
in
and
childish.
"
The
same
One affirms that he was a righteous Gentile who was chastised for the atonement of the world. At a certain time R. Hammarumnah met the prophet
Elijah and said to
that the righteous
him
How
is
it
to
be understood
man
wicked one
has joy of his life? He answered, saying, The just man of few sins receives his punishment for these in
this world,
and hence
it
is
but
the
man
Zohar,
Cremona
ed., part
ii.
fol.
iool>.
251
in
the
latter
this
life."*
be,
is
identical
with that
more mischievously. Thus, not only the sporadic good actions of those
which, however,
it
is
applied
who
all
natural goodness
can find
reward
only
in
this
world.
The
Kabalah
of this kind.
its
not disfigured by methodised enormities There are times also in which it loses
.grotesqueness for a
unhappy
change necessary to sinners. Those who are oppressed with sin need a change of place, a change of name and a change in their
"
actions,
even as
it
Get thee
out of thy country (Gen. xii. i). Here is a change of place. And Neither shall thy name any more
:
shall
be
Abraham
Here
is
a change of name.
evil
change
actions to
good
The Christian mystic might develop actions."f the significance of this quotation in connection with the new name of the Apocalypse, the new name
received in confirmation, ordination and the monastic
and conventual
life.
Such
;
Zohar,
edition,
sacrifice
I,
Cremona
8,
eel.,
it
6,
where
is
Compare
the
Mantua
man
is in
himself a true
and
t Zohar,
Cremona
ed., part
ii.
fol.
98^.
252
^he
it
concerns only the initial fact of spiritual life. We have seen in the fragments of the Bahir that
the scriptural history of the Fall of man is disfigured The rather than elucidated by Zoharic commentary. of the first sin are thus described in the consequences
Faithful Shepherd.
"
Come, see
Had Adam
not sinned
man would
became
have known
acquainted with the taste of death before ascending to the world above. Through the sin of Adam the
rational spirit (RuacJi)
is
in this world.
(Dan.
vii. 10),
after
is
it
to the
other
garments of
of the body in the present world and therein is its habitation for
it is
clothed therein
ever."*
important because it shows that has nothing better to offer us Jewish theosophy than the old Biblical instruction that sin brought
This passage
is
"
death
into
the
world
and
all
our
woes."
It
is
not our purpose here to question that doctrine, but simply to demonstrate that the Zohar, where it is
intelligible,
instruction.
in their
*
Ibid.,
part
iii.
Upper
or true
Eden
is
fol. 79^. According to the Idra the principle of life and understanding.
Zuta the
oHritttn
subject.
SB orb
of jftabulism
253
The
air
have an
perhaps
of mystic
naturally
doctrinal
wanting
matters.
commentary
is
upon
the ordinary of the Shekinah to the other lights of creation relation is like that of the soul to the body, but she for the
said
that
divine manifestation
"
presented under a feminine stands to the Holy Blessed One as the body
is
soul."
In
this,
of course, there
is
is
nothing
of the
profound
the
Shekinah
the vestment
Almighty. But the discourse of the Faithful Shepherd adds that all are one, that is, God is one with His
manifestation.
This
may
is
be illustrated by the
spiritual
much
the
more
interesting
;
and
doctrine
of
Eucharist
the bread
mode
which
Zohar.
veil
He
"
assumes.
It is
is
His body
is
reason.
The one
"
This
is
modern occultism has agreed But the Holy Blessed One is life, and the to reject. Shekinah also is life. Whence it is written She
:
[meaning the Shekinah, but the Scriptual reference is to Wisdom] is a tree of life to them that can lay
hold
upon Kabalism is
her"
(Prov.
iii.
18).
The Shekinah of
visible
not, however,
in
merely the
splendour
The Faithful the Holy of Holies. affirms that the Holy Blessed One is con Shepherd cealed in the mysteries of the ThotMh and is known
which shone
or manifested
by the commandments,
this
is
for
these anis
His image.
This
a very
it
does
254
TOe
Jtoirtrine
gift
It
appreciate we feel that a depth is added to the sacred tales of may not at this day feel disposed to Jewry.
is
We
accept literally and, so to speak, physically the alleged manifestation in the Temple here the Zohar helps
;
of the legend, and we acknowledge gladly that the little people of Palestine, encompassed by the
idolatrous nations, had truly something of the divine
in
the law
"
The passage
the
continues
As He
is
humble, so
is
is
Shekinah
;
humility
as
as
He
is
benevolent, so
is
she benevolence
He
is
strong, so
as
;
He He
is
is
the crown, so
is
she
glory.
Therefore the
that
all
As
the
interior
He
;
image of the Holy Blessed One, whose whose outward splendour is the is,
He,
his interior internally, she his exterior
Shekinah
externally, so
that
no difference
subsists
between
is
Him
an
difference
is
removed
the
is
internal,
is
and
as, further,
nature of
YHVH
concealed,
therefore
He
the
name
of the Shekinah,
255
Adonai
am
written
[YHVH] am
Malkuth,
in
read."*
The connection
between
the
Shekinah
and
the light of the alleged unity of God and the vestment which conceals Him, suggests the
identity of the
divine and
the
universe, but
it
is
only in the sense of immanence. The Kabalah, as we have seen many times, is in some respects the very opposite of pantheism.
the
pneumatology
concern,
firstly,
is
of
the
Faithful
They
the
great
Metatron,
who
He
his
is
form
the garment of Shaddai. According to some is that of a while others ascribe to boy,
female aspect This shows a connection with the Shekinah, and indeed Metatron, with the difference of an added letter, signifies the cohabiting
this angel a
glory.f
There
is,
l,
secondly,
cerning
first
Samae
was once a servant of the Holy Blessed One and the second a maid of Matroncetha.J Their
ultimate destruction
is
is
hinted, but
meanwhile
Lilith
So
she, too,
is
God
s minister.
ii.
fol.
106^,
Myer,
"Philosophy
of Ibn
p. 341.
iii.
t Ibid.
part
fol.
io6A
iii.
fol.
ij4/>.
VIII.
The extant
by Rosenroth
Part
I.,
are located
edition
col.
:
as
the
Cremona
Part
II.,
col.
250.
Dr. Ginsburg has discovered others in the Amsterdam edition, to which his references are made. They
traverse
Zohar, such as the evolution of the Sephiroth, the emanation of the primordial light and so forth. In
a word, the contents show nothing which need detain As an example of the puerility and pre us long.
tensions of
its
exegesis,
let
us
take the
following
passage
"
It
is
written,
If
thou
is
faint
adversity,
thy strength
;
small
if
Thy
this
strength
this
means,
his
grasp on the
;
In the day of adversity Thorah become languid. means, when he so weakens his strength becomes
small [thus changing the simple statement of Scrip What is meant by ture into a foolish platitude.]
small
It
means Ko-a h
Then
near
to
of words signifying the Throne of Glory]. the evil is expelled, so that it cannot come
man and cannot accuse him [the meaning seems be that when a man does not weaken in adversity,
his strength is like that of the right hand, the Throne But when of Glory being on the right of God]. man deviates from the Thcrah [or has a weak hold
is
the
strength of the
hand, because that evil which is the left side rules over man and sets aside the Throne of
The
Glory."*
ddlrittcu
<lorb
of giabftliam
shall
257
On
the whole,
we
most of us prefer
that giving
Solomon
way
in
the day of adversity is a Those sign of weakness. who prefer the Mysteries of the Thorah have full
opportunities
significance of
for
entering
more
deeply
into
the
Solomon s homely aphorism, for they have only to remember that the Throne of Glory is a title of Tiphereth and of MalkutJi occasionally
,
because
is
supposed by
it
Myer
is
King
is
discovered in three
far
it is
colours.
The
first
it
is
above and so
but
away
that no
distinguished (dimly) by contracting the range of vision [/.*., by the closing of the eyelids, as in The second
blinking].
in its purity,
with one eye shut, and cannot be seen by the other eye except when that eye is shut so that it can see little, as in The clearness
is
colour
seen
blinking.
Of
u.
this
is
written,
What
seest
thou
[Jer.
i.
The
prophet, however, did not see the will of God but a branch of an almond-tree]. The third colour is that
bright luminous mirror which cannot be looked into
all, except between the rolling of the eyes when the lids are altogether closed and move in their they sockets. There can then be seen in that rolling the
at
light of the
can be comprehended only by him who beholds the shining with eyes shut, whence it is written, The li.md
of the Lord was upon
*
me
(Exck. xxxvii.
i),
and The
Ibid., part
i.
fol.
890.
258
^he
Iportrinc
xxxii. 22).*
hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening (Jbid. No doubt the Kabalists had visions and
means of inducing
this
it
visions, as also
all
the seers
while
no
intelligible result.
let
As another example,
of the
Thorah can
tell
who
appeared to Abraham.
"
It
is
written,
2).
And
lo,
three
men
(Gen.
ether,
in
xviii.
this world,
appearance even as a child of man. And they were three like that above, because the rainbow is
only seen
in three colours [this point
should interest
these are three
ethnologists].
Surely
colours,
this
is so.
And
is
men
red
three
is
white,
red
white
is
Michael, because he
is
The
;
the
Gabriel, because he
the
side
and the
green is Raphael. And these three colours are those of the rainbow, because it is never seen otherwise
Hence
it is
written,
And
the Lord
appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre (Gen. xviii. i), that is, the Shekinah revealed itself in
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament (Dan. xii. 3). They shall shine with a light which
these three colours.
It is also written,
is
That
brilliant
light
which
lights, is
hidden, the spark of all sparks, of all therein invisible and hidden, concealed and
is
made known,
*
seen
This shining
Zohar,
Cremona
ed., part
i.
fol.
66a.
259
light
came
out
from
the
in
enlightenment, shown
night.
And
this
is
called
by the name
this
The account
to be a
in Genesis,
is
commentary,
upon which
men are three angels clothed in the light of the Shekinah scarcely removes the diffi culties. The explanations of Christian interpreters
to say that the three
may
much
any instance, and more especially in that section which dissolves the mysteries
in
Zohar
may
be appended
When man
Thorah,
is,
the
joins himself with the truth, that he requires proving in the same
;
place where his father was put to the proof so shall he ascend perfect and shall return perfect. Adam went up, but, not watching over himself, he was
enticed by that harlot, even
the
first
serpent,
and
[i.e.,
Lilith].
It is written,
And Jacob
And went toward Haran, that 10). the side of the harlot, which is a is, From mystery. the strength of Isaac, that is, from the strength of
judgment, from the lees of old wine, went out a spark which comprised male and female, and it spread itself
out to
is
many
sides
and
into
many
is
paths.
The male
called Samael,
always comprised
8oA
i.
fol.
260
in
^he
;
on the
evil side,
in the other.
The
called
female of
the
harlot."
Samae
*
l,
which
is
the
serpent,
is
IX.
We
many
chapters of his romances by pretended quota tions from old plays which existed only in his
imagination, and
occasionally happened that these contained stronger lines than much mythical excerpts
it
Moses de Leon wrote the Zohar out of head will account in a similar manner
own
the
manifold fragments of unknown treatises which are found only in that work. Of some of these it may
also be said that they are
more
Zohar proper. As we have seen, the whole world Book of of Kabalism has agreed to exalt the Concealment over all the other discourses attributed to Simeon ben Jochai, but for the purposes of our
"
"
present inquiry it must be confessed that considerable Secret Commentary." The interest attaches to the
"
extant
fragments of this
edition
at
in
the
Cremona
col.
the
following places
Part L,
257, 260, 261, 264, 265, 268, 269, 272, 273, 276,
296, 370.
The
field
is
chiefly that
of
destiny of souls, future punishments and rewards, the resurrection of the body and the doctrine
the
*
Zohar,
Cremona
ed., part
i.
fol.
86a.
fiBritteu Sttorb of
38abalim
261
concerning angels and demons. The connection of the soul with the body and the perfection which
is
to
come
:
for
passage
"
R.
Abbah
:
feet
Rest and peace shall be thine, R. Simeon ben Jochai, for thou hast brought back the crown, that is, the Thorah. We have learned in the
said
and
Mathnuthah Kadmoah that because the higher soul [Neshamah] dwells in its perfection in the upper
place
[i.e.,
prior to birth],
it
the
body
[Neshamoth]. These come out of her, but she abides in her place. Thereupon R. Simeon ben Jochai stood up and explained If in this world which is
:
body which is a fetid particle, the Neshamah yet enters, verily, in the time to come, when all are made clean, when the body will be
vanity, into this
in
the fulness of
its
world above.
R.
said
This very soul and this very body the Holy Blessed One is prepared in the time to come to
:
establish
in
in
eternal
be
the perfection of knowledge, attaining to perfect that which cannot be reached in this world." *
Occultists
are
accustomed
to
regard
the
re-
assumption
of
the
same
physical
body
by
the
progressed and glorified spirit as an unphilosophical and material doctrine, not at all of that kind which
we should expect
it
to
meet with
in
the Zohar
it
but
is
there
all
we
shall find
more
i.
fol.
760.
262
fully
^hc
to
these,
death.
"
R. Isaac said
At
that time
having deserved
the
it,
body
lies
peacefully at
is
written,
in
He
shall
they
shall rest
one walking
does this
:
in
his uprightness
(Isa.
2).
What
in uprightness.
R. Isaac said
in
Paradise."
same Rabbi
only created a paradise on earth and a Gehennon on earth, but a garden of Eden above, and a Gehennon above. He
not
created a garden of Eden on the earth below, as it is written, And the Lord God planted a garden eastward
in Eden (Gen. the earth, as
ii.
The Holy
One
8).
is
He
it
written,
land of darkness, as
itself (Job x. 22). In like manner he created a garden of Eden above, as it is written, But the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with
darkness
God
7).
(I.
Sam. xxv.
29).
And
it is
again
The
it is
unto
(Eccles.
xii.
above, as
written,
of the middle of
this
a sling
i.
fol.
750.
t Ibid. fyb.
"vThe
(iilritteu
aHorb
of JUbalivMu
263
be observed, the citation from Job does not at all refer to any earthly Gchennon, nor does any such
consequence as a superior place of perdition follow from the text in Samuel. The Zohar unfortunately
abounds
in this
kind of unreason.
point
The next
infor
mation from the occult commentary butive justice in the world to come
"
that of retri
R.
this
Judah
life
said,
The time
of a
man s
departure
the day of the great judgment, for But then the Neshamah separates from the body.
from
is
does not depart from this world until he has Hence it is written, There beheld the Shekinah.
man
shall
no
man
see
me and
the
live
(Ex.
xxiii. 20).
Three
the
angels come
with
Shekinah
to
receive
it is
Neshiimah of the righteous. Hence And the Lord appeared unto him
also
in
written,
Mamre
the day of judgment, which burns even as an oven for the separation of the
is,
That
Neskamah from
he has done, and through whom he confesses, yea, even with his mouth. When the Neshamnh sees this, it parts from the body as far
as the opening of the gullet
it
and there
tarries until
has confessed
all
has committed
Then
the
Nashamah
rejoices over her deeds [the higher soul is presented by the Kabalists under a feminine aspect] and because she has been so The soul of R. Isaac adds, faithfully preserved."
of the righteous
man
"
thi-
just
man
when
it
shall
depart
264
^he
from
the
this vain
world so as to rejoice
in the
world of
future."*
Setting aside such grotesque details as the pausing of the soul in the gullet, and the mere confusion
occasioned by the mention of an oral statement, what is described in the passage above is almost identical with the Catholic notion of the particular judgment.
According to this the Christian soul, whatever sentence is about to be pronounced upon it, sees Christ, as the
soul of the
find, therefore, that the Zohar at its presence. best has no richer gift to offer us than a variation
We
upon
It
is,
all
perhaps, superfluous, as to the Kabalist it is certainly useless, to point out that the apparition of the angels to Abraham in the plains of Mamre can
by no natural process of exegesis bear the construction It is understood, of course, that the placed on it.
Kabalah has no such processes.
Having seen how the soul is judged, another quotation will afford us some vague notion of the
future happiness of the righteous
"
R. Joseph said
At
;
man
shall
attain full knowledge namely, in the day when the Holy Blessed One shall rejoice over His works, the
just shall
know Him
in their hearts,
if
and
their
under
our
they had seen Him And it shall be said God (Isa. xxv. 9). The
:
when dwelling
in the
body surpasses
i.
fol.
750.
a he SBritten
all,
Herb of 38abalism
265
knowing and and rejoicing in the Creator, comprehending splendour of the Shekinah. This is what is meant
because they are both constant,
their
world to come.
by the good which is preserved for the just in the Hence it is written These are the
:
generations of Isaac,
Abraham
This
refers
is
to
joy and
Isaac,
Abraham begat
this
(Jbid.),
that
is,
the
in
soul
brought forth
R.
the world.
Yehudah
said unto R.
is
Cheyah
a feast which the Holy Blessed One will prepare for the righteous in the coming time. What is this
?
feast
He answered him
When
came
before those
holy angels, even the lords of learning, I knew only this which ye have heard, but afterwards I received
the explanation through R. Eleazar, who said The feast for the righteous in the coming time will be
:
thus, as
it is
written
11).
Now
we have been
in another,
taught.
And
We. have
and
We
fed.
have rejoiced,
We
have been
R.
What
is
the
difference?
Thus spake
Those of the just who deserve so much only, the same shall only rejoice in the reflection, because they
cannot comprehend all, but the truly righteous shall be satiated till they attain the fulness of under
standing.
This, therefore,
is
to
be understood
by
eating and drinking, and the same is the feast and this also is the partaking thereof. Whence have we
this?
From Moses,
Lord
for
it
is
written:
And
he was
:
forty days
and
forty nights
he
266
did neither eat bread nor drink water (Ex. xxxiv. 28). For what reason did he neither eat bread nor drink
water?
even the
It
fed
is
by another
from above.
feast,
celestial
splendour which
And
The
coming
it
time shall consist of rejoicing in his joy, for The humble shall hear and rejoice written
:
is
(Ps.
xxxiv.
rejoice
2).
Thereupon
:
R.
Hunnah
said
All shall
who
R. Isaac said
in
to come.
is
We
in
the grapes from the first six days signifies the ancient and mighty words which have not been revealed to
man
made known
come.
this is
It
which
is
to
And
so."*
thus
it is
be acknowledged that in this very interesting passage the Zoharic doctrine is a great advance upon the monstrous allegory of the salted
leviathan in the Talmud, and yet the point reached
must
much circumlocution in the rabbinical dis course is summed up in a single sentence by the Christian apostle, who says that it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for those who love Him." Nor is the
with so
"
mystical significance greater, though Isaac Myer has increased it by pointing out that the term wine the mysterious vitality and signifies Kabalistically
"
i.
fol.
80.
vlhe (SHrittcu
SOorb
of
Jabaliem
267
spiritual
on
its
or secret.*
As
gives the following statement by R. The Samuel speaking on the authority of R. Jacob into the hands of the souls of the wicked are given
Commentary
"
angel Dumah [the Angel of Silence who, according to the Talmud, has charge of disembodied spirits],
to
Gehennon
if
for judgment"!
As
it
Two
Commentary
The mandrakes give vii. 13). Our rabbis is to come the Holy
Blessed
One
will
quicken the dead and will awaken dust, that they be no more an earthly
Formerly they were created from the dust of the earth, which hath no permanence, as it is written And the Lord God formed man of the dust of
:
But in that time they shall be ii. 7). from the dust of that building and shall stand a firm building, and the same shall be unto them a lasting
habitation.
Thus
. .
it is
written
Shake
dust
arise
"
may Hammadresh
* 358. Philosophy of Ibn it-bin t Zohar, Cremona ed., part i. fol. It Though this also is taught here and there in the medley. be added that a quotation furnished Jellinek from the Beth
>1,"
j>.
8ot>.
l>y
represents that the Divine Compassion, touched by the sufferings in hell, ordains the release of all in bondage therein.
268
Ihc
gtortrin*
anb
JDittratttre of the
They
Israel.
they shall
rise
up from under
diffuse over
For at that time the Holy Blessed One shall them all kinds of odours from the garden
it is
of Eden, as
written
The mandrakes
;
give forth
a smell.
R. Isaac added
Do
not
call it
mandrakes
[Dudaim} but friendship \Dodini\, meaning that body and soul are friends and companions to each other. R. Na hman said This word truly means Dudaim, for
:
the
Dudaim [understood
It
What
a pleasant smell.
known
and comprehended by their generation. And at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old
Our gates/ that is, the (Song of Solomon vii. 13). gates of heaven, which are open and through which the Neshamoth shall descend into the bodies. All
manner of pleasant
fruits
is,
;
New
them
and
for
from them
many
those whose souls have departed years and those which have left
a few days past, yet deserve, through the probity of their actions, to enter the world to come."*
Hence
Christianity,
it
Kabalistic world to
come
is
and hence the destiny of the righteous is substantially identical in the Zohar and in the
Apocalypse.
"
Secret
the risen
also that
body
in the
which was
"
much
is
better expressed
by
St.
It
it is
raised a spiritual
body."
i.
fol.
80.
c&lrittcn
SBorb of gabalicm
"
269
The other passage is as follows Neshamah has its nourishment from splendour, the Holy Blessed One says
:
While the
supernal
the
to the angel
Dumah
Go and
prepared to quicken
up the just in the age which is to come. But the body answers Shall I have pleasure when I have decayed? [Referring to Gen. xviii. 12 where Sarah says After I have waxed old, shall I have pleasure ?] Even when I have decayed in the dust, and have
: :
my
is
.
.
flesh,
shall
it
be possible for
me
to be
renewed
Then
Holy Blessed One says unto Neshamah : It therefore written And the Lord said unto Abraham
the
: .
is
24).
anything too hard for the Lord? (Gen. At a time which is known to me for
I
xviii. 13,
raising the
dead,
shall
made
wholly new, even as it was formerly, that it may be like unto the holy angels. And that day is set apart for me to rejoice with them, as it is written The
:
glory of the
shall rejoice in
Lord
shall
endure
(Ps. civ.
for
ever
the Lord
His works
31)."*
\Ve
all
the destiny of the soul, the Kabalah has nothing to offer us but that which Jew and Christian possess independently of any secret
subjects,
namely,
doctrine.
We
this
common
that
is
it is
doctrine
insufficient,
so held by occultists.
transfigured
is
we
learn
which
270
Ihe
"
His servant (Gen. xxiv. 2), this The oldest servant means the servant of Elohim.
said
:
When
of his house
(Ibid.).
Who
:
is
this
It
is
Metatron,
the grave.
who
is
body
in
Hence
is
written
And Abraham
is
the
first
of the creatures of
Elohim, governing all that belongs to Him. The Holy Blessed One hath given him dominion over all
His
hosts.
And we
Rab
that
all
the hosts of the servant take delight and felicity in have learned also that the pureness of the soul.
We
the light of the soul in the world to come is greater than the light of the Throne and that the soul takes the light from the
Throne."*
of
The last statement seems to mean God is essential to the Godhead, but
acquire her lustre. must leave these interesting fragments at this Much as we may despise the imbecile theory point. which would attribute them to the inventive genius
We
of Moses de Leon,
afford
it
no support
X.
Beyond
i.
fol.
"j6b.
The
ollritten
<3Qorb
of
JUbaliem
271
may
be
fall
noticed
for
the sake
:
of
completeness.
not
of
to
They
Certain
fragments,
considerable im
the
common
;
two
;
editioncs
2, Excerpts namely, from a commentary on Ruth 3 Excerpts from a work entitled Mansions or Abodes 4, One portion of a treatise on the Secret of Secrets.
,
"
"
I, "Additional Pieces"
Other fragments which are peculiar to the edition and are therefore wanting in that of Mantua, namely, I, The quaint history and dis
b.
Cremona
course
of
Young
Man
;
2,
Excerpts from an
Explanation of the Law 3, Excerpts from a Com a discourse mentary on the Song of Solomon
;
"
beginning
entitled
"
Come
and
See
"
4,
Some
pieces
Traditional
Receptions."
A.
THE ADDITIONS
The small additional pieces which pass under the generic name of Tosephtha, i.e., additauienta, or accessions, are scattered through the Cremona folio
as
follows
Part
I.
col. 83,
87,
145,
176,
188,
189,
;
203, 222, 259, 265, 295, 303, 318, 367, 371, 487, 513
Part
col.
II. col.
426
Part III.
184,
1
163,
177,
86,
191,
441.
Some
addressed
secret
more
particularly
proficients
in
the
Perhaps the things of Kabalistic doctrine. most curious of all concerns the Treasury of Souls
"
all
the spirits of
the just
272
^hc
jportritte
hidden before
[i.e.,
thought, each in his likeness the divine thought, possessing they existed in
Him
characteristic individuality].
But when
He
formed
then were they manifested,* remaining before Him, in their own likenesses, yea, even in the
the world,
highest
place.
He
then
gathered
them
into
treasury in
treasury
*
is
the supernal garden of Eden, and that never filled, but cries out for ever
:
come
I
to
pass,
9).
and
new
their
do
declare
It
(Isa.
xlii.
What
all
does this
mean ?
means,
treasury
show
forth
by
name, and
this
nor appetite, save only to accumulate souls therein [the word here used signifies the higher soul, or third principle of the Kabalists], even as Gehennon,
lust,
and
Give
!
Give
means, Burn
souls
till
Burn
this world.
Through
[not the supernal Adam of the Atziluthic world], which brought on the evil
the sin of
Adam Kadmon
side
to
soul
clothed
these
[i.e.,
garments
and
ii. 2Oa, Mantua, where it is said that all things creatures before they were associated with the universe, and whatever the time of their existence, appeared in their true forms
Compare Zohar
all
before
ii.
God at the beginning of the present creation. See also Mantua edition, t Brody edition of the Zohar, iii. 303^. 97, concerning the profound mysteries of that Palace of Love where
who
i
(lilritteu
i&iovb of glabalism
273
Adam did not take place on earth, but in a higher region, which is indeed a recurrent legend of mysticism. The involution and confusion of Kabalistic
this
it
From
psychology
is
well illustrated
"
by another passage
:
Let the earth bring forth the This means the animal living creature (Gen. 24). nature [Nephesh} which is the higher life [i.e., Chaiah,
It
is
written
i.
referable to
Chokmah
life
in
the Sephirotic
system].
And
because this
[Nephesh Chaiah~\ is holiness from above, so when the holy earth draws up through her, and is comprised in her, then is she called the higher soul [Neshamah].
And come,
in
see
Whensoever the child of man walketh when his mouth and tongue utter
this
forth
holy
words,
having
He
is
many watchers protecting him on all sides. designated for good above and below, and
him."*
B.
unknown Midrask Ruth which occur in the Zohar will be found in the Cremona edition, Part I., col. 61, 86, and Part III.,
col. 114, 124,
It
should
attributed to Rab,
who
* Ibid. 30 1 a,
b.
274
^he
I
ipcrrtrittt
and as
printed,
believe
is
it
possible that
quotations.
There
is
also
extant
an
allegorical
printed,
and
We
have
work anterior
which there
It
is
must not be confused with the excerpts which, under the above title, termed in the original
HIKLVTh, rendered Palaces by Rosenroth, give account of the structure of Paradise and the infernal
Their places in the Cremona edition will be found in Part I., col. 116 et seq. Part II., col 358 The mansions are seven in et seq., and col. 438.
region.
;
number and were the original habitations of the After the fall of man they were earthly Adam. reconstituted and became the abode of the saints. The term which signifies Mansion, Temple or Palace,
applied to Malkuth, in which Tiphereth is said to be concealed as in a palace. So also the name
is
Adonai [ADNI], Lord, is the Palace of Tetragrammaton, because it is the same number as This name is attributed to H\iL,=Palatium=6$. Binah, and in an especial manner to Kether, on the authority of the Zohar proper, for HIKL,
Palace,
* is
the place
in
which
HKL,
that
is,
the
Commentatio Allegorica super quinque parvos Libellos, videlicet, Canticus Canticorum, Liber R^ith, &c. See Bartolocci, Bib. Rab. These commentaries, with "allegorical expositions of the Ancient Rabbins,"
were printed
at
in 1550.
dht
all, is
(rittfu
$lorb of $abalism
that
275
contained,
applied
to
all
the
the
HIKLVTh =
plural,
Palaces,
are
the
branches
of
the
The
says
palace
of
Rosenroth,
us
tell
concerning the seven heavens, one above the other, like the layers of an onion. Each heaven trembles
with fear of
its
Lord, through
whom
they
all
exist
and
all
One
are taken away. Over all the Holy Blessed holds all in His power." There are also seven
"
earths below, arranged after the same manner. These earths are disposed according to their names, and
between them
is
the Garden of
Eden and
Gehenna."
They
like
are inhabited
four faces,
creatures of
whom some
have
humanity.
"
They
are
Adam
some of them
shells,
It
like the worms which are found in the earth." would serve no purpose to enlarge upon monstrous
inventions
of this kind.
which some occultists suppose them to possess is again evidently the plan upon which they are based, and to understand them is to know the method by
which they can be calculated
neither
out, so to speak.
In
For they justified to reason. example, we have just seen that ADNI is the mansion of JHVH; by counting the numbers of
these
case
are
names we see why the Kabalists said this, but we do not see that it served any reasonable It is entertaining and curious, purpose to say it.
276
Jiabalah
is
assuredly theosophical
D.
THE SECRET
in
OF SECRETS
is
The
treatise
is
single
fragment which
Part
II.
extant of
this
found
of the
Cremona
edition,
It treats, firstly, of the con beginning at col. 134. nection between the soul and the body, of which a
sufficient idea
tions
has been conveyed by previous quota and, secondly, of physiognomy, which, no doubt, in a certain manner connects with the lower divisions of occult science, but is not of much
;
It may, however, be importance to our inquiry. worth while to say that Kabalistic physiognomy proves, as might be expected, to have no connection
whatsoever with any accepted principles to which this empirical art may be supposed to have attained, and
indeed, purely arbitrary and conventional. Lavater was something of a mystic, but fortunately for his
is,
knew
Four
general
types of the human countenance are dis tinguished, and these are referred to the faces of the
four living creatures in Ezekiel
s
vision.
We
have
thus the leonine, the bovine and the aquiline types, and another, less easy to characterise, but correspond
ing to the living creature which had the likeness of a man." The approximation of any individual to a given type depends upon his intellectual and
" "
"
moral rank.
to the
Secret of Secrets,
in the external
lineaments, but in the features which are mysteriously drawn within us. The features of the face vary,
flBritten
SHorb of gabaliem
277
following the form which is impressed on the inward The spirit only produces all those face of the spirit.
and
it is
through the
Wisdom] they
form which
is
afterwards
M. Gabriel Delanne, the latest and perhaps most accomplished writer on the French theory of reincarnation, would say that the Zoharic fragment
here refers undoubtedly to the perisprit of the Kardec
school of spiritism, which he holds to be the plan or type upon which the body of the man is fashioned.
pretends that every feature in a given countenance indicates to those who can read therein whether it is possible or not for the
"
The
Secret of Secrets
"
also
It possessor to be initiated into divine mysteries.* is, perhaps, unnecessary to say that the fragment does
not disclose the rules which governed the sages in their discernment, so that the Kabalah is not likely
to be of
much
who
may be inclined to include physiognomy within the charmed circle of the secret wisdom.
E.
The little history which has passed under name will be found in the Cremona edition of
Zohar, Part.
*
the
II.,
comprised
in
a few columns, 91 et
preceding
In the writings of the Gaon R. Shereerah and other literature the appearance of the Zohar we meet with notions of
They
recur in the
after
the
"
Book
of
Con
cealment."
or
Hammnuna, but living at the period in question with his widowed mother in a certain village. One day two disciples of R. Simeon
ben Jochai, namely, R. Isaac and R. Judah, passed through this village on a journey and paid a visit to
the widow.
When
wished to
present him
blessing, but
unamiable manner of prodigies. The reason assigned by the narrative is that he discerned by the odour of
their
"
garmenls that they had not recited the requisite in honour of the unity of God. Hear, O Israel
"
He
On
the symbolism
because
it is
written,
So they
shall
and
is,
Aaron and
when
(2)
(4)
On On
;
bless
(Gen. 16) cautious critic will not be prepared to deny that the invention of this history was beyond the genius of R. Moses de Leon. However, the discourses con
the
xlviii.
and on
other matters.
The
vinced the disciples of Simeon ben Jochai that such a precocious youth could not be the child of human
parents,
and the great light of Kabalism, when the remarks were repeated to him, coincided with this
opinion.
(SHritten fillorb of
gabalism
279
Our
utmost
limit,
and
this
in
for
whole.
Though
correctus,
he regarded the
Mantua
edition as
Codex
Rosenroth ingarnered all the tracts and he fragments embraced by that of Cremona when codex but it must be produced his own careful
;
in
all
probability
elapsed
it
date
when
was
first
printed.
We
have no means
of knowing how much of it was actually contained in The suspicion under the script of Moses de Leon.
which
it
has remained
may be
;
by
works which frequent quotation of unknown considered fictitious but the Zohar was have been
its
edited prior to the persecution of the Jews inaugurated and by the atrocious edict of Ferdinand and Isabella,
many documents
existing in Spain
Again, it is destroyed during that fiery epoch. libraries contain impossible to say that Continental
no MSS. by which
be
justified.
Zohar might
The
been catalogued
critical
knowledge
contents
is
possible
by
Let us take, for example, recourse to bibliographies. a commentary on the Canticle of the passages from
Canticles,
which
is
peculiar, as
we have
seen, to the
Cremona
I
These excerpts have not, but there is a MS. in the believe, been identified,
editio princeps.
Vatican
Library
which
is
mentioned by Buxtorf
280
^he
under the very same title, namely, Midrash Chazeeth* It is the work, as he tells us, of an unkown author, but a uniform tradition assigns it to a Tanaite commen
tator
circa
A.D.
100.
The
existence
of
;
such
work, should
of
a
course,
predicates
nothing
but
why
be called
a reference to Proverbs
correction, but
I
29?
speak under
know
idiosyncrasy of the author, and I am inclined to infer therefore that the same catchword would not have
been used by two writers, but that the editor of the Zohar quoted the alleged Tanaite treatise.
XI.
work which
have remained
concealment
be expected to lead to the discovery or manufacture of continuations or con nections thereof, and thus we have two series of
may
and distinguished as
its
productions of this kind multiply their authenticity does not tend to assume a stronger guise, and the documents with which we shall deal in this section
the reader will do well to regard as without determined
As
Among later MS. commentaries, also in the Vatican, Bartolocci mentions that of R. Abraham ben Isaac Tze mach Levi, the physician, and that of R. Immanuel ben Solomon written towards the end of the
fifteenth century.
QBritten QUorb of
claims.
I
Ub*li0m
281
importance and authority have been always ascribed by Kabalists to the Ancient Supplements, and
according to Franck they have been known as long as the Zohar itself. They contain explanations of the
term
BRAShlTh by
R.
added
at the end.
It
Napthali at Mantua
in
Immanuele
Cracovia.
di
Benevento,
at
Among
ments we
human body
Sephiroth,
whence the
practical
magic of the West may have obtained later on its notion of divine and angelic names ruling those members.*
The apex
is
referred to Kether,
Tiphercth, the
arms
to Chesed
legs to Netzach
and
Hod, the generative organs to Jesod, the feet to Later Kabalism recognises other corres Malkuth.
pondences, the arbitary nature of which
is
obscured
sometimes by an appearance of methodical precision. There are better things than this in the supple
it
may
word
be well
that
some out of
the
in
all
the
seventy ways
interpreting
rendered"
much -debated
Genesis
which
be
beginning"
should
According
to
the
Zohar
itself the erect figure of humanity Tctragram superposed one upon the other,
424, Mantua.
282
^he
suggestive as well
A
it
single instance
suffice.
is
In
the beginning
God
from
the soul
when
emerges
taught
void,
bosom of
the earth
its
mother and
is
thereof.
And
and
darkness was upon the face of the deep (Gen. i. 2), because the eyes of the soul were closed. Hath it
opened
its
eyes
And God
is
said
Let there be
light.
Hereafter
this then
is
man
gathered in from this world, and written about the soul. And God said,
Let the waters under the heaven be gathered unto one place, and let the dry land appear. When the
soul
as
*
is
his
dry land.
just
scheme of
initiation has,
it
must be admitted,
an influential mystic precedent in the biblical exegesis of the Zohar, of which the above passage seems to be
a very neat instance, arbitrary beyond all words, and yet not without a certain grace of notion.
One
Ancient
Elijah,
"
of the most celebrated quotations from the Supplements is, however, the Prayer of
though it belongs only to the prefatory part.* Lord of the universe, one alone art Thou, Thou art the most but not according to number. sublime of all that is sublime, the most withdrawn
things concealed, and conception cannot attain Thee. Thou hast produced ten forms which we call
of
all
and Thou guidest by means of these the un known and invisible as well as the visible worlds. In
Sephiroth,
*
preface.
283
Thyself and, permeated by Thy harmony remains undisturbed. Who soever shall depict them as separated, it shall be accounted unto him as if he dismembered Thy unity.
veil
in successive gra another short and the long, but Thou art He third intermediate between them
;
who guideth them, and whether from above or below art guided Thyself by none. Thou hast provided the with garments which serve human souls as Sephirotk intermediate phases Thou hast muffled them in
;
members
of the
human
form.
Thou
art the
Lord of the worlds, the Foundation of all foundations, the Cause of all causes Thou dost water the Tree from that source which spreads life everywhere, as
;
But Thou hast the soul spreads it through the body. Thyself neither image nor form in all that is within or without. Thou didst emanate heaven and earth,
that which
celestial
is
is
and
Thou do
know Thee.
Yet no one
Thy
that
reality
we know only
art
can
be no unity, and
the
are
Thou
Lord of
all.
Each
which
Sephira possesses
called,
all
names them
are informed
force
by
and
reality.
shouldst withdraw [from the vestments], they would be left like bodies devoid of souls. Thou art
wise,
Thou
yet
not
with
positive
wisdom
thou
art
284
Ihe
intelligent,
but
not
with a
;
definitive
intelligence,
yet
all
man may
conceive Thine
omnipotence and may be shown how the universe is guided by means of severity and If there mercy.
fore a right or left side or
it
is
only to exhibit
Thy
any
sponding
The
distinction
attributes,
and hence between God and the Sephiroth, which in a manner are His attributes emanated, is insisted on
elsewhere in the Supplements by the help of a striking
illustration
"
Woe
of His
they are
like
unto
madman who
of his insignia. Behold a king wears his insignia that he may be known through them, and verily, only
the
King of Kings, the Concealed of all the hidden, the Cause of all causes, is disguised in a splendid garment so only that He may be known thereby, and
thereby
may
conception of His sacred nature."* This distinction has at first sight an appearance of considerable profundity, but perhaps in the last
analysis
it
is
it
is
finite humanity there is a and unseen nature behind all its manifested
Supplement,
21.
285
Man
is
not exhausted
by any de
is
scription
true also of
God seems
scarcely necessary.
it
From what
that the Ancient
will
be seen
in
Supplements are
identical
their
teachings with the Zohar itself, and some affirm that the original work had existed from time immemorial
at
Fez
in
Africa.*
We
is
this statement,
nor
with Isaac
ciples of
the Gaon of the Sages of Chirvan on the Caspian Sea.f There is, on the other hand, no need to say that hostile critics make use of weak
points in the Ancient Supplements as if there were no distinction between these and the Zohar proper.
In the section on the bibliographical content of the
there any authority for supposing that it was brought thither by dis
Book of Splendour we have seen what braced by the New Zohar, namely, a
"Hidden Commentary,"
is
broadly
em
sequel to the
a commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, and another on the Book of Lamentations. This enumeration
it
will
be
unnecessary to say that occultists are for the most part unaware that these tracts are in existence. I should
translated, nor
am
acquainted with the existence of any printed copy beyond that of Cracow, though it has been termed the editio princeps. This appeared in 1703, or subse
Its
history seems
Compare the statement which rests on the authority of the Supplements, that the full publication of the Zohar is reserved for the end of time.
t
"
Philosophy of Ibn
Gebirol," p.
47.
286
^he
jp0ttitt.e Jtnb
literature of the
it
entirely
unknown, and
would be preposterous to
It may also be noted claim concerning it. that later still Isaac ben Moses of Satanow, though
make any
otherwise of some literary repute, wrote a forged Zohar which may have deceived a few persons, but it
BOOK
VI
THIRD PERIOD
ARGUMENT
The growth of Kabalistic literature is sketched, firstly, in the commentaries on the Zohar and, secondly, in some independent treatises which connect with the Two works general tradition. are chosen for separate consideration, one on the Mysteries of Love,
its general diffusion, and one on the application of the Kabalah to Alchemy, because of the importance of its design and the credit which it has obtained in the modern school of
because of
occultism.
I.
SPLENDOUR
works which are recommended by Rosenroth as assisting to a better comprehension of the Zohar fall under two heads namely, those which are designed
to elucidate technical matters
THE
may
claim to be original expository treatises. In the first are included the Words of Understanding," which is
"
actually a Zoharic lexicon or vocabulary; the "Gate of the Eyes," which is concerned with the Scriptural passages in the Zohar and Ancient Supplements
;
The second
section contains
288
32Ehe |p citrine
zm& literature of
tlte
giabalah
"Way
the famous
"Garden
of Pomegranates," the
its
of
Truth,"
with
the
sequel
the
of
"Fount
of
Wisdom,"
and
proper,
entitled
the
the
Zohar
Priest."
the
may
be regarded as extensions or developments of Zoharic doctrine, but more especially of that part which is
concerned with spiritual essences.
is
The scope of our too simple and elementary for the dis inquiry cussion of technical matters or the pretensions of
word-books and other collections which deal with
these.
in the
Except
in
be available
scholar
who has a first-hand acquaintance with the To mention them in this place will be Zohar. therefore sufficient, and we may proceed at once
to
the
consideration
of
the
commentaries
rise,
and
to
work gave
and
in later
A.
MOSES OF CORDOVA
that the Zohar
first
Assuming
in
became known
there
was a lapse of two hundred and fifty years, according to the dates fixed by modern scholarship, Hence this before any literature followed from it.
literature
may be
the
Cremona and Mantua editions. Franck says* that two Zoharic schools were founded about the same
*
La
Kabbalc,
p. 4.
vlhc eilritttn
SQort of Jgztbaliem
289
time in Palestine, namely, the middle of the six teenth century, the first by Moses of Cordova, and the second by Isaac de Loria. On the other hand, Bartolocci* and Basnagef agree in assigning Moses of Cordova to the fourteenth The earlier century. date is of importance to the of
in
untouched
need
only
this
study,
depend upon
it.
Here
say that Franck does not state his or indeed his reason for authority accepting the later period. In either case Moses of Cordova is
the
that
first
Bartolocci
commentator on the Zohar, for, assuming was mistaken and that Basnage
error, Joseph Gigatella, called the Kabalist and thaumaturge, who was of the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, was a writer on the Sephiroth, and connects with the Sepher Yetxirah rather than the Zohar, though he refers to the Kabalistic Work of the Chariot
reproduced his
divine
As his name indicates, Moses of Cordova was a Spaniard, but he travelled to Palestine, and it is conjectured that he was instrumental in founding the Academy of Sapeth in nine miles
Upper
it
Galilee,
from Bethsaida.
of
make
illustrious,
for
he
was
regarded
greatest light
real significance
monuments of Kabalism, but, althnu-1, appears worthy of praise, he sec-ins complain that R. Moses was uantin- n Howe
t<
originality.
t.
Inhliothcca
Ma^na KaMnnica,
iv.
t.
p, v.
ULloirc tksjnifs,
p.
1942.
290
this
Ihe
may
high
"
is is
known
entitled
is
of
the
Garden
Pomegranates
(Pardes
Rimmonivi\
plants are an orchard of pomegranates." says that, after the manner of Kabalists, Basnage he discovers whatsoever he pleases in that single The pomegranate, with its innumerable sentence.*
iv.
13
"Thy
a favourite object for symbolism, and the garden, orchard, or paradise has deep lessons for all mysticism. Here, in a general sense, it is the
seeds,
is
treasury
of Scriptural
is
which
it
meanings
described having four consonants, these are classified as four PRDS the P
:
signifies the
literal sense,
the
enigmatic sense,
and S the
"
secret
and concealed
sense.
may
"
Garden of Pomegranates is be well imagined, the an obscure and difficult treatise, and the attempt made
by Rosenroth
to
dismember
it
for the
purpose of his
Apparatus, while it gives no idea of its contents, creates The attribution of a lively image of its complexity.
the letters of the Tetragrammaton to the Sephiroth, the mystic meaning of words deprived of their context, the names applied to the Sephiroth, their superincession and their union with Ain-Soph, the mystery
of the Throne and the Shekinah, primeval Tohu and Bohu, the unknown darkness, these are specimens here and there of the subject matter. But as the
heart of the Kabalist, in opposition to the ascribed character of his nation, was fixed with peculiar in*
1.
vii.
c.
The
CAlrittcn
fill
orb of JRiibaliem
291
man and not on so his chief interest was the temporal concerns, soul, ever recurring in his writings, as if it were impossible to atone sufficiently for the silence of his sacred books. There is therefore no need to that a
say
special tract
in the
"
Garden of Pomegranates
"*
is
dedicated to the
it
subject of the soul, discussing the region from which emanates, its purpose in the world, the profit of its
its
creation,
its
angels,
its
their
one with
another, the Sephiroth to which they are referred, the places to which they resort after death, the absence of
in
many
individuals,
human
being.
The
evil
simulacrum which presides at generation a phantasmal image of humanity which descends on the male head cum copula maritalis cxercetur
inferius.
chapter to the
affirmed to be sent from the Lord, and no pro creation can take place without its It is presence. not, of course, visible, yet might be seen if licence were given to the eye. This phantom or is
It
is
imago
prepared for each man before he enters the world, and he grows in the likeness thereof. With the
Israelites this simulacrum is them from the Holy Place.
holy,
and
it
comes
to
To
those of another
descends from the side of impurity, and hence the chosen must not mingle their people simulacrum with that of the
religion
it
Gentile.f
Namely, xxxi., translated in the Kabbala Denudata Apparatus in l.ibntm Sohar pars .r,v//;/,/,/, 100 et j,y. t This fantasy rests on the authority of the X,har, which states t is an emanation of the celestial form of each man, /.,-.,
i.
Tract
-Mantua
//
edition,
iii.
107.
292
^Sthe
the
gabalah
Another curious speculation is founded on a text of the Zohar which says that the good works performed by a person in this world become for him
vestments of price
in
Here was
a poetic sentiment which had to be methodised and made literal inevitably by a late Kabalist. When a
has performed many good works finally from righteousness and is lost, what becomes away of his earlier works ? Though the sinner may perish,
falls
man who
If,
therefore, there be
will
King, yet wanting something of his vestments, God supply the deficiency from the good works of the
impious one. The preference is given to those who, taken in their youth, have been unable to fulfil all
the precepts of the Law.
B.
ISAAC DE
LOR A
i
Of
very
that he
this
little
is
Kabalist Bartolocci and Basnage have to tell us, and it is not necessary to say
He is ignored by writers like Graetz. to the seventeenth century* and referred by Basnage
as aiready seen, to that which preceded has been regarded as the greatest rabbinical doctor at his period in Germany. However, he died
by Franck,
it.
He
at
himself,
to him.
body Chafm
The substantial authenticity of the great of his doctrines collected by his disciple, R.
Vital, has not, however,
his hostile
judgment of Loria,
Histoire desjuifs,
1.
vii. c.
c&lrittcu
SHorb of gabali&m
that he was,
like
293
on the ground,
firstly,
;
Moses of
Cordova, not original and, secondly, that he departed from Zoharic Kabalism to indulge in his own reveries,
a criticism which stultifies
itself.
It
is
certain,
how
this
and that
He
is
and he makes good reading because he is a wild fantasiast. Rosenroth terms him the eagle of
reflection,
the Kabalists.
far his
of course, impossible to say how scribe and disciple, R. Chaim, may have de
It is,
veloped his developments and elaborated his fantasies. The vast thesaurus which represents both seems
never to have been printed, except
in the
in so
far as
it
is
Kabbala Denudata, where the excerpts, given whole treatises, fill some three hundred embodying
quarto pages of close print.
I.
i.e.,
They include The first tract, so called, of the Liber Drn shim* Book of Dissertations, forming the second volume
:
of the collection.
It
was
surprised, as he expresses
its
it,
ness of
much
could sympathise, as
we
book
devoted
to
the
Christian
students
of
the
Kabalah.
II.
ment,"t
commentary on the
It
is
"Book
of Conceal-
in
of the
not given
absolute
integrity
cujus
J
maximum partcm
infra
cxliilhmus,
says Rosenroth.
*
t Ibid.
Kabbala Denudata, Apparatus .... pars secunda, ii. pars sefttnda, tradatus quartus, p. 3 et scq.
In the Pnrfatio
i.
28
et .vy.
ad Lectorem,
p.
16, vol.
ii.
294
Ihe
III.
The
"Book
of the Revolutions of
in
Souls,"*
forming the
collection,
first
tract
the
fifth
volume of the
which seems to have been even larger than in fact, almost the camel s load of
portion of this tract seems to have been printed, or another under a similar title and
attribution,
in
namely,
De
percussione
Sepulchri,
at
Venice 1620, together with De Precibus, recalling another subject treated in the collection. The Ltber Drushtm is a metaphysical introduction
to the Kabalah,
and abstruse questions much after the manner of the scholastic philosophy, and there is no doubt that
Isaac de Loria would have diffused a great light of
reasoning at Salamanca had he been a Christian Doctor instead of a Jewish Rabbi. His first point, as
he
tells us, is
late
and
early, had already outwearied themselves, namely, for what reason were the worlds created and was their
creation of necessity ? Assuredly from the period of the Angel of the Schools, the halls of Salamanca, of
Padua, of Louvain and the other seats of scholastic learning, had echoed with this debate. Perhaps the
Kabalists
owed something
of
Christianity
one another.
the
In
the early
so-called
Areopagite
Wisdom
Sephirotic emanation in the angelical world, and the of the Exile was encompassed on all sides by
It
would
Kab. Den.
ii.,
234
et seq.
(utlritteu
(yHorb of JBnbaliem
295
be
interesting
to
discriminate
the
extent of the
tincture
and
to ascertain
Kabalism sounded lower depths than the schoolmen, but I doubt whether the dimensions of the present volume would suffice for this one excursion. Let me
indicate therefore the answer of Isaac de Loria,
and
the
of
perhaps some
quartos
will
student at
find
large
among
scholastic
in
fail
illuminating
is
parallels
Scholastics.*
The answer
all
that
God cannot
perfection
in
the
works
and names
of
;
His
but His glory magnificence, unless those works were brought from potentiality into act they could not have been termed perfect, as The name regards either the works or the names.
Tetra&rammaton signifies perpetual existence, past, present and future, in the condition of creation before the creation, and thereafter in the immutability of
things.
all
But
is
if
them, it could not have thus signified the continuity of existences in every instant of time, and Tetragrammaton would have been an empty
that
in
name.
How
very curious
of
is
the
intelligent
creatures
many
parallel treacheries
among
scholastic rcasoncrs,
were there any one at hand to disinter them. So also the name of A,i\ or the Lord, involves the idea of ministers or servants, and if there were no ministers
//<//,
God
*
creation of the
But after the could not be called by this name. worlds and the production of the
He
must ^o further, however, than B. Hareau
Paris.
in his treatise
De
l88o.
296
^he
r>f
the
Jhtbdah
divine works from potentiality into accomplishment, God has fulfilled His perfection in every operation of
in
all
His
The next
is
why
it
point discussed by the Liber Drushini the world was created at the time and moment
was. and not at an earlier, or, for that matter,
that
The answer is that the supreme and most excellent Light is infinite, exceeding com prehension and speculation, and that its concealed
at a later epoch.
Before any is far from all understanding. was produced by emanation therefrom, there thing was no time or beginning therein. This is the solution
foundation
of
the difficulty
it
which
is
offered
by
all
official
theology, and
could have no aspect of novelty at It may be affirmed the late period of Isaac de^Loria. in a general way that when the Kabalists touch the
common ground
their
epoch
also in the
not for long that works like the Liber Drushim confine themselves to
it
is
common ground
of the
Sephiroth and the manner of their another question, as he tells us, which has emanation, involved all Kabalists in controversy. Do they
region
proceed
in
the simplicity of a
in
successive series, or
their
emanation
columns
for
There
third,
is
authority for
homo-
<<Ehe
297
Isaac, are
centric circles.
hard and
difficult to resolve,
on the authority of the Zohar, namely, that before the order of things was instituted, they were disposed
one over the other, but
pillars,
after
that
time
in
three
central
those of Mercy and Severity, with the column of which Kether is the summit and
sidered under a dual aspect, namely, as regards the in each and as portion of the Divine Light contained are again regards the containing vessel, while these into an ambient and an inward Light, distinguished
internal vessel.
The
existence
many worlds prior to the Sephirotic emanations affirmed, herein following, as we have seen, both
Zoharic
tradition.
Talmudic and
last chapter.
Finally,
several
in
the
The study of the Liber Drushim may be occultists who have especially recommended to those
been taught to regard the Kabalah as a doctrine of certitude, whereas it is largely empirical, its leading
theorems giving
their proper
rise to as
much
meaning as the
the
principles of
speculative philosophy.
The commentary on
"Book
of
Concealment,"
as might be expected, is written somewhat on the It does not yield itself Incus a non lucendo principle.
it
takes various
paragraphs of the text and exposes their meaning consecutively, with the help of the Idra Rabba and
the
Idra Zuta.
The
peculiar
designation of
the
treatise
is
"It
"
explains
why
it
is
ment and
that of Modesty. On the authority of the Zohar, section Pekude, the balance symbol, which has
this treatise so
made
famous
in
Kabalism,
is
explained
to represent the
principles,
which
indeed follows from the developments of the Lesser Holy Synod." The male denotes Mercy, the right
hand
the pillar on the left hand. termed the Father and the
the
Hebrew Alphabet are referable to Jod and Nun. The Father is perfect love and the Mother perfect The latter had seven sons, namely, the severity. Edomite kings, who had no foundation in the Holy
Ancient One.
the
lights dispelled
by
source of lights concealed within the Mother. Male and female are conformations of the Holy
Ancient One, corresponding to Kether, and repre sented mystically by three heads signifying a,
:
the Unmanifested
that
it is
that which
b,
manifested
in
the
thirty-two
paths
the
;
One
Supreme Crown, which is the Holy Ancient and c, the Head which neither knows nor is
A in
Soph.
side
Chokmah, and on the other is the latens Deltas, and C/wkmah, or Wisdom, is the Father, while the Mother is the increment of Understanding, i.e.,
Binah.
skill
in
developing
299
the symbolism of the three supernal Sephiroth must suffice as a specimen of the whole commentary,
which, the
it
may
He
that
Book of Concealment." chapter of the concludes that the sum of the whole mystery is
first
man
to
in
his
prayers should
of
all
fix
his
mind upon
he
the
foundation
foundations,
that
may
derive
In this manner tion from the depths of that source. the obscurities of Kabalism are at times redeemed
is
extracted
The Book
"
is
no
doubt a more fascinating treatise than an obscure as the Sepher exposition of so obscure a work Dzeniouthi, but it is also difficult to give account of
it
in
a small
for a Kabalistic develops is work. The greatest importance has been attached
system which
it
to
it
by
who made no
doctrine.
It
distinction
will
later
is
really involved
in the
famous
de Loria.
is
The
"
basis of
Book expository synods, concerning the seven Edomitc kings who emanated
of Concealment
its
scheme and
"
to the production of the present In these kings there was good as well as universe. evil, and a separation was therefore made, that which
now
constituted.
Each
its
Supernal
Father, Supernal
Mother,
300
Ihe
and they
corre
some
sponding to the Bride, some to Microprospus, some to the Father Supernal, some to the Supernal Mother, and some again to the Microprospus in the world of
Assiah.
in
The
Psyche
reference to the supernal per sonalities of that world has therefore five parts the
:
Assiah, which
Psyche
mundus
Psyche, or Nephesh of Assiah, the factivus ; the medial spirit, or Ruach of the
in
the
Psyche factiva ; the mem, or Neshamah ; the vitalitas, or Chaiah ; and the singularitas, individuality, or
Jechidah,
all
belonging to
the
is
Psyche factiva, or
Nephesh of Assiah.
five-fold division
There
a similar distribution
its
being referred to Yetzirah, Nesha Chiah to Atziluth, and Jechida, possibly to the world of unmanifest Deity which is beyond
mah
to Briah,
Atziluth.
five-fold
Loria
division of four
Each of
the five divisions are again attributed as follows in the Sephirotic scheme
:
I.
i.e.,
the
II.
Ruach
III.
Neshamah
to the Mother,
i.e.,
Binah.
IV. Chiah to the Father, i.e., Chokmah. V. Jechidah to ether, i.e., the Crown.
We
added
are
now
in
position
to
standpoint of Franck
his
when he observes
own
reveries to
Zoharic teaching.
The
A!
he CjQriltcn
<llorb
of
$Ubalism
301
developments have
All
plastic
at the
these
souls were
at
to
all
Adam
the
time he
head,
the the
others
members.
Israelites,
Now
who
look
souls
those
in
of
the
are
the
nnica
for
terrain.
We
and
the
must
elsewhere
nations
of the world.
parts
shells
The
the
recrements,
rejected
cortices
Belial.
of
Edomite
kings
are
or
which
Adam
protoplasts partook of the forbidden fruit, their fall confounded the good with the evil of the cortices, that
of
Adam
Adam
Belial,
of his bride
Lilith, the spiedtics of the serpent; for the serpent had commerce with Eve according to Isaac de Loria,
It
was
This
Kabalism and
devotion
the
souls
which
their
fixed.
To
put the
are
position
tersely,
in
of
of
the
Israelites
distributed
the
in
members
his
the
protoplastic
Adam, regarded
the
four worlds,
and
the
the serpent
by -eix uition
separated
fr
is
v-
in
302
^he
and the
Israelites
From
(i)
the time
when
thus confounded two things have been necessary That the good man should be separated from
;
the evil
(2)
be
restored.
The
first
is
accomplished
by
the
observation of the prohibitive precepts of the law, a nd the second by that of the affirmative. Both
classes
and
in
must be accomplished in all their number, thought, word and deed, by every soul, whose
fulfilled.
each of
its
This
scheme
to
seems
return
to
apply exclusively
to
the
only be
whence they came, and Adam obviously not under the law. The scheme, however, is subject to a certain mitigation, as
destined
Belial
is
revolution proper is sometimes replaced by status Revolution is the entrance of a soul embryonatus. into the body of an infant at birth to experience
the
pain
and
trial
alternative
condition
body of a grown man, who must be thirty years old,* i.e., when he is obliged
the the
precepts.
The
status
either (a]
to
fulfil
;
in question
entered
tion
or
which was neglected in the preceding revolu (b) For the benefit of the man who is
*
of reason.
SBrittfit
oEorb of Jtabalism
33
For the
impregnated, i.e., to justify and direct him. occurs (i) For the cleansing of sin;
fulfilment
Revolution
(2)
of
neglected
precept
(3)
For
the
which case
the prior
is perfect in justice (4) To receive who was not deserved by the soul Four souls may revolve in revolution.
one body, but not more, while the status cmbryomitns may associate three alien souls with a single man,
but again no more.
The
object of
all
revolutions
and
Kabalistic embryology is the return of the Israelites into the stature of the first Adam, all
all
in
his fall
since he included
Such
is
the
Kabalistic
doctrine of
revolution
It is not pure Zoharic according to Isaac de Loria. nor is it any scheme of reincarnation doctrine,
at the present peculiar to any school of occultism In so far as it differs from the Zohar, it would day.
be unreasonable to regard
old tradition
;
it
as a fuller light of an
yet fitly Vital out of the head of Isaac de Loria, and perhaps
scribe.
C
This German
NAPTHALI Hn
Kabalist
teenth century, but I find no biographical particulars His work, entitled "The Valley concerning him.
of the
roth,
King,"
who
gave,
in
compendium
of one
of
its
entire
content
the
form
hundred and
304
^he
"
thirty
Kabalistic
Theses,"*
;
arranged
with
con
the second place, the first six sections of the treatise, designed as an introduction
siderable perspicuity
in
to the
Zohar
"
that part of
The
greater part
Royal Valley Kabbala Denudata, the excerpts extending over several hundred pages. Its author belonged to the school of
Isaac de Loria, and appears to have traversed a portion of the ground covered by the Lorian MSS. of R.
of the
"
is
know these only, as we have seen, the excerpts of Rosenroth, which are concerned so by After largely with the doctrine of spiritual essences.
same manner that these develop and exaggerate Zoharic pneumatic teaching, so the Royal Valley extends Kabalistic cosmology, but not with as much
the
" "
Chai m Vital.
We
extravagance. The mundus prior of Kabalism, i.e., the emanation of the seven Edomite kings, is termed the
world of Nephesh, and it was destroyed with the souls belonging to it because evil prevailed therein. The
actual world
is
be good.
Then
new world
shall suc
ceed that of Neshamahy and this will be the Sabbath of grace. It follows, therefore, that the present order
must pass away, and this is symbolised by the death of the second Hadad, the eighth Edomite king, as
*
i.
sectinad,
50 et seq. t Ibid.
% Ibid.
p.
47
et seq.
The
recorded
in
I.
eiBrittfu
<&lorb
of |iabali0m
305
Chron.
i.
50, 51.
God
will
establish a
creation and will bring forth from His glorious light the mystery of the Xcs/immth of
new
His great name. The dominion of this Neshamah is the king who shall reign over Israel, and in that day the Lord shall be one, and His name one.
hypothesis of the creation of the world with the contraction of the Divine Presence, begins
"
The
producing that space which is termed primeval air. Before the emanations issued forth and the things
light
was
infinitely
When
it
came
into the
Supreme Mind
to
of His
and
was
in
every
direction from a particular central point, and thus a certain vacuum was left in mid-infinite, wherein
emanations might be
It
is
manifested."
to
this
treatise
that
curious conception of the evolution of the Sephir<-t/i by a process of explosion through the excess of
light
From
the fragments of
good and
evil,
and myriads of
souls.
This
notion
Loria,
it
is
identical in its developments. impossible to compress the scheme of the treatise within the limits that are here possible, I will
and becomes
As
is
"
Royal
all
Valley"
regards Kcther as
.SV/////W//, so
in
potence
the
remaining
306
^he
Pre that they were not distinguishable therefrom. as in man there exist the four elements in cisely
potence but undistinguishable specifically, so in this Crown there were all the remaining numerations." It
is
added that
in the
restoration, Kether became the Cause of Causes and We see, therefore, that, the Ancient of the Ancients.
according to the late school of Kabalism, the first attempt at manifestation by the latens Deltas went
utterly astray,
is
evil
This peculiar
instruction
Talmud.
D.
ABRAHAM COHEN
IRIRA
philosophy,
which
"
he
sought
to
harmonise
as
with
Kabalism
"
in his
Gate of the
Heavens,"*
we have
His other treatise is Beth Elohim, the already seen. House of God," containing three dissertations in exposition of the doctrines of Loria, but directly
Faithful
Shepherd,"
"
Ancient
So much space has Supplements" of that work.f been given to Kabalistic psychology that it will be permissible to dismiss this writer in a few words. The
dissertation in the
"
"
chiefly
Jochai,
who
*
\
is
....
1
partis
tertice
tractatus /., p.
t.
i.
SBritteu uBorb of
$abalim
307
it
recites
the system of the hierarchy of evil spirits, who are still termed cortices, or shells, and of the ten sinister or impure numbers. It examines also in a special chapter the opinion of R. Isaac de Loria
concerning
eleven classes of shells, and of R. Moses of Cordova concerning the connection of the angels with the
celestial
bodies,
and concerning
ments.
The second
and the seven heavens, while the third deals with elementary spirits and the nature of
angelical orders
the soul.
The House
of
God
among the books which constitute the Zohar, but it is simply a commentary or development, of considerable
sphere,
yet
neither
possessing
any
pretension to antiquity.
E.
R. ISSACIIAR
BEN NAPTIIALI
contemporary of Loria, and, like him, was a German. His chief work, the Vision of the Priest wa* printed at Cracovia in It is a
"
"
1559.1
the
synopsis of
properly, analysis of its contents, distributed under a of titles, each of which is sub-divided
to the
*
entire
/ohar,
or,
more
a methodised
number
Mosaic books.
for
It
has
been
As
duction to Ins
kablnlnh
in
p.
i.
<l><
, tractalns primus,
MM*
Unveiled."
Denndata,
ii.
fin p rima
,,,
et
.ivy.
308
^ht
JUbalah
impossible to
study,
make
use of
it
for the
purposes of this
and
it is
of the scholar
on a
who may desire to consult the Zohar given subject. The other works of R. Issachar
mentioned
at
the beginning of the present section as outside the scope of the present inquiry.
treatises
II.
When
more
given
order
of
mystic
symbolism,
we can
is
get
have already
usually
entitled
Fire,
is
superincession of typology
somewhat dazing in its results. The treatise jEsh Metzareph, which signifies Purifying
an
instance
of
the
application
of
Kabalistic
is,
so far
I am aware, the sole instance of its kind. In this connection we shall, however, do well to remember
that Hermetic and Kabalistic philosophy are ascribed by the majority of authorities in occultism to a
common
alchemy
*
well illustrated
by such legends
as that
11,
their
Thus Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes), see Book vii. Magia Adamica that the learning of the Jews, i.e., Kabalah, was chemical, and that Flamel s "Book of Abraham
affirms in his
is
the
Jew"
See A. E. Waite,
p.
"Magical
Writings of
Thomas
London, 1888,
112.
309
of Rabbi
Abraham and
title
Flamel.
"
It
is
true that a
"
of
The
Philosophical Stone
attributed to Saadiah
it
know
in
by Moses Botrel, but we only by a single quotation, and we are not a position to say whether or not it is concerned
metallic
with
transmutation.
to
A
in
few
alchemical
Zohar, which the existence of an recognises archetypal gold, and regards the metals generally as composite substances.
allusions
are
be
found
the
less
than incidental,
is
and
it
is
needless
seriously
to
no occult
theo-
chemistry,
speaking,
the
great
sophical storehouse.
The
Aramaic
Talmud
treatise on Purifying Fire is written in Chaldee, which is the language of the and the Zohar. It was made use of so
largely by Rosenroth in his Lexicon that practically the whole work is found rendered into Latin in the
It was recon pages of the Kabbala Denudata* structed from this source in the early part of the
eighteenth century by an occultist styling himself A Lover of Philalethes, and was by him put into an English vesture, f In the year 1894 this translation
a series of Hermetic reprints under the editorship of Dr. Wynn The preface Westcott.J and notes which accompany this edition appear under
in
was included
the
value.
No
information
is,
I make this statement on Dr. Westcott has ever seen the original since Rosenroth.
authority, hut
no one
treatise collected
t Aish Metzareph, or Purifying Fire. A Chymico- Kabali*t ic from the Kabbala Denudata of Knorr von Rosenroth, London, 1714.
Collectanea Hcrmctica, vol.
iv.
London, 1894.
310
Ihe
gloctune
original,
mtfc
and the gaps occurring in the recon struction have not been filled. There is no evidence available by which we can
Chaldee
fix
this treatise
was composed.*
It is
It
is
subsequent, of
which
it
quotes frequently.
subsequent to the
Garden of
treatise
to the
also quotes.
borrows processes
from R. Mordechai, a Kabalistic alchemist, whose date I have failed to discover,*)* and it refers to the forged
Latin treatises of Geber.
that
it
We may
therefore conclude
does
not
antedate
Rosenroth
by
any
considerable period, and may be placed conjecturally at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Finally,
it
contains expressions which are common to most of the Latin alchemists, and were by them derived He that is wise may from the Greeks, such as,
"
correct
interest
natures."
It
or
importance
which
would attach to a
chemico-Kabalistic treatise of the Zohar period, and I have not been able to find any evidence as to the
authority ascribed to it. In the supplement to his
Mysteries,"
"
Key
of the
Great
firstly,
what he terms
* It is mentioned by Claverus in a treatise entitled "Observations on the most useful things in the world," 1706, p. 72 et seq. He gives an account of it designed to show that the Jews accommodated the
also that the
Kabalistic Sephiroth to Chrysopccia, i.e., the art of Alchemy. He states Jews hold the sEsk Metzareph in such high esteem that
they consider no Christian worthy of reading it. number of writers, mostly Kabalistic, are classed under this t
name
in the
bibliography of Bartolocci.
The
ffiriiten eSlorb of
gabaliem
311
the fragments of the ALsh Mctzareph, terming it one of the most important books of Hermetic science secondly, the complements of its eight chapters, being further fragments which he claims to have discovered
;
;
thirdly, the hypothetical restitution of the original.* The methods of the brilliant French occultist are well
illustrated in
each case.
It
fragments are designed to exhibit the difficulties and the weariness which his researches have spared to his
readers,
and to
and serious
The
the
first
section proves
when
examined not
to
be
The second
which
is
is
The
show
saw the original which some have said is still extant, or he would not have so misplaced his he
ingenuity.
Lastly,
attributes the
Rabbi Abraham of the Flamel legend, thus investing it with an antiquity which is
to
work
briefly, the
heads of
contents,
it
is
ssh
Metzareph must be for the ordinary student only a curious memorial of the connections instituted
See Rensfigncmcnts 405 ft
se</.
stir
Its
grands mystcres dt
la philosophic
itjnc, p.
t Firstly,
in
the
;
title,
/. ././/
du Jttif Abraham
secondly, in the hypothetical treatise which connects it with the mystic book
Mctzarf/>/i
reo.mj..,siti<,
.IKzareph n of the
Flamel.
The sEsh
in the
l.y
is
is
entirely
ii.
anonymous, and
included as such
bibliography of Wolf,
1265.
312
^he
between two
described by
of
mystic
symbolism.
"suggestive
It
is
latest
editor as
rather
than
explanatory,"
its
alchemical
that they
in such a processes are not set out could be carried out by a neophyte
;
way
do
so
would
at
discover
stage alchemical
that
or
missing
is
one
all
other."
The statement
and the ALsh
true of
literature,
Metzareph has the common difficulties of purely Hermetic books further complicated by the system of Gematria and the Sephirotic correspondences of
the metals.
On
is
is
in
this
mysteries of
"
alchemical transmutation
superior mysteries Sephiroth of the material world are identical with those of the archetypal, and they are
Kabalah."
not
from
the
of
the
The
the
same
in the
mineral kingdom.
The
alchemical
all
metals
all
The Crown
Lead
is
is
con
so also
is
referred
immediately from Tin has Kether, as Saturn from the metallic root.
Chokmah)
which
proceeds
the place of Binah, Silver that of Chesed, and these three are the white metallic natures. Among the red,
Gold
is
in
Tiphereth, and the hermaphroditic Brass with Netzach and Hod. Quicksilver is referred to Jesod, and the
"
to
Malkuth.
little
The
attribu
some
cases a
conventional,
and
it
Written
authority.
ffitorb
of
gabaliem
"If
3* 3
any one
shall
another order,
not
one
truth."
In
The
three
Supernals,"
and llinah are the three fountains of metallic things. that is, Mercury, is Kether, Salt The thick
"
water,"
is
is
Bi/ta/i"
says
treatise,
is
for
known
reasons."
Jesod
Tiphereth correspond Netzach is Tin, Hod Silver, Gold and Iron is Lead, while Malkuth is the
;
Geburah
and
as
before
is
Copper,
"Metallic
"Field
Woman,"
the
"Luna
of the
Wise"
and the
the
Water
of
Gold."
The
attribution in
"
which
should
no tongue
expla
there
may be
nations offered
fore be taken
is
The
superficial
not
referred to
Chesed
"
on account of
whiteness,
The Kamea or which denotes Mercy and Pity." are given in connec Magical Squares of the planets tion with each of the seven metals, but not always
correctly.
The
in
is
well illustrated
vision
Daniel
of the
interpreted alchemically
by
314
^He
tlte
gabalah
III.
With the
Irira,
exception of
use of a vulgar tongue. To that exception we must now add the case of R. Juda, son of Isaac Abravanel, better known under the designation of Leo the
Hebrew.
is
no reason of
a necessary kind for his inclusion in an account of the chief documents of Kabalism he is exceedingly late, having been born in the kingdom of Castile
;
shortly
after
is
the
and
it
Jewish tradition by becoming a Christian. At the same time there are two points by which he is forced upon our notice in the first place, he is a favourite
;
subject of allusion with occult writers, and cannot therefore be overlooked in a work which deals
in expressly with the occult interest in Kabalism the second place, his dialogues on love have been
;
treatise.
According
appeared at Rome in the year were reprinted at Venice in 1541. 1535. They Then they were translated into Latin by Sarrazin,
and
first
being published, according to Wolf, in 1564 at Vienna. This version, which has been praised for
its
elegance,
Pistorius in
his
famous
Artis
Scriptores,
Basle,
1587.
first
twice into
Spanish, the
and
the
only
one
of
my
acquaintance,
315
there being that of Juan Costa, in 1584. Lastly, have been at least three French translations, namely, Pontus de Thiard, 1580; the Seigneur du Pare
by Champerrois
Though
from
his
is
said,
in
Italian,
Ferdinand and
the
in
edict
of
1492.
His
first refuge was Naples, where he entered the king s fell into service, but the king died and his realm hands of Charles VIII., after which the Spanish the became a wanderer. Some say that he
Jew again
and,
and
Ponilles,
in
to
Venice, where
that
he
died
1508.
Others
relate
and
honour for a practised medicine with the change, real or pretended, long period. As to in his religious opinions there is also serious con
there
fusion.
Basnage says that he was a man of a mild nature who mixed familiarly with Christians, but inveighed against them in his writings, especially Pistorius, on the priests and the Pope.*
against the other
represents him as a converted based on Jew.f He is the subject of high praise, in the bibliography of Bartolocci.J intimate knowledge,
hand,
It
interest
Leo the Hebrew is not of an intelligible kind, and it is past speculation why he was included by
in
*
///i/. iksjitifs, 1. vii. t. v. pp. 1898, 1899. t So also does Drach in his notice of the Kabalah in
HHarmonie
entre
? Eglise
et la
Synagogue.
Ral>lnni>a,
Hibliothtca
iii.
86.
There
is
no mention of his
"
Dialogues" conversion in the notice, but the original edition of the as u i nnlionc Hfl>rto ct di poi fatto Christiano. describes their aullu
i
316
Ihe
gto-ctrine
Pistorius
in
his
look
in
vain
for
doctrines of
the
Jewish theosophy, as
the
we have
learned
them from
Zohar
we
we have
Italian
now
of
of
Boccalini,
and
of
if
now
of
the
declamatory
Latin
the
exercises
dialogues,
Palingenius.
The machinery
;
belongs to classical
illustrations,
mythology
the allusions,
the
the
;
when
is
not Aristotle,
it
reference to the
folio
Kabalah
a
in
and
is
then
of
slender
allusion
to
successive
renewals
the
world,
which suggests
"
that
"
the
author had
<
misconceived the
Concealment."
restoration
of the
Book
of
nothing which would lead us to suspect a Jewish authorship except such negative evidence as the
similarly entire absence of
If the
any Christian
reference.
work can be
it
the
unwise
is
literature
of the sixteenth
century in
Italy,
And
It
is
here, indeed,
is
its
popularity.
not only so pleasing, so educated according to the lights of its period, so correct in its sentiment and
breathing so
little
its
of
JUbaliem
317
it
recondite thought.
it
One
worth while to append a glossary of its thought difficult words, but it has no difficulties and its words
are simplicity
itself.
has
mere names to suggest transcendentalism to an occult student, and more than one criticism has
with the love of supposed it to be concerned wholly God. As a fact it discerns in all things the activity, the influence and the power of the master passion,
much
love
always
is is
felicity.
Delectation
is union with beloved, and the good and the beautiful are identified in words that recall the light
life
is
of Fichte.
it
The
general
definition
of love
that
is
all vivifying spirit which permeates the entire universe. bond uniting
definition
of the perfect love of man and woman is the concurrence of the loving with the beloved to this into the end, that the beloved shall be converted the partakers lover. When such love is equal between
described as the conversion of the one into the Below this human love there is not other being mere animals, but in only that which subsists among
it
is
3i8
^he
Doctrine
anfc fpterattire
x>
the
things insensible, in the first matter, in the elements and in the heavenly bodies, which are drawn one to
move
in regular
a reciprocal affection.
sexual aspect.
God
is
loved in proportion as
He
is
known, and as He cannot be known entirely by men, nor His wisdom by the human race, so He cannot be
loved as he deserves, for such an exalted sentiment
transcends the power of our will. The mind, there fore, must be content to know God according to the measure of its possibility and not that of His
excellence.
love
of
God
are
both necessary to beatitude, for He is the true intellectual agent with Whom consists felicity, which
is
in the
not to be found in the knowledge of all things, but One alone who is Himself all others. This
in the act cognoscitive of God, nor in the love which succeeds love, such knowledge, but in the copulation of the most
felicity
which leads to
interior
sovereign perfection of the created intellect, the last act and happy end in which it finds itself rather
divine than human.
Such copulative
felicity
with
God
cannot, however, be continuous during our present life, because our intellect is here joined to the matter
of our fragile body.
the divine nature on the ground that the love, the lover and the beloved are all one in God that God
;
alone
is
the end of
all
and that
319
is
the stimulation
of a desire of good for their sake and not for His own. It may be inferred also that a transcendental
meaning
tions
is
as
that
contemplation, of the graving of the image of the beloved in the thought of the lover, and of the ravish
ment of
this state.
IV.
of
all
Kabalistic writings to which any currency has been given in connection with the claims of occultism, but
has
list
a special
by Bartolocci at the beginning of his great work, and those who desire to pursue the subject further will
there see
place.
It
how
is,
A few names, however, may just be mentioned which are to some extent typical of the minor literature of Kabalism.
inquiry.
When
find
at
historical horizon, in
was on the verge of the the reign of Alphonso X., we Toledo Rabbi Mevi, the son of Theodore,
the
Zohar
Prince
of
the
Levites
of of
Burgos.
Though
he
Kabalism, light opposed Nachmanides, thus showing that at a comparatively early period there was little unanimity among the
doctors of theosophy and the voices of tradition on
Kabalist
and
320
^hc
His book
is
Before and
indicate that he
every point of view.* Side by side with philosophical Kabalism the spurious practical part, the Ars Kabalistica, never
wanted
in
its
professors.
As
may
One of his the early part of the fifteenth century. practical secrets was the determination of the sex of
an unborn child by placing the nuptial couch from
north to south, thus indicating respect for the majesty of God, which resided between east and west, and might suffer dishonour by marital intercourse taking
place in the
same
direction.
it
Such consideration,
without
its
reward
in
In the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, and a victim of their edict of expulsion, flourished Joseph and the Kabalist the divine Gikatella, called
abounded
in Italy,
in
many
of
whom
persecution
his
Apologia affirms that his demonstrations of Christian dogma in Jewish theosophy effected the conversion
of a Kabalist
named
Dattilius.
As
it
is
one of few
may
Bartolocci,
Bibliotheca
v.
Magnet Rabbinica,
iv.
Basnage,
Histoire desjuifs,
1773Bibliotheca
Magna
Kabbinica,
ii.
840
Basnage,
v.
1895.
1899.
vihc $iritlen
&lorb
of
gabaliem
321
Long
afterwards,
to say, in
1613,
Thessalonica, but
residing
"
Venice,
also
abjured
Judaism and wrote the Path of Faith." So also, about 1672, Mordekai Kerkos a treatise composed specially against the Kabalah, but it has not been
printed. Basnage hints that such an action at that period seemed scarcely less subversive in Israel than
to
embrace
Azael,
On the other hand, Judas Christianity. about the same period, contributed to the
tradition
literature of the
by
his
"
Thrones of the
a treatise dealing with the Fifty Gates of Understanding, while in Germany Nathan
David,"
House of
of Spire,
praise
better
known, however,
for
treatise
in
Holy Land, produced a Kabalistic on Deuteronomy iii. 13, under the title commentary of Mcgi ltn/i Hamncoth. In Holland, a few years previously, the famous Manasses composed his work
on the resurrection of the body, which connects with Jewish esoteric theology by its defence of metempsy chosis and Isaac About, a Brazilian settled in the
;
of
the
Low
Countries,
translated
Irira
the Porta
Ccelorum
of
Abraham Cohen
Hebrew.
In the sixteenth century Paul Klhananan became a convert to Christianity, and in his Mysterium Navum sou-lit to prove from the Kahalah that Jesus of Na/arcth was the true Messiah. Petrus (ialatinus als, abjured so did Johannes Judai,m Kortius, who wrote on the mystical meanings of the Hebrew letters. Paul de Ik-iedi.i
;
convert of the fifteenth Bartolooci (iv. 420) mentions Louis century. Garret, a Frenchman of the si.xte. -nth century, who in his "Visions of God" defended the truth of the Catholic faith by means of the Kabalah.
Christianise
Mines are Aaron Martina, whose many works attempted to the Kabalah; kittangeliu.s, the editor of the Sepher Yetzirah, who turned Protestant and Prosper Ruggieri.
;
322
^he
must be confessed that the tincture which he exhibits is little more than the memory of early
reading.
BOOK
VII
began with Eliphas Levi, and it is shown that his authority is unreliable. Some minor misconceptions are corrected and some
extrinsic
points
of interest
are
sketches.
I.
INTRODUCTORY
our inquiry has proceeded no system of would seem less connected with what is philosophy
far as
So
known conventionally
to all
ever,
as magic than is the Kabalah outward appearance. That there was, how a systematic connection, by which I mean a
connection permitting the philosophical doctrine to emerge as fairly distinct, there can be no doubt. We owe our mediaeval withchcraft chiefly to this source
;
our mediaeval demonology and the Jew, hounded out of Spain by the iniquitous edict of
also
;
we owe
324
^he
Ferdinand and
and
its
devildom another
fuel for
pretext the burning in a word, the tremendous The Jew was avenged in the legacy of sorcery.
extermination, more
magician.
When
esoteric
enumerating
in
the
Israel
alleged
I
branches
of
to
tradition
endeavoured
While the
nowhere met
It was to with in antiquity, that of magic abounds. be expected that the newer order of ideas should
But the Sepher Yetzirah and the Zohar are not magic, and that
interfused with the older.
become
literature
and
made them
seek
to
fathom
the
Kabalistic
mystery was assuredly its philosophical, transcen dental indeed, but not its thaumaturgic part.
We
are
on the track
here of
another great
misconception which prevails among the class of thinkers who have most reason to concern themselves
with the claims of the Kabalah.
occult writers
as they have
It
is
useless
for
and
done
appealing to Christian authorities as to great names supporting their view of the subject. Those who accepted and those who
vindicated the authenticity of the secret tradition had never dreamed of the religion behind all religions,
nor did the^ look to the sanctuaries of Egypt for any light but that which perchance was carried into it by the descendants of Abraham. The occult writers
make two
Christian
errors.
In the
first
among
and
to
Kabalists
many
circle,
authorities,
within
who have no
claim
ome Christian
the
title
;
<Stubent0
of the
gabalah
325
in
the second
place,
they misconstrue
title
itself
may
Over and above these names, great and otherwise, which it many
looks well to engross on the deeds of a brief for the defence, bear witness only to the prevailing
ignorance.
The purpose
is
my
scheme.
They
are
biblio
They are designed to exhibit that among the names commonly cited in connection with Kabalism, some should no longer be mentioned, some
belong only to a Quixotic attempt at discovering an eirenicon for Christendom and Jewry, some are not worth citing, because, despite their imputed
authority,
they have nothing of moment to tell us, and some, a bare residuum, with a handful of recent writers, may be left on the otherwise vacated benches.
II.
RAYMOND LULLY
of
The name
cited
as
Raymond
secret
Kabalah, as upon several other departments of the It is time to affirm that few knowledge.
ascriptions
It
seem
to
fact.
must be
for
substantial
ground
was assumed
for
326
The
original
Raymond
"
Lully was that seneschal of Majorca whose legend I Lives of narrated some twelve years ago in the
Alchemystical
the
first
Philosophers."
He
His legend, Raymond Lully was an alchemist enshrined in the deceitful memorial of a so-called
Abbot
far
of
I
as
so
the
is
prototype
are
certainly
There is a possibly by two centuries. and modern legend, which bears all the marks third of invention by its narrator, Eliphas Levi, and this
much
earlier,
identifies the
life
of
the
first
through
It
elixir.
described
Raymond
Lully and
of the great
enough importance to impress the imagination of the The first was a philosophical reformer and a people.
of his works, if accurate, would show by more than a century, but they are in a sad state of confusion, and all popular sources of information are misleading. See, for example, Blackie s Popular Encyclopoedia,"
*
The
dates attributed to
some
that he
his predecessor
"
s.v.
Alchymy.
f Testamentum
Cremeri,
Abbatis
Westmonasteriensis^
Angli,
Ordints
Benedictini.
% It was published at Frankfort in 1618, by Michael Maier, being the third tract of the Tripus Aureus, hoc est tres tractatus chymici
sclectissimi.
Reformatum
et
1678 it reappeared in the Museum Hermeticum Amplificatum, and is known in English by a translation
In
London. of that collection, edited by myself, 2 vols. 1893. With material derived from Eliphas Levi, and a pyrotechnic
et terminology from M. Huysman, a bizarre work entitled Le Satanisme la Afagie, by Jules Bois, compresses all the legends into one small
of fable which, published in 1895, is, misconstruction on the subject of Raymond Lully.
pellet
suppose,
the
last
gome
Christian
Christian
<Stubent<3
of the
for
|Ubalnh
an
327
evangelist,
martyred
ill-judged
attempt
among
the
Mussulmen of Africa. The second has been described, but on what grounds I am unable to state, as
a
is
"Jewish
neophyte"
therefore
connects, however, exclusively with alchemy, and his works are evidence that he did not renounce the
Christian faith.*
It
is
to
those keys, compendiums, testaments and codicils of alchemy which are found in all the great collections
of Hermetic treatises.
He was
so far
imbued with
the apostolic spirit of his predecessor that his great ambition was to engage some Catholic monarch in
another barren crusade for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. According to his legend he transmuted
into gold sufficient base metal for the minting of six
Edward, King assumed the Red of England, on condition that he The king did not keep his promise, and the Cross.
adept escaped as he could from the extortion of
further projections.
The
Raymonds
is
perhaps
more excusable among occultists than for ordinary That alchemy connects with Kabalism, biographers. or that Kabalism became identified with alchemy, the
at the head of the 7*cstatncninm Kaymitndi Lullii (Mangetus: Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa, Lans honor et the last words of its theoretical division i. 707, 708) gloriaJesn (ibid. 762) ; the Tfstatrientnm Norissimum, addressed to King
i-i
Charles (Ideo,
mi Carole
dilecte, te infilitnn
eligam
and a^ ain
&c.
7 rinitatis
et ictettuc (Jnifatis,
(ibid. p. 790).
328
^he
treatise on Purifying Fire sufficiently testifies, but the alchemist per se is not, as we have seen, a Kabalist, and there is no single word of Kabalism in the
treatises of Raymond Lully the second. doctor of Majorca does connect artificially with the esoteric tradition of the Jews, by the arbitrary use
Hermetic
The
of certain words and methods, though he was not a proselyte of the gate, but his system is a
title
mechanical introduction to the sciences, and has no to the name, having nothing to do with a
Jewish or Gentile.
It
has, moreover, no mystical foundation, and is con cerned wholly with an educational method. It is, untrue to say that Raymond Lully was one therefore,
In the
is
Ars
Magna
Ars Notoria
there
as
much
occult significance as in the scholastic jest concerning chimcera bombinans in vacua. The Notary Art of
which Robert Turner first printed in English, connects remotely with Kabalism, and the Ars Notoria of Raymond Lully has a verbal con
Solomon,
nection,
It
is
this enchiridion of
Jewry.
the
treatise entitled
De Auditu
an opusculum Raymundimuu, or particular application of the method of Lully, which has been
Kabalistico,
ignorantly included among his works. alone is occult, and its selection
conjecture.*
*
The name
is
beyond
to be
It is fair to
what
qualification for
say that Franck takes the opposite view, but with judgment may be gathered from the fact that he
He accepts the attribution to Lully of the work mentioned above. says that Lully was the first to reveal the name and existence of the
329
a late offshoot of the great vacant pretentious system which enabled those who mastered it to dispute on
with success, though perhaps without of any. Some great minds were captivated knowledge by it, but such captivities are among the weaknesses
all
subjects
of great minds.
The
that
Ars Magna
Cornelius
Picus de
is
was
that
discoursed
it
Agrippa
Mirandola.
and
And
of
these
at
the
The present day, neither possesses a consequence. chief philosophical mission of the first Raymond
his
Lully was to protest against the school of Averroes chief practical work was the exhortation of
;
prelates and princes to found schools for the study of languages so as to facilitate the conversion of
Kabalah
to Christian
it
Europe,
"
for
which there
to
is
no ground
in fact
he
"an
thinks that
would be
"
difficult
determine
how
far
Lully was
it
initiate of this
mystic science
I
exercised
on
from saying with a historian of philosophy (Tennemann) that he borrowed thence his belief in the identity of God and Nature (I think that Tennemann has here misconstrued his author),
his doctrine.
refrain
"
had a very high idea of it, considering it a divine science, a veritable revelation addressed to the rational soul, and
"
but
it is
certain that he
may perhaps be permissible to suppose that the artificial used by Kabalists to connect their opinions with the words of Scripture, such as the substitution of numbers or letters for ideas or words, may
it
pr<
in no small degree to the invention of the Great Art. worthy of remark that more than two centuries and a half before the existence of the rival schools of Loria and Cordova, at the verytime when some modern critics have sought to place the origin of the Kabalah, Raymond Lully makes already a distim-tion between ancient and modern Kabalists." The passage on which Franck MVIU-, to depend for his general view is as follows doctrina Kablmla (/nod, Dicitur idem t-st st -nndnni Hcbrctos ut receptio re r it at is aijnslr
have contributed
It is
h<rc
....
etiani
maxima
is
This extract
330
^he
the heathen
who heard
or heeded
him.
It was only after his death that his system obtained for a time a certain vogue. The collapse
of the process of his beatification is one of the great escapes of the Latin Church, because it would have
helped to accredit a system which began and ended described It was not, as it has been in words.
erroneously,
a
it
universal
science, or a
;
synthesis
its
of
knowledge
tabulations
standing.
egregious a mockery for the modern under Even the martyrdom of this eccentric
are
folly of suicide,
truly.
in
It
had,
its
defenders,
and
it
had
time
miraculous legend.
some
which,
centuries,
So also, and for the space of there was a quiet and intelligible
Lully
in
cultus of
Raymond
the
Balearic
Islands,
like
some other
become
perhaps scarcely a memory. I should add, in conclusion, that there are works
by
Raymond
Lully which
Sciendi, as
Ars Magna
When we
uncom
devout student
will
concerning the eternal subsistence of the lover and the beloved in God, concerning contemplation in God quomodo omnis nostra perfectio sit in perfectione
nostri
Domini Dei
union,
we begin
of a third Lully, who has qualities which recommend him to our admiration which are wanting in the
<ome
331
Doctor
illuminatits,
in
though he
invented
the
if
Ars
he
Magna, and
transmuted metals.
III.
PICUS DE
MIRANDOLA
Magical legend has availed itself of the name of Mirandola, and on the warrant of his Kabalistic
enthusiasm has accredited him with the possession of a familiar demon.* His was the demon of
Socrates
which
within
late
Cardinal
of
brought
the
limits
natural
orthodoxy.f
a thesis to the ingenuity of M. Gabriel Delanne, for, as with the music of Mozart and as with the
mathematics
of
Pascal,
this
it
remains
ground of
Crichton acquired his speculation enormous erudition. M. Delanne would assure usj that he brought it with him at his birth, that it was
Italian
how
an inheritance from a previous life, and that Picus de Mirandola Kabalised in a college of Babylon. On
the other hand, Catholic writers, for
are
whom
his studies
was swindled by an impostor who sold him sixty bogus MSS. on the assurance that they had been composed by the order
unsavoury, affirm that he
"They
feveries."
of Esdras.
contained only ridiculous Kabalistic These MSS. have been enumerated and
s
Mignc
t.
ii.
col. 308.
t See Manning
brochure,
s.v.
"The
Daimon
of
Son
,
London, 1874. + See in particular Etude sur Us Vies Successive* Mt inoirf prtsentd au Congrh Spiritc International de I.ondres (1898), par Gabriel Delanne p. 6l, where Miiandola is a case in point.
,
332
Ihe gtottrme
zmfc
literature
xrf
the
gabalah
described by
subject
will
Gaffarel,
and
his
monograph on the
other places, in the are not concerned
be found,
among
great bibliography of Wolf. with these nor yet with the apocryphal stories of their original authorship and eventual sale. But as
We
Mirandola,
24, 1463,
and
true
the
is
first
important to
know what he
Now,
difficulty
derived from his studies in this respect. unfortunately, we are met at the outset with a
only too
common
in
such inquiries.
Of
the
Kabalistic conclusions arrived at by Picus de Miran dola, and actually bearing this name, there are two
there is that absolutely different versions extant which we find in the collected editions of his works,
;
both late and early, reproduced in the collection of Pistorius with a voluminous commentary by Archangelus de Burgo Nuovo, and there is that which we find with another commentary, though curiously by the
same
is
writer, in a little
in 1564,
and again
at Basle in 1600.*
though I have so far meet with an alleged original edition said to have been published at Rome in 1486, and therefore
in favour of the first version,
failed to
in the lifetime of the author. may accept either version without prejudice to the point which it is here designed to establish, and that is the nature of the
We
enthusiasm which prompted Picus de Mirandola. In the first place, though he speaks of magic in terms which may be held to indicate that he possessed a
*
Archangelus de Burgo Nuovo agri Placentini Apologia pro Ostensibly a reply to an impeachment
:
(Ehrietiau
<Stubeni0
of the Jpabztlah
its
333
tolerant
claims, and,
it
like a learned
man
after
the vulgar manner, he cannot be considered as, in any real sense, an occult philosopher. The only depart ment of occult science which he has treated at any
length
is
astrology,
and
as
to this
he devoted a long,
in
some of
good reading Agrippa s Vanity of the Sciences," and on its special subject takes much the same point of view. We should not
parts
is
"
salient
as
speculations of Jewry because he was attracted by the transcendental powers attributed to the Divine
to
I
confidently as to possible fascinations in the direction of Gematria and Themurah, for his was a subtle and
curious intelligence which found green spots or rather enchanted cities of mirage in many deserts of the
mind,
and
in
he
mysteries
acrostics.
There
The
bibliographical
him
purchasing MSS. on the assurance that the prophet Esdras had a hand in their production will disclose
his probable views as to the antiquity ot Kabalistic
literature.
He
took
it,
we may
suppose, at
its
word,
and the legend also indicates that he was persuaded it was a common weakness in men of easily learning
;
and enthusiasm
is
at the period.
more than
certain
that
antiquity as
a presumption that the Kabalah was superior to Latin Christianity the wisdom which he
334
^he latrine
in
anfc
found
wisdom of
his
Christian
in
doctrine
when he hung up
famous theses
Rome and
scholar
dispute with him, those theses included his Kabalistic Conclusions, but that which
who would
to
he sought
of
establish
When
Pope Julius with the secret mysteries of the Thorah, the enthusiasm which was communicated for a moment to the chair of Peter was, like Lully s,
that
of the evangelist. The servus servorum Dei found other zeal for his ministry, and the comet of the
The
Kabalistic Conclusions
tell that Rome had a strange dream of the fifteenth century. evening They lie in a small compass and, as I believe it will be of interest
alone remain to
in the
to
his sixty
show what Picus de Mirandola extracted from MSS., I will here translate them for the
I
ought perhaps to premise that Eliphas LeVi translated some of them in his own loose fashion and
reader.
published them with a suggestive commentary, in La Science des Esprits*\ ascribing them to the collection
of
Pistorius but without mentioning
the
name
of
Mirandola.
He
Latin originals,
justice to his genius they are much better than the quintessential Kabalism of Picus, but as they are neither Picus nor the Kabalah, I shall not
To do
have
*
recourse
to
them
for
the
purposes of
the
The
or at least of materials
is
which might be held to bear a Christian construction, several Jewish writers of the post-Zoharic period.
t Part
II. c. iv. p. 147, et seq.
admitted by
<omc
Christian
<tufoeut0
of the jiabalah
335
some
references in the
Kabalistic Conclusions
I.
to
priest,
the
souls
of
rational
II.
hierarchies,
and
their
names
are
Tarsisim,
Ophamni,
IsJiim,
Although the ineffable name is the quality of clemency, it is not to be denied that it combines
also the quality of
judgment*
IV.
The
sin
of
Adam
God
sinned.f
created
the world
evil,
with
the
tree
of the
whereby the
first
man
VI.
The great north wind is the fountain of all souls simply, as other days are of some and not all.*
*
As LeVi
tersely
utilises
puts
it
it,
judicium.
He
to
punishment. t Hence Lcvi infers that the sin of Adam was educational. I have given this literally without pretending that it ha^ much Levi reduces it to Magnus a^itilo fans est antmarurn, meaning.
explaining that souls enter this world to escape idleness.
33 6
^he
When Solomon
in the
Book of Kings,
Hear,
Heaven."
we must
line
which encircles
things.*
VIII.
Souls descend from the third light to the fourth day, and thence issuing, they enter the night of the body.f
IX.
By
we must understand
the six extremities of the building proceeding from Brashith as the cedars come forth out of Lebanon.
x.
Paradise
is
more
And building than the tenth part. thereof is placed the Great Adam, who
XI.
the centre
Tiphereth.
river
is
be parted into four heads signifying that the third numeration proceeds from the second, and is divided
into the fourth,
fifth,
sixth,
and
tenth.j
XII.
It is
true that
all
if
we
Levi renders
this
Calum
seem
to represent
it.
est Kether, which does not, at first See, however, Conclusion, 48, and note
thereto.
f This is mangled by Levi, who seems to have misunderstood its For the night of the body he substitutes the night of death. meaning. J Conclusions 9, 10, II signify, according to Levi, that the history of the earthly paradise is an allegory of truth on earth. Levi gives, Factum fatuni quia fatum verbum est, an admirable
specimen of polishing.
<ome
Christian
<tubn\tc
of the
gabalah
337
XIII.
He who
shall
in
know
Understanding
know
also the
He who
of
shall
know
to the south.f
xv.
Unless the
name
of
letter Pie had been added to the Abram, Abraham would not have begotten. J
XVI.
Before Moses
all
horn
(i.e.,
the unicorn ).
XVII.
is
Scripture, there
is
conjunction
of
Tiphereth
evaporates in
He
and
that
explanation is feeble, namely, that the south is the rainy "the doctrines of Abraham, i.e., of the Kabalah, arc-
He Abraham
"
the feminine
represented
ideal.
says Le"vi, they saw only one side of truth; Moses is Le"vi adds that the unicorn is the bearing two horns.
Levi substitutes Afas et f,rmina sun/ Tiphcreth et Malkuth, and gives a sentimental explanation which has no connection with
||
Kabalism.
338
^ht
XVIII.
Whosoever
in the
shall
middle night
XIX.
The
letters of the
name
of the evil
demon who
is the prince of this world are the same as those of and he who the name of God Tetragrammaton
knows how
When
become
as the night, as
David
says.}
XXI.
Whosoever
secret of
know the quality which is the darkness shall know why the evil demons
shall
are
more
XXII.
is
Granting that the co-ordination of the chariots manifold, nevertheless, in so far as concerns the
mystery of the Philaterios, two chariots are prepared, is formed from the second, third,
and
which
*
and these are the four philateria Van assumes, and from the sixth, seventh,
fifth,
human
spirits
Levi interprets by distinguishing the marriage of mere animals, or otherwise, from the true human and divine marriage of souls,
and bodies.
t Levi substitutes
Damon
est
Deus
itiversits
characteristic logic that, could the former be said to exist, then his opposite could certainly have no existence.
substitute
God
as
% This apparently puzzled the commentator, so he invented a which partly reproduces an apocryphal saying of Christ.
<ome
Christian
<Stubents
of the
is
gabalah
339
eighth,
He
final
XXIII.
quality of penitence
is
not to
(or
said."f
applied)
in
the
word
(which
signifies)
He
XXIV.
Who maketh peace in his he signified the austral water and highest places," boreal fire, and their leader, concerning which things
When Job
said
"
xxv.
Brashith
is
i.e.,
in
it
the
beginning
"
the
same
as
if
were said
In
He created, Wisdom He
created."
to say, Chokmah, Binah, Chesed Geburah form the or throne of the third letter of the Tetragrnm while Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod and Jesod constitute the chariot of the fourth letter. For other classifications of the Sephiroth according to the
is
That
m&
chariot, seat,
inferior
chariot,
see
Kabbala Diinaiata,
offer
t This
original
It is
is the best rendering which I can Supra proprietatcni penitent id- non cst
of the obscure
di.\ it.
ittcndtun vcrbo
quite certain that its intention is not represented by Levi s substi tuted aphorism I\rnitcntia non est rcrlmm, wliich he translates, To
"
repent
is
not to
is
meaning
the
According to Archangelus de Burgonuovo, the that he who seeks the forgiveness of sins must not have
act."
Holy
Spirit.
The
and
word rendered
that
dicens to the
Holy Ghost.
Forgiveness is to be sought from the Father. /nt. however, a commentary on the New
Te>tam<
The Kabalah
et
is
n-t,
Le"vi
substitutes
cxcelsi
ignis septcn-
Pointed by Levi,
thi-,
appear-, as
id
cst in
Chokmah.
340
^he
XXVI.
When
i.e.,
"
Buadmin
"
As
waters,
the
so
first
man
to
is
the congregation
all
of
is
the
the
the
sea,
which
rivers
run,
Divinity.f
XXVIII.
By
fifth
the flying thing which was created on the day we must understand angels of this world,
XXIX.
God, composed of four letters, Mem, Tsade, Pe, and final Tsade, must be referred
of
to the
The name
Kingdom
of David.
xxx.
No
*
is
ever transformed.
||
This
in his
t Levi
shows
given boldly by Levi as Via ceternitatis sunt triginta duo, sums the idea by writing fusti cupia;, Deiis mare, and annotation how God becomes man and man God after
+ Levi gives, Angeli apparcntium sunt volatiles cceli et ani/nanfia, I do not think it was intended which exceeds the Kabalistic idea.
to say that birds are angels of the outer form, but that the flying things created on the fifth day are symbols of the angels who have appeared to
as to
Abraham and
to Lot,
is
which
equilibrated perfectly
but this
is
<ome
Chrietiau
<Stubent6
of the
JUbalah
341
XXXI.
Circumcision was ordained for deliverance from
the impure powers wandering round about.
XXXII.
bride.
There are no
letters
in
the entire
Law which
do not show
twisting and
in their
crowning, and
open form.*
XXXIV.
and why Ezechias turned his countenance to the wall, the same understands the fitting attitude and
posture of prayer, f
xxxv.
No
spiritual things
without a garment.}
XXXVI.
The
final
sin
of
Sodom was
branch.
*
Liters
stint
recension of
L\i,
t Abscond* facicm fiiam ft era, writes Levi, praying shawl in his comment with the veil of Isis
says
Le"vi
et se dtpouillt
pour
tnonter,
in his
annotation he reasons
that, as
we cannot
live
under water, so
spirits
34 2
^he
XXXVII.
we
By the secret of the prayer before the daylight must understand the quality of piety.
xxxvm.
As
inwardly
fear
is
outwardly inferior to
love, so love
is
inferior to fear.
xxxix.
From
stood
fear, albeit
it
may be under
things
Whensoever we are ignorant of the quality whence the influx comes down upon the petition which we put up, we must have recourse to the
House
of Judgment.*
XLL
Every good soul
is
new
soul
Eastf
XLII.
and not
Therefore Joseph was buried in the bones only in the body, because his bones were virtues
called Zadith,
and the hosts of the supernal tree, descending on the supernal earth.
*
Nasus
t
Naris ; and hence Levi s abridgment is Literally, discernit proprieties, which he defends from the Book of
"
Domum
Concealment."
The
distinction
is
developed
at
some
length by Isaac de Loria. Eliphas Levi overlooks this point and has recourse to a sentimental explanation. He takes occasion also to deny that reincarnation was taught by the best Kabalists, but he is not quite
correct as to his facts.
343
XLIII.
XLIV.
When
within
the
its
supernal
shall
itself
its
its
from earthly garment and shall be rooted out place and united with Divinity.*
XLV.
When
men
of
prophecy by the
prophesied
spirit
Israel
Voice.
XLVI.
king of the earth is not manifested on the until the heavenly host is humbled in heaven.f earth
XLYIl.
By
"
the word
"ath,"
in
the
text,
the
In the beginning God created the heaven and that Moses signified the creation earth," I believe
in
the
the
XLYIII.
That which
is
said
may be
said also
this to
mean
The
Levi ^ivcs Aniina plena superior! fonjnngiliir, and understands united with a superior soul, whereas that a complete soul
i-,
the reference
f
i^
undoubtedly
"t
veiiioii
Vi>
.
l.-
-i
an entirely
>~
dilTei<
iit
aphorism, namely,
(errant.
344
we draw
from Porphyry.*
XLIX.
Amen
is
We
series of Kabalistic
Conclusions has been referred to Picus, and so also the number of the above series is occasionally
extended to seventy. The collection of Pistorius contains only those which have been cited, and they
are possibly intended to connect with the Fifty Gates of Understanding, less the one gate which was not entered by Moses. To develop any system from
these
and
this
appear
occurred
almost
to
impossible,
critics.
earlier
Their source
also
despite the labours of their commentator, Archangelus de Burgo-Nuovo, who was himself a Christian
Kabalist,
IV.
CORNELIUS AGRIPPA
of Picus de Mirandola took of another Christian
in
According to Levi, the Kabalists represent Kether as a green all the other Sephiroth. I do not know his authority, but Azariel, in his commentary on the Sepher Yetzirah, says, as we have I assume that seen, that it is the colour of light seen through a mist. this is not green, though Zoharic observations on the rainbow seem to indicate that some Kabalists at least were colour-blind. It should be
line
encompassing
noted that Norrelius in his Phosphorus Orthodox*? Fidei, 4, Amsterdam 1720, translating from an elegy on R. Simeon ben Jochai, given in the
Sepher Imre Binah, explains that the linea viridis is the new moon. t An affirmation of the mind, an adhesion of the heart, a kind of mental signature, says Levi.
345
Cologne
in
1486.
methodical
description
the
whole
Kabalistic
Philosophy, Mathematical Philosophy and Theology. Agrippa is therefore of very great importance to our
inquiry,
and
his
three
books, entitled
De
Occulla
Philosophia,
are
the
knowledge
Europe.
It
among
is
needless
say
that
his
treatise
authority.
We
must
is
it
sophical principles upon which were supposed to proceed, and this is so true that the forged Fourth Book," which was added to it
all
"
soon after the death of Agrippa, and does provide a species of magical ritual, is so much in consonance
with the genuine work that it might well have been must therefore expect that by the same hand.
We
the magical side of Kabalism, that which deals with the properties and the virtues of Divine Names and
so
forth,
is
much more
fully
cosmology of the Sepher Yetzirah or the Divine have also to remember Mysteries of the Zohar.
We
that,
although
Agrippa
was
the
first
writer
who
elucidated the Kabalistic system, he was far muiv learned in the occult philosophy of Greece and
Rome
than
in that
He was
sufficiently acquainted with Hebrew to be able to understand and expound the mysteries of the Divine Names and the Notancon connected therewith. Of
34 6
^he
the literature itself he gives no information from which we could infer his knowledge he does not
;
mention the Sepher Yetzirah or the Zohar, both of which were then only accessible in manuscript, and I
am
inclined
to
think
that
his
acquaintance with
Kabalistic subjects was formed chiefly through the Conclusiones Cabalisticce of Mirandola, which, as we
have seen, appeared at Rome in the year of Agrippa s birth. It should be added also that there are serious
Hebrew alphabet which made by one who was acquainted with any authoritative source of know Book of Formation," and ledge, as, for example, the mistakes without number in his lettering of the Divine Names but the latter point cannot be justly
errors in his division of the
would
not
have
been
"
pressed,
printer.
It
as
the
faults
may have
in
rested
with the
is
noticeable
this
connection that
the
doctrine of the occult virtues residing in words and names is expounded from the authority of the
only in the scales of the twelve numbers, dealt with somewhat minutely in the second book, that the Kabalistic system is developed, but
It
is
Platonists.*
this
among
devoted
up
is,
to this day.f
The most
book,
important information
to
however,
the
in the third
theology
and
doctrines,
mainly
Kabalistic, concerning angels, demons and the souls of men, but creating correspondences with classical
It should be noted, however, that he preceded the chief Hellenising schools of later Kabalism. t On the general question of Agrippa s connection with Kabalism, see Frederich Earth Die Cabbala des Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
:
von
Nettersheim,"
Stuttgard, 1855.
.Some Christian
<Stufocnt8
of the Jlab.ilah
347
is
mythology wherever
identified
possible.
Thus, Ain
SopJi
with
the
Night
the
of
Orpheus
and
the
Kabalistic
are
The
ten Sephiroth
or
described
vestments,
instruments,
exemplars of the Archetype, having an influence on all created things through high to low, following a
defined order.
It
all
it
the
much
of
has
diagrams.
My
is
object
is
to
note
rather than
illustrate
Agrippa
exposition, which
the so-called
practical Kabalah, and very slightly It with the more important philosophical literature. brought him no satisfaction, and before his troubled
life
drew to
that
its
disastrous
close
art,
he recorded
his
opinion
"
the
Kabalistic
which
he
had
diligently
after,"
was merely
a
"
rhapsody of superstition," that its mysteries were wrested from the Holy Scriptures," a play with
"
As
wrought by practical operations, he supposes that there is no one so foolish as to believe it has any such
powers.
In a word,
"the
is
by which at
names and
letters in Scripture
thing out of another dissolve the connections of the truth." What was done by the Jews for the literature
of the Ancient Covenant was performed, he goes on to say, for the Greek documents of Christianity by
348
&he
5} 0r * ri ne
an ^
3Pitct*ttM
ot the
the Ophites, Gnostics, and Valentinians, who produced a Greek Kabalah, as Rabanus, the monk, later on
attempted with the Latin characters. I do not know that a modern writer could have
I do not think that put the position more clearly. one at the present day can regard transpositions any and extractions seriously, but the question is whether
all
a subterfuge, or
if
not
exactly a subterfuge, a corruption of an older system. Agrippa adds another argument which also, from its
own
and
of
If standpoint, could not be better expressed Kabalistic art proceed from God, as the Jews boast,
:
if it
life,
the health
the worship of God, as also to the truth of understanding, surely that Spirit of Truth which
men and
has
left their
truth,
synagogue and has come to teach us all would not have concealed it from His Church
last times,
all
and
this the
more seeing
Church knows
while His mysteries of salvation are revealed in every tongue, for every tongue has the same power, if there
be the same equal piety neither is there any name, in heaven or on earth, by which we can be saved, whereby we can work miracles, but the one name
;
Jesus,
wherein
all
things the
are
recapitulated
and
contained."
Of
in
course,
in
last
is
is
analysis this
argument
There
Divine
Names
or there
deny
to
Jehovah
and
if
be not, the doctrine of the Great Name in Christianity is a sublety no less idle than the Tetraor the
grammaton
Schemahamphorash.
We
know,
<0me
Christian
<gtubent0
of the
gabalah
349
are
however, that, in so far as names represent ideas, they moving powers of the intellectual world when
;
know
ledge they are dead and inert, like other empty vehicles. The Kabalistic Jews believed that they could dissect the name without losing the vital essence
which informs
The name it, and they erred therein. of Jesus spells grace and salvation to millions, but it
spells
when
it is
nothing when lettered separately and nothing To say otherwise is to rave. transposed.
V.
PARACELSUS
Among
cited
in
the great names of occultism which are support of the influence exerted by the
it
possessed, that
mentioned.
We
is
to be
traced distinctly in the system of the great German Statements like these are themselves a kind adept.*
of Kabalah, which are received by one writer from another without any inquiry or any attempt at verification. In this way we obtain lists of authori
ties,
references
at
first
bear no
examination and
they come
sufficient
into
the
hands of
to
patience
instance
to
investigate
the
present
we have
remember
that
Para
occult
among
"
Philosophy of Ibn
Gebirol," p.
171.
philosophers
he was not a
;
man who
respected or
quoted authorities
very
little
to
If
erudition.*
we take
and
shall
Hermetic
we
his
own
alchemist.
When
himself
with
will
which
writers
on
subject
to
again,
to
magician.
if
And
we
come
the
the
he Kabalah, examination, to say concerning it, we should expect has anything that it would be quite unlike anything that went
to the known lines we should find that he Once more, of Kabalism. would prove to be his own Kabalist. In every department of thought he illustrated his own maxim
discover, on
before
him, and
quite
foreign
It must be Alterius non sit qui suus esse potest. added also that any contributions which he offers
They do nothing
to elucidate
what
in
is
obscure in previous
authorities,
and they
constitute
are themselves
much
need of explanation. Nearly two centuries elapsed between the death of Moses de Leon, the publisher of the Zohar, the birth of Theophrastus of Hohenheim, and and
"first
it
took place
life
till
some
his
turbulent
it
closed so sadly
at Strasburg, or
*
wherever
He
is
said, indeed, to
amount
ii.
have boasted that his library would not Gould s History of Freemasonry," vol.
"
p. 77.
<Somc
(Christian
<StubenU
ot the
$abalah
351
can be no doubt
have made himself acquainted with its contents. It seems fairly certain, however, that he never
acquired the language from which
translated,
it
knowledge of the Kabalah would in any case be limited to what he could gather from authors who wrote in Latin or some current
his
and that
tongue
but his
very little pains necessary to collect the few references on the subject
The study
several
is
enjoined
times
authorities
on the physician, and old medical are scouted on the ground that they
were unacquainted with either.* The "Cabala" is in one place identified with Magical Astronomy,f
which,
I
presume,
the
refers
in
to
the
Paraselsic
theory
of
state
concerning
disease,
stars
man and
the
the
stars
and
all
connects
with
contextual
all
ment
centre
that
at
animals
with
the
It
is
identified
also
Magic
itself,
of which
indications given in
seems to have
signified
point
art
is
exposed more plainly, when the Kabalistic said to have been built up on the basis of the
is
I.nis (iallitiS,
Lil>.
iv. c. 9,
Lil>.
Opera Ontnia
ii.,
(.cncva,
ibid., vol.
iii.
p.
193,*.
Also
De
p.
b.
Peste,
//-.
p.
408.
i.,
//>., i/>.,
De DC D(
Pestilitate, Tract,
t7>.,
371,
l>
Pestt, Lib.
i.,
//;.,
p.
405,
/
/>.,
i.
c.
6,
vol.
ii.
p. 56, / .
352
^he
Jto.ctriitt
doctrines
appears
explains
after
concerning the sacramental body, which the death of the corruptible, and
visions,
spectres,
concealed by certain outward signs in a word, the theory of signatures is said to be the Kabalistic art,
"
once called
caballa,
afterwards
caballia
"
It
has
and
the
is
termed Galamala, from its author, of Ethnic origin, having been transmitted to
Chaldaeans
"
and
the
Jews, by
whom
it
was
corrupted,
in all
for the
ages."f
i.e.,
Jews were exceedingly ignorant Finally, the use of certain prayers and
talismans, in the cure of diseases
is
signacula
These meagre instances exhaust the three folio volumes which constitute the Geneva collection of the
works of Paracelsus.
there
is
I
a short
section
Caballa,"
which
forms part of a treatise on the plague, but it is concerned with the official elements of early science
and with the alchemical elements, Salt, Sulphur and Mercury. There is also a reference in one place to some books of the Caballa," apparently the work of
"
By
the
may
as
be regretted, but
the
is
not of
moment
it
so
far
Kabalah
is
concerned, for
others,
is
many
widely from
*
wonted meaning, or
Rertini, Lib.
viii., ib.,
Dt,
Natura
ib.>
p. 101, b.
f Philosophia Sagax, Lib. i., ib., vol. ii. p. 565, b. % De Vidneribus, Lib. v. in Chirurgia Magna, Pars,
vol.
iii.,
iii.,
zA,
p.
91
b.
<Some
Christian
353
of that meaning. The Kabalah for Paracelsus, when it is not something quite fantastic and unimaginable, is a species of practical magic, and here we shall do
well
to
remember
that
the adept of
Hohenheim
when, as we have seen, the spurious literature of clavicles and grimoires was fast
flourished
at a period
multiplying.
It is
false
very difficult to judge Paracelsus, and many statements have been made concerning him by
But it is well to know that he was not a student of the Kabalah in any sense that
friends
and enemies.
we should
VI.
JOHN REUCHLIN
biogra-
As
no
subject of the present notice as the representative of a group, which group illustrates most effectively the
standpoint and purpose of our inquiry as regards the Christian students of the Kabalah. The missionary enthusiasm which may be said to have begun with
Mirandola, which, if Lully had been a Kabalist, would have been already at fever heat in the doctor illumincitus of Majorca, which ceased only in the earl)- part
of the eighteenth century, assumed almost the aspect of a movement between the period of Rcuchlin and that of Rosenroth. It was not a concerted movement
;
it
body
it
activity of a secret society or a learned was not actuated by any occult interests,
still
and perhaps
z
less
it
354
^he
Christian
It
dogma
word of Kabalism.
does not appear so strenuously in the work of Rosenroth as it does in the collection of Pistorius,*
days of the Kabbala Denudata there more reason to hinder such intellectual was, perhaps, Nor is it so strong in the writings of excesses. Reuchlin as in those of Archangelus de Burgo
because
in the
impossible to survey the vast treatises, extending in some cases to hundreds of folio pages, by which the enthusiasm is represented, and it is
It is
Nuovo.
We have
only to establish
to
Kabalism and
show
that
it
We
to
has been so far misconceived by occultists. are justified in regarding Eliphas Levi as
some extent the mouthpiece of modern occult it is to him more than to any one that thought
;
its
as
to
the
philosophy
and
religion,
Divine
"
Word."f
was he
first
who
told
us that
truly dogmatic religions have issued from the Kabalah and return therein," that it has the keys
all
"
future."
In order
counselled us,
among
est,
recondita; theologia:
et philosophies
p.
95,
2me
p.
20; J
"Mysteries
of
Magic,"
second
Ibid.
who know
it is
Christian in authorship, and that, with the exception of the Porta Lucis, none of its treatises were written
aware that a
originally in
lars;e part
of
Hebrew.
on\t (Christian
gtnbents of
the Jiabalah
355
Following
to regard the
famous Basle
folio as a
genuine Jewish tradition. No impression could well be more erroneous. The works engarnered by Pistorius are neither the Jewish tradition nor
commentary of authority
of persons
thereon.
If
is
well also to
occultists
or
who
is
"
believed
that
"
Catholic
doctrine,"
or Lutheran,
wholly derived
:
"
The
I.
abjured Israel and directed his polemics against it. He is represented by Riccius, and his presence is fatal to Levi s LeVi recommended the standpoint.
Christian to
logical
become a Kabalist
for the
born Christian,
for
who
He
also
in
is
Word who
germ
of
the traditions
Israel.
is
learned,
laborious
who
by
Archangelus de Burgo Nuovo, who does frequent outrage to good sense, and seems to regard the Kabalah as a note-book to the New Testament.
Reuchlin toyed with Lutheranism
;
Archangelus was
After his conversion this German repaired to Padua, where he He was invited hack to Germany taught philosophy with great credit. He belongs to the sixteenth century. by the Emperor Maximilian. His chief work treats of Celestial Agriculture."
"
ful
politician,
diplomatist and
He
will
world.
his life
be found
in
Basnage,
t.
v.
an!b
a Catholic prelate.
III.
who might be
either
whom He is
represented by a writer who, as a fact, was born a Jew and seems to have been included by Pistorius
because
of
his
supposed
"
conversion.
"
refer
to
Abravanel, whose
Philosophy of Love
is
as
if it
"
text-book of Kabalism.
already dealt with,
The
"
Dialogues
have been
and here
it is
enough
to say that
Art
"
As
was undertaken, among other reasons, as a counterblast to the superstitions which a the Kabalah had promoted in Christendom
;
reference,
we
may
presume,
to
the
unfortunate
The
his
Kabalistic
studies
far
of
the
editor
began
in
boyhood, but, so
certitude
into
from
leading
him
to
the boasted
their
under
escort
the
Lutheran
Augsbourg. Having registered the fact itself as an illustration of the quality of his progress towards
the Absolute,
his
it
is
sympathies with the attempted purgation of the Church in a spirit of clemency, perhaps even of
omt
interest,
<hr:0ttan
357
to confess, at least, that they were on the ground of natural infirmity, seeing excusable that he was for long subjected to persecution, fostered
or
by a monkish inquisitor, because he had saved the books of Jewry from confiscation and burning In place of them, as throughout all Germany.
opportunity afforded, they burnt
De
and
De Arte
Cabbalistica,
the
Reuchlin to the right understanding of the secret The treatises remain all the tradition in Israel.
same
as
witnesses of
the
standpoint of Christian
students in the sixteenth century, and they help to warrant us in affirming that the chief Latin collection of Kabalistic writers, outside the Kabbala Denudata,
contains
no
evidence
in
support
this
of
the
occult
hypothesis.
I
brief
and con
of
Reuchlin
of
reference
and
to
his
word
his
learned pupil, J. A. Widmanstadt, whose collection of Hebrew manuscripts, for the most part Kabalistic,
is
one of the
Munich.
gave special
the
Zohar
and
to
the
VII.
WILLIAM POSTEL
manner
round
the
A
name
gathered
an unaccountable
it is
supplemented by a
358
monk
in a
vestment
of thaumaturgic splendour. The philosophical legend we owe almost exclusively to Eliphas Le"vi, and to a
in
and,
with
s
honestly by Postel
writings,
among which
Postel
included
the
the
"
Key
of
Things Kept
World."
Secret from
Foundation of the
peasant
by
his
contrived to obtain an education, and became, on the authority of his chief admirer, the most learned man of his time. Ever full of resignation and sweetness,
"
he worked
crust
like a labouring
man
to ensure himself a to
his
studies.
of
bread, and
then
returned
Poverty accompanied him always, and want at times but he compelled him to part with his books acquired all the known languages and all the sciences he discovered rare and valuable manu of his day
; ;
scripts,
among
Sepher
Yetzirah
he
initiated
himself
into
the
mysteries of the transcendent Kabalah, and his frank admiration for this absolute truth, for this supreme
reason of
all
him
to
make
far
all
it
So
upon
Eliphas Levi, whose undeniable influence modern occultism has done more than
to
anything
position
exaggerate
the
the
true
philosophical
of
Jewish
secret
is
literature.
The
by
his exalted
;
piety,
the points
Histoire de la Magic.
Paris, 1860,
liv.
v. c. 4, p.
347.
<ome
(Christian
<Stubent0
of the Jhibalah
359
be regretted are his extravagance, his trans cendental devotion to a religious and homely nun of mature years, and his belief that he underwent a
to
process of physical regeneration by the infusion of her To spiritual substance two years after her death.* the Council of Trent, convened for the condemnation
addressed
inviting
it
a
to
benevolent
bless
but
outside
the
purpose
of
deliberative
assembly
considering doctrinal questions. The result of these errors of enthusiasm was that Postel was shut up in
dictated possibly as
much by
a feeling of consideration, and even of mercy, towards a learned man unfitted for contact with the world, as
by the sentiment of intolerance. The seclusion, in any case, offered him the kind of advantages that he
most needed, and he died
it
in peace,
having retracted,
his
is
was disapproved by
superiors.
already seen, Postel connects with Kabalism by the great fact that he discovered and made known in the West that celebrated "Book of Formation"
As
its
fundamental doctrine.f
a species of
J
He
also
principles in
shall
recur shortly.
His
Post el
was the
first,
to
my knowledge,
wli"
translated into
Latin the most ancient and, it must be confessed, the most obscure, monument of the Kabalah ; I refer to the Book of Creation. "A.
V. Franck, La Kabbalc,
p.
16.
He
adds
"
So
far
as
am
in a
which at least equals the text in position to judge of this translation, faithful in a general way." it obscurity, appears
Tradition also refers to him
or which
\\
in
About
360
^he
own
Levi
loose
and
inexact,
literary
and
historical studies
"
undertaken by
modern
adept.
"
The
in Its
is
Trinity,"
man
body
it is
the union of
two halves
;
it is
so also
in
the
situated
the
head,
and
the
The
in
fulfilment of redemption
humanity
mind by
its
heart
by
rectify the errors of the heart, and the its generosity must correct the egoistic
has not penetrated the hearts. indeed become man, but not till
Word
has
become
woman
will
the
world
be
saved.
maternal genius of religion must instruct the sublime grandeurs of the spirit of charity will reason be conciliated with faith, because
The men in
;
then
will
it
The
in
particular
excess of
Postel
was that he
recognised the incarnation of this maternal spirit the person of the pious nun before mentioned.
1890, M. le Baron Vitta, of Lyons, is said to have purchased a MS. copy of a Latin version for 25,000 francs. Stanislas de Guaita, who mentions the circumstance, suggests that it may be the missing work of Postel. The French Biographic Universelle also ascribes a Latin version to Gui de Viterbi (s. v. Simeon b. Jochai), but does not
indicate the whereabouts of the * Hist, de la Magic, liv. v.
MS.
c. 4, p.
348.
<ome
<hri0tian
361
Eliphas Levi, who took no illuminations and no enthusiasms seriously, terms this spiritual ardour
a lyrical
there
is
puerility
and a
celestial
in the
hallucination, but
no
lyrical
element
Latin of Postellus,
the
hallucination,
and,
the
whatever
the
source
of
Into the ques lady died making no sign. tion of their subsequent reunion after a manner which recalls the status embryonnatus of Kabal-
Pneumatics, it would be imprudent here to From the period of its occurrence the mystic always termed himself Postellus Res ft tutus it is
istic
enter.
reported that his white hair became again black, the furrows disappeared from his brow, and his
cheeks
reassumed
the
hues
of
youth.
Derisive
biographers explain these marvels as derisive bio graphers might be expected, as if, Levi well observes,
being insufficient to represent him as a fool, it was necessary also to exhibit this man, of a nature so noble and so generous, in the light of a juggler and charlatan. There is one thing more astounding than
"it
the eloquent unreason of enthusiastic hearts, and that is the stupidity or bad faith of the frigid and
sceptical
judge unsympathetic historian than those con founded by Levi reduces the doctrines of Postel under two heads, (i) "That the evangelical reign of
them."*
to
less
Jesus Christ, established by the apostles, could not, be sustained among Christians or propagated among
infidels
wholly plausible.
was destined
to universal
monarchy, and
"
that his
Ibid.
362
^he
gtoftritte
anb |tttr*ittrt
rrf
the JUtbalah
the convincing of minds, so that thenceforth the world shall hold but one belief and Jesus Christ
there by one King, one law and one Given universal monarchy as a possibility of the future, no Frenchman who is true to his
shall
reign
faith."
traditions
to a
would conceivably assign it otherwise than King of France. However, one or both of these
propositions led the biographer in question to infer that Postel was mad, and I cite this conclusion less on
account of
its
it
afforded
Mad, for having dreamed that religion should govern minds by the supreme reason of its doctrine, and that the monarchy, to be strong and lasting, must bind hearts by the conquests of the Mad, for having believed public prosperity of peace
"
in the
Thy
advent of His Kingdom, to whom we daily cry, Mad, because he believed in Kingdom come
! !
Alas,
little
it is
mad
"
He
wrote
which,
read,
must frankly admit, are almost impossible to and in the case of the Sepher Yetzirah the
I
printer
make
the difficulties
I have promised to speak of the which accompanies the translation, I commentary must at least say that it should be described rather as
absolute
but as
recommends
it
expresses,
but they scarcely suggest leading, as they contain nothing of real importance, and some of them are
almost childish.
noted
are
:
Among
Defence
(a]
Christian
<Stubcnt0
of the Jgabalah
;
363
necessity of the concealment of sacred things (b) pertinent and useful distinction between the terms
creation, formation
in the
Sepher
ten
Yetzirah
(V)
The
of the
belief in
to spheres of the heavens (d) The recourse numerical mysticism to show why the Sephiroth are, in the words of the Sepher Yetzirah, ten and not
"
the necessity of the number ten being shown the progression from the unit to the by quaternary, as follows I + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10. And this,
nine,"
:
mode of calculating, brings us back to the unit, even as the external universe
God
(e)
The
attribution of
the angelic choirs to the Sephiroth, thus showing that Postel s study of the Kabalah was not confined to the
is
known
to
have translated.
Postel s original writings, that entitled De Rationibus Spirit us Sancti Libri Duo, 1543, seems on
Of
the whole the most soberly reasoned if, unfortunately, it has no connections with the Kabalah, it has at
;
least
sense.
It
is
useful
also for
occultists
by Levi, and hence to regard Postel as a very great adept of their mysteries. While it is quite true that he was
excessively fanciful in his notions, which are extrava gant in the philological as well as the conventional
who
it is
not at
all
true that he
had
set
on
given
points
of
teaching which
can
be
He upheld, regarded as considerable for his period. for example, the doctrine of eternal damnation, and
justifies
it
in
is left
for
364
^hc
Doctrine
attb
the conjecture that he was not saying what he meant. Now this doctrine is not only intolerable to the
occultist,
but
rest,
it
For the
Postel
makes void his scheme of the universe. was a good and single-minded
a Constitutione Mundi, and in spite of the panegyrics of Eliphas Levi, had no knowledge whatsoever of the
so-called
VIII.
THE ROSICRUCIANS
adventurous statements advanced
mystic fraternity,
Among many
concerning
this
we
quently told that it gave a great impetus to the study This assertion is so far from being of the Kabalah. founded in any accessible fact, that one is tempted to
rejoin
that
it
short-lived curiosity
romantic
fiction.
The
truth
is
that
no statement
first
side.
In the
place*
though
it
is
in a
very
unsatisfactory state,*
kind which
of those
* It is open therefore to numerous singular constructions, one of the most remarkable being that placed on it by Mrs. Henry Pott, in See c. xii. Francis Bacon and his Secret Society," London, 1891. especially, and compare Clifford Harrison, "Notes on the Margins,"
"
London, 1897, p. 49: "There is every good reason to suppose that the founder of Inductive Philosophy was a Rosicrucian."
<ome
365
never met
literature with
an express statement
designed to indicate knowledge and to represent On the authority which could bear investigation.
have found invariably those which most assumed the complexion of assurance were only the
contrary,
I
who had no
warrant
title
to
nor
even
sufficient
for
an
estimable opinion by their acquaintance with the exoteric facts. I have therefore to say that there is no known student of the Kabalah,* with possibly one
exception, whom it is possible to fix at all as the member of a Rosicrucian Fraternity, laying any claim to antiquity, for it is well known that there have been,
as
there
-
still
are,
some
semi
Masonic, as in
France, which
There
is
no
mischief in such adoption, provided the limits of the pretension are clear, and, with the exception of one or
in
America,
this
has,
The few
with
great
Rosicrucianism
are
names of the past which connect and at the same time \\ith
to
Kabalism
Fraternity,
not
be
a
identified
with
the
sympathy .f
*
common
The term is sometimes used loosely in connection with the Rosicrucians, as if meaning a tradition of any kind. Thus, Mr. W. F. C. Wigston speaks of "German philosophers and writers who each and all held up Freemasonry as a branch of their
.
. .
own
Rosicrucian
Kabalah."
The Columbus
of Literature,
p.
203,
Chicago, 1892. The Rosicrucian Kabalah, understood in this sense, was the Divine Magia. t In an interesting paper read before the Quatuor Coronati
in its transactions,
Dr.
Wynn
Westcott, Supreme
few memorials which we possess of it, those belonging to the eighteenth century, especially indicate that it was mainly engrossed by alchemical
over,
the
The possible exception I have mentioned, the one case in which a well-known student namely, of the Kabalah, or rather a well-known expositor
processes.
of Kabalistic subjects, may have received initiation into a Rosicrucian order going back through the
last
century,
that
is
Eliphas
received
Levi.
It
seems
of
almost
kind,
certain
he
initiation
some
and
it
who
has been recently stated by a French occultist has access to some important sources of informa
tion that the scattered groups of Rosicrucian societies were reorganised by Eliphas Levi, presumably about the year 1850. But this solitary instance does not
really save the situation,
more
especially as
shall
establish later
obtained a great reputation among occultists as a Kabalist, was not entitled to it by any profound
or
IX.
ROBERT FLUDD
The name of Robert Fludd stands high among the occult philosophers of England he was a man of wide learning, of great intellectual ambition, of
;
He was also an experimental exalted spiritual faith. mean order. If we add to this that he scientist of no
as a
Magus of new
the English Rosicrucian Society, describes Rosicrucianism presentation of Gnostic, Kabalistic, Hermetic and Neo-
Platonic doctrines.
367
an accessible
figure,
in
time,
and
Kent
will
lead us to the
and died,*
it
the fascination
which he has exercised on many who, for the rest, have never dared to stir the dust from his folios. I have already had occasion in more than one work to account for this Kentish transcendentalist, and as
there
is
life,
to
which no
one
retrace
I shall not need here to ground that has been travelled. The one mystery is whether he did ultimately enter the
is
It
is
which he wrote
not
in
had
then
been
initiated
mysteries.f
Perhaps so much energy and devotion earned that reward in the end, as there is ground for supposing was the case with his friend Michael Maier, who
espoused the same cause in Germany. not know, and the modern occult writers
that he
But we do
who
pretend
is, however, the only point with which we are here concerned, and as
to this there
is
no doubt of
his
proficiency, for he
occupied himself a great deal with vast cosmological hypotheses, which were drawn to some extent from
this
*
source.
See
He was
of
i.
when the
I,
"Haunts
the
p.
No.
in
"The
Unknown
World,"
Vol.
130, et seq.
t Perhaps the Valete Nostrique Memores estate of the Epilogus Autori ad Fratres de Rosea Cruce may create a different impression in the minds of some readers. See Apologia Compendiaria, Leyden,
1616.
atvb
controversy first gave opportunity to his pen, and the Compendious Apology," which he then published in reply to Libavius, a German Rosicrucian
"
hostile
critic,
exhibits
his
it
Kabalistic
gives
studies.
must
add
also
that
evidence
of
his
besetting
intellectual
weakness,
an
inordinate
passion for the marvellous, which leads him to dwell unduly on the thaumaturgic side of the Jewish secret knowledge. Having given the usual legend of the
tradition, its
oral
reception by Moses from God, and its perpetuation till the time of Esdras, he divides
into
the
Kabalah
two
parts,
that
of
Cosmology,
dealing with the forces operating in created things, both sublunary and celestial, and expounding on
philosophical grounds the arcana of the written law.
This division, he observes, does not differ materially from the Natural Magic in which Solomon is recorded
to
that
the
magical
powers of natural things, concealed in their centre, can be brought forth by this species of Kabalah.
The second
division
is
entitled
Mercavah, which
contemplates things Divine, angelical powers, sacred names and signacula. It is sub-divided into Notaricon
and Theomantica.
virtues
and names, of demoniacal natures and of human souls; Theomantica investigates the mysteries of the Divine Majesty, of sacred names and pentacles.
proficient therein
foretell
future
com
mand
entire
Nature, compel
angels
and perform miracles. By this art his various signs and wonders, Joshua caused the sun to stand still, Elijah brought fire from heaven
Somt
Christian
<StuDcnt0
of the
it
$abalah
369
and raised the dead to life. But through His Holy Spirit, which
the elect.
It
is
is
will
be seen that
if
this
classification
presents
the debased and superstitious apparatus of the Sepker RastelanA of later Kabalism, ignored if not unknown by writers like Rosenroth. In the vast folios which followed the Compendious Apology the Kabalistic connections of Fludd s are
"
"
suggestive
rather
arc
and
no
think
acquaintance
with
the
mology of the
its
Macrocosmos* which
and
to
with has
metaphysical
chiefly
physical
Platonic
origin,
he
recourse
writings,
the
and
Hermetic
although many other authorities are cited, nothing is borrowed from the Kabalists, except indeed the which
and
Tetragrammaton,
figures
The
complementary treatise on the Microcosm recalls Kabalism in its doctrine of angels and demons.
may be traced in his other but they indicate no real knowledge. In the properties of discussing the numbersf
writings,
(/>.,
Slight correspondences
Scphirotli)
and
the
Divine
Names*
attributed
to
them, the diagram which accompanies the remarks shows that he misconstrued the
totally
Kabalistic
scheme of emanation.
Cosmi
So
also
some
et
later observa-
.!//</,topru Mctaphysica, Jhystca atque Technica Historia, 2 vols., Frankfort, 1617 and 1629. t Philosophia Sacra et vert Christiana, sen Mtttorohgica Cosmica, 1626.
,,///,r/
AA
370
tions
^he
concerning
Mctatron
and
the
positive
and
negative sides
special
of the Sephirotic
Tree* suggest no
to Father replying knowledge. Fludd defends what he terms his Kabalah, Mersenne, but the term is used loosely and has certainly very to
When
little
It
may
like
other subjects, that of the esoteric tradition in Israel was approached by him from the Christian stand
point.
X.
HENRY MORE
Platonic philosopher
is
The Cambridge
regarded
by Basnage to the Kabbala Denudata as in some sense discovering the sentiment and spirit of Jewish theosophy.J
as a great Kabalist
and
his contributions
Rosenroth on the ground that they are personal speculations which are not at all in harmony with
Kabalistic teaching.
More
is
and earnest
His point of view is also of importance to our inquiry, because his name belongs undeniably to the literature of English mysticism. Let us begin there
fore
by
*
Medic ina Catholtca^ sett Mysticutn Artis Medicandi Sacrarium, 2 vols., Frankfort, 1629, 1631.
t
DC
Sophice
cum Moria
:
Certatniue, 1629.
iii.
c.
10, toni.
ii.,
p. 786.
Ad. Franck
La Kabbale,
p. 22.
Some
3?I
Christian who desired the conversion of the Jews, who regarded the Kabalah as a fitting instrument to effect
it,
and not
in
Pagans.
He
the case of the Jews only, but even of came, therefore, to its study and eluci
dation not as an occultist, not as a seeker for an absolute doctrine of religion, nor even for a higher sense of Christianity, but like Picus and Postel and Reuchlin, or like his and editor
Rosenroth,
spirit
as
one
imbued
correspondent with an
evangelical
The
introduction of
More
to the
Kabalah was
brought about, as it has been supposed, by means of Isaac de Loria s Liber Drushim. There is no reason to believe that he undertook an independent study of the Zohar, and hence as his contributions to the
subject are
all
it
Denudata,
kind.
At
the
same
Drushim
called forth a well-reasoned letter from his pen, addressed to Rosenroth,f in which the description of the Sephiroth under the form of spheres is condemned
as a fiction
to the
of the
is
later
denary
is,
affirmed.
The
critical
position of
accompanied by a number of questions and considerations in development of the debated point and other difficulties,
*
however, conclusively established by the attribution of the Pythagorean denary to a Kabalistic origin. This letter was
the writer
And
cmolnmcntum,
as
the
same corre
spondence shows.
t Epistola adCompilatorem, Apparatus in secunda, p. 52, et sey. Kab. Den. t. i.
372
all
<&ht
which are duly printed by Rosenroth, to whom space seemed no object, together with his Arnica
responsio,
in
which
cites
the authority of
the
Zohar and an
his
support of
replied
Sephirotk.*
More
with an
letter,
Ulterior Disquisitio
in
accompanying
which
he
announces
hit
upon
This
the
true
is
Kabalah of
in
epistle
English
entreats
and
quaintly
worded.
The
conclusion
"
Rosenroth to intimate to
this for
his readers
how
beneficiall
preparing of the Jews to may prove the difficultyes and obstacles receive Christianity, being cleared and removed by the right under
the
standing of their
own
it
Cabbala."
There
discussion,
is
no
need
to
follow
this
friendly
which,
must
be
confessed,
becomes
exceedingly tedious
More, however, contributed another thesis in exposition of the Vision of Ezekiel, i.e., the Kabalistic work of the
Chariot, together with a Kabalistic catechism and a
refutation of the doctrine that the material world
is
not the product of creation ex nihilo, in which last the Platonist seems to have scarcely understood the Kabalah.
Of
all
is
the Mercavcz
Expositio^
which contains nineteen postulates, fifty-two questions arising out of the text of Ezekiel and the replies thereto. It affirms, (a) That all souls, angelical
and human, with that of the Messiah included, were created at the beginning of the world ;f (&) That the
material world in
*
its
first
estate
was diaphanous, or
In Caput
ii.,
Some
lucid
;
Chrietian
it
tubent
of the gfobalah
373
(V)
That
of Nature and the vehicle of the Holy Spirit (d) That it was divided into four parts, which are the four worlds of the Kabalists That all souls
at
first
enclosed
revolution in
were were subject to Atziluth, the other worlds (/) That souls which
;
(e)
in
but
the Divine decree has sent into Asst aA, but are free from willing sin, are sustained by Divine
virtue,
in
and
(g)
That
Atziluth the souls and the angels are absorbed wholly in the Beatific but that in Briah Vision, they have a tendency to external That the soul of things (//) the Messiah in Atziluth made such progress in the Divine Love that it became united with the Eternal Word in a Hyper-Atzilutic or
;
four worlds, which took place at the beginning of the Briatic world, the special heritage of the Messiah. At this point the Christian Kabalist introduces the compact of the cross and
dis
King of the
solves
all
connection
with
the
scheme of Jewish
contains
theosophy.
The
references
Mercavce
to
Expositio
numerous
entitled
another
work
of
More,
Cabbalistica* which preceded his corre spondence with Roscnroth. It is a presentation of the
Conjectura
literal, philosophical and mystical, or divinely moral sense of the three initial It chapters of Genesis. was received, so the author assures us, neither from
*
"A of interpreting the Mind of Moses Conjectural according to a threefold Cabbala, viz., Literal, Philosophical, Mystical or Divinely Moral," London, 1662. The attempt was dedicated to
I>
Cudworth.
374
^he
nor
men
angels,
and
as
fact
the
"
"
Franck, for it in common with any ancient or modern Kabalah ever The literal section is a bald received in Jewry.
and
paraphrase of the scriptural account of the creation is of man. The fall Philosophic Cabala
"
"
manner
i.
Triad,
3.
Making of the Starry Heavens = Tetrad, 4. Making of Fish and Fowls, or Union of the
Passive and Active Principle = Pentad, 5. The Making of Beasts and Cattle, but chiefly of
Man = Hexad,
In his
soul
6.
What becomes
appear.
and
his
first estate Adam was wholly ethereal, was the ground which was blessed by
it
brought forth every pleasant tree and every goodly growth of the heavenly Father s own planting. The Tree of Life in the garden of
God, whereby
man s
soul
was the
essential will of
will of
man
We
have here the keynote of the allegory, which is merely It may, how pleasing and altogether unsubstantial.
be noted that the sleep which fell upon Adam The was a lassitude of Divine contemplation. Moral Cabala recognises two principles in man, and flesh. It gives apparently a namely, spirit synopsis of the work of regeneration, depicting, firstly, the spiritual chaos, when man is under the
ever,
" "
Christian
<Stubfnt*
of the
gabalah
375
dominion of the
flesh
next,
the
dawning of the
heavenly principle, corresponding to the Fiat Lux, hut the analogy in most instances seems at once weak
and laboured.
For example, the fruit-bearing trees are good works, the manifestation of the sun is the love of God and our neighbour, and so forth. On
the whole,
it
may be concluded
is
that
More s connection
XI.
THOMAS VAUGHAN
With the questionings, difficulties and tentative expositions of Henry More it will be useful to contrast what is said on the subject of Kabalism
by
his
contemporary Eugenius
It
Philalethcs,
other
wise
Thomas Vaughan.
students
of
will
not
be forgotten
in
by
the
byways
of
literature
the
Spirit
of
Nature,
More, who
was
after
all
more
mystic
in
terminology,
published
some observations
concerning them, to
satires
The
but
I
with the polemical virulence of his period. dispute itself deserves nothing less than oblivion,
Thomas Vaughan
think,
thcosopher
with exaggeration, as the greatest mystic, and alchemist, with one exception in
376
^he
the last respect,* produced by his century in England and as he died nearly twenty-five years before the appearance of the Kabbala Denudata, the source and
;
extent of his Kabalistic knowledge will help us to fix the state of scholarship in England on the
subject
before
the
formation
of
the
group
of
Cambridge
confesses
Platonists.
Vaughan,
disciple
in his early
works,
the
himself
of Agrippa,
and
"Three Books of Occult Philosophy"! represent the general measure of his knowledge concerning the esoteric tradition of the Jews, while the opinion which he had formed thereon must be referred to
the
"
Retractation
"
of
his
master, that
admirable
work
Vanity of the Sciences and the excellence of the Word of God." I must not say
the
"
on
that he shows no independent reading he quotes on one occasion a passage in the Porta Lucis\ which is not to be found in Agrippa, and there are one
;
or
is
two other
content
to
If
instances,
inspirer.
represent his model and his first my readers accept this judgment, they must interpret his own statement that he spent some
*
The
Philosopher,"
exception is Eirenseus Philalethes, that truly "Unknown with whom Eugenius has been so often identified, and
from whom of late years so often and carefully distinguished by myself and other writers, that it is unnecessary in this connection to say any
thing concerning him, except that his numerous works have no points of contact, at least explicitly, with Kabalism.
t Translated
into
English one
year after
the
appearance of
Vaughan
first
treatises.
% Concerning the restraint of the superior influences occasioned by the sin of Adam. Of which some are sufficiently erroneous, as, for example, in Magia Adamica, when he states that Malkuth is the invisible, I speak under correction, but I know of no archetypal moon. authority for the Lunar attribution of the tenth Sephira.
ome (Christian
<Stul)ent0
of tht $ab.ilah
377
years in the search and contemplation of the Kabalah reflectively and not bibliographically, which further
will
of
peculiar mysticism
distinct
points
of
by the mystic.
find
In his discourse on the antiquity of magic we him alive, like the students who had preceded
Kabalah.
The
latter,
than their
fortunes,"
grown
voluminous."
and physical
Vaughan
tradition
tells
us that he embraces
them
for so
many
the
sacred truths.*
in
He
which
the
greatest
"
mystery
is
Here we find two symbolism of Jacob s Ladder. extremes Jacob is one, at the foot of the ladder, and God is the other, who stands above it, ewittens fornias
et inflitxus
in
Jacob,
sive
subjectum hominew.
The
rounds or steps in the ladder signify the middle With nature, by which Jacob is united to God."f
this
symbolism he contrasts the false grammatical which consists only in rotations of the Kabala alphabet and a metathesis of letters in the text, by
"
" "
Vaughan,"
edited by A.
E.
t Ibid.,
p.
HI.
37 8
^he
which means the scripture hath suffered many racks and excoriations." The true Kabalah only uses the
letters for
artifice,
that
is,
ment.*
Of the
Thomas
and physical
operations in the infinite as well as in the mineral kingdom. For him the Sephiroth are
having
its
first
is
the
second
a spirit is the
Voice of that
proceeds from the Spirit and the Voice, and the fourth is a certain water proceeding from the
"
"
and emanating Fire and Air. It will be of the Welsh mystic on the apparatus of Kabalism are not elucidating, and
third Spirit,
)
seen
that
the reflections
while recording the Sephirotic attributions of the Sepher Yetzirah are not fully in consonance there
with.
We
that
writers
like his
He knew
translation
nothing of the
us
in
as to
their
persons,"
so he tells
his
preface to a
certain
rare
of the
Fama
and Confessio of the Fraternity, and it was merely by report and consideration on things heard at second
hand that he was aware of the mysticism in Jewry. As time went on and he outgrew the simple leadingstrings of Cornelius Agrippa, so he strayed
further
Ibid.
Ibid.,
io.
Christian
<Stubtnt0
of the
JUbaUh
379
lost
from Kabalistic
interests,
in his earlier
works, he passed
away over
When he published jEsh Mezareph could help him. Waters of the East," in 1655, he or the "Euphrates,
shows no longer any trace of the tradition in Israel. In Lumen de Lumim\ which appeared some four years
earlier, there
however, a few references to the constitutes an adumbration subject, and one indeed Kabalah as impressed on the curious of the Christian
are,
it is
introduced
Fire-Soul,"
The
described as an influence from the Almighty derived the mediation of the terra viventium. The
through
is said to be mediating being thus darkly described, the Kabalists the Second Person, and that which
"
style
the
Supernatural
:
East"
"
As
To
manifested to us in the East, so the in the second Supernatural Light was first manifested the Beginning person, for he \sPrincipium alterations, of God, or the first manifestation of of the
first
ways
s
his
Father
this
all
From
comes
of
Light in the Supernatural generation. Terra Vii cntinm or Land of the Living The Kabalistic warrant Life or
Spirit."*
this
notion
is
the
axiom
Omnis am ma bona
in
amma
is
nova
filia
Orientis.^
is
is
The East
question
contrary to
the
Kabalistic state
Son of God.
This also
is
and
1651, pp. 80-82. also cites the obscure eighth conclusion of Mirandola, Ibid., p. 83. is Binah, the Holy Ghost. says that the third light
Vaughan
380
llu
iortrine
anfc $iterattt
x>f
t!u
$abalah
Kaba-
Supernals
to Father, Son, Bride, with which the later rabbins are said to have tampered so as to elude its Christian
inferences. In either case Vaughan is interesting as a strange light of Christian mysticism and not as an expositor of the Kabalah.
XII.
the occult standpoint it is, perhaps, more interesting to ascertain the motives which led the editor of the Kabbala Denudata to the consideration of Jewish theosophy than those of any other student of the subject. To Christian Knorr von
From
Rosenroth
the occultist owes nearly all his knowledge of the for the Zohar, bibliographical writers who
preceded
him give only meagre notices of the Kabalfstic wagnum opus, and it is not even mentioned by
Mirandola, Agrippa, or Postal. Now Rosenroth occupies a somewhat curious position which occultists for the most part have failed to remark, because they know very little about their chief illuminator in the mysticism of Israel. I to show that
propose
he
was actuated by the same missionary enthusiasm which characterised all the Christian
neophytes
preceded him,* but
* I
who
shall begin
by enumerating one
It was indeed, both before and after, the conventional raison detre of almost every work on the subject. See, for example, Beyers Cabbahsmus Judaico - Christianas Delectus Breviterqve Delineates Wittemberg, 1707.
omt Christian
or
<Stul)ent0
of the
$abnlah
381
two points which indicate that he had occult Born in the year 1636, a German noble connections. the title of baron, he appears on the scene bearing
of history shortly after out on the subject of
public curiosity had died the Rosicrucian mystery.
Joachim
Johann Valentin Andreae ^Egidius Guthmann, three persons to whom have attributed the invention of theories
Junge,
and
rival
that
Robert Fludd, the English apologist of the Fraternity, was on the threshold Thomas of death, but had not yet passed away
mystery,* were
still
alive
Vaughan was
a schoolboy
just written his Introitus Apertus to show the adepts of alchemy that he was their brother and their peer ;f
Sendivogius had
exhausted
in
his
projecting
powder
and was
frontiers
living
seclusion,
;J
of
Silesia
John
who
long before had testified that he had seen and touched the philosopher s stone of a colour like
saffron
in
powder,
but
and
shining
like
his son
Mercurius
friend
between a
muting
metals
and
of
the
Rosicrucians,"
by A. E. Waite,
in
all
c. viii.,
editions of
the
Philosophers,"
London, 1888,
p.
179.
In his treatise
De
Vita Eterna.
382
we
find
it
described as Scriptum
Theologis
omnibus
philologis,
philosophis,
omnium
religionum,
atque
a
philochymicis
is
quam
utilissimum.
The
listici
communes CabbaCompendium Libri CabbalisticoChymici, sEsch Mezareph dicti, de Lapide Philosophico. I have had occasion in the sixth book to give some
justification
include
treatise.
We We
have reason therefore to suppose that Rosenwith the alchemical zeal of his
friend, the second generation of an alchemical family. may suspect, however, that he was more mystic
than Hermetist; we are told that he loved meditating on the Holy Scriptures and that he knew them by
heart.
Like
his
Lutheran, and Eliphas Levi would have said of him, as of the author of the Amphitheatrum, herein he
was a German of
citizen
his period
rather than
of
the
eternal
kingdom."*
is
In
a mystic matters of
fact
determined by the
that he wrote an
"
about which
will
a dialogue on evangelical history, in which a Kabalistic catechumen proposes questions on the four Gospels and a Christian replies.
to our purpose
More
With
this
also
we may connect
a treatise entitled
Messias jPurus, in which the life of Jesus Christ, from his conception to his baptism, is explained In a according to the doctrines of the Kabalah.
word, the motto of his correspondent Henry More was that also of Rosenroth May the glory of our
"
Paris, 1860.
<ome
383
!"
God and
his
our writings
the reasons which justify the appearance of a Latin version of the Zohar* by affirming that at a period when the divisions of Christendom are traceable to
diversity of philosophical opinions
definitions
it
and metaphysical
must be important to investigate a philosophical system which flourished during the age of Christ and his apostles, and from which fountain
the sacred oracles have themselves drawn largely. the preface to the translation of the Zohar
In
he
expressly founds his opinion that Kabalistic dogmas may be of Divine revelation on the ground of their
sanctity
in
their
great
use
Old
and
unlike
New
the
Testaments.
later
He
also
notes
that,
single
enumerating
should
against Christ. Finally, after twenty -four reasons why the Jews
enjoy toleration at Christian hands, he mentions the chief things which will assist their
conversion.
They
include of
common
places of piety and the ordinary devices of proselytism, but there is stress laid upon the pro
motion of the study of Hebrew and Chaldaic, and New Testament into those
The
disquisition
is
conventional enough,
St
iunJa,
p.
3 et scq.,
Kn!>.
Den., Tom.
t With thi* description the reader may compare a little which belongs to the Kabbala Denndala, though unfortunately it is AAtmlrati* Kabbala i.e., met with very rarely in extant en pic
t
,
Foedfris, pro
formanda
hypothesis,
384
^he
it
but
is
important, because
it
project which was ever near to the heart of Rosenroth, and, secondly, how little he dreamed either of an esoteric Christianity or of a withdrawn WisdomReligion, how little he looked to find in Kabalistic doctrine a deeper sense of Christian doctrines, or
in
the eyes of
Jewry, by demonstrating that they were to be found in the Zohar. He did not wish the Christian to
become a
Kabalistic
much
for the
He
is
said to
involved, over the publication of the Kabbala Denudata, but there is no need to add that it entirely missed its aim it has enabled a few students to get a confused
;
it
has in this
it is
way done
immense
that
it
service to occultists:
Jew
Christ,
and as Rosenroth
life
daughter depart from the reformed religion and embrace, under the influence of her husband, the faith
of the Catholic Church.
Taken altogether the story of Christian Rosenroth has a touch of heroism and
tragedy, and with all its faults his gift to scholarship is one of permanent value, and it is, I think, a useful task to indicate the circumstances under which
he
gave
it
It is an addendum to the second proficient!s. volume, separately paged, and is in the form of a dialogue between a Kabalist and a Christian
It has been translated philosopher. quite recently into French. At a later date the same motives inspired two small treatises
which are interesting in their way, and are worth mentioning for the benefit of students who may wish to pursue the subject. ( i ) Phosphorus
385
should add that over the antiquity of Kabalistic doctrine and literature he was by no means credulous
for his
may
period, seeming indeed to admit that there have been an admixture of late material with
the ancient fragments of the Zohar. He evidently regarded the Book of Concealment as the oldest and
most important of its treatises, and this is the only one which he was inclined to ascribe to the direct
Orthodox* Fidei Veterum Cabbalistarum, Sancta Trinitate et Afessia Deo ct
sett
Tcstimonia dc Sacro-
deprompia, qua mine primum Latin,! reddita, suisque et A\ fohannis hempen Judao-Christiatti animadversionibus concimu
c.vfilicata,
Jmlris
Stilus,
Andreas Norrtlius
i/iti item commentaries Kemperianos si/is illustravit notis. Amstehdami, 1720. The prolegomena are concerned with the praise of R. Simeon ben Jochai, showing the authority of the Zohar, and its superiority to the Talmud on the ground that it, author flow before Judah the Prince. The Talmud is quoted (p. 10), to that R. Simeon studied the Kabalah in the cave, and that he and his -son wrote the Zohar therein, or that part of it which is in the
[
portions are referred to other authorships (p. 16). The translated matter is chiefly from the Faithful Shepherd," and follows the Mantua edition of the Zohar. (2) Lux in Tcnebris, tj uam
"
dialect.
The Hebrew
Jerusalem
in dcnissimis return dirinarnm tcncbris, ad mystcrhtm SS. eo facilius appnehcndtndum, ct Majcstatcm Christ i
Trinitatis
Dh inam
non
pertinaciter
oppupiandam,
. . .
more
first
lion fadandum
treatise of Norrelius).
place In the
f
Trinity
the
is an attempt to prove that th concealed in Leviticus xvi. 18, and Deut. vi.
the
xix.,
fourth chapter treats of the Lord C.-d .-f 35 and the fifth of the Lord God, The .sixth xlviii., if,. chapter seeks to prove that the three supernal Scphircth v. and characters under which the ,j s hcd pre-Christian tlie Three Persons of the One Divin with
I
:
interest.
The
(3)
Diatribe Pkitobgic* dt K. Simcom- I- Hit Jochai auctorc Libri Sa/i..qua VtH ccleberrimi Christ inn i Schc-cllgenii Disscrtatio docfns
Cmnpare
Simconum
examinatur
/-
Christianum
modiste
et
BB
386
the
authorship of R. Simeon ben Jochai. Of the rest, some may have been the work of R. Abba and some
of the school which succeeded these masters.
XIII.
RALPH CUDWORTH
of Ralph Cudworth, perhaps the greatest theosophist of his age, is still a precious memory in English theological literature of the higher
type, though, except
Intellectual
It
is
among
"
True
System of the
Universe" is
now unknown.
a mine of Platonism, learning and sapience, and more than this, it is a deeply reasoned treatise
of
its
period in
;
period
its
turning over the leaves of the colossal folio one almost regrets that the difficulties of the seventeenth
century disturb us no longer and that their solution no longer helps us. It must be confessed that
Cudworth
connects
somewhat
superficially
with
as
it is,
"
need not
The chief thesis of the Intellectual detain us long. is that behind all the tapestries and System
pagan mythology there is the doctrine of monotheism, and that civilised man in reality has never worshipped but one God, whose
embroideries
of
threefold nature
was a
"
Divine
Cabbala"
or revelation,
till
"
successively depraved
for
and adulterated
it
almost
among
the
particular
later Platonists.*
Among
of the
"True
For the purposes of this notice I have used the original edition Intellectual System of the Universe," London, 1668.
gome Chri0tn
387
the cloud of witnesses who are convened in support of this view are included the later Rabbinical writers, the Halacoth of the Gnolath
Maimonides,
the
Tamid
of Moses
Albelda,
Ikkanm
David
the commentaries of R.
Nitsaclwn
references
that
this
and
of Rabbi Solomon, which at least serve to show citings Christian divine had attempted some
glosses
and
the
curious
generally of Nations anciently, at Pagan least the intelligent amongst them, acknowledged One Supreme God of the whole world, and that all
this persuasion, that the
in the exploration unknown world Hebrew literature. His conclusion was "that Hebrew Doctors and Rabbins have been
of
the
Gods were but Creatures and Inferior which were worshipped by them Ministers, upon these two accounts, either as thinking that the honour done to them redounded to the Supreme, or else that they might be their Mediators and Intercessors, Orators and Negotiators with Him, which inferior Gods of
their other
the Pagans were supposed by these Hebrews to be chiefly of two kinds, Angels and Stars or Spheres, the latter of which the Jews as well as
Pagans
or
to
intellectual."
The
at
the
it
present
day
is
chiefly archaic
for
it
but
has
its
interest,
serves
the
Hebrew mind
at the period of
Maimonides and
"
at
the song of the Psalmist described the idols of the Gentiles as silver and
gold, the
when
men."
In addition to the
the
Universe"
388
^he
a discourse on
Supper,"*
the
"True
Notion
of-
the
Lord
afterwards translated by Mosheim, with a confutation representing the consubstantial doctrine of Lutheran theology ,f and yet
into
Latin
again enlarged
"Discourse
upon
on the
"
in
his
of the
thesis
is
the
first
and Heathens to feast upon things sacrificed, and that the custom of the Christians in partaking of the
Lord
Supper,
is
analogous
thereto."
It
outside
my
province to
who
this view,
it
no theory passing may just be remarked which reduces the Eucharist to a memorial or a
banquet can be mystically acceptable. Cudworth was by no means a mystic, and the most that his subject afforded was an opportunity to give further evidence of his unusual erudition, and it may
religious
be added of no inconsiderable
ment.
skill
in
its
manage
it
The
thesis
is
has
recourse so frequently to the Rabbinical writers, to the glosses of Nachmanides, the writings of Isaac
Abravanel, the
Mishna, the
commentary on
that
work by Rabbi Obadiah, the scholiasts on Judges, The rare MSS. of Karaite Jews and so forth. but it was because Zoharic writings are not quoted,
on the matter in they contained nothing bearing had occasion arisen, no doubt Ralph Cudworth hand
;
London, 1676.
<0me
389
familiarity with
XIV.
THOMAS BURNET
With the Cambridge school of Platonists the name of Thomas Burnet, some time master of the
Charterhouse, connects
by association
rather than
the similarity of intellectual pursuits. He entered Christ s College in 1654, when Ralph Cudworth was
master, while
year.
It was probably to the last-named divine that he owed his slight knowledge of the subject which entitles him to mention in this place. The amicable
between More and the editor of the Kabbala Denudata appeared, as we have seen, in that work in the year 1677, but the "Interpretation
discussion
of the
mind of
Moses"
had preceded
it
by a number
years. published his Telluris Theoria Sacra, he gave no evidence of his interest in Platonic or Kabalistic subjects; it has been
of
When
Burnet
described
by
It
Brewster
is,
as
beautiful
geological
romance.
the
of course, concerned
largely with
scheme of creation, and the more important work which followed it, dealing as it does
Mosaic
with the ancient doctrine concerning the origin of is its extension or In this things, really sequel.*
interesting volume, written elegantly in Latin of the
period, tout
un grand
chapitre, as the
it, is
bibliography
Archieologia: Philosophic^ sive Doctrina Antiqua de Originibus, Libri duo, tditio sccunda (the best), London 1728.
already hinted, it bears no evidence of original research, or indeed of any first-hand knowledge, but it is justifiable by our purpose to ascertain how a
literature
As
which
fascinated,
though
it
did
not
altogether
convince,
the
Cambridge
Platonists,
impressed the liberal mind of a bold and not unlearned thinker belonging to the next generation. We find, as might be anticipated, that Burnet raises
no question
have
as to the
he understood what
understood
all
students
natural
also,
knowledge
mysteries derived from the Egyptian education of the Jewish lawgiver. He differs, however, from the
by questioning seriously how much of wisdom came down to the Israelites. Assuming some tradition of the kind, there could be no doubt that it was depraved in the lapse of time.* In
Kabalists
this
abounds
as we now possess it, of imagination and in nugatory figments methods. From this statement of the general position, which may be regarded as the common
particular,
the
Kabalah,
in
ground of
detailed
all
criticism,
he
proceeds
the
at
to
more
of
examination, with
specific
results
The
debased
is indeed, as already seen, admitted by those who most earnestly maintain its
which
attempt, says Burnet, to separate anything may remain uncorrupted in the Kabalah, to
we
we must
adulterata.
first
of
Fcedissime
lieet
b Neotericis corrupta
et
omc Christian
all
391
purge away that numerical, literal, grammatical part which seeks to extract arcane meanings from the
Names and
the word-book of
the Scriptures.
superstitious element
must
also be
purged away.
I
We
is
in
mind, and
this,
think,
the
necessary of all the secondary points raised in the criticism, that the enunciation of common notions in
uncommon language cannot be accepted as the true Kabalah. The warning which it implies is not less needed at the present moment than in the days of Thomas Burnet. The delight in unintelligible
language because
of
as
it is
unintelligible
at
is
as characteristic
some
of
occult
writers
the
present
gloom -wrapped
Hades
it
would seem indeed that the sphinx who propounds the arcana in terms as monstrous as herself needs
only a commonplace to overwhelm
her, as
in
the
case of CEdipus. In accordance with his intention Burnet proceeds to divide the Kabalah into the Nominal and Real.
The
first is
Gematria, Tcinurali, Notaricon, Vocabula. Its devices, he says, are the diversions of our children, and in
truth
it
would
seem
hard
to
decide
whether
intellectual superiority
should be ascribed to rabbinical anagrams or to the apparatus of "Tit: Tat: To." In any case, they
do not
wisdom."
belong to
far
sane
literature,
much
less
to
So
readily the
judgment
39 2
^QThe
jpocitme
zinfc
fCitentture
x>f
the
is
always
com
paratively easy, and there was no novelty in the line taken even so far back as the second half of the
seventeenth century. When he comes, however, to consider what he has agreed to regard as the real
is
drawn only from the Kabbala when it does not arrest his judgment, leads Denudata, him into manifest error. Thus, he tells us that the
Kabalah contains two things which are important our consideration, the doctrine of the SephirotJi and that of the Four Worlds, but he complains that the
real
for
conception which underlies the former does not appear With the help of the Lexicon of Rosenroth clearly.
he decides
finally that
what he can glean from that source con cerning Kcther and Chokmah, and then surrenders the inquiry in the hope of finding more intelligible state
sets forth
He
He
all
concludes,
the pseudo-
mystics of Kabalism, Theosophy and Hermetics is who continued to love the dark
the light was come assumes, as might be of Occupation is the most
when
He
expected, that the Book important part of the Zohar, and glancing at the
"
their
significance
in
He
the thirty-two
attained
mentions in addition to the Sephiroth and the Four Worlds, Paths of Wisdom, from the Sepher Yetzirah and its
"
through which Moses commentary, and the Fifty Gates of Providence his marvellous science, and concealed the same in the
according to the Kabalists.
19-21.
Pentateuch," i.e.,
% John,
iii.
(Dirisliau
<Slubcnt0
of the
gUbalah
393
and
what
is
Lesser Countenance.
meant by the symbolism of the Vast and the We are all of us liable some
"
it is
a
to
common
complaint of the
be distracted by
allegories."
To sum
We
know from
if
it
is
as a critic of
Kabalism.
He
precursors of liberal
theology, and he
said
to
by venturing to express the opinion that the story of the Garden of Eden should not be understood Faith and In a later treatise on the literally.
"
Duties of
Christians,"!
he
is
also stated
to
have
unimportant in accepted doctrine that it is ques A tionable whether even Christianity remained.
posthumous work on
*
"The
eschatology and
Part
i.,
the
71.
resur-
c.
De
Fide
Christ ianorum.
394
^he
Jbbalah
rection* maintained that the punishment of the wicked would terminate ultimately in their salvation. I should add that some pretended English versions of the Archaeological Philosophy do not represent the original, and in particular omit altogether the Kabalistic section.
XV.
The
life
SAINT-MARTIN
Philosopher, who at the end of the eighteenth century and amidst the torch lights of the Revolution diffused in France the higher
Martin, the
Unknown
spirit
of mysticism,
I
special study,f
briefly,
shall
at
some length
therein.
He was
tradition through Martines de Pasqually, the genesis of which remains undetermined, though it was termed Rosicrucian by his initiator, and is now
esoteric
termed Swedenborgian by his present interpreters in France. It is a tradition which differs very consider
ably from other presentations of occult doctrine, and in particular it has little in common with what we
know
or
may
infer
acquainted only through some excerpts published by one of Saint-Martin s biographers and in the cate;
De
Statu Mortuorum
:
et
"
t See A. E. Waite
The
Martin, the Unknown Philosopher, and the Substance of his Tran scendental Doctrine," London, Philip Wellby, 1901.
J It is right to say that Kenneth Mackenzie, in his Cyclopaedia of Freemasonry/ attributes to him three published works which, so far
"
on\t
395
chisms of the
Masonic Rite
propagated
by him,
It was much presented in a very crude manner. developed by Saint-Martin, who indeed brought to it a gift of genius which was wanting in his instructor.
Now,
Saint- Martin
little,
much
He
deference towards doctors of authority therein. considered books at best a makeshift method of
;
he preferred though he wrote many learning at first hand from God, Man and the Universe. Till he came under the influence of Jacob Bohme he neither quoted nor possessed authorities,"
instruction,
"
He
drew, of
mentions
it
in
correspondence
posthumously.
any and
There
clear
his
is
there
is
every
Some
of his lesser
doctrines possess a Kabalistic complexion. There is that in particular concerning the Great Name which
I
which
have developed at some length in the study to I have referred, but it has lost all touch with
in the
Kabalism
hands of Saint-Martin.
So
also he
has a complex system of mystic numbers which suggests the Rabbinical Notaricon, but it is entirely
out
of
line
with
all
other
numerical
mysticism,
as I
am
them
as mythical.
aware, are unknown, and I must add that personally I regard It may be noted further that while this volume was
passing through the press the fragmentary treatise referred to in the text has been published in Paris.
39 6
^He
origin
problems
conclude
that Pasqually,
whom
and perhaps even a saintly man, as his Masonic school was almost a seminary of sanctity, derived from a source which retained some filtrations
of Kabalism, and that they were brought over by Saint-Martin without any historical associations what
ever.*
He
has therefore
little
title
to be included
among
the defenders and expounders of Kabalistic doctrine, which would have come as a surprise to
himself.
This
at this
is
done, however, by
French occult
to
"
writers
day,j*
annex
and
rest
regret that
his
who from
gifts
position in the
modern
rite
of Martinism
has the
know
differently
and the
opportunity.
XVI.
ELIPHAS LEVI
more
*
That man is superior to the angels, and may even instruct them, think, the most convincing instance in Saint-Martin of such a filtration. This notion is found in the Zohar, and in some of its com
is,
mentators.
Le
t More especially in the case of the so-called facetious allegory Crocodile, in which it may be safely said that there is not a single
trace of Kabalism.
(Christian
397
to have received a
new impetus by
among
the Jews,
have already made frequent reference.* I have also indicated that much of its value remains unim
paired
after
the lapse of
criticism
indeed
modern
respects inclined to return to his standpoint, as regards not only the antiquity of Zoharic tradition but of much of the body of the Zohar. Franck s
work
has, to
of course,
scholars
its
limitations,
his
and
it
is
well
known
that
excerpts
subjected
from
to
the
Kabalistic
strictures
books
in
were
;
early
severe
Germany
but for
an
accomplished
Its
it.
analyses of the Sepher Yetzirah and of the Zohar, together with its delineations of the correspondences
between the philosophical school of Kabalism and the schools of Plato, of Alexandria, of Philo, created
French knowledge on the subject, and together with the researches of Munk, published some few years subsequently, have been practically the only source
of that knowledge down to recent times, with the exception of such light as may be held to have been
by the writings of Kliphas Levi. As regards motives Franck and Levi are located at opposite poles. The first was an academic writer having no occult interests the second claimed
both methods and
;
diffused
not
only
initiation
but
of
adeptship,
not
ordinary
.\
n -sources
scholarship
focussed
only the on a
Par.
A<1.
398
^he
and historical problem, but all the advantages which could be derived from the exclusive possession of its master key.
literary
Among
criticism
the
lesser
difficulties
of
Kabalistic
the proper allocation of Alphonse Louis Constant in the throng of students and expositors
is
not without
its
gravity.
Whether
of
occult
in
France or
in
sympathies
philosophy
the
direction
science
and
to
their
introduction
course, Eliphas speak, subsequent to 1850,* and I may add that few persons thus initiated have done anything but read the inter
LeVi.
of
of
the period
pretations of their
first
body
of
Although the elegant treatise of Franck had, as we have seen, preceded Levi s interpretatations by several years, appearing in 1843. So far as I can recollect the professed adept never referred to the
Prior sympathetic criticism and defence of the more academic writer. to 1843 the most extraordinary ignorance must have prevailed upon the
subject in France, since it was possible for a distinguished philosopher to When Christian philosophy made its appearance in write as follows
"
the world
it
to a severe regime, which set aside mysticism. did not reappear till the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in certain schools of Italy and Germany. This new mysticism, called Kabalah, from a name known already in the schools of Alexandria, but since
bosom
entirely disappeared, and signifying oral tradition, issued from of the scholastic, and acted with the instruments of
the the
scholastic, as formerly the neoplatonist Porphyry evoked with Platonic words. The Cabbala (sic) of the fifteenth century put in operation
magic squares and circles, mysterious numbers, by the power of which the demons of hell and the divinities of heaven were compelled, as it was pretended, to appear in obedience to the wand
bizarre formulae,
;
mystic ecstasies of Raymond Lully, who attracted such zealous partisans and furious enemies, causing blood to flow ; hence Victor Cousin the delirium which brought Bruno to the stake."
hence the
would seem impossible to record a greater number of inaccuracies, or to display more signal ignorance,
Cours de Philosophic, Paris, 1836.
It
<>onu
Christian
If
it
399
the Jews.
very largely the authority attributed to Eliphas Levi, I must expect to alienate the sympathy of his many
admirers, but this
is
it
and
for
so
far
as
is
course in
the
matter there
can
be no
real
need
hesitation.
in
its
But
first
the question,
is
which
looks so
simple
aspect,
it is complicated by several kinds of considerations and indeed by incompatible facts. When I published
a
"
few
years
ago
my
English
I
version
of
it
Levi
Transcendental
Magic,"
stated
that
was the
into
initiation
a school of traditional knowledge, nor must I deny that this school possesses the respect of its partici certain proportion of its tradition was pants.
made
first
time
in
Levi
treatise
and
him, as
it
is
it
barred his progress through the higher of that initiation.* On the one hand, grades therefore, the possibilities of his communication
and that
ceased at the limit of his knowledge, while, on the other, it can be shown abundantly that he was
not
in
any
solid
first
hand
student of the literature of occult philosophy. I an independent do not think that he ever made
historical
letter in
"
fact
to
which
the
On
tliis
point
M.-O
my
Light
4,
a Journal of Psychical,
1896.
400
least
^ht grrdrhu
ant>
confidence could be given with prudencenever presented the sense of an author whom he was reviewing in a way which could be said to
He
reproduce
that
author
faithfully.
As
in
the one
case he embroidered history by the help of what Mr. Arthur Machen would term a decorative imagina
tion, so
it
would be
very interesting to find in old authors, but is not met with except by the mediation of a magician with the transmuting power of Abbe Constant.
He
the
takes,
for
little
reflect
but
is
German
prince
explaining how some persons in antiquity distributed the government of the world among certain planetary
intelligences ruling successively
in
rotation.
He
invests
science,
grand and sublime whereas it does not show half the acumen
of our empirical friend Nostradamus, and is equalled in any year of grace by the almanacks of Raphael
and Zadkiel.
from
this
Here
is
Nor do we need
to
depart
unhappy
little
over an express matter of fact. He tells us that the forecast of Trithemius closes with a proclamation of universal monarchy in the year 1879. Trithemius
says nothing of the kind, but only modestly remarks that the gift of prophecy so generously attributed to
reviewer would be required to discern anything beyond that period. I mention this matter,
his
him by
gabalah
401
which
revised
edition
I
because
have drawn attention previously in the of the Mysteries of Magic," not wish to accentuate charges against a writer
"
literary beauty we all admire, necessary to exhibit the quality of mind which was brought by Eliphas Levi to the illumination of Kabalistic literature. I wish to
whose
brilliance
it
and
but because
is
prepare
my
readers,
I
more
especially
those
who
admire him, as
critic,
also
not as expositor, not as historian, only as a literary thaumaturgist working great wonders with the magic of words I wish to prepare them, I say, for the fact that the deliberations of the Holy Synods will be found to have suffered
transfigurations through the medium of their inter preter, and that any matter of fact in the hands
sharp
if
of
this
unaccountable
to
juggler
seems
I
to
become
speak so roughly, into the most twisted squibs and crackers. I will not dwell upon the miserable plight of
in those works which he have passed for press. No ordinary carelessness would account for such blunders, nor could they be explained by supposing that he was ignorant of their His acquaintance language. must have been slender enough, but it is not
pyrotechnic and
detonate,
may
every
Hebrew quotation
to
may be supposed
necessary
to be proficient in
Hebrew
or indeed in Chinese to
ensure the accuracy of a few The excerpts excerpts. in Eliphas Levi no one can speak and no one can
"
spell."
But even
incredible.
He
simpler matters his blunders are gives the three mother-letters of the
accredited
in
La
Clefdes Grands
My stores,
CC
402
xrf
the gtabalah
student of the Sepher Yetzirah is almost as inexcus able as if an English author erred in enumerating
the vowels of our
own
language.
The
instance, however, to
which
wish to draw
particular attention, because it seems to me impressive and even final, occurs in the posthumous work
entitled the
"Book
of
Splendours."*
Of
this the
first part is intended as a compressed translation of the Greater Holy Synod." Now, Levi says that the deliberations of this conclave are contained in a
"
Hebrew
appear
treatise entitled
accordingly at the
the
name
of the Lesser Synod, as will appear by referring to the fourth section of the fifth book of the present
volume, while Idrak Rabba is that appertaining to the record of the Greater Assembly. What should we
think of the qualifications of a commentator on the books of the Old Testament who informed us that
the word Bereshith was applied to
will
Deuteronomy ?
because
It
be observed that
that
do not make
this criticism to
show
he was
ignorant of Hebrew, but to prove that he was guilty of egregious errors the indication of which neither
That
less
the
reading and his malpractices in historical matters works of Eliphas Levi do contain valuable
by saying that he drew from his initiation and verified his knowledge badly by the ordinary channels. This is true up to a
*
Le Livre
les
Etudes sur
des Splendeurs, contenant le Soleil Juda ique Paris, 1894. Origines de la Kabbale, &c.
Christian
certain point,
<$tubcnt0
of the
Jabalah
403
does not do justice to the yet entire position, omitting indeed one of its essential features. What seems to me to distinguish Levi
it
and
from
all
an
initiate,
results
which he applied to that knowledge, the surprising which he could obtain from an old doctrine, even as from an old author. were
They
certainly not
in
harmony
with
any
secret
knowledge, they
they afflicted the transcendental standpoint in consequence, but they wore the guise and they spoke the language of occultism, and it is they which have fascinated his students, they which have multiplied his admirers, they also which have undeniably imparted a new impulse to the study of occult philosophy. This is equivalent to saying that the influence of Eliphas LeVi does not
and
proper understanding of occult doctrines, it reads a meaning into the esoteric tradition of Israel which is not
make
for a
fully
in
harmony
first
therewith.
for example, his inverted text of of Genesis, for which he claims a chapter Kabalistic foundation.* It is needless to say that it neither has nor could have any rabbinical authority and that it first occurred to the mind of a Frenchman in the second half of the nineteenth As it century. exceeds quotation in this I must refer the place reader to the work in which I have rendered it at
Let us take,
the
La CUf
ctes
Grands
My stores,
p.
334
108
e t seq.
et seq.
"
Magic,
Mysteries of
p.
however, shortly described as replacing the history of creation by God with that of
It
may
be,
God
creation
by man.
It
is,
if
you prefer
it,
the
evolution
much
humanity, though I fear that Mr. Grant Allen must have been
of the God-idea in
hindered by the limits of his erudition from utilising As an exercise of ingenuity it is admirable, but it. the point at which the sober critic must diverge from
the
interpreter
is
that
"
this
occult
Genesis
was
thought out by Moses before writing his own." Let us take another case which, though it brings us to the same question, is more perhaps to our
a construction placed upon For Eliphas Levi the Great Countenance of the Zohar is the evolution of the idea of God from the shadow divinities represented
is
night of faith. The other the idol of the vulgar. The one is the great creative hypothesis, the other the dark figure, the
restricted hypothesis.
tenance
that
it
attributed,
the
As it is name of
to the Lesser
Coun
is
is
the mystic utterance of the adept to the recipiendary of the Egyptian mysteries Osiris is a black god."
:
Microprosopus is, however, neither the Ahriman of the Persians nor the evil principle of the Manichaeans, but a more exalted concept, a mediating shadow
"
between the
;
infinite
light
a veil
made
in the likeness of
humanity
;
Mysteries of
Magic,"
and second
edition,
JUbalah
all
405
mysteries,
Deity of the prophets, who threatens and inspires fear. It is the God of the priests, the God who exacts sacrifices, the God who
sleeps frequently
and
is
of the
temple, the
God who
made
is
man,
but,
That this interpretation has fascinated many students can be no cause for surprise one is amazed
;
and delighted irresistibly at discovering an esoteric tradition in which all theological difficulties seem to
dissolve together.
If
it
seem
at
first
sight incredible
that the
elegant
accounted
that
it
When we
and construction we
idea in
come, however, to a close analysis of text find that the one does not
warrant the other and that the evolution of the Godauthors of the Zohar than
humanity had no more occurred to the it would have occurred Book of recently to Mr. Grant Allen to write a Occupation." It is not a case in which it is necessary
"
and patience by the demonstration of a negative exhaustively, which has always technical
to tax space
difficulties.
The
is
seen
connected.
We
all
know
how much
into
Fitzgerald
is
supposed to
have imparted
and
upon
line
of LeVi
Zoharistic analysis.
*
Lc Livre
406
it
Ihe ]Badnnt
anfc
is
who may
desire
an express case for comparison to the forty-third section of the Idra Rabba as it stands in the Latin
version of Rosenroth
in the
"
Book
of Splendeurs
which
follows,
says
It
is
Eliphas Levi,
Schimeon.
mere
brilliant illusion and mockery.* Another extreme instance is the inversion of the Sephiroth which gives despotism an absolute power
mah
so-called
supreme power of Kether\ shadow of eternal wisdom in Ckokimmutable dogma which is at the
same time inevitably progressive as the antithesis of active intelligence in Binah blind faith again as the
;
inversion of spiritual
beauty
in
Tiphereth
divine
vengeance
Chesed\
as
opposed
to eternal justice in
Geburah\
shadow of
infinite
mercy
in
opposed Netzach
as
in
the
eternal
victory
of
goodness
in
goodness, presumably in
Hod\
opposed
Jesod;
presumably
to
while
Malkuth,
is
corresponding
the
number
because
of creation,
said to have
no negative aspect,
sterility produce nothing.f Without dwelling on the carelessness of the arrange ment, in part sephirotic and in part transposing and
celibacy
and
abandoning the sephirotic series, or on the ingenuity which repeats the same contrasts,
failing
I
may
point out that advanced views on despotism, on the transfiguration of dogmas and on vicarious atone*
Ibid., p.
86
et seq.
Ibid., p.
74
et seq.
<ome
(Ehristian
407
ment
most
are not likely to have been held even by the illuminated rabbins and that since arbitrary
artificial
tabulations and
and
contrasts are easy exercises, can be varied to infinity, we may appreciate the
is
Eliphas Levi represents, however, the inaugura tion of a new epoch in the study of the Kabalah, undertaken not as a mere object of research or as a
part of
whom
The students the history of philosophy. we have considered heretofore have been either
Christian propagandists or writers by the way whose connection with the subject is unsubstantial but the
;
standpoint of Levi
all
is
that there
it
religions
and that
is
all
return.
telligible,
unin
by the
it
deliberations
precisely
this
of the
Holy Assemblies.
its
Now
and
is
nections, that
derivatives
con
In
modern
occultism.
the past the magician was content to evoke spirits, the alchemist to produce gold when he could, the
astrologer to spell the dubious message of the stars, the Kabalist of sorts to be wise in anagrams and
word-puzzles, but these things are now regarded only as parts of a greater mystery, and in a very true sense Eliphas L6vi has been the supreme magus who has
revealed the horizon of this mystery.
He had
his
antecedents and he drew suggestions from there and It is here, but he wrote it all up and he coloured it.
true that later on his
own
scepticism did
its
best to
408
not observed by
XVII.
TWO ACADEMICAL
CRITICS
to the fact that, as already stated, has been always in England a certain number there of persons who have been interested, mostly through sympathy with occultism, in the study of the
Having regard
Kabalah,
it
will
are no memorials of their interest between the period of Thomas Vaughan and the year 1865, a space of
two
centuries.
There
is
a similar
hiatus
in
the
merely academical interest represented by Burnet. do not say that there have been nowhere any I
references
made up in and authority and a few valuable gleanings might be gathered from
to
Kabalism
they
have
in learning
editions of the larger cyclopaedias, but as there has been no occult student who wrote anything
of real
moment concerning
it,
who
has treated
The work of Dr. Ginsburgh, the subject seriously. so well known that it scarcely needs describing, was epoch-making, because it was the first clear, simple
and methodised account of Kabalistic doctrine and
literature.
It leaves naturally much to be desired, arose in an informal manner out of a meeting
as
it
of
of
some
paper produced for the occasion in was afterwards expanded into a slender question It is a meagre measure to allot to so large volume.
the short
a subject, but
it
gome
Christian
<tnbcuts
of the giabalah
is
49
sharply determined by the fact that a second edition was never needed. There is good reason to believe that it did not
by the existing
interest,
which
represent Dr. Ginsburgh s knowledge at the period, further than cyclopaedic or yet it went much notices. Dr. theological Ginsburgh is therefore
entitled
to
a place
among
I
the
Christian
students
which
is
name
of a writer
who
of
recalls
him
in
France
Dr.
of
to-day.
Both,
;
believe,
are
accomplished
origin.
Hebrew
Ginsburgh
in
scholars
is,
both
Jewish
as
am
it
Bible Society, while M. Isidore Loeb, so far aware, has remained in the faith of Jewry,
is
and
to
therefore only
his
am
is
warranted
in
referring
him
in this place.
There
a period of a quarter
of a century between the two writers, and as their point of view is in general respects almost identical
and,
suggests that the French critic has the English, it is interesting to note profited by the one matter over which they diverge, namely, the authorship of the Zohar.
indeed,
It has been objected against Dr. Ginsburgh that he draws chiefly from Continental writers, reflects their views and shows little independent research. His quotations from the Zohar are, it is said, derived from
These
who
is
search
only
of
elementary
information,
whose
410
^h*
purpose
Franck
criticism
fact
served well enough by the translations of and for whom a digest of authoritative
is
The
itself
little
treatise the
representative of a particular school of that of the hostile criticisms which refer the research,
English
Zohar to the authorship, more or less exclusive, of Moses de Leon. In England Dr. Schiller-Szinessy s
article
"
on the Midrashim
in
Encyclopaedia
Britannica,"
the book to Mishnic times and regarding Simeon ben Jochai as the author in the same sense that R.
Johanan was the author of the Palestine Talmud, has helped to create another and more natural manner
of
regarding the
Zohar.
The
critical
objections
of Dr. Ginsburgh derived from the work itself have been equally disposed of in the majority of cases and the few which still remain can establish nothing
conclusively.
II., sec.
fact
They have been noticed briefly in Book we take in connection with this the 3. that M. Isodore Loe b, who so closely reproduces
If
the
theory of unqualified
imposture, made with the subject during recent years, and as it is one of the purposes of the present study to place the evidence of this fact before the English reader,
in giving space to the following of M. Isidore s Loeb s essay, as it may not synopsis be accessible to some who are acquainted with that
I
we
feel
warranted
a literary excellence in fairly precluded by the circum stance that called the other into being, and it is
is
There
<Sonu
Christian
411
M.
Loeb
towards
the
of
Kabalistic
literature occurs in
was, however,
tion
for
La Grande
committee of the
French
Society of
Jewish
Studies.
mono
graph on the Jewish chroniclers, a table of Jewish calendars, and some observations on the situation of
the Israelites in Turkey, Servia and Roumania. the essay with which we are here concerned
In
he
records the opinion that the term Kabalah may not be anterior to the tenth century and that the claim
to
antiquity
which
it
signifies
is
written
monument.
case
that
It
it
seems
should
difficult
of
the
be so substantiated.
M. Loeb, however, makes a very proper distinction between the metaphysical or mystical Kabalah and the gross thaumaturgy connected with the
practical
branch.
To
it
the
like
original
all
elements
a
of
the
first
he
ascribes,
critics,
high
perpetuation of an indigenous,
rupted, tradition.
this
claim
is
much less an uncorAs we have had occasion to see, no longer made by any competent
student of the subject. For M. Loeb the Kabalah is a part of the universal mysticism which seeks to explain the disparity between an infinite God and a finite world by means of intermediate creations
through which the Divine Power descends, diminishing in its spiritual qualities as it removes further from its
source,
The
and becoming more imperfect and material. difficulty is removed by this process much in the
as the difficulty of a terra firma for the
same manner
4i2
^h*
elephant which supports the universe is disposed of In in Indian cosmology by assuming the tortoise.
other words,
it
is
not removed at
of
all.
At the same
mysticism,
to
time
the explanation
is
emanationist
which
not
is
all
mysticism, as
M. Loe b seems
assume,
not
in
objection than
bridge the gulf between finite and infinite. Passing from this consideration the French critic discovers
the
foundation
of the
Kabalistic
theory of meta
Wisdom,
in
is
its
symbolism
the
no
or
question whatever, and they are matters of knowledge. So also he refers correctly the
common
name
cites the
xii. 3.
He
number
has cited
before him, as an
less
but he raises a
on the
authority
us that
employed by Jeremiah.
reminding
the
He
Essenians
was required
angels.
It
to
is,
among
the
Jews
of
Alexandria
that,
following several previous authorities, he discovers the germs of Kabalistic mysticism, but in this con
nection he cites only the Platonic doctrine of the Logos, its influence on the Greek Septuagint and on the Chaldee version of the Old Testament.
On
critical
the whole,
faculty,
or
indeed
erudition,
is
at
all
Christian
<tuteut<3
of the
gabalah
413
citj
comparable to
a
crucial
To
instance,
Kabalistic tradition
assertions
ravages
of Gnosticism
among
He
and
sketches
the
rise
Palestine
schools
those
of
traditional country of
magic."
He
the Babylonian, of the third century, that passage which I have mentioned elsewhere, and confesses that
it
is
another germ of the mediaeval Kabalah, that is, With a rapid pen Sephiroth.
the
he runs over
impetus given to Jewish literature under Arabian influence from the middle
great
of the
seventh century.
all-important
He
refers
to
the
ninth
"The
century that
as
treatise
God,"
entitled
is,
which
in
fact,
we have
the
seen, the
is
first
Macroprosopus, and
mentioned by Agobad.
of
He
Akiba, dealing with the places alphabet of the Hebrew letters, about the same symbolism period, together with a crowd of apocalyptic treatises,
including Pirke of R. Eliezer, which has an elaborate doctrine of Pneumatology. Among all these he
distinguishes the
Sepher Yctzirah as occupying a and deserving a rank apart. He admits its place
antiquity,
comparative
affirms to
seeming
to
to
regard
it
as
the
Talmud, which
he
A.D. 499.
He
describes
414
it
^he
as a philosophy
and a
in
to have
been written
influence of Christian
is
The
opinion interesting, but of course entirely con jectural, and as the doctrine of emanation is not
very clear
accept
the Sepher Yetzirah, we should not hastily the theory of an influence which
in
it.
assumes
When
he
observes further
that
its
must be sought in Azariel s Com mentary on the Sephiroth and in the Bahir, I fail to understand the grounds on which he attributes
fountain-heads
assigns a Spanish origin, but does not press the authorship of Moses de Leon. Among the fine points of his criticism is a picture of the pure
He
Zohar
itself
Talmudists of the period of Maimonides, especially those of the Peninsula and the south of France,
under the influence of Arabian philosophy, without philosophical doctrine, without perspective,
living
having
only the
literature
of
the
Law, and
the
anthropomorphic mysticism of the Jewish schools of Northern France, between which the Kabalah rose
up
and
as
mediator,
"completing
Talmudism
by
by
philosophy,
correcting
philosophy
theosophy,
philosophic
anthropomorphic
mysticism
by
mysticism."
XVIII.
must be admitted, a new school of occult philosophy. For the ten years which preceded his death he had
the Jlabalah
415
made no outward
initiations
sign.
which he remodelled, but all that is known certainly is that he collected around him a small group of private students who looked up to him as their
master, regarded his suggestive speculations almost in the light of revelation, and, following his leading,
accepted
religious
the
belief.
Kabalah
It
as
the great
till
synthesis
of
was not
his influence
had elapsed that any visible result of became manifest. During that period a marked change had come over philosophic thought
;
in Paris the younger generation broke away from the traditions of positivism and materialism, and, without returning to the Church, passed off in the direction of mysticism, and mysticism moderated by
science
became the
epoch.
When
and began the Society opened of a monthly magazine, a proportion of publication the French mystics gathered round it, and one of the
Paris
most
noticeable
in
the
group
was
with
first
Dr.
Gerard
of
Encausse, the
schools of
young chef de
in
laboratoire of
an eminent
the
doctor celebrated
connection
one
contributions hypnotism. appeared in the pages of Le Lotus and his first work, on the elements of occult science, under the auspices
His
of the Society. A rupture, however, took place and the seceding members, abandoning for the moment
their interest in la metaphysique orientate, established, so to speak, a school of Western occultism, of which Dr. Encausse became the moving and leading spirit
4i 6
^he
|p citrine
the past. The ostensible characteristics of this school are Neo-Martinism and Neo-Rosicrucianism, but the
transcendental
conceptions
associated
with
these
names have undergone developments which have to some extent effaced their original outlines. So also
the admired masterpieces of Eliphas Levi have been a point of departure quite as much as a guide. It is, broadly speaking, nevertheless, the work of Levi
which has been continued, and along with other occult interests the study of the Kabalah has been
revived
under
It
enthusiasm.
study, nor has study, for
it
it,
for granted has not shown a comprehensive acquaintance with the documents. There is, however, no writer of
and
it
this
tell
us
concerning Jewish theosophy, while its activity has engendered consequences of much the same kind
outside
its
immediate
circle.
call
for
notice in
de Guaita.
the
first
The
literary
writer
are
From d Olivet, Eliphas Levi and Adolphe Franck. the first he has derived a systematic view of Jewish history, from the second his notion of esoteric
mysteries concealed in the Hebrew language, from LeVi unfortunately a burden of historical suppositions,
and from
Franck an
academic precedent
for
the
antiquity of Kabalistic literature. On the other hand, Stanislas de Guaita belongs to what may be termed
of
occultism
and as
such
he
<ome
Christian
<Stubent0
of the
$abalah
417
connects with Sar Peladan. I propose to consider the position of both these writers in short sub-sections and to connect them with a third who is
governed by
A.
PAPUS
The
word
according to a
"Nuctemeron" of Apollonius, it is the title of a genius belonging to the first hour of that mystic
pseudonym adopted by Gerard Encausse, the head of the French Martinists and the leader of occult activity in Paris, presumably because he is a doctor of medicine. Papus is a voluminous writer, methodical and laborious, and he has done work which along its own lines is admirable.
period.
It
is
also
the
From the beginning of his literary life he has been occupied with Kabalistic questions, and so far back as the year 1887 he made the first French trans
lation of the Sepher Yetzirah, which appeared in the theosophical review Lotus. It is not entirely a satisfactory translation and has been
superseded by
Meyer Lambert, which Papus himself recom mends with the generosity of a true student. The chief blemish of his own version is that by some
misconception or error, founded apparently on the use of a dubious word in the Latin rendering of Postel, he has made this ancient work for
responsible
that of
the doctrine of
critical
it
is
a point of great
in
is
no such doctrine
the
"
Book of
DD
4i 8
In 1892
The
bibliography has been constructed upon the most debatable of all principles, viz., the increase of the
numerical importance by adventitious elements which are not Kabalistic at all, and again by the inclusion
evidently unknown to the writer, with results which are occasionally ludicrous.
of
works
which
are
we
find
Alchemists,"
which
contains
s
"
no
reference
to
the
Kabalah
Saint-Martin
Crocodile,"
;
a clumsy satire
s
;
"
open to the same objection Eckartshausen on the Sanctuary," also non- Kabalistic
Cloud
a
and
as
number
much
translation of Poe.*
In the other case, Dr. Papus, who is only superficially acquainted with English, classifies Mr. Massey s
translation of
Du
Prel
"
Philosophy of
Mysticism,"
my own Hartmann
"
of second-hand books issued by Mr. Redway, and, unfortunate above all other instances, the once
celebrated "Supernatural Religion." The bibliography of works in the Latin language is much better done, though it contains some useless numbers.
Another instance is Julien Lejay La Science Occulte Appliquec Economic politique, in a volume of composite authorship, entitled Science Secrete. I may observe, however, that this volume contains
:
La
a paper on the Kabalah by Papus, subsequently embodied in his larger work. Outside this, the only reference to the subject is in an essay by F. C. Barlet, which refers the origin of the Kabalah to the fourth
century.
omt Christian
<tubents
of the
gabalah
419
regards the treatise itself it has the merit of extreme modesty it is, in fact, mainly a series of tabulated quotations from Franck, Loeb, de Guaita, Kircher and so forth, with a number of serviceable
;
As
diagrams derived from similar sources. It is altogether excellent as a general introduction to the subject by an occultist and for the use of occultists. But it makes
the mistake of attributing a real importance to the Hebrew influences found in the literature of Ceremonial Thus Dr. Papus says that Magic. the practical part of the Kabalah is barely indicated ! in a few manuscripts dispersed through our great collections. At Paris the Bibliotheque Nationale
debased
possesses one of the finest examples, of which the origin is attributed to Solomon." Having appreciated in another section the claim of the clavicles to
recognition
in
no attempt to
their
inclusion,
which
is
explained by the sympathies of the author, this connection owes something to the French
of Molitor.
Dr.
to the
who
in
version
Papus has
led irresistibly to prefer the imperfect equipment of past authority to the result of modern In Egyptology he knows scholarship.
is
and by
bias he
no higher name than that of Court de Gebelin problems of Hebrew philology his great master Fabre d Olivet and hence, on the one
;
;
in
is
hand,
we
shall
not be surprised to find that he regards P. Christian as a source of serious information concerning the Egyptian mysteries of initiation, or, on the other,
420
^he
Hebrew
the
The
position
of
writers
undertaken at the beginning of this language-studies more reasonable than would century is not really
to be that of a person who should now attempt But defend the antiquity of the Rowley poems. while to speak of it were it might be scarcely worth that it involves, at least it not for the consequences the descent in the case of Papus, as, for example, its identity of the esoteric tradition from Moses and
fashion.
I
to
it
indicate
exists in
is
that
the
historical
argument, so
this view. among recent French writers in taking Histoire de Schure, in Les Grands Inities, Esquisse M. Edouard maintains that, "owing to the Secrete des Religions, Paris, 1889, doubt that he wrote Genesis in education of Moses, there can be no confided their keys having three senses, and Egyptian hieroglyphics, In the time of Solomon it was to his successors. and oral explanations after the captivity of Babylon rendered into Phoenician characters, and esoteric sense was Aramaic Chaldean characters by Esdras. The into
He
is
not alone
t>
lost
translators
it
acquaintance
In
this case
the Jews so hostile to the Septuagmt. intention and his despite his serious sense when he made his mind, penetrated only to the primitive great The secret sense does, however, remain buried in the Latin translation. the its roots into the sacred tongue of
made
M. Schure continues:
"Jerome,
Hebrew
text,
temples,"
it
tl
in the phonetic "shines forth once more intuitive, that for seers it the words adopted or created by Moses," and that by structure of the the keys which the Kabalah furnishes, of this
study
phoneticism, by
"
and by comparative
esotericism,
Genesis."
it
is
omt (Ehrietian
to reckon with
it.
421
summary
in
But
this
respect
advantage.
As
might have been simplified with regards the special motive of our
own
of
inquiry,
is
Kabalah
the standpoint of Papus is that the the keystone of all the Western tradition
;
transcendentalism
that
all
the
alchemists
were
mystic fraternities, Templars, Rosicrucians, Martinists, or Freemasons that the source of the Kabalah was Moses and that
;
Kabalists,
and so also
whether
is
the
Why
those
mysteries should
have
an
absorbing claim on our respect does not appear from Papus, but the sub-surface understanding is un
doubtedly that a tradition of absolute religion has been perpetuated from antiquity, and with all his
dissemblings and palterings, with all the hindrance of his scepticism, that also is LeVi s standpoint.
B.
STANISLAS DE GUAITA
much
of
the active propaganda of Dr. Gerard Encausse, thr name of the Marquis Marie -Victor-Stanislas de
Guaita, though scarcely known in England, was valued in the occult circles of Paris, and his
much com
friends
and admirers
it is
is
432
^he
It
will
that he
was a
whose works
he regarded
as
constituting
"the
dreamed by an
Guaita
is
occultist."
If
we add
De
contradiction the
described by Papus as occupying beyond first rank among the pupils of Levi,
fair
we
shall
have a
began
his literary
to
Mystery,"
of
for their
"
magis
In
terial
which
recalls
that
of his
master.
was
Kabalistic
"
tradition,
and
he
considered
that
in
Neo - Mosaic
and
Holy
(under
Kabalah
in
all
Alexandrian
Hermeticism
must be sought
enthusiasm
knowledge.*
early
At an
period
of his
occult
Order of
the Rose-Cross, comprehending three grades, to which entrance could be obtained only after successful examination, and the possession of the three grades
of the
Martinist
liminary condition.
When the numerical strength of the association had attained the limits prescribed by
*
From a
<Some
423
its
constitution,
of the
erudite orientalist
by
his friends,
who
also mention
his
the
Hebrew
it
folios
which
enriched
library.*
Finally,
is
thoroughly possessed of the Kabalah than all others. Hut if we may accept the authority of Dr. Marc
Haven he seems
Kabalah, the
toil
first
to
learn, except with the most arduous and by years of sacrifice, for it is more rugged than Wronsky, more diffuse than Spanish Mysticism, more complex than Gnostic analysis." And after all
"
it
The
other
is
so forth.
puzzle.
I
know
not a Kabalist, except in the most phantasmal sense and by a most remote derivation. I know that
Flamel the alchemist, if he ever wrote anything, was concerned with the transmutation of metals and not
with the mysteries of Soph. Kabalah of such Kabalists that
the pages of active works.
Am
It
is
is,
however, the
his
said to illuminate
the
Despite therefore tf his accredited erudition, author of the has no Serpent of Genesis
"
the message to the serious student of Kabalism Zohar has its difficulties, and by these he was clearly intimidated. Hut the kind of distinction which
;
li id.
p.
32
et seq.
424
^hx
gabalah
Kabalistic
Christianity,
to
for
that
marriage
of
the
which he
refers expressly.*
from his fellow propagandist Papus, who exhibits few Christian sympathies and is
differs
He
therefore
attached more consistently to the doctrine of Eliphas But in de Guaita, as in Levi, it is not the Levi.
orthodox
Christianity,
as
hand, by Mirandola and Postel, or, on the other, by Rosen roth, with which the Kabalah is connected,
but Christianity permeated by Gnostic elements, this is the special characteristic of all occult students who take any interest in the light cast on
and
the religion of Jesus by the post-Christian develop ments of Jewish theosophy. Thus, the missionary enthusiasm of the early Christian schools of Kabalism,
and the Messianic dream constructed by Jewry out of the wild elements of the Zohar, have been
exchanged
for
an attempt to go back
upon
the
path of doctrinal development and to discover in the analogies between the Kabalah and the Gnostics
a practicable thoroughfare into the debated regions
of esoteric religion.
As disappointment
first
waited on
so
it
the
zealots,
is
Kabalism.
the spirit has fructified the Gospel and immortal works have been the fruits of this union. The Kabalah became Catholic in the school of St. John, the master of the absolute masters, incarnate in an admirable metaphysical form spirit of the science of justice and love which vivifies internally the dead letter of all the orthodoxies." Le Serpent de la Genhe, p. 183.
"
the soul
-Some
<Rhri0tian
<Stufcent0
of the
3nbalah
425
C LEON MEURIN,
Having
SJ.
to establish some points of connection the Kabalah and Freemasonry, it seems just between
to
include
among
Kabalistic
students
the
most Arch
It is
Synagogue of Satan," is a product dream of the Papacy concerning the Liberi Muratori and is saved only by the sincerity
Freemasonry the
of the troubled
its
of
is
it
connects with a squalid imposture long since unmasked, but it shows a considerable acquaintance of the superficial order both with
true also that
Kabalistic doctrine and Masonic symbolism, and it is worth noticing how the transcendental tradition of
the Jews was appreciated quite recently by a Catholic critic who was also an ecclesiastic of some eminence
gogue and the true doctrine of Moses which God Himself inspired, modern Kabalists represent the
paganism with which certain Jewish sectarians became imbued during the captivity of Babylon. We have only to study their doctrine and to compare it
with those of civilised nations in antiquity
Indians,
Persians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks
and so
forth,
to
become assured
is
that
the
same
all.
inculcated by
We
find ever)
4*6
^hc gbrt 1
"*
not by creation, but by substantial emanation. Hence are compelled to recognise a close connection between Kabalistic philosophy and ancient paganism
we
which
of the
is
difficult to
same
the
explain except by the inspiration author, in other words, the Lying Spirit
of
mankind."
who
is
enemy
The
confessed,
entire
treatise
may
be
regarded
it
as
the
development
is
paragraph, which, the view that would be taken inevitably have seen that under by the Latin Church. the auspices of Christian Kabalists, with Picus de
of this
must be
We
moment
Mirandola as their mouthpiece, there was for one a sign of rapprochement between the Church
tradition, but
it
was impossible in the nature of both, and the Church was saved then, as
has been occasionally saved since, as
intuition
if
by some
happy
real
knowledge
The
which
wears, he
tells
us,
any
in
serious
a fraudulent device.
Basing
:
Wisdom
Thou
things
in
and
weight,"
they are
superior
"elevated
unity."
do not exist
427
world which is governed by number, and measure, a doctrine which assumes no weight
of a
passage from Infinite to Finite, since it does not derive the universe from the divine substance by an
is true that ex nihilo emanation of any kind. nihil fit. But in the creation there is not only the
"It
nihilum
there
is
and
it is
untrue
nothingness and the all-powerful, Ex nihilo nihil fit a Deo nothing can be made. would be a false axiom."
In a study like the present
it
would be entirely out of place to discuss the points at issue between emanationists and creationists. The Kabalah is a
system of emanation, and it is so far opposed to the official doctrine of orthodox religion on a question of fundamental philosophy. I think personally that the
better
reason
is
emanation on the simple ground that the conception of nihilum cannot co-exist with that of an infinite
I shall be told, of course, that I am confusing the notion of endless space with that of the Divine Nature, but as God is everywhere by the hypothesis,
God.
there
is
no place which
is
not
filled
His presence, and then where is the nihilum ? But the whole controversy concerns a res ardua ct diffic-lis,
as
Isaac
de
Loria
it,
which
importance to the
it is
precisely
orthodoxy has
Mgr. Meurin remains, however, the consistent and correct exponent of the Church which he
428 i;he
Jltfctrine
represents,
and so
this
Church
fully,
is
concerned
the heretical
in other places
We may
clumsiness
with which the system of Sephirotic emanation is presented in works like the Greater Sacred Synod.
We
ment of thought
emanation
of
psychological besides formulating an absurdity concerning the one Being in whom there is no beginning. It may well
be that
in
their surface
understood more profoundly than is suggested by meaning, but they are crude and mis
XIX.
discussion of the points of contact between Christianity and the mystical tradition of the Jews
must not
close without
some
reference to a
scheme
of mystical Christianity which obtained for a period a certain vogue in English occult circles and met
with especial commendation from certain Kabalistic, students. I refer to the New Gospel of Interpretation,
founded on illuminations received, or believed to have been received, by Anna Bonus Kingsford, and
developed since her
decease,
not
perhaps
always
ome
acceptably,
(Christian
tufcent0 of the
gabalah
429
by
her
collaborator
and
co-recipient,
Edward Maitland, now also passed away. The text books of this movement were, firstly, a small collec
tion
containing the illuminations, and, secondly a formal treatise which, under the title of The Perfect
"
constituted a philosophical development and historical verification of the doctrines received by the
Way,"
seeress.
McGregor Mathers dedicated his English translation of some of the Zoharistic books
Mr.
S.
L.
was
on the ground that it one of the most deeply occult works that has The dedication for centuries." (sic) been written excellent and wonderful also described it as an much on the doctrines of the book," touching
to the authors of this treatise
"
"
Kabalah and laying great value upon its teachings. It was welcomed in terms of still higher apprecia
tion
by Baron
mystical traditions, and especially In with the ^reat mother of these, the Kabalah." connection with this appreciation the respectable
all
(a)
we now possess it is far from genuine, and was much purer when it first emerged from the Postel and his sanctuaries, (b) That when William
as
brother Hermetists predicted that the literature con would become taining the secret tradition of the Jews
at
"
era,"
they
ol
"a
new
illumination," reinstating that tradition in its purity. and this restoration have (c) That this illumination
"
The
Perfect
Way."
He
adds
all
that there
is
of truth in the
430
TOe
the
prophecies
of
;
Postel
and
his
and
consider
that from henceforth the study of the Kabalah will be but an object of curiosity and erudition, like that
of
Hebrew
If this
antiquities."
we
is
New Gospel of Inter only prolegomenary pretation, and our concluding words should be simply to direct the student who is in search of the true
meaning of
esoteric tradition
revelation.
Indeed, such
could be followed.
sight the only one which must add, however, that the
opinion expressed by Baron Sped dieri has produced no consequence, that the Kabalistic School of
occultists
in
the
lead
thus indicated, and would not endorse the opinion, though committed to a certain extent in the same
direction, while
the
New
Gospel of Interpretation
has taken no permanent hold on the occult thought of the time. It is still occasionally quoted with
respect
by
writers
who
notably by
the
of
"
Dr.
Wynn
I
Book of
influence.
Formation,"
but this
is
the extent
s
its
Baron Spedalieri
statement as to the adulteration of the genuine tradi tion in the Hebrew Kabalah would not be traversed
seriously, but for its recovery occultists
seem inclined
Some
to look
(Christian
<tubente
of the
gUbalah
to
43 r
any
do not propose
of
in
aspects
the
system
Perfect
of
esoteric
for the
Christianity
"The
Way,"
work
is
well
its
made
accessible in
many
It does offer some conspicuous with the tradition of the Kabalah, points of contact of God, or the Divineespecially as to the dual nature
Edward Maitland.
Feminine, and
"
human
system";
but
it
would be easy
to
exaggerate
some
The
less
and
example, the Kabalistic doctrine of Ain Soph and His emanations God unmanifest and abstract in the statement that
superficial.
We may
"
for
is
is
Mind,"
is
not a far-reaching
correspondence.
So
in
Macro-
prosopus reflected
Microprosopus
"
is
thinly sketched
the Form by the following passage. a name, the Infinite less assumes a form, the Nameless But, althou-h the the Definite, and these human. as a man in and to the souls Lord is God manifested In
*
the
Lord
of those to
whom
the vision
is
vouchsafed,
it is
not as
man
only,
in
but as
man
both
masculine
and
feminine"
is androgyne), (Microprosopus it will be remembered once man and woman, as is Humanity itself." I at maintained the should add that the "new Gos; el
"
"
divinity of the
of
its
Kabalah on the ground of the purity of correspondences, which shows that doctrine
432
"
^he
5-trrtrttte
anb
|!Jiteratiire
of the Jiabalah
to a period prior
this
to that destruction
equilib
Fall."
With
this
statement of
may
its
the claim
made by
"
manner
of
delivery.
When
is
were delivered
by God
of
all
to
it is
Adam
meant
in
Sinai,
is
that
them
that which
man
is
always discerns
when he succeeds
in attaining to that
taught directly of his own Divine Spirit, and knows even as he is known." As The Perfect Way and
" "
its
quality of discernment, it follows, of course, that the doctrine commonly called a recovery of
"
the
Gnosis,
listic."
and variously
entitled
found
The
many
"
"
interpretative
and
reconciliatory,"
that
much
of
its
;
quality of genius interpretation yet it was not free at the beginning from the fantastic element, and it depends to some extent on philo
indicates
rare
logical
arguments which
are
more than
s
life
fantastic.
he wrote
bringing his earlier work into discredit by exaggerated The claims concerning it. Taking it as a whole Perfect Way" cannot, I think, be regarded as a
"
433
full
hidden
sense of
many
sacred
scriptures,
the
unfolding of which will not perhaps be accomplished even in the twentieth century.
XX.
year 1875,
by the foundation of the Theosophical Society, to ex tend and perhaps to centralise the study of Oriental
Occult Philosophy, has, in spite of its chequered history, succeeded to a very large extent in that If we remove from consideration certain object.
claims advanced by the founders, about which
it
would
it
would be
impossible and misplaced here to attempt their full discussion, and if we regard the Society rather as it
assumes to regard
designed to
we have only
twenty
in
to survey
its
years to see
how
large a field
has succeeded
covering.
No
fact,
overlook this
possesses
at
will
be useful to ascertain
eastern
may
a general
I
manner
that the
correspondences
are,
which
of
of
course,
pueumatology
tives
tradition
are
EE
434
^he
Stortritu
<wfc
the
East*
suppose
it
speak, indigenous, but with these there is little sympathy and indeed little acquaintance.-)- Nor do I throughout trace a sufficient warrant in knowledge
for the expression of particular opinions.
The author
had,
it
of
"Isis
Unveiled"
and
"The
Secret
Doctrine"
must be confessed, an enormous budget of materials, but not very carefully selected. On the one hand, she gives us information which we are not able to
check because we do not know her authorities
the other she
;
on
which
it
is
difficult to agree.
between the ordinary, or Judaistic, and the universal, If little be known of the one, or Oriental Kabalah.
there
is
nothing, at
least
"
known
truths
of the other.
Its
is
;
definite,
but these
who
discovered
Chaldaean lore
and are
now
for
That
check,
it
is
we cannot
and
can,
any
*
critical
Compare
the
W.
Q. Judge,
who
ignorant absurdity and assurance of the late did not scruple to affirm that Abraham, Moses and
Solomon were members of the ancient lodge of adepts from whom this "The Ocean of Theosophy," high teaching has been handed down. New York, 1893, c. I. "Echoes" of this kind "from the burnished Echoes from the and mysterious East," to quote Judge terminology
("
Orient,"
p. 5,
New York,
1890),
do not
find response
among
theosophical
Kabalistic
is
writers in England.
It is,
"there
was
at all times a
Literature
among
is
17.
Christian
therefore,
<Stnbfnt0
of the
labalah
435
It weight. may be taken to indicate a growing feeling among occultists of all schools that the Hebrew tradition has been perverted.*
carry
no
be accepted also as evidence that because the term Kabalah signifies an oral reception it has
It
may
come
any unwritten knowledge. Such a course is very inexact and mis leading, but the same abuse of words is found in
however, purpose not intended by those who use it it distinguishes between scholar and sciolist. The
a
;
Paracelsus and
many
later writers.
It serves,
is,
however, usually
can,
"Book
accompanied
the
present
"
In
we
are
told
that
the
of
Occultation
is
on occult
this
was
"
acquainted
with
the
strong
Book of
Formation,"
added that
the Sepher Dzeniouttia was compiled from another and older work which is not named, but it is stated that there is only one in existence, original copy
" "
and that
this
"
is
modern
anti
quarians might ponder over its pages an indefinite time, and still not quite agree as to the nature of the fabric upon which it is written." J Till
antiquaries
*
One
of
theosophical
writer,
however,
maintains
that
"the
collection
number
of
writings known as the Bible constitutes but one of a record, which are all derived from and based one
upon
unifying system, known at times as the Ancient Wisdom Religion, or Secret Doctrine." \V. Kint^sland. "The Ivsoteric Basis of
Christianity,
part
I.,
p.
"
15,
London, 1891.
i.,
Isis Unveiled,"
I.
% Ibid.
43 6
are
^he
opportunity they will be With both these tempted to dismiss this claim. classes of statement we may connect the affirmation
furnished
with
the
that
is
not evident in
reasoning,
itself
and
is
supported by
of
their
old,
doubtful
Thus we
that
Kabalists
who
assert
the
science are
concerning which claim it is observed that modern science cannot prove it to be false, but the question is whether Kabalists, oriental or otherwise, have any
colourable pretence of evidence to produce in support of its truth. may pass over as circumspectly as
We
personal pretension to a
first
indis
putably in existence, but now lost. Of such is the Chaldaean Book of Numbers,* which, according to another authority, is a companion to the sEsh
I sis Unveiled to Metzareph,^ but is declared in be a part of the great Oriental Kabalah, namely,
" "
the patrimony of the persons previously described as having solved the absolute."! To the lesson
"
which
this
kind
we
rests
on bad
"
darkest
of
a
the example, that the Talmud is even for most Jews," thus enigmas
attributing
*
mystical
sense to the
commentaries
This work
i.,
is
said to be
It
is,
much
"Secret
Doctrine,"
214.
Kabalah,
ib., iii.,
170.
appears to be now in possession of certain Persian sufis (id.), an interesting statement which I have not, however, felt authorised to
It
make
use of in
Book
iii.
6,
of this study.
Madame Blavatsky adds that t This is Dr. Westcott s opinion. the Sepher Yetzirah is also a portion of the Book of Numbers.
Ibid., L, 579.
Ibid.,
i.,
17.
<>ome
Christian
437
value of which
I must names and
has
already
been
exhibited.
many
considerable
in
would serve no purpose to extend further the correction of such manifest errors or to enumerate all
the singular assertions which rest more or less exclu sively on the good authority of Madame Blavatsky. It will be sufficient to refer to her views upon the
On the one hand the authenticity of the Zohar.f author is said to be R. Simeon ben Jochai J again, it
;
A.D. 70 and and yet again, it was written, as it now stands, 1 10 by R. Moses de Leon, the original being lost, though scattered through at the same time its contents were
was
"
first
time
"
between
"
number of minor
MSS."
R.
Moses had
Syriac,
Such Chaldaic, and Christian Gnostics to help him. are without any warrant for serious criticism. opinions
*
||
The
best test of
Madame
Blavatsky
first-hand
knowledge of
the subject is the fact that she calls the Liber Drushim of Isaac de Loria a part of the Talmud, and thence proceeds to exhibit the Sephirotic
doctrine
of
that
collection.
"Secret
Doctrine,"
i.,
438.
The
is
Talmud.
as
350.
is
It
Zohar
not
sufficiently esoteric.
She also says that it was on account of his t Ibid., iii., 92. that R. Simeon was forced to possession of the "secret knowledge" After this version of a matter of fact we shall take refuge in the cave. not be surprised to learn that St. Peter was a Kabalist (//;., iii., 125), that the Count de St. Germain had access to unknown Vatican MSS.
on
the
Kabalah, which
MSS.
or
contain
th.it
information
i>
regarding
also
the
the
Central
Sun
as
(#.,
if
ii.,
237),
the Zohar
"called
Midrash,"
(ib., iii.,
167).
Ibid.,
iii.,
167.
||
Ibid.,
i.,
114,
230;
iii.,
167.
BOOK
VIII
regards
all
tradition, but
thn
is
present inquiry, which is confined to estimating the extent of the influence exercised by Kabalism on other branches of esoteric
knowledge
in the
West.
in the
It
is
found that
It
this influence
has been
has been unquestionably large in the case of ceremonial magic, but very small in that of alchemy, of astrology, &c. Freemasonry has also been regarded by
much exaggerated
West.
occultists as a
with Kabalism
channel of the secret tradition, but its connection is slight. The claims of the Tarot as a key of
Kabalistic symbolism are set aside, without prejudice to their As a conclusion to merits, because of an insuperable difficulty. the whole research the doctrine of pure mysticism is contrasted
I.
IT was established at the outset of our inquiry that occult speculations do not consider any single system
as the exclusive depository of occult
knowledge
variety of channels are recognised, and by the net work of communications subsisting between these
(Other
Channels
of Esoteric
UniMtion
439
There is an identities and analogies exhibited. enormous divergence of opinion as to what may and
may
We
general manner that the tradition being ubiquitous by the hypothesis is thought to have assumed its
all
times.
There was,
for
example, no exoteric religion which did not possess an esoteric interpretation* and there was no esoteric
interpretation
with
all
that
is
which did not connect that religion more especially understood here by
the secret teaching. For this hypothesis the integral connection of Kabalism with other systems belonging
to the far past
its
it
had
a
may
be a certain warrant
that
for
we have found
many
of the
resemblances
may
be accounted
for in
a more natural
and spontaneous manner. As, however, it was in the western world that Kabalism was chiefly propagated,
it
is
observe
its
connections
with
is
other
believed
These are
Magic, Alchemy, Astrology, the occult associations which culminated in Freemasonry, and, finally, an obscure sheaf of hieroglyphs known as Tarot cards.
*
John Yorker
5.
"
of
Antiquity," p.
iVun R. Simeon ben Jochai be t If the derivation of the Dr. admitted, Palestine was, of course, the birthplace of that work. Schiller-Szinessy, who defends [hi* derivation, accepts also what
follows therefrom.
440
oEhe Ipcnrtrine
is
There
whether devotional
mysticism, apart from any formal initiation, shows any trace of Kabalism over and above that of uncon scious analogy. Like the studies which have preceded
it,
concluding book
is
rather to
stress has
been
laid
who
look
their enlightenment more especially to the Kabalistic apparatus have been unduly predisposed to discern Kabalism at the root of all. shall see
We
was
accidental,
its
introduction, or
of
the
historical
order.
The paramount
exception to this statement is the first system with which we have here to deal. There is no
doubt that Magic in the West * owes its processes and its complexion to Kabalism, though it would be folly to pretend that without Kabalism there would have been no Western Magic.f
I propose in the present section to restrict the use of the term Magic within the narrow limits of its common acceptation. To take it in its higher
"The
Kabalah
is
the source of
all
many Jews devoted to the Kabalah are also addicted thereto, abusing the names of God and the angels for the Grand Dictionnairc performance of things supernatural." Moreri Cabale. Amsterdam, 1740. Historique, Tom. ii., s.v. t The strength of the connection is exhibited by the modern literature of colportage in France. La Grande et Veritable Science
:
Cabalistiqtte
"
is still
la Sorcellerie dcvoitie,
and
it is
under such
titles that
the mutilated reprints of the "Great Albert," the "Little Albert" and the Red Dragon appear in the obscure by-ways of Paris, usually
"
see the
anonymous
(Other
Channels of
dreotcric
tirabitton
441
superfluous to inquire
whether
connects with a
definition.
is
tradition
The
rather
historical
with the
Western world.
The
Middle Ages constitutes a kind of Magic spurious practical Kabalah which represents Jewish esoteric science debased to the purposes of the
of the
sorcerer,
it
and
at
its
necessary that we should estimate true worth, because it has been the subject
it
is
of
not only among uninstructed but even professed students. persons study of the Zoharistic writings, their develop ments and commentaries, even with the slender
much misconception
the evocation of spirits, the raising of ghosts, the discovery of concealed treasures, the bewitchments and other mummeries of Ceremonial
Magic.
as
in
The Kabalah,
does,
however, countenance,
fact
we have
in
Of
it
the antiquity
and
;
no doubt
in
one or other of
universally,
its
forms
all
and,
like
universal
it
behind
exhibits externally
II would be unwise to deny that there is a higher sense, but such attempts to present it as Dr. Franr Hartmann s Magic White and Black are much too highly coloured to possess any historical
"
"
value.
Name
of
God
in J.
Leusden
44 2
there
it.
^he
IBottrine an!b
Jitn atttre
of the
for
may be an
be
which
we
should
indicate
is
sufficient here to
that
is
the
sources
to
which
Kabalistic
tradition
generally referred, namely, Akkadia, Chaldaea and Babylonia, this doctrine prevailed it was no doubt brought out of Babylon by the Jews,
;
it
It
More legends concerning Solomon and his marvels. than this, it may be said to be directly connected
with the Kabalistic symbolism concerning the divine
powers
the
and
qualities
attaching
to
the
Hebrew
alphabet The worlds were made, so to speak, by instrument of a single letter, and four letters
There can
and so
forth.-f
But
it
was a part
* The Sephcr Raziel, referred to Eleazer of Worms, and posing With as an angelic revelation to Noah, has been already mentioned. its talismans and philtres, its double seal of Solomon, its mystic or
occult alphabetical
spirits,
symbols,
its
figures for
the government
of
evil
conjurations by means of the Divine Names, this work constitutes one of the storehouses of mediaeval magic, besides being chiefly responsible for the whole of the practical Kabalah.
and
its
f So
settled
the question
is
by a reference in the thirty-third Sermon of Origen by way of commentary on St. Matthew, wherein allusion is made to a book of
exorcisms or adjurations of
Demons
name
of Solomon,
(Dther
Channels of
(Esoteric ITraoition
443
Above
all,
the
demons
spirits
became
subservient to
power of such words. Here is the germ of which the last development, or rather the final corruption, is to be found in the French
the
Europe, passing subsequently into the vernaculars of various countries, containing processes for compell.ing spirits by means of Divine Names which are corrup
tions of
Hebrew
terms.*
The
processes pretend to
but,
if
is
be
translated
from
of
the
Hebrew,
so,
the
The
chief of
them
known
as the
"
Key
Solomon,"
recensions,
more
under an identical
Among
should be observed concerning them is the fact that while they are concerned with all classes of spirits,
good and
mostly with the
evil,
illicit,
dead,
and
this,
think,
indicates
their
Jewish origin, for the Jews had very strong feelings as to the sacred nature of the repose of the human
Jean Wier, a demonologist of the sixteenth century, in his Disputes et Discours (Us Illusions et Impostures des Diablcs, gives a list of magical works current at his period under great names of the past, and points out that the art which they deal with depraved the most secret interpretation of the Divine Law, known as Kabalah among the Jews. Seethe reprint of this work, Paris, 1885,
ffisloires,
>,
hai>
175-
f A work passing under this name was condemned in a Decree of Pope Gelasius. ...Sec Antonius van Dale: De Online et Progressu iiT, Amsterdam, 1696, p. 558.
xrf
the jiabalah
Out of these two works there was developed subsequently a larger variety of processes, more
spurious,
distinctly
which
did
enter
also
into
necro
mantic mysteries.
They begot
many
variations
adapted
and con
taining sacred words the efficacy of which would not have been so promptly acknowledged by a Hebrew.
It
is
literature
one thing to note the existence of this and to confess its derivation it is another,
;
and as
like
the
"
It
is
an insult to the
Holy Synod
with the
puerilities
It
Magic.
done
to
at this
day
in
France.*
The
professed Kabalistic
aspect
mystery to
the
worthless
Clavicles
of
Solomon, by representing that they are the only written memorials of a most secret oral branch of
practical
final
debasement of
accountable
Dr.
is
not
rationally
Divine
Names.
Papus
barely
observes
"
The
Kabalah
great libraries.
At
Nationale
There is some ground for supposing that the first express attempts to identify Magic with Kabalism must be referred to Germany. There are numerous earlier examples, but Welling s Opus MagoCabbalisticum, Hamburg, 1765, of some interest.
is
it is
also a
work
(Dther
Channel* of
<0oteru
^raiitiou
445
These manuscripts, generally known under the name of Clavicles, are the basis of all the old grimoires which circulate in
origin
is
attributed to Solomon.
country
Enchiridion} and of those which drive priests into mental alienation by sorcery (Grimoire of Honorius)."
not exhibit
it
full
;
acquaintance
the
mentions
little
the Enchiridion
"Keys
earliest
forms owes
to
of
Solomon,"
is
not more
concerned with sorcery than are rituals like the Red Dragon. Finally, the intellectual and moral difference between the Clavicles and their derivatives is so
slight
that
it
is
As regards
their
scope and intention, the Clavicles are themselves I have indicated the possibility that grimoires. behind the ancient doctrine of the virtue resident in
certain
may
be
so also the
apparatus of Ceremonial Magic may be a travesty and disfigurement of an occult practice known also
to the occult sanctuaries, but
no one
is
on the track
of these mysteries
for
signatum on
who
on the
other.
general fact remains that it is by the perversion of the Kabalah that we have obtained the
The
and that the sympathetic student of the Jewish tradition mu.t tolerate this unwelcome fact as he best can.*
grimoires,
*
A
"
work
belonging
to
this
class,
but
more
elaborate
and
interesting than most of them, goes to show that a Jew in possession of the and also of the secrets of Holy Traditions of the Kabalah
"
446
^he
I
should prefer to ignore altogether this so-called practical part of the Kabalah, but so much import
ance having been attributed to it by modern occultists, it seems necessary for the sake of completeness to
say something briefly of It was concerned above
firstly,
its
materials and
its
method.
all
as
Holy
were
Scripture,
and,
developed by mysteries secondly, It attributed certain means of Kabalistic processes. names to the Sephiroth, and these were regarded as
analogous
to
the
divine
forces
and
attributes
the
essence of
is
(AHIH).
That of Ckokmah
the
grammaton, commonly rendered Jehovah (JHVH), and susceptible of twelve permutations, similar to
the sealing
names of
IHV
are
in
These
permutations
is
called
Kabalists.
ALHIM)
of Gods.
attributed to
is
EL (AL)
referred
to
is
Chesed,
and
its
God
of Grace
in
correspondence
the
practical Magic, bequeathed the first to his elder and the second to his younger son. What happened when there were more than two sons Book of the Sacred Magic," translated by See the does not appear. The original is an MS. S. L. MacGregor Mathers, London, 1898.
"
Library, Paris, and belongs to the i8th century, but it claims to have been written in Hebrew in the year 1458, which claim, Even its Jewish by the internal evidence, is manifestly imposture.
in the Arsenal
Mr. Mathers, who has a certain erudition but authorship is unlikely. is devoid of critical judgment, accepts every claim advanced by this work, as he accepts that of the "Key of Solomon."
(Other
447
Eloah va Daath
is
the Divine
;
Name
or or
of
Tiphereth
(ALVH V DATh)
Jehovah
Adonai Tsabaoth (ADNI TsBAVTh), the God Lord of Hosts, is connected with Netzach ; Elohim
of
similar
Tzabaoth,
meaning,
belongs
to
Hod ;
Shaddai El Chai (ShDI AL Chi), the omnipotent living God, is referable to Jesod ; Adonai Melekh
(ADNI MLK)
to Malchuth.
But the ten Sephirotk are naturally connected with the ten numbers, and hence there was an occult
to that
;
which
divine
the
names belonging
to the Sephirotk
the scale of the denary, but over and above these there were other names referred to the numbers
based
on the
number of the
as a Divine
was represented by the single letter Jod, understood Name, and not in its alphabetical order in which it is equivalent to ten. The number two
JH
;
and
AL
the
number
presume
three
the
number
to
four
I
by
AHIH
or
JHVH
and
that
five
Christian
which
Jesus; seven by
by
ARARITA and AShRAHIH eight ALVH V DATh and JHVH V DATh; nine by by JHVH TsBAVTh, ALHIM GBVR, and JHVH TsDQNV ten by ALHIM TsBAVTh and by the
;
extended
It
Tetragrammaton
in this
may be added
divine
Cornelius
Agrippa
express
things,
numbers
of ten
were
for
448
of the
$abalah
celestial,
for earthly,
and
numbers of a thousand
Divine
things
to
come.
The
also
Names and
their
qualifications
were
tabulated in reference to the twenty-two letters. Of these names the greatest power and virtue
were attributed to the Tetragrammaton which was the root and foundation of all and the ruling force of
t
the world
its
successful
With
this
72 letters obtained by the Kabalistic computation of the numbers of the letters of Tetragrammaton after a
conventional manner, as follows
:
Jod
=
=
:
10
15
Jod
He
==
=
=
21
26
those
of the
Divine
Names come
orders of the angels and the chiefs of the hierarchy, concerning which something has been said already in It would the section on Kabalistic Pneumatology.
serve no purpose to enumerate all the complicated The ten apparatus developed in this connection.
archangels and the ten angelic orders corresponded to the ten divine names connected with the Sephiroth and the name of 72 letters had 72 other angels
attributed thereto,
conventional device
20,
21.
points, rulers
of
the four elements, angels of the planets, angels of the Divine presence, and in opposition to all these there
were also
evil
spirits,
Channels of
"offensive
<sx>teric
^rabition
so
forth.
449
in
the
elements,"
and
This
apparatus
magic Kabalah may be said to have constituted and ruled throughout, and it is for this reason that Western
conventional
folk-lore.
passed bodily over to the ceremonial of the middle ages, which the debased
magic has so
little
connection
with
II.
Some reference has been made to the subject of Hermetic tradition when considering the Kabalistic treatise entitled We have there "Purifying Fire." seen that the Hermetic and Kabalistic philosophies
are generally ascribed to a
is
common
source,
and
this
critics.
The
and
however, I should
such
sure
is
a
that
am
not
less
known under
be
the
name
careful
of
we
should
exceedingly
statements.
and
accepting
must begin first of all by distinguishing the earlier books ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus, and
not concerned
*
Aude,"
said"
We
In a pamphlet entitled
Fra.
The Science
"sages
of
"
Alchymy,"
K.R.
et
A.C.,
the
of
medieval
to
Arabs,
(2)
"
name
the
have derived their knowledge of this subject, (i) from the from the heirs of the traditional lore now identified by the Of these alleged sources, Kabalah," (3) from ancient Egypt.
only is historically certain. t Compare, however, the anonymous preface to the first English translation of the Divine Poimander, that of Dr. John Everard, 1650;
first
FF
450
Ihe
from such
stronger
term,
as
make
Table
use
of
no
the
and
Golden Treatise.
When
be found
Isaac
Myer
affirms that
many
to
of the
doctrines
of the
in
less veiled,
may
can
Hermes
and
only,
Poimander^
to
the
and
A.D.
other
tracts,
the
existence of which
the
fourth
can
be
traced
about or prior
search
definite
the
Greek
century, alchemists in
We may
for
vain
any
doctrinal
connection
is
with
these
works,
though
naturally included among the great names of antiquity who are associated with the making of
Hermes
gold,
also
other
references
to
this
While
we
must
discount
Casaubon, who
treatises
as
the work
adept
who
was
Alexandria,^
for
we have
were
points
of
contact
between
Neo-Platonism
the possession of "the great Elixir of the Philosophers" is See also Dr. Westcott s observations ascribed to Hermes Termaximus.
here
London,
* "The Philosophy of Ibn Gebirol," pp. 166, 167. f M. Berthelot, however, observes that "the role attributed to the Jews in the propagation of alchemical ideas recalls that which they
enjoyed at Alexandria during the contact of Greek culture with the It is known that the Jews exercised an culture of Egypt and Chaldea.
influence of the
first
birth of Christianity.
importance in this fusion of the religious and East and of Greece, which presided at the The Alexandrian Jews were for one moment at
philosophy."
Channels of
(Esoteric
^rabition
451
section.
is
in
an
earlier
The connection
through the
of alchemy
with
Hermes
not
period, and its Kabalistic correspondences must also be sought elsewhere. Among the writings of Zosimus the Panopolite, which belong to the third century,f
True Book of Sophe concerning the Divine Lord of the Hebrews and the powers of Sabaoth, which affirms that there are two sciences and two wisdoms, that of the Egyptians and that of the Hebrews, the
is
"
there
the Egyptian
rendered "more solid by Divine Both come from remote ages; they do Justice." I not investigate material and corruptible bodies their
second
being
operates independently of any foreign action, sustained by prayer and divine grace. Then comes the following significant passage, which accounts for tlie philosophical work of alchemy
generation
being likened to that of God in the creation. symbol of chemistry is drawn from creation
*
"
The
(in the
M.
le
Chevalier
I.
Hitroglyphes
d Horapollon,
Kabalistic tradition on the fantastic ground that Enoch, who plays such an important part in the revelation of the Kabalah, is identical with the Edris of the Orientals and witli Hermes (p. 48).
t As Louis Figuier s popular work, entitled UAlchimic ct les Alchimistcs, is much quoted by occultists, and is therefore presumably in the hands of some of them, it will be well to point out that he classes
all
Byzantine literature of alchemy as apocryphal, and the work of monks belonging to the 8th, Qth, and loth centuries. There was never much excuse for this opinion, and it is only necessary to add that since the researches of Berthelot it has become I may add impossible. that,
throughout, Figuier s work, though exceedingly interesting, is most inaccurate as regards its facts, and of no consequence as to its opinions and inferences. Consult, on the point involved, the third edition, p. 6 Paris, i860.
ii.,
p. 206.
452
^he
Sptfjctrine aitb
eyes of
its
adepts)
who
who
separate the divine spirit confounded with the flesh. As there is a sun, the flower of the fire, a celestial
sun,
the
right
eye of
become
gold)
flower (that
purification,
by
is
becomes then a
which
sky."*
king
is
in
the
this
a very
important
books came to be regarded as alchemical in later times, and it institutes a striking parallel between
Egyptian and Jewish
is
science.
latter
no evidence
to
of
still
So also the reference to the Labyrinth Solomon which occurs among the remains of
earlier
Greek alchemists
In
short,
is
is
a mediaeval
inter-
polation.f
collection,
the
so
far
celebrated
Byzantine
of
all
which
the
source
alchemy, shows
no
traces
of
acquaintance
with
The same observation the Jewish secret tradition. to the early Arabian and Syriac alchemists applies who drew from Greek sources, though some extracts
from
with analyses, in a Syriac MS. the University of Cambridge, mention possessed by the talismans of Solomon, referred to the seven
Zosimus,
power which they exercise over demons. When we add to this that in spite of such evidence for the connection between alchemy and the Kabalah as is offered by the late ^Esh Metzareph
planets,
and
the
there
is
very
it
little,
it
in
the Zohar,
must be
* Ibid.
two
esoteric
453
grew up
for a
of one another.*
in ancient Egypt, and it worth noting that the claim of alchemy rose into at that period when certain prominence precisely Chinese ports were first thrown open to Western
is
commerce.
that
If
it
be true, as
in
alchemy flourished
it
possessed a literature, and that the terminology of this literature offers analogies with that which after
wards prevailed in the West, it may well be that we must look to the furthest East for the cradle of what is usually understood by Hermetic Science, namely,
that of transmutation.f The subject is far too large to enter on in this place, but we shall do well to
remember
Macrocosm and
the Microcosm, the analogy between spiritual and the Zoharistic symbolism of the balance, material,
have
all
the Chinese. J
*
The
analogies
may
not be so striking
It
is
part of a Berthelot s Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs, livraison, Je. p. 6 ct seq. Albert Poisson, whose Theories et Symboles des Alchimistcs is a contribution of real importance to the elucidation of Hermetic science, observes that Alchemy among the Greeks was, by reason of its very
t
"
however, to state that the Leyden papyrus which known process of alchemical sophistication forms Gnostic and theurgic collection. On this point, see
fair,
origin,
mixed up with magic and theurgy. Later on, thanks philosophic Arabs, this science became purified, and it was not
it
to the
till
the
sciences
Thenceforth a considerable number of properly so called. alchemists demanded the Key of the Great Work from the Kabalah,
Magic and
Alchemy."
Op.
cit., p.
27.
Paris, 1891.
t See
"The Chinese,"
by Dr.
W.
most accessible work "Philosophy of Ibn Gebriol," appendix H. so that it may be taken for what it is worth.
% The
A. P. Martin, of reference
I
New
is
York, 1881.
Isaac
this
iii.,
Mycr
mention
hypothesis
5.
See Book
454
as
^he
the
;
Jtorttine anb
JpUratwre of the
scholars
as
;
thought
to
deciding but they indicate at least the possibility of a common source for both esoteric traditions at a
centre not as yet acknowledged and epoch of the past.
at a very far
Of
course, as time
went
on,
and as alchemical
developed in Europe, a connection un The ssh doubtedly arose with the Kabalah.* is one of its evidences many Kabalists Metzareph
literature
;
became alchemists
Kabalah.
connection
:
But
it
still
a slight and
occasional
which
we
must
be
careful
not
to
exaggerate there is also very little trace of it prior to the seventeenth century ,f when writers like Fludd concerned themselves with both subjects, and Khunrathj
introduced
Kabalistic
symbolism
into
the
pictorial
emblems of transmutation.
best
The
proof
of
these
statements
is
the
ALsh Metzareph
itself.
Mr.
*
"Alchemy,
way by
its
a science of observation, could not profit in any Kabalah, which was purely a speculative
science."
t Poisson refers
Poisson, Theories et Sy wholes des Alchimistes, p. 28. this confusion of one occult science with another
mainly to Paracelsus, but I have already given full proof of the very slender connection between this adept and the esoteric tradition of
the Jews.
Sapientice A^terncc, with which compare the J^rinum Chemicum Secundum. Strasbourg, 1700. There is a treatise entitled "The Azoth of the Philosophers" which passes under the name of Basil Valentine, and suggests a certain connection with Kabalism, because the term Azoth is composed of the
Amphitheatrum
second
tract of the
first
and final letters of the Greek, Latin and Hebrew alphabets. It has been called into requisition accordingly, but the foundation is exceedingly slight. Moreover, the term is at least as old as pseudoGeber, while the treatise attributed to Basil Valentine is of doubtful
authenticity,
<h*mul0
of (Esoteric ^Trabition
"
455
it is
known
it
to few,
and when
were
known
its
is
understood by
still
fewer."*
If this
1887,
may
be truly said
in
of,
that
flourished
the West,
mentioned by
never been
heard
teenth century. Prior to that date there is no case within my knowledge of its quotation by any alchemist, and although the Kabbala Denudata was
described on
its
title-page as Script um
theologis
omnibus philoI
logis, philosophis,
omnium
religionum, atque
believe
PHILOCHVMICIS
after
quam
utilissimnm,
that
it
Apparatus
of
Librum Sohar.
Philalethes,"
who
collected
fragments
"
year
Art,"f
1714 and also published in the same Short Enquiry Concerning the Hermetic
in
ALsh
into
Metzareph
and
connects
them
first
with
the
introduced
alchemy by Eirenaeus
It
Philalethes.
follows, however,
previously that the literary connection between the Kabalah and alchemy does not begin so late as
"The Kabbalah Unveiled," Introduction, p. 15. t Reprinted in Dr. Wynn Westcott s Collectanea Hcrmctica, vol. 3, London, 1894 ; the preface, which is not by the editor, states that the
Short Enquiry was "written with special reference" to the JEsh there seems no foundation for this view. The little Metzare/>h, but
"
"
tract is largely a collection of opinions and quotations, not always derived from the best sources, for its author appears to regard Edward Kelley and Elias Ashmole as of equal authority with the acknowledged adepts of alchemy.
45 6
^he
first
quarter of the eighteenth century* and the ALsh Metzareph seems to have been cited though methodically by only one writer, the influence of the
the
Kabbala Denudata
its
may be traced
in
which
pretends to treat of the chemical Kabalahf (cabala ckymica) and has these words on its headline. This
little
work
is
incidentally of importance in
p.
more than
falls
16
there
is
a curious Figura
in the right
light
on a bearded
characteristic
compass
the
left
symbols
of
emblematic
such a connection would scarcely be expected on the Continent by modern scholarship. There are also
subject of
alchemy. j
Unfortunately
title
the
correspondences
which
have quoted.
I except such slender analogies as the correspondence traced by Sapere Aitde between the three worlds of Jean D Espagnet and the Hermetic Arcanum," Collectanea four worlds of the Kabalists. See
"
vol. 1
s Edition),
:
das
Enveisung
There was a
aller
natitralischcn
boieditrch das
alles
Hamburg,
1680.
J A work of similar pretensions is F. Kiern s Cabala Chymica : concordantia chymica, Azoth Philosophicum Solificatum, Mtilhausen,
1606.
is
Paracelsus, and is used in this sense by a compiler belonging to the group of Paracelsian exponents, of whom Benedictus Figulus and
least
Hoefer
"
term proves on examination to be used in the loose sense of the period, and out of two very large volumes there are only two pages
stone, but the
devoted
to
the
subject
of
the
Kabalah.f
The
to authorship of the Sepher Yetzirah is attributed R. Akiba, and that of the Zohar to R. Simeon. It is also affirmed that Jewish and Arabian alchemists
possessed an old
and that
honour
evidence
as
of
Hermes
Trismigestus.
The
Hoefer also mutation was pursued in ancient Egypt, it would be unsafe to accept his opinion unsupported by
other authority. J
Before dismissing the Kabalistic connections of alchemy, a word must be said concerning two works which have been supposed to be examples of that
connection, and to which
Ferdinand Hoefer
les
une analyse cUtiillec plus recuUs jusqu a notre tpoque ; comprenant des MSS. alchimiques de la Bibliotheque Roy ale de Paris ; un exposf ales doctrines cabalistiques sur la Pierre Phihsophale, etc., 2 vols., Paris, Mr. II. C. Bolton observes that this great work is 1842, 1843.
superseded so far as the
Berthelot.
MSS.
are concerned
See
"A
Select Bibliography
of Chemistry,
p. 119.
% There is indeed one authority cited, namely, the Apparatus of Rosenroth, /Cab. Den., i., 441-443, and this is a quotation from the
Metzareph,
c. 7.
45 8
of the gabalah
attached.*
share in
common
of
s
Both have the advantage, which they with Khunrath and his Amphiprecedence
over
the
publication
is
theatrum,
of
Rosenroth
prior to
any
be needless
shows an acquaintance with the sEsh Metzareph, nor do I observe in their contents anything to connect them with the Sephirotic
to say that neither
attribution
of the
metals which
is
characteristic of
that work.
One
Transmutationis Metallicce, cum Voarchadumia Pro pertionibus, muneris et iconibus rei accomodis illustrata.
It
was published
Voarchadumia,
at
Venice
in
April
i53O.f
as
"a
science,"
a definition which
(&) as
the Kabalistic
of alchemical
veins;"
science of metals.
It is further a species
"auriferous
metallurgy,
"
concerning
metallic
it
it
geneous,
*
combustible,
Volatile
and
exhibits
There are others naturally in the large literature of alchemy, but they are not of Hermetic value, and, as in all cases, the Kabalistic connection is thin and elusive. Such is the Philosophic^ Salomonis, o
Secret Cabinet of Nature, a
German anonymous
treatise published at
Here the royal stone of alchemy is connected 1753. .with the art of King Solomon, but there is no Kabalistic knowledge, and the work is quite worthless. See also Cabala Spiegel der Kunst
Augsburg
in
:
:
und Natur
its
curious
folding plates.
t Rare in the original edition, but rendered accessible by the reprint in Lazarus Zetner s Thcatrum Chemicum, Argentorati, 1613,
etc.,
is
ii.,
p.
459
et seq.
Paris edition
Channels of
(geoteric \Trabiticm
459
how
"a
the
perfection.
heavy,
corporeal,
fixed,
ductile,
tinged,
rarefied
Quicksilver or Mercury, and of an incombustible Metallic Sulphur, educed and transmuted into true gold by means of
and
arcane
substance
of
cementation."*
It will
will
be enough for
mysteries Gematria.
of
It
transmutation
The
and
it
other work
is
much
better
known
to
fame
and so
is
far unsolved,
This
first
the
Monas Hiero1
containing an
attributed
to
is
analysis
of
564,
and
symbols
Mercury
the sign of
the
silver,
that of gold,
See the anonymous English translation of Martinus Rulandus Lexicon Alchemia, sive Dictionarium Alchcmisticum, the edition of This translation, without date or place, was restricted to six 1612. and includes a large Supplement to the Alchemical Lexicon of
:
"
copies,
Martinus
P-
Rulandus."
The
explanation of
Voarchadnmia. occurs on
see
438.
this analysis,
some curious
d.
Leo
"
Practical
Astrology,"
second edition, n.
460
will
^he
JJrrrtrine
not in any sense information which helps to connect alchemy with Kabalism, though it is highly important for the obscure question of the origin and history of the astronomical signs.*
I
may
is
one
possible connection between alchemy and Kabalism which would appear to be overlooked by all those
who have
is
instituted a comparison
between them.
It
supplied by the obscure but subsisting analogies between the ancient document of Latin alchemy
known
as
the
am
regard to the history of the Turba, this accident is There are statements certainly a feature of interest.
and
more
especially
regarding the four elements of ancient chemistry, which offer curious points of contact with Kabalism.
When we add
to this that
some
the Turba in the guise that we at present possess it to a Hebrew original, now lost, and that its date, so
far as
it
can be assigned,
of the
promulgation
Zohar, enough
in
indication
of
possibility upon which there is no need, as indeed there are few materials, to insist further. J
*
xliv. of
the Eclairtissement
de
Histoire
FAstronomie
also the
. . .
Turba Philosophorum, or Assembly of the Sages, called t See the book of Truth in the Art, and the third Pythagorical Synod
. . .
Translated from the Latin By A. E. Waite, London, 1896. must confess that I have no theory as to the two previous Synods. J It is due to my readers, and to the subject, to confess that I have not made an exhaustive examination of alchemical literature in
I
Channels of
(Esoteric ^Trabition
461
III.
The modern
inclined, as
already remarked, to claim that all the occult sciences arise out of their own, but it seems more correct to
Kabalah has been engrafted on some in this manner we have Kabalistic as we have also Kabalistic astrology, alchemy. To
infer that the
of them, and
determine the superior accuracy of either view we must have recourse exclusively to history and
literature.
It
is
only
in the instance
is
of Ceremonial
in
unanimously
favour
reference to its connections with Kabalism. I have made myself acquainted with all sources which have been cited by those who affirm them, but as their observations have not been based upon a wide
study of the alchemists, it is possible that my future researches may discover something which has, so far, been overlooked on both sides. I should note also that, according to M. Berthelot, "the Kabalah was
bound up during the middle ages with alchemy, and the connection goes far back," that is, to Jhe Leyden Papyrus as well as to the Greek
alchemists.
infer that this great authority has, so far as the concerned, received only a derived impression, or that at least his notion of the Kabalah has been obtained as such notions most commonly are. All his instances as to the earlier
I
But
mediaeval period
is
connections must be rejected decisively. Some of them, such as the others are Labyrinth of Solomon," have been already dealt with
"
mere names Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the word Sabaoth papyri of the same family as No. 75 of Keuven>." It is further obvious that a reference by Zosimus to Solomon and his establishes no Kabalistic analogy. Finally, when the Greek alchemist traces the
"in
\vi>d<im
the
"
who
published
it
world,"
we must remember
belongs to a period which referred all science and philosophy to the chosen people on the principle of Aristobulus and Philo, so that this also
proves nothing.
II.
Observe that
Itibliotheca Dritannica,
C.
van
179 //, gives a reference to a work by Hyler, entitled, Tractatus Cabbali^tico Chymico PhiloI
sophico
contents.
am
not
acquainted
with
its
462
^he
gortriue
zm!b
Western world.
be disposed to the case of astrology will prove some believe that thing like that of alchemy, namely, that its history
considerations
shall
From a priori
we
and
connect
it
essentially
with Jewry.
has the
air of
seems to suggest few possible analogies with the speculations of a theosophical system. There are two
facts,
however, which
firstly,
it
challenge,
to
much
the
addicted
prophetic astrology,* and, secondly, science of the stars, as it is known in the West, has
derived something from the later Hebrews. Against these must be placed two other facts, not of less
significance, namely, that ancient
Israel contributed
very astronomical
centuries
little
writings
draw
regards astrology in
period,
it
puerile processes.
We
deal
here
that
with the
history of
it
the
science
we know
famous
deluge,
are
Josephus traces
himself
reported
to Seth
had
to
all
visited
the
have
the
survived of
and
said
on
to
which
have
*
rules
astrology
been engraved.
The
Josephus
may
have
been
question whether the art was condemned by the Law of been a subject of some debate. Perhaps the best opinion considered that it was. See on this point the Conciliator of Menasseh ben Israel, Sive de conventia locorum S. Scriptura qtia pugnare inter It was also debated by Gaffarel, se Videntur, Frankfort, 1633, p. 142.
Israel has
art
He
Channels of
(Neoteric
^rabition
463
deceived easily, or he may have been tempted to claim for his nation on the warrant of a fable
the precedence in a study to which the notion of Seth and the pillars set apart, learning was attached.
we know also
that antique Chaldea was a great centre of astrology, that it flourished among the Babylonians, that it was practised in Egypt, and it is natural to
suppose that the Jews must have had their share in the knowledge of each of these There peoples.
even
Kabalah of
to Christian
astrological
procedure communicated
times.*
;
All
are
we
influence
Jewish
writings
on
mathematics
or
natural
philosophy, for the simple reason that the Zohar does not connect seriously with these subjects. It
has also
liberty,
little
however,
Astrology works upon data which are very obscure in their history ,f and there are doctrines connected with it which even to the occult student may seem
insufficiently
pondences.
would be interesting to any Kabalistic corres As to the data, I suppose no one has
grounded.
It
attempted to institute a
parallel,
but
it
has been
may have
Spectduw Astrologia of Junctin was a kind of synthesis of the astrological l.ilxmrs of the "Arabian and Hebrew Kabalists." Histoirc dt la 1. vii., Clefs gtntiales I? Astrologic^ p. 579.
J/</.c/>,
<k
t Which history, moreover, has never been elucidated by any writer on the subject. Mr. \V. Corn Old s "New Manual," perhaps the latest work on Astrology (London, 1898), docs not attempt to
account for the grounds on which the old judgments are based.
464
^he jBadnnt
glabalah
Let us
see,
its
what
is
said
upon
this
subject
by
students.
The
attribution of
the sEsh Metzareph suggests planetary attribution, and a tabulation has been constructed by Papus,*
following the authority of Kircher
1.
:
2.
3.
Binah
Chesed
Firmament.
Saturn.
Jupiter.
,,
4.
5.
Geburah
Tiphereth
6.
7.
Mars.
Netzach
Sun.
8.
Hod
Jesod Malkuth_
Venus.
Mercury.
9.
10.
Moon.
"
all
is
the d5s/i Metzareph shows, that tend to the one truth," but this scheme systems not in accordance with either of its own attribu
It is possible, as
tions.
R. P. Esprit Sabathier, in that strange little treatise on Kabalism which still exercises so much fascina
French students of the subject, refers Mars to Geburah and Mercury to Hod.^ When there is
tion on
*
cited
frequently
for
The synopsis of the Kabalah in this Kircher (Edipus (Egyptiacus. rare work has been recently translated into PVench.
A reprint t See L? Ombre Ideale de la Sagesse Universelle^ 1679. work has been promised in Paris. The original is rare, and there is no copy in the British Museum, but the reader may consult the
of this
Table given by Papus at pp. 80, 81 of his treatise on the Kabalah, where the attribution in question will be found.
Channels of
0oterir
^rabition
465
no unanimity we must infer that there is no point of importance involved and that attributions and tabulations of this kind are less or more conventional and can have little application to In astrology itself. modern times, however, all the divinatory sciences,
every case possess or suggest astrological connections,* have received some kind of Kabalistic
attribution. Thus, the planetary correspondences of the figures used in geomancy have been adjusted to the Sephiroth\ Kabalistic principles have been
which
in
applied to chiromancy physiognomy alone, possibly because it has never had much attention at the hands
;
although, as
we have
it
is
in the
The most
accessible
is
among
Gaffarel,
the
Jews
its
in
the
Curiosities
"
of
James
during
who based
his
observations
on a direct
knowledge of
the Christian centuries.} To reduce what he says to a sentence, the Jewish astrologers read the heavens
like a book,
they regarded
it
Thus, the "Principles of Astrological Geomancy" have been the subject of a special treatise by Franz Ilartmann, M.D. (London, 1899), while Miss Rosa Baughan has compiled a curious medley of
title
of
"The
Influence of
the
t Physiognomy has been, of course, connected with astrology, and an old work published about the beginning of the seventeenth century under the title of "Book of Palmistry, Physiognomy, and Natural Astrology" illustrates this connection. See also "A Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy," by John Varley, London, 1828.
criticisms, will
s information, with some pertinent Eliphas Levi s Kitucl dc la Haute Magie. See also "Transcendental Magic," part ii., and Mysteries of Magic,"
summary of
Gaffarel
be found
in
"
GG
466
^he
JUbalah
purposes of methodising
its
interpretation,
they
collected
stars
fact,
into
hieroglyphic
characters,
which
were,
the
Hebrew alphabet. Their process was therefore not an astrological process, but more correctly one of
divination,
and as
the
see
to
its
value,
we have only
to
glance
Gaffarel
of the
Hebrew planisphere furnished by how arbitrary was the nature At the same time it must arrangement.
at
to
be admitted that
the
it
fundamental
fact
though the
previous
the earth
has
not
been
could
observed
by
any
writer.
There
be
the air than to discover these letters in the configura In tion, apparently fortuitous, of the starry heavens.
place,
therefore, of the unmeaning mythological of pagan antiquity they imagined the twentyfigures two elements of the divine word manifested to the
chosen
the
people,
justified
it
of the
characters
;*
to
read the sense of the heavens so that they could give the meaning thereof was an operation no less
sacred
in
its
intention, mysterious
in
its
and strange
* This is the Zoharic notion, and it was claimed that by means of the signs and figures in the heavens most profound secrets and mysteries could be discovered. So regarded, the stars and constellations are a
Zohar, ii., 760, Mantua. t Compare those other strange results in symbolical astrology of
"Book
which Ruysbrceck the Mystic speaks in the Beguines," Latinised by Surius under the title
of the Twelve
De
Vera Contemplatione.
467
Zoharistic processes to the disentangling of the mystic meaning beneath the letter of the Scriptures. This is the true Kabalistic astrology,* based on a Kabalistic doctrine which is its justification and of
which
it is
in
Zohar
itself.
But
it
has
it
little in
common
with
the
western world
its
it
considerations, even as astrology in the West has nothing to tell us concerning the Kabalistic mystery
of
Am
Soph.
It
is
by the suggestion of
realisable
It will,
fantastic
influences
and un-
of subjects could not have grown up without con tributing anything to the knowledge of the heavens.
century the Jews of Babylon were famous as doctors and astronomers and, partly for
this
In
the
third
Samuel
Needless to say this astrology is not judicial. The late Mr. Ilargrave Jennings has also some pleasing fantasies on the "astronomy of the mind" in "The Indian Religions," p. 207 et scq., London, 1890.
*
Which
is
from
"
what
commonly understood by
Magic/
p.
judicial
astrology.
See
247. t As an instance of the extraordinary lengths to which speculations of this kind have been carried outside astronomical connections, see
My>teries
of
Dr.
J.
Lamb s
London, 1835.
Hebrew characters derived from Hieroglyphs," The hieroghyphics in question are re-constituted, ami
"
various doctrines, passages and words of the sacred writings are inter preted by recourse to them.
468
Ihe
rrf
the giabalah
Lunaticus,
attributed
famous
to
is is
for
the
astronomical
tables
Naharden,
him, and head of the academy of an instance in point, and R. Ada, also of
another.
Naharden,
Abba
Aricha, better
known
as
the Babylonion Rav, founder of the academy of Sora, was again a deep student of astronomy, and names
might be multiplied easily. Side by side with medicine and the interpretarion of dreams, astrology
was much pursued by the Eastern Jews of the tenth and eleventh centuries. In 1150, or thereabouts, R.
Avi Joseph wrote a treatise on the intelligences which move the heavens and concerning the judg
ment of the
period,
is
stars.
a great
well
Jewry
as
as
doctrine
and
philosophy.
Abraham
Chiia and
Abraham Nasi
science.
In the
second half of the thirteenth century, during the reign of Alphonso the loth, King of Castile, himself
called
the
astrologer,
the
rabbins
were
in
high
estimation for their knowledge of the heavens, and the Tables attributed to Alphonso were the work of
a
the
Alcadet
produced
Zacut,
two
author
famous
of
the
astronomers,
and
Abraham
Sepher Yuhasin, was another student of the subject in the days of Ferdinand and Isabella.
with
they are sufficient to establish that this occult science is to be found in Jewry during
astrology,
centuries.
<hannel0
of (Eeoterir ^rabition
469
The
with the
astrology
reader
first
who
desires to
become acquainted
of Gaffarel,
may
consult the
is
"Curiosities"
whose information
This learned Ezra, R. Jacob Kapol ben Samuel, &c. but pedantic writer wholly rejected what is called
Kabalistic astrology, with
its
Sephirotic attributions,*
but the system which he develops is not less fantastic, and is that indeed which we have described briefly
in the earlier part of the present section.
It
would
for,
as on the
one hand Sephirotic astrology is rejected even by so determined a Kabalist as Gaffarel, so, on the other,
the
secrets
of
the
Hebrew
planisphere
and
the
mysteries
of
stellar
writing do not
connect with
West
It may be added that a recent writer, Mr. W. Gorn Old, has published a Kabalistic astrology,f
but it is merely a process of divination, like that attributed to Cagliostro, which was developed at great
length and applied to the science of the stars by P. Christian. J It is obvious that the use of the term
Kabalistic in such a connection
parler,
is
unfortunately in
very
common
So far as I am aware, no astrological work developing these connections has ever been printed in any European language, but books like John Bishop s Marrow of Astrology," London, 1688, with its list of the governing angels of the signs and the planets, suggest Kabali-tic
"
connections through the vehicle of Ceremonial Magic. t "Kabalistic Astrology, or Your P ortune in your
Sepharial, London, n.d. ( ? 1892). % In his Histoire de la Magic, books
Name,"
by
in
ii., iii.,
and
vi.
Also
s
VHomme
will also
Rouge
cks Tuileries.
Some
s
account of Cagliostro
"Manual
Method
of Cartomancy," &c.,
47
is
^h*
Stortrirte anfo
made
further evident
by the
term Hermetic, not only as an analogue, but an actual Mr. Old s process is affirmed to have equivalent.
been
is
"
in use
among
the ancient
Kabalists,"
but this
IV.
generally agreed
is
among
secrets
Masonic Fraternity
but that
it
an institution of mystic
has lost
its real
and
is
interesting
only as a survival.
certain legends arid
it
applies
to
them
As
such,
obvious and meagre character. As to its historical origin, there is also a general opinion prevailing in the same circles, namely, that Freemasonry, after
is not wholly apparent, is a survival of the ancient mysteries, but this term is used in a catholic sense, not as signifying the initiations of
Egypt, of Greece, or of Rome, but rather the secret power and intelligence which is thought to have been present behind the philosophical associations of all ages
and most
During the Christian period the knowledge which would otherwise have perished was preserved among successive occult
civilised
countries.
fraternities,
some known
to history, such as
Templars
working in complete silence. or otherwise, they were all affiliated with Corporately each other and symbolic Freemasonry forms the last
link in the
rest
47 l
No
been
presentation of this hypothesis has so far able to survive analysis, and the inductive
student must be content to recognise, (a) the mystic nature of most Masonic symbolism to which the
fraternity
now
meanings
belonging to the ethical primer () a certain analogy of ostensible purpose as regards the ends of human
existence, but
it
is
on
this point
(c)
not worth while to insist strongly the affinity for Mysticism which has
always been shown by Masonry during its historical It may be added that there are certain period.
indications
which
point
to
possible
connection
this,
its if
between Masonry and Rosicrucianism, and admitted, would constitute the first link in
nection with
con
the past.
The evidence
is,
however,
Freemasonry
per se, in spite of the affinity with Mysticism which I have just mentioned, has never exhibited any mystic character, nor has it a clear notion how it came by
symbols; though occultists at all times bave gravitated towards it, and though it has tolerated and even received them, it has shown no sense of under
its
standing on occult subjects. This being the state of the case, and the claim which is made for
tion
Freemasonry having never been urged by the institu on its own behalf, there is nothing /V*d facie to
it
a priori that
is
it
should
with Kabalism.
respect
And
like
position in this
much
that
of
alchemy, seemingly
fortuitous, a question of subsequent introduction, as much imputation as reality, a varnish rather than a
472
"lite
such positions,
To
establish
my
point,
must
refer for
on the
that
it
in
amiably, and that all have elaborated the system accordance with their particular notions. During
we know
and
were
that
Martinists,
theurgists,
invented
at
this
new grades
period
there
new
also
and
so
as
in
Kabalists,
Kabalistic
rites,
and especially of
Kabalistic
rites
and grades
which
exhibit
is
influences.
As
it
Free
is
masonry
alchemy,
not
in
Swedenborgianism,
spite
as
not
the
as
of
the
Elect
Cohens,
evocations and rituals of Pasqually, and all the magical marvels of Schrcepfer, it is not theurgy, as it is still
less the
mysticism of any of the true Mystics, so it not Kabalism, but it has been developed somewhat
Kabalistic as in other interests.
It
is
in
must be added that the few Kabalistic degrees left any record behind them beyond their name, and the uncommon swiftness with which they passed into extinction, give no evidence of
which have
acquaintance
with
the
Jewish
esoteric
tradition.
They represent the Kabalism of the period. is no need to speculate as to its quality
bequeathed
*
There
;
it
has
its
literary remains
in
grimoires
and
The history of the Swedenborgian Rite being exceedingly obscure, and yet possessing considerable occult interest, it may be observed that some account of it was published at New York in 1870 by Samuel
Berwick.
Channels of
(Esoteric
^raMtion
473
grand
cesses
clavicles,
of
correspondence with
lees
it
the
Seigneur
Astaroth,*
the
As
be well to enforce these statements by means of documentary evidence, I will add an account of
will
one
Kabalistic
grade
of
which
of
may
the
be
taken
to
A
existed
degree
Knight
Kabalah
once
among
ments of the Fraternity which were termed high by their disciples and spurious by some who
resented
innovations,
It
and
especially
those
which
led to nothing.
The
object
of
has long since fallen into disuse. the candidate, according to the
"
catechism of the degree, was to know, by means of numbers, the admirable harmony which subsists
religion."
It defines
the Kabalist
has acquired the Sacerdotal Art and the Royal Art by the communication of the tradition. The device was Oninia in muneris sita suut. The
man who
Master of the
Lodge
in
which
the
degree was
imparted seems to have been called the President of the Sanhedrim and the Rabbi. The mystical
significance
*
of
numbers*)"
was
developed
by
the
See
.
.
D Argcns
.
sophiquc
t The
Lettres Cabalistiqucs, on Correspondence Philoentre deux Cabalistes, &c. 7 vols., La Ilaye, 1754. numerical mysticism of the Kabalah is La-c-d, of course,
:
on the Sephiroth
most of its developments are very late, and possess ; a magical complexion, for which reasons they do not enter into the scheme of this study. Some of these developments are quite unknown
for example, the attempt to simplify chronology by Kabalistic figures in Michael Aitsinger s Pentaplus Regnorum Afundi, Antwerp, 1579. On the general subject, see Petrus Bargus : Mystica
to occultists, as,
numerorum
Bergomi, 1585.
474
^he
Ilortritu anb
= In
word incarnate
;
in the
bosom of a
the Religion physical order, a spirit embodied in the virgin earth, It is the generative number in the order or Nature.
otherwise,
in
of Divinity, apparently a false symbolism, because the monad neither generates nor is generated, whence Eliphas Levi more correctly says that the monad
triad, all
= In
the
moral order,
in
the generative
theological
the
physical,
the
is
three
principles
of
bodies.
The
reference here
to salt, sulphur
and
mercury, thus indicating the Hermetic connections of Three also denotes the triple divine this grade.
essence.
IV=the
mentary
it
is,
four
cardinal
virtues,
the
four
ele
qualities
and
moreover, the most mysterious of numbers, because it contains all the mysteries of nature.
V=the quintessence of religion, and the quint It is essence of matter which again is alchemical. because it is enclosed also the most occult number,
"
in
series."
The
precise
meaning of
statement does not appear, but it may possibly refer to the pentagram as one of the emblems
this
of the grade.
VI = the
It is the
theological cube
because
it
contains
475
the source of our spiritual and corporeal happiness." Is this a reference to the mystical adultery of the first man whereby the coming of the Liberator was
necessitated
?
VII
planets.
it
=
It
the
is
seven
sacraments
and
the
"
seven
because
number."
VIII = the small number of the elect or the because It is the most desirable number, wise.
"
he
who
possesses
it
is
of the
and
Sages."
IX^the
of matter.
religion
It
and nature are both exalted thereby. ten commandments and the ten precepts because it It is the most perfect number, of nature. includes unity, which created everything, and zero,
X = the
"
symbol
of
matter and
chaos,
whence everything
emerged. In its figures it comprehends the created and uncreated, the beginning and end, power and force, life and annihilation. By the study of this number we find the relations of all things, the power
of the Creator, the faculties of the creature, the Alpha
and
Omega
XI
= the
"
religion
and
the
It is the most multiplying multiplication of nature. number, because with the possession of two units, we arrive at the multiplication of things."
XI I = the twelve
articles
of faith
City,
the
twelve
Holy
who preached
throughout the whole world for our happiness and of nature; the spiritual joy; the twelve operations
twelve
signs
of
the
Zodiac,
foundation
of
the
47 6
^he
Primum
universe
Mobile,
for
extending
temporal
it
throughout
It
is
the
our
felicity.
thus
the
most
solid
number, being
the
basis
of
our
spiritual
left
to
the
also
The catechism
itself
shows
order
of
concerned
with with
the the
universal
spirit
alchemy
and
even
quadrature of the circle. The history of the Knights of the Kabalah is unfortunately involved in obscurity, but it will be seen that it was Christian and Catholic,
later
professing
similar purposes
and having
Had
in
the
"
Ain Soph,
grade, had the lodge represented Atziluth, the Master his throne in the East Kether, and the
remaining Sephiroth ; had the ritual been constructed from the Zohar and the catechism from
officers the
the
Apparatus of Rosenroth,
all
this
would
have
proved nothing as to the Kabalistic connections of Masonry. Within recent years a powerful Masonic order has undergone a species of development in
this
direction through the labours of Albert Pike, and there can be little doubt that it was his intention
to transform the
into
a seminary of occult study. There may be of its own brethren at the present time in many whom this statement will excite only incredulity,
*
Among
there
was
that of
Mafon
its
France dignified
of Chevalier de Cabale.
of (Esoteric ^rabition
477
but
it
is
more than an
unqualified follower of the occult philosophies, or that he pursued it into regions of which Masonry has now
no conception.
He was
also seconded
by numerous
like-minded persons who occupied high dignities in the United States Southern Jurisdiction, and some
of
whom
The
still
survive.
all these things is to be found of instruction which he compiled, body chiefly from sources in occult literature, for all the grades of the order. No person who is acquainted
evidence of
in the vast
with the
"
Morals and
Dogma
"
can
fail
to trace the
hand of the
occultist therein,
and
it is
to be especially
observed that, passing from grade to grade in the direction of the highest, this instruction becomes
Kabalistic.
It
matters
little
that
was not a
skilled critic
with a tendency and its development. He accepted, for example, without due caution, the construction
placed on Kabalism by the most unsafe of all its expounders, Eliphas Le*vi, from whom he translated
verbatim at great length, and, following his professed habit, with no specific acknowledgment, while for
the rest his only source of further information was the Kabbala Denudata, of which, however, he shows
no
with
analytical
Liber
Drushim
the
regard
in
the
authority
on
occult
subjects
with
which
no
previous
478
^he
giabalah
his
scheme had ever provided Masonry. Yet with all strenuous efforts it must be doubted whether
the seal of occultism has been impressed effectually on the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, in which
case, if
we except such
interesting
minor instances
it
distinct purpose of an occult kind not necessary to say that in England, at least, it has failed wholly in obtaining recognition as a genuine development of Masonry, and it remains
which claims a
it
is
practically in abeyance.
We
see
therefore
that
Kabalistic
influence
It
its
is
would be
conscious
presence in the blue lodges, or seek to interpret the legend of the master grade in connection with Jewish
tradition.
to
The symbols, however, which are familiar the initiates of these lodges do connect with
-
Kabalism, among other forms of occult philosophy, but the presence of the seal of Solomon among the heirlooms of the brotherhood being, so far,
unaccountable,
*
it is
useless to insist
on the connection,
dttveloppement compkt or cf Eleusis,
See Marconis
et
Moultet
Hitrophante>
1839.
Le Rameau
work by Marconis is also interesting as the views of an amiable student upon the Mysteries in connection with Masonry.
another
with
all
which might be expected, was written by Marc Bedarride and published in two volumes at Paris, 1845, under the title, De Ordre Mcyonniquc
de Misratm, depuis sa creation jusuq a nos jours, &c. The fourth Series of the Rite of Misra im
Kabalistic.
is
designated
Channels oi
<00teric
^rabitimi
it.
479
So
far as
concerned, Kabalism and Masonry have history joined hands in the sphere of the higher grades, and
as a historical fact this
is
it is
otherwise significant
affirm
it.
must
be
left
to
those
who
V.
It
very well
known
method of
symbolical
cards,
to
importance are attributed by several authorities. Their literary history is also equally well known.
They were
first
Court de Gebelin at
of
the eighteenth
century, and were attributed by him to an Egyptian Much about the same time the subject was origin.
taken up by a professed cartomancer, named Alliette, who wrote a great deal about them in several
illiterate
tracts,
and
endeavoured
to
trace
their
connection with Egypt through the Jewish Kabalah. The inquiry then fell into neglect, except in so far as Continental fortune-tellers were concerned, until
the year 1854, when Eliphas contributions to occult science.
LeVi
made
his
first
* As there may, however, be some readers who are not acquainted with this matter, I may observe that Mr. S. L. MacGregor Mathers "The Tarot; is the author of a small explanatory treatise, entitled, a set of the cards, its Occult Signification," &c., published with
London, 1888.
the gipsies
nomads was
great
to the
subsequently
adopted
by
LeVi,
who gave
prominence
year 1865.
P. Christian,
also taken in
up hand by
Magic
large history of
developed still further the Egyptian theory, but no statement which he makes can be accepted with any confidence. In the year 1887 I
in
1870.
He
was the
first
who
works of
to
Eliphas Levi.
inquiry was
occultist
"
An
made
important
contribution
the
shortly after by the French whose elaborate work entitled the Papus, Tarot of the Bohemians," though scarcely of critical value on the historical side, remains the most
all
the
The point which concerns us here is, of course, the Kabalistic connections. Eliphas LeVi says that
* Histoire
gipsies this
Vraie des
is
Vrais Bohhniens.
its
As
;
a notice of the
work
period
its
Tarot speculations
are
M. Vaillant worthless, and its philological arguments absurd. the synthesis of ancient faith, a deduction from described the Tarot as the sidereal book of Enoch (412). Its origin he affirms to be lost in the
"
He
!
its
(p. 54).
f Occult writers mostly favour Egypt as the birthplace of the Tarot, and this is consistent with their views on the origin of the Kabalah. So Mons. Z. Lismon has recently published a version of the
title of Livre de Thot, Jeu des 78 Tarols Egyptiens, with explanatory booklet. Compare R. Falconnier Les xxii. Lames Hermttiques du Tarot divinatoire, which pretend to be re-constituted
"the
"
of the
Magic
Channels of
(irsoteric
Tradition
481
the Tarot cards are the key to the esoteric tradition of the Jews, and the primitive source of divine and
"
human
tradition
"
the symbols of its four suits and the four letters of the Divine Name Tetragmmmaton, and between the
each
ten Scfihirotk and the ten small cards belonging to suit He gives also the correspondences
between the twenty-two trump cards and the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, for which he quotes the
authority of
not,
"divers
Kabalistic
Jews,"
which must
however, be interpreted too strictly, as although the symbolism of the Hebrew alphabet has been much dwelt on by such authorities there is no trace
of any reference to the Tarot by Kabalistic writers of the past. It must be admitted, on the other hand, that the analogies are exceedingly striking, and that although the historic evidences can scarcely be said to exist, and have been supplied from the treasures of
imagination, there can be no doubt that the Tarot
actually,
is
as
it
is
claimed
I
to
be,
of
considerable
perhaps be per my personal belief that it has distinct Kabalistic connections, some of which were
importance symbolically.
mitted also to register
may
the interpretations
been attempted by various writers are nearly worth less, in the first place because they have all proved themselves incapable of conducting a
historical inquiry
;
dispassionate
they have allowed affirmation to take the place of evidence they have regarded a
;
they have
made
conjecture certitude.
de
Gebelin,
Mil
hampered by
482
^he
gabalah
who
observe
how
by an appeal
if
to
the writers
who preceded
to
him, as
their authority
were
in
final
Court de Gebelin,
who was
of
a groper
archaeological
reasoning to Vaillant, with his fascinating theory of gipsy transmission which is about as conclusive as
"Celtic
"
Druids";
to
Le"vi,
whose
"
marvellous learning
is
so
much and
so un
safely insisted
Papus
nothing himself to the problem on its historical side except an affirmation that the game
contributes
called the Tarot,
is
the
Bible of Bibles." Obviously, the historical question calls for treatment by some independent scholar who
will
begin by releasing
its
present
fantastic
con
nections.
which, to do justice to Dr. Papus, is most patiently and skilfully elaborated in his work, is at once disorganised if there be any doubt as to the attribu of its trump cards to the Hebrew alphabet. Now there is one card which bears no number and
therefore allocated according to the discretion of
tion
is
It has been allocated in all cases the interpreter. the uninstructed because they had nothing wrongly, by
but their private judgment to guide them, and by those who knew better because they desired to
I may go further and say that the true mislead. nature of Tarot symbolism is perhaps a secret in the hands of a very few persons, and outside that circle
483
and writers may combine the cards as and attribute them as they like, but they
the
ri^ht way.
it
The symbolism
is,
will
these
whatever way it may be disposed, and some of may be strikingly suggestive, but they are
illusory
none the
less.
The purpose
of this short
show that the published Tarots and the methods of using them may be very service
paper
is
therefore to
able for divination, fortunetelling and other trifles, but they are not the key of the Kabalah, and that
the Royal
Game
much
of Goose
may
be recommended with
Dr.
almost as
Papus
is
therefore
unconsciously
many
followers
when he
"Absolute
readings as the
Key
VI.
It
attempt
purely
history
mystic standpoint.
of
On
so
the
Kabalism
it
is
imbedded
that
of
mysticism, that
is
scarcely
known
or admitted in
any
distinct connection.
On
pure mystic, there is so much in the Kabalistic system which seems extrinsic to the subject of mysticism, that there is a temptation to underrate its
real influence.
the difference
if
it
may
perhaps be brought
harmony
be
permissible to regard mysticism in two ways as a philosopical system, that is to say, an ordered
484
^hc
Jiabalah
metaphysics, held intellectually,* but also as a mode of conduct practised with a defined purpose, in a word, as transcendental doctrine and transcendental life.
The
practical mystic
is
ascent into the mystery of the eternal union, concern ing whom it is consonant with the purpose of our
present inquiry to speak only with great reservation, because the mysteries of the Divine Life do not fall
within the limits of historical research.
that the
I
conceive
sum
of Kabalistic instruction
is
of no real
made
for
all
Invenit sanctum.
so
other
and perhaps not more methodised theosophy, it has a certain office in the sanctum facit. For that far larger class to whom the
possibility of
rather
sanctity is denied, who are in search a guide for thought upon questions of fundamental philosophy, I conceive that the Kabalah
of
and reassuring
but again, like other metaphysics has some useful It is a source of intellectual lights.
all
the ways
the
human mind
There
is
has
its
own
strange
And
this
For example, the doctrine of ecstasy is assuredly found mysticism. therein, but not in the same way that we find it in Ruysbroeck or St. John of the Cross. It is more especially a rationalised system of mystic
thought.
t Zohar,
i.,
$\a, Mantua.
Channels
of (Esoteric
(Tradition
485
than an inheritance from the past, even an inheritance that has been transmitted from a period far back in
human
history.
The Zohar
power
of stirring those depths in the human heart which are beyond the "plummet of the sense"; it seems
occasionally to
"strike
beyond
all
time,
and backward
this, is
sweep through
confess
that
all intelligence,"
is
and to say
soul
to
it
the
eternal
speaking, here
under the
common
would seem
in
human
soul, in
what
state soever,
message to the mystic. There is that on the philosophical side the Kabalah connects
assuredly with mysticism.* With occultism, of course,
it
connects wholly,
throughout
all
its
history.
might
appear
at first
sight.
We
is
are
all
acquainted with
and hypnotic sleep. but they are pathologically separate, having diverse characteristics and a divergent mode of induction.
Sleep, however,
* is
obtained
in
both,
and
Jew
this
is
their
is
not inclined to
"Judaism has nlway> mysticism, and seems never to have been so. been a law, a religion of the mind, an intellectual creed not favourable He denies also that Kabali>m to mystic transports or divine languors."
was indigenous
of
the
;
in
Jewry.
the
"The
Hassidim,
neo-Kabalists,
according to the best judges, the Cabala itself is not importation Israel among the Nations, translated by Francis rooted in Judaism." This v ew shows little first-hand Ilillman, London, 1895, P- 2 9 2
-
486
superficial
so superficial
and
so
obvious
fail
the
scarcely
union which
is
by
their secrecy.
is
Beneath
this fantastic
resemblance there
the
more
important
fact that
the inner and otherwise uninvestigated forces of the human soul. In the case of occult science it is,
however, for the kind of end which we connect with the notions of magic. For example, Talismanic Magic, so called, is ostensibly the art of infusing a
certain
into
some
object
composed
science
because
This
the
hypothesis, of an occult or generally unknown nature and applies it in accordance with the formulae
of
a
concealed
instruction.
in
knowledge of the
nature
is is
human
which
not
ment
union.
is usually, however, no person less than the occultist conventionally under really mystic
There
stood.
The
points
of contact
and the Kabalah are very numerous, but between com and the Kabalah they are, Mysticism
It is difficult to name paratively speaking, few. a branch of occult science which is not indebted
for
some
in
development, though
for
not
as
we
have
to
seen
most cases
a governing direction,
Channels of
the tradition
(Esoteric
AlraMtion
far
487
as
of the
Jews, so
at
least
the
West
is
concerned.
it
This
is
astrology, though
frankly that its rabbinical aspects are often highly fantastic, confined to the most general conclusions their
must be
ignorance by and based upon absurd principles, as appears most not with intention, in the defence explicitly, though Ceremonial Magic in the West had, of Gaffarel. so had as we have seen, its root in Kabalism
;
all
methodised
Divination, while
the
connections
ALsh Metzareph have been the It seems unnecessary to subject of a special study. The end of the present section. prolong the thesis of
or attainment of conscious Mysticism is the recovery The secret doctrine of the creation, as ness in God.
that of the emanation of souls, written symbolically,
cannot
in the
absence of the
Key which
will
open
its
use to the mystic, nor can the mysteries, be of any is the successful methodising of itself, which
Key
the confused Kabalistic medley, provide more than intellectual knowledge, even by the most extreme hypo
thesis.
Should he enter within the circle of initiation where that Key is said to be obtained the student whether the will in due time be in a position to know
can knowledge which underlies such symbolism But it is of his enterprise. contribute to the success
secret
not impossible that a knowledge so obtained will take him far from any traditions of Israel. I have never
owing,
as
such,
nothing
the
to
literature
or
traditions,
who
ignored
possibilities
concealed
behind Kabalistic symbolism, or on the other hand I of importance to the Kabalah. owed
anything
488
^he
have never met with any mystic, as distinguished from occult students concerned with the offices of
Magic, who had so much as a tolerable acquaintance with the subject. Finally, the greatest students of occult science within my acquaintance have been
invariably taken further afield. however, that the question
It
is
it
must be confessed,
complicated
by
number of
justice
in
issues to
which
is
it
a brief space.
But
down
that as mysticism, properly disengaged from its adventitious associations and regarded essentially, is
a sacramental experience of the soul, not a system of cosmology, not a doctrine of spiritual essences con
structed
extrinsic
as,
hypothetically, so
it
connection
in
like
manner, with
that
we understand
conventionally by
We
and a small space only can be spared to a summary of its results. As regards the documents of Kabalism
that later
is
indicated
by Dr.
of Dr.
Schiller-
admirable
the
article
on the Midrashim.
school
is
We
entirely
German
Graetz,
We
regard the
centuries.
some
Dr. Ginsburgh. Zoharic writings as the growth of believe that they represent a
We
tradition
We
by which that
tradition
is
identified
with the
of R. Simeon ben Jochai, but we are not pledged thereto. admit that the final shape assumed by the Zohar may not have been much
name
We
Channels
of (Esoteric TTrabition
its
489
deny
that
it
may
have
We
deserve to be described as spurious, or that some of its increment may be attributable to Moses de
Leon, but we receive every statement with regard to this personage tentatively and under all reservation,
ascribing
little
Sepher
is
Yuhasin, and confessing that outside it there perhaps no ground for supposing that such a rabbi
in
flourished
We
earlier
date to ascribe to the Sepher Yetzirah, or to some form of that document, but the extent to
it
antedated the ninth century must remain We observe in the Sepher Yetzirah conjectural.
which
in
some form
all occultism they are part of burden, but they go far back into antiquity. believe these doctrines to have been derived by the
We
Jew
his early settlements and captivities. the other doctrines of the Zohar, in so far regard
in
We
and
in so far
as they are philosophical subtleties or theosophical fantasies we regard them as largely post-Talmudic.
look upon the Kabalistic writings as documents of humanity, and among such as memorials of the genius of Israel, possessing their connections with other systems and other modes of thought, but by
We
correspondence, by affiliation, by filtration, by causal look identity, rather than by historic descent.
We
upon
the
Zohar
in
particular as one of
the
most
human mind,
full
of great-
49
^he
The
interest
which
it
aroused on
all
measure survived
has lived
has
in
down even
it
the admiration of
its
believers.
can be accounted for naturally and historically as a genuine growth of its age and not either as an imposture or as the key of all esoteric
hold that
We
knowledge.
It
of that
doctrine of secret religion which occultists look for therein. It is the theosophical doctrine of Jewry.
It
and as such
sense
intolerable
occult
in
perpetuated
from
to
antiquity
cannot
literature,
be
proved
in
it
by
recourse
this
Kabalistic
and
so
to
far as
is
not stand or
fall
by the Kabalah.
in concluding,
I
Speaking from
first
time, as
warranted to do
it is
that
by which
mean
into
is
The
question, however,
not
approachable from the historical side, and in no real sense of the term can it be said to possess such a
side.
It is therefore
outside the
for
inquiry,
and assuming
living in
person
now
the flesh
all,
entitled to affirm
its
is
of (Esoteric Traoition
491
is
The
science in the
West could
not, of course,
place without a common ground between them, and the occult students who are concerned practically
with the alleged efficacy of theurgic formulae, with the physical possibilities said to be indicated under alchemical
side
issues
all
of
these
for
which
of
reasons
influence
demarcation
of
its
sphere
is
time.
INDEX
AARON
the Great, his
commentary
on the Sepher Yetzirah, 185, 186. Abba and Aima, the Supernal Father and Mother, 55, 127, 214,
232.
Academy of Sora, 157. Adam, 201-203, 243-245, 252, 274. Adam Kadmon, archetypal and
abode in man, 51 AtzHuth, 51, 54 a second Adam an averse Adam, in Briah, 77 80 sin of Adam Kadmon, 272.
primordial
;
;
traditional scribe of
eulogy of R.
Adni
Abraham, R.,
his
commentary on
its
Ain
Soph, 1 80, 181 ; alleged identity with the instructor of Flamel, 181, 182; see also Flamel. Abraham Abulafia, suggested author of the Zohar, 115; his writings, 159; his Messianic enthusiasm,
1
rally under DIVINK NAMES. .K-h Metzareph, an application of Kabalism to alchemy, 308 ; lan guage of, 309 ; probable period, 310 Levi s alleged reconstitution,
;
60.
his
Aristotelian tendency, 96 ; a great his orthodox apologist, 158 ; Order of the Tradition, 160, 161 ;
difficulties of the treatise, sephirotic attribution of the for minor metals, 312, 313 ; references see 328, 436, 449, 452, 455, 464, 487. Agla and Ararita, 150, 151. Agobad, St., probable reference to the Sepher Yetzirah, 93, 136.
311;
;
312
name, 159,
179.
of Posquiere, suggested author of the Zohar, 115, 162. Abraham ben Samuel Zakut, his hiBook of Genealogies, 104 estimate of the Zohar, 105 ; his narrative concerning Isaac de
;
Abraham
Agrippa, Cornelius, sketch of, 344, 345 ; gives earliest methodical description of the Kabalah, 345 probable source of his acquaint ance, 346 summary of his instruc tion, 346, 347 ; his subsequent retractation, 151, 347-349; influ ence of Agrippa on Yaughan, 376
;
Acco,
105108.
I
Ain
the
attri
Abraham
of
its
meaning,
of Deity, 35
transcendency
created
for
of,
Abravanel, i.e., Leo the Hebrew, his Dialogues on Love, 314 ; sketch of the author, 315 singular mistakes in regard to his work, account of, 316, 317 summary
;
36;
I
pi-ubleiii-.
the
Av,
37
the
So/>h,
to
if
activity, A fther,
3i8, 319.
concentrated
51
;
Absolute, beginning of Kalndi-,tic philosophy, 31 ; the essence of all, 34 ; postulation of its exist ence by the Kabalah, 37.
Abu Alphrag on
synagogue, 160.
the
alleged
true
in .-//;/ .S^///, 46, manifestation, 49 essentially as the Closed unknowable, 54 Eye, 55; philo>o|.hiral claims oi the doctrine, 59, 86; world of, doctrine of, fundamental in 73 the Kabalah, 123; an ultimate
; ;
494
lute
of Jewish astrology, 465-467 ; Jewish astronomy, 467, 468 Sephirotic astrology accord
123, concept of metaphysics, 124; as described by Saadya Gaon, 180, 181 ; according to Azariel, 183 ; according to the Zohar, 208 ; mentioned in the Bahir, 242 ; see also 52, 56, 128, 192, 246, 347, 417, 423, 431. Aitsinger, M., 473. Akiba, R., traditional author of the Sepher Yetzirah, 91 ; claims of the attribution, 92 ; his mystical tendencies, 120 ; his death, 146, 147; see also 457, 489.
summary
;
ing
to
Gaffarel
and
modern
Atonement, 249.
Averroes, 164. Avicebron, see Gebirol. Azariel, R., on the Sephiroth, 41,
BAHIR,
Bailly 460.
Names.
influence
on,
Bakoda, R. Behai ben Joseph ibn, his treatise on the Duties of the
Heart, 109.
the Flamel legend, 148, alchemical allusions in the Zohar, 309 ; alchemy and the
Sephiroth, 312, 313 ; alchemy and Paracelsus, 350 ; general connec
tion with Kabalism, 449-460 also 8, 126.
;
see
Alphabet, Mysteries of, 6 1, 91, 131, 178 ; see also Sepher Yetzirah and Instruments of Creation. Alphabet of Akiba, 91, 92, 94, 154.
Earth, F., on Kabalism in Cornelius Agrippa, 346. Bartolocci, Julius, his rabbinical bibliography, 2 ; his prejudgment of the Kabalah, 99 ; on Abraham
Al
Tufail, 141.
Amelineau, M. E., on the coinci dent development of Gnosticism and Kabalism, 128. Angels, the hierarchies according to Mirandola, 335 ; see also 76-78 and under PNEUMATOLOGY.
ben David Ha Levi, 161, 179 ; on the commentary of R. Saadya Gaon, 175 ; on other commen tators of the Sepher Yetzirah, 185, 1 86 on the commentators of the Canticle of Canticles, 280 ; on on the minor Abravanel, 315 literature of Kabalism, 320 ; see
;
;
on exegetical Angus, Joseph, methods, 28. Arabian Philosophy, 138. Archangelus de Burgo Nuovo, com mentary on Mirandola, 332 ; his apparent excerpt from, 339 view of the Kabalah, 355. Arik Anpin, see Vast Countenance.
;
Judah ben, on the Sepher Yetzirah, 186. Basnage, on the date of the original Zohar, 115; importance of the tenth century for Israel, 155; on R. Eliezer s commentary on the Sepher Yetzirah, 185 ; his slight knowledge of the Zohar, 1 88 ; on Talmudic references to
former creations,
the date of
Aristobulus, 130.
Aristotle,
Jewry, 96, 97, 161 ; influence on Ha Levi, 160 alleged influence on Avicebron, 164, 166 ; Saadya Gaon, an Aris
yoke
of, in
289 292
also 93.
Bertet,
183 ; see also 144, 316. Assiah, see Four Worlds. Astral Light, 21. Astrology, not essentially connected with the Kabalah, 461, 462; much studied by the Jews, 462 ; astronomy and the Sephiroth, 464;
the Pentateuch, 9. Berthelot, on the spurious books of Geber, 148 ; on Jewish influence upon alchemy, 450 ; on the Leyden papyrus, 453 ; on the
Kabalah and alchemy, 461. Berwick, Samuel, on the Swedenborgian Rite, 472.
fnfccx
Beyers, on the Christian aspects the Kabalah, 380.
495
200
the
;
of
name
of
Neshamah, 242
273
;
higher
life,
in
corre
Binah, see Sephi roth. Blavatsky, II. P., on the Kabalah and its literature, 433-437. Blunt s Dictionary of Doctrinal and Historical Theology, its worthless article on the Kabalah, 4 ; on the language of the Zohar, 120; absurd mistake as to the Greater and Lesser Zohar, 193.
Chokmah,
Christian,
see Sephiroth.
P.,
alleged
;
astrological
Kabalah,
463
on
Body
of
God, description
of,
37,
154, 157Bois, Jules, on Raymond Lully, 326. Boismont, Brierre de, on Vampires, 82.
Closed Eye, The, 55. Cohen, Samuel, on the origin of the Zohar, 115. Commentary on Ruth, fragments in the Zohar and possible author
ship, 273, 274.
of,
of,
281;
339
Confucianism, 127. Converts from Kabalism, 320, 321. Cortices, the demons of Kabalism, 52 ; attributed to Assiah, 79 as recrements of the Edomite Kings,
;
301.
372. Briah, see Four Worlds. Bride of Microprosopus, 73, 227, 228. Browne, E. G., on Islamic Mysti
Countenances, see Lesser and Vast Countenances. Court de Gebelin, as an authority on Egyptology and the Tarot, 419,
479, 481, 482. Cousin, Victor, his confusion on the subject of the Kabalah, 398 ; see
also 317.
!
the
Mysteries,
Creation of
man
-
/char,
199
326.
gories, 393Burton, Sir Richard, on human sacrifice among the Jews, 145.
Byler,
II.
C.
van,
on
Kabalistic
alchemy, 461.
Cybele,
3.
CALMET,
23.
DAATH,
art,
Chasdai, R., connection with Hay Gaon and Gebirol, 158. Chassidim, old and new, 146. Chateau, M. H., his alleged French version of the Zohar, 189. Chesed, see Sephiroth. Chiah, a higher principle of the
soul,
see Sephiroth. Dale, Antonio Van, his reference to the Key of Solomon, 443. Alvedre, St. Yves, influence on French occultism, 416 ; on the Miissorah, 64. h Ai-en-, hi- lO-odlcd Kabalistic
Iliero-
85
Gaon, 177
Iielanne, Gabriel,
his referen
Mirandola, 331.
49 6
Delineation of the Heavenly Tem Kabalistic ples, important pre
treatise, 154, 159.
Imman
Demonology,
24, 79-82, 448, 449. Desatir, Celestial, its analogies with Kabalism, 141.
ence, 41, 144; as the manifestation of the Absolute, 38 ; the world of emanations, 51; emanationism
Discourse of the Aged Man, tract of the Zohar, 192 ; excerpts from,
229-233. Discourse of the
and pantheism, 40. Encausse, Gerard, see Papus. Evangelical Design of Christian Kabalism, 98, 147-149, 325. Ezra, Moses Ibn Jacob Ben, his
Kabalistic connections, 158, 159; alleged invention of the Kabalah, 162 ; see also 21 1.
Young Man, 193 summary of, 277-278. Divine Names, in connection with
;
FAITHFUL Shepherd,
Zohar, 32, 35
33>
fragments in
Sephiroth,
their
on the unmanifest God, on the Names of God, ; I on tne authors of the 1 Zohar, 135 analysis and excerpts,
34>
; ;
159-
God, 177 ; speculation of Isaac de Loria, 295, 296 criticism of Cornelius Agrippa, 348, 349 ; the Divine Names and the Scale of the Denary, 447, 448. Donolo, Sabbatai, his commentary on the Sepher Yetzirah, 186. Drach, Chevalier, on the uses of the term Kabalah, 29 its authority, 162 ; on Abravanel, 315.
; ;
Fall of
Man, as expounded in the Zohar proper, 202, 203 according to the Bahir, 243, 246 according to the Faithful Shepherd, 252
; ; ;
according to the Tosephthoth, 272, 273 ; according to the Conclusions of Mirandola, 335. T Farrar, F. ., description of the
Talmud,
17.
Duties of the Heart, treatise quoted by the Zohar, 109, no, in.
418;
Flagg,
on
Byzantine
by Papus, alchemical
literature, 451.
Talmud,
Chassidim, 146.
Edom, Kings
bolism, 220.
of,
in
Zoharic sym
Worms,
his
Kabalistic
T., on reincarnation the Kabalists, 86. Flamel, Nicholas, his instructor in alchemy, in, 181 ; alleged evan gelical zeal, 148, 149 ; misstatements of Eliphas Levi, 311 opinion of Stanislas de Guaita, 423, 424. Fludd, Robert, place among English occultists, 366 ; mystery of his life, 367 ; his Kabalistic studies, 368 ; on the practical Kabalah, 368, 369 ; not acquainted with the Zohar, 369 ; his use of the
W.
among
of forces Elohim, Briah, 75 secondary gods, 76 ; a name assumed by God, 177 ; reference in the Zohar, 207. El Shaddai, 177. Emanation and the Kabalah, 40
; ;
iubex
earliest 53 ; correspondences, traces of the doctrine, ib. As regards Atzi uth, sec 57, 77, 144, as regards 208, 232, 275, 300
;
497
good works, 292
; quoted by the Mttzareph, 310. Gates of Light, on the Divine Will, 39 on the Gates of Understand
&sh
;
Briah, 56, 58, 60, 75, 77, 171, 300 as regards Yetzirah, 60, 77, as regards Assiah, 79 I 7 l 3
;
>
ing
73-
73
<
Franck, Adolphe, on Isaac on the Sepher 75, 288, 289, 308 his defence of Yet/.irah, 93, 94 the Kabalah, 97, 397, 398; on the language of the Zohar, 113; on the foreknowledge of the soul, 210 on the connection
; ; ;
1
Geber, Latin writings attributed to, IOI, 148 quoted by the Ash
;
ireph, 310.
Sepher Yetzirah and the on Kabalistic eschaZohar, 211 tology, 226; on the Hakir, 239; on Raymond Lully, 328, 329 on William Hostel, 359 on the Kabalism of Henry More, 370,
the
; ; ;
Gebirol, among eavly Kabalists, 158; his \\iitii: their evidence on the antiquity of the Zohar, 161 the with which he connects, 162 his chief doctrines, 163 ; his Foun tain of Life," 164 ; sketch of his. life, 165 ; reference to the Sepher
: ;
"
included
374-
Freemasonry,
its
165, 166 ; his alleged Greek 166, 167 complexion of his philosophy, 167 ; see also 138, 139, 21 1,
Yet/irah,
pantheism,
nection with occultism, 472 ; Kabalistic degrees, 472-476; occultism and the Scottish Rite,
sec Sephiroth* Geinara, 16. Gematria, exegetical method of, xiv., 27 ; example of, 73, 74 ; in the
Geburah,
Afet*arepk t 312, 313. Gikatella, Joseph, 73, 320; see of Light. Ginsburg, C. D., on early Kaba
listic
Ash
Infernal,
literature,
44;
on
]
-n
Future Happiness according to the Zohar, 264. Future Punishment according to the Zohar, 226, 267.
Kabalistic literature, 154; on the Sepher Yet/.irah, 154, 155; on the origin of the Zohar, 162 ; hi., d. M-ription of the Zohar, 190 ; of his work on the analysis
Kabalah, 408-410;
see
also
xi.,
GAFFAKKJ.,
,
his
astrological
pro-
MSS.
on
Gnosticism, 128.
astrology and the Law of Israel, 462. Galatinus, Petrus, on the evangelical value of the Kabalah, 99.
Goldschmidt, L. his translation of the SepluT Yet/.irah, 172. Good W.jiks, Zoharic Doctrine of,
,
292.
Gould,
on
Gamaliel, R., 91. Ganz, David, on the compilation of the Mishna, 15. Garden of Ivlen, a place of the
.ih, 205 ; the upper and lower, 262; reference by Miran dola, 336. Garden of Pomegranates, on the name Ain Soph, 34 ; authority of
among
Influence
97
on
Ik-r-
Paracelsus, 350.
le,
i,n
Kabalistic
tra<lition,
45
this
treatise
290;
ib.
;
its obscurities
Graet/, Dr., indiscriminate hostility of his criticism, 97 ; on the the Zohar, .in of 115; his estimate of .V 16 ; on th- M) Series f Simeon
i
"iu
riai,
20;
122,
on
the
on pneumatology,
Yetzirah,
154;
Sepher on the
49 s
writings
iniiex
;
their
earlier
and
Great Adam, 336. Greater Holy Synod, its literary aspect, 217 ; on the authorship of
the
its
"
207.
Book
of,
content
219; summary account of its symbolism, 219-226. W. B., on the Massorah, Greene, of the the worlds 22 on on the Kabalah, 24, 25
discourses,
;
;
Hershon, P. J., on the divisions of the Kabalah, 25. Hidden Things of the Law, extracts in Zohar, 256 specimen of its on the stages exegesis, 256-257 on of mystic vision, 257, 258 the vision at Mamre, 258, 259 ; demonology, 259, 260.
;
Kabalistic balance, 71. Gri moires of magic, alleged place in the scheme of Kabalism, 150; close connection with the Magical
Clavicles, 445. Guaita, Stanislas de,
Hillel the Great, 92. Hirt/, R. Napthali, on the Divine Will, 39 ; on the consciousness of the unrnanifested creation in Ain Soph, 46 ; analysis of his Royal
"
Valley,"
303-306.
the
on Christian
Kabalism, 99; on the Egyptian origin of Kabalism, 122, 123; his 421, 422; his literary work, Rosicrucian Order, 422, 423 ; his views on Kabalism, 423, 424.
Hosmer, T. K., on the Kabalah and demonology, 24. on Kabalism and Hoefer, P\,
alchemy, 457.
HALAKHA, arrangement
of,
attri
ILLUSTRIOUS Book,
quoted in Zohar,
its
fragments
;
192
history,
;
Ha
pantheism, 144; see EMANATION. Instruments of Creation, scheme of, 59-65 ; in connection with the
virtue of words, 88.
Intermediaries, between Deity and matter, 37, 43. Irira, Abraham Cohen, notice of his
his Platonic leanings, 131. Isaac ben Moses, his forged Zohar,
286. Isaac de Acco, his search for the MSS. of the Zohar, 106 ; meeting
failure with Moses de Leon, ib. of his quest, 107 ; abrupt termina tion of his narrative, 107, 108 ; on
;
175, 178.
Hebrew
2.
literature,
i
;
its
extent
and
development,
characteristics,
Heckethorn, C.W., absurd explana tion of the term Kabalah, 3 error as to the literal Kabalah, 21. Hellenism, 78. Helmont, Mercurius and J. B. van,
their alchemical researches, 381.
the language of the Zohar, 112. Isaac the Blind, an alleged author of the Zohar, 115; connection his school with Avicebron, 162 a precursor of Kabalism, 167 ; alleged teacher of Azariel, 182 his supposed commentary on the
; ;
Sepher Yetzirah,
211.
186
see
also
Inbex
author of Ishmael, K.. the Delineation of the Heavenly
;
"
499
.h and Agrippa, Kabalah and
347,
348;
;
Temple^,"
157.
,65
his synopsis
i
ft
sfij.
Modern
,.
Issach.ir
hen Napthali,
Kabaiism, 414
(.lit
(
JAM
of
Herat,
140.
fifth
his
"Seven
Thrones,"
Jechidah, principle of the soul, 85 ; its unique character, 177 the soul, 232; quintessence the mystic daughter, 233 as a name of Ne^hamah, 242 accord ing to Isaac do Loria, 300. Jellinek, on the term Sg/>/iira, 42 on the names of the Xohar, ill
;
<>f
42&etseo. t Kabalah and Modem 433 ft si t/.; Kabalah and Alchemy, 449 ct jw/. Kabalah and Astrology, ct 461 scq.\ Kabalah and Freemasonry. 470
.
hii.stianily,
et sei}.,
the inquiry
sumn
Kosenmth, it, 380 ;
488-491-
to
v
.v
-airificts
Moses de Leon,
*
14
Jehovah, sec Tttra^mmtnaton. and the Joel, on emanationism Kabalah, 40, 41. K., hi- Arabic translation of
.
ritical standpoint, 385, 386; its ambitious design, 188 excerpts and references, c, 33,39, 45.47, 4 s 51. 54, 65, 75, 76, fcS, 192, 194, 213, 214, 225, 227, 228, 291, 293, 294, 304, 306, 307, 383, 457.
;
3i>
work.
Kairites, 143.
Kapila,
4.
Joshua ben Chananga, the iii. Akiba, 91. Judge, W. O., on a secret lodge of
adepts, 434. Judgment, Last, 263, 264.
S.,
pu-h.cc,
\viii-\x.
V.,
;
on
th<
on the wisdom of
the revelations of
Adnm,
Kcrner,
6.
Ju>tinus,
KABALAH, suggested
derivations. 3; true derivation of the term, 3, 4 ; a secret traditional knowledge, 4 ; the hidden thought of Israel,
5
Key
443
of
,
Solomon,
100
;
forgery,
;
the
150; its two recensions, as an embodiment of Kabalistic tradition, 444. reference Khunrath, by Kliphas I. \i, 382, by Stanislas de (iii.iita,
424
his
connection with
Kab-
alism, 454.
of occult expositions, t 6.; whether a channel of the secret tradition, 13; popular identification with
mai
ic,
Hebrew
tradition, 26-28
mystery infused
by the Kabulah into the bible, 31: of a liberal and Catholic doctrine, 54 ; the understanding
n iiu-thodi-rd, 71
of,
;
Kiern, F., his Kabalah of alchemy, 456. r. \V., on the ancient tra ditions of the Zc on the anal -n (In.sticism and the Kab-alah, 20. Kingsford, Anna. Kingslanrl, \V., on the A
,
.
of,
sources of
corre
.
132.
.;
and mystic tradition, 153, 440, 463 ft .w/.; Kabalah and Magic, 323, 324, 351, 438
Kabalah
97irah, 159.
500
LAMB,
Dr.
J.,
on
the
Hebrew
Lilith, Kabalistic
bride of Samael,
characters, 467.
Lambert, Mayer, on the date and character of the Sepher Yetzirah, on the commentary of Saadya 95 Gaon, 175 ; see also 173, 417. Landauer, M. II., on the authorship
;
81, 82, 255, 260. Lillie, A., 130. Li.smon, Z., on the Tarot, 480. Loeb, Isidore de, on French and Spanish Jews in the thirteenth
century,
seq.
18
Lelievre, A., on the divinatory sciences, 150. Lejay, Julien, 418. Letters from a Mystic, mysticism of the Divine Name, 95. Leroy-Beaulieu, A., on the Hatakha and Haggada, 19 ; on the Jew
of
Lesser Holy Synod, as described by Rosenroth, 226 ; design of its nature of the revelations, 227 discourse, ib. Kabalistic doctrine of the sexes, 227, 228 ; account of R. Simeon s death, 228, 229.
; ;
Luria, David, 97. Lux in Tenebris, its observations on the Zohar, 385.
MACROPROSOPUS,
antithesis
of
on Microprosopus, 213 symbolism, 217; on the on Metzareph, 310, 311 Raymond Lully, 326 translation of Mirandola s Conclusions, 334 variants from same, 335 - 343
ment,
;
&sh
216;
its
; ;
on the collection of Pistorius, on William Postel, 354 - 356 358, 360, 361, 362; sketch of
;
124; symbolical body of, development of, 213 ever hidden and concealed, 214 conformations of, 219; 215; first of, 221-224 description see also 404. manifestation, 227 Mackenzie, Kenneth, on the un
speculation,
; ;
;
known writings
395-
of Pasqually, 394,
position as a Kabalist, 396-408; as judged by De Guaita, 423 ; see also 99, 150, 196, 3 66 3 82 415. 424, 480, 481. Levita, Elias, on the Vowel- Points,
s
>
Levi
479>
Magic, popular connection with not of Zoharic Kabalism, 23 tradition, 24 ; not of Kabalistic philosophy, 25 higher under a late standing of the term, 206
:
109.
Liber
Drushim,
of
excerpts
in
the
collection
analysis of,
Kabalism by Agrippa, 345 et seq. ; Kabalism by Para celsus, 351 ; the Kabalistic magic of the of Fludd, 368, 369
identified with
;
Inbex
modern French
occultists,
5 01
419
Kabalism on Western Magic, 440 ; White and Black Magic, 441 ; power of Divine Names, 441, 442, 443 processes of debased Kabal the Keys of ism, 443, 444 the grimoires, Solomon, 444 445 summary of the doctrine of Names, 446-449. Maier, Michael, his Tripus Aureus, 326 connection with Fludd, 367. Maimonides, on the Tetragram; ; ; ; ;
Metempsychosis, rejected by Saadya Gaon, 176 taught by Isaac the Blind, 182 ; and by Manasses,32i. Meurin, Le"on, on the Synagogue of
;
a troubled dream of Satan, 125 the Papacy, 425 on Freemasonry and Manicheanism, 425, 426 ; on the Kabalah and Freemasonr)
; ;
,
Pantheism, 426-428. Mevi, R., 319. Meyer, his edition of the Sepher
Yetzirah, 172.
Microprosopus, emanation
relation
to
;
of,
56
159; eulogy 161 ; with unacquainted Avicebron, 164 ; see also 414. Malkuth, see Scphiroth, Maitland, Fd\vard, 429, 432. Mandrakes, Xoharic symbolism of,
of,
his
214, 215 of the late Kabalah, 123 ; character of its speculation, 124 Sephirotic attribution, 215 ; mani
;
festation
of,
of,
216
conformations
;
219 ; description of, 224, 225 ; see androgyne nature, 227, 228
also 404. Mid rash Conen, 156.
267.
Mansions or Abodes, excerpts in Zohar,274 symbolism of, 274, 275. Marconison Masonic Mysteries, 478. he brought into Marcus, what
;
Gnosticism, 128.
Massey, Gerald, 225. Massorah, 64. on Gnosticism and the Matter, Kabalah, 118. Mathers, S. L. MacGregor, his gratuitous assumption, 12, 13 ; false impression created by, 13 his translation of the occupation
;
^9 which he attributes
I
:
59>
lne importance
to
same, 212
;
blunder
Beth
Elo/iifti,
Perfect
critical
name of the Xohar, in, 120. Mirandola, Picus de, his evangelical zeal, 148, 353, 426 ; not a of magic, partisan 150; not acquainted with Avicebron, 164 ; conversion effected by, 320, 321 ; Lully and Mirandola, 329 ; his Kabalistic MSS., 331 ; sketch of Mirandola, 332 his Kabalistic conclusions, 332, 335-344; his on treatise astrology, 333 ; Agrippaand Mirandola, 344, 346 ; docs not mention the Xohar, 380. Mishna, compiled by R. Judah, Mi>hna as 15 part of the Tal mud, 16 ; date according to M"iinus, 17; sections of, 2O; error
; ;
of ll-.-ckethorn, 21
judgment, 446 ; assertion concerning the sEsh Mttzareph, 455 ; on the Tarot, 479. Measure of the Height, preKabalistic treatise, 154. Mi-diution, 56. Misraim, Rite of, 478. Memphis Mercavah, 208. ing to the Xohar, 203, 247 ; see also xvii. the Angel of the I resence, Metatron, the Xohar. 76, 77 ; 2 55 ; according to Kludd, 370.
aii<i
a<
of his
1
!
Kabalistic
studies,
37
interpreted
by
Papus,
ISO, 419. on, hi* alleged author ship of the Zohar, 96; an almost
502
impossible theory, 102, 237, 270; evidence adduced for it, 103, 104; narrative in the&/4*r Yuhasin, 104, 106-108 ; does not prove the authorship of K. Moses, 108 ; sketch of the internal evidence, 109 ; how met by the defenders of the Zohar, 110-113; points of weakness in the defence, 114;
concerning speculation R. Moses, 115; see also 174, 260, 279, 350, 410, 414. Moses of Cordova, his Paradise on the of Pomegranates, 34 ; simplicity of Ain Soph, 35 ; his pneumatology, 75 ; date of R. Moses, 289 ; high authority of
his
treatise,
it,
further
290;
summary
290-292. Munk, Solomon, on the pantheism of the Kabalah, 40 ; on the Talmud and Kabalah, 18; on the divisions of the Kabalah, 90 ; on the authorship of the Sepher Yetzirah, 93 ; on the language of the Zohar, 103, 113; on certain
account of
opposed by R. Mevi, 319. Nagdilah, 165. Nechoniah, alleged author of the other attributed Bahir, 235 ;
writings, 236. Nazir, Jacob, his
between Maimonides and the Zohar, 162 ; on the fusion of the Kairites and Motozales, 143 ; on Avicebron, 162, 164. Myer, Isaac, his erudition and his
similarities
13
distinction
Kabalah and the Talmud, 22; on the Kabalah and on New Testament, 5 the on Adam creation ex nihilo, 46 Kadmon, 51 on the speculative Kabalah, 59 on the Aristotelian on and Kabalistic systems, 96 the acquaintance of Maimonides on the with the Zohar, 162
;
Book of Emanation, 53; see also 159. Neoplatonism, 78. Nephesh, the animal nature of man, in with 84 correspondence Assiah, 85 according to Saadya Gaon, 177 originally sanctified, in 200 its correspondence Atziluth, 231, 232; correspond ence with Jechida, 233 a name of Neshamah, 242 ; the living creature of Genesis, 273 accord ing to Isaac de Loria, 300.
; ;
>
Neshamah,
the
seat
;
of
human
;
;
corresponds to Briak, 85 according to Saadya Gaon, 176, 177 ; the higher soul of the Zohar, 202, 273 ; its correspondence judgment, 230 with Abbak, 232 ; its five names, 242 ; in male and female, 243 ;
individuality,
;
84
on liay Gaon s bron, 163 ; alleged commentary on the Sepher Yetzirah, 178 ; on the higher soul of the Thorah, 197 ; on the stages of mystic vision in the Zohar, 257 ; on Hay Gaon and the Zohar, 285 ; on Paracelsus and the Kabalah, 349 ; on the Her metic Books and the Kabalah, 450 on a Chinese Kabalah, 453. Mysteries of Love, see Abravanel. Mysticism and the Kabalah, Kabal istic history imbedded in that of mysticism, 483 ; old Jewish doc trine concerning the mystic com
;
Neshamah
the Neshamah and the body of the resurrection, 261, 268, 269 ; of the righteous, 263, 265 ; the garments of Neshamah^ 272 ; according to Isaac de Loria,
300.
see Sephiroth. Nicolas, M., on the authorship of the Sepher Yetzirah, 92 ; on the antiquity of the Kabalah, 120. Norrelius, Andreas, on the Christian aspects of the Zohar, 385.
Netzach,
Norse Mythology, suggested ana logies with the Kabalah, 127, 128.
Notaricon, a Kabalistic method of
exegesis, 27.
lubcx
Notary Art, its connection with Kabalrsm and with Lully, 328. Nuctemeron, 417. Numbers, Mysticism concerning, the decade as an emanation of numbers and the Deity, 41 ;
in the Sepher Sfphiroth, 43; Vct/irah, 44 ; Hebrew letters numbers in and numerals, 63 Kabalistic Freemasonry, 474 et
;
503
paraphrase, 28.
PALMER,
E.
II.,
on R. Judah the
seq.
Nus,
126.
Eugene,
on
the
Yi-King,
apus,
OCCULT
Philosophy, in what way it discloses its meaning, 9 whether it is methodised, 9, 10 ; personal what occultism testimony, 9 ; means and involves, 1 1 ; student of defined, ib. ; transmission of, ib. 438, 439 ; Kabalism one of
; ,
on the Paths of Wisdom, 72 on Kabalistic pneumatology, 84 his translation of the Sepher Yetzirah, 173, 417: on an alleged French
;
translation of the Zohar, 189 ; his connection with the French occult
his
its
occultism and the concealed sense in the Kabalah, 43 ; Kabalistic doctrine important to, 86 limita tions of this importance, 87, 88 occult estimate of the Zohar, 121 ; occultists and Christian Kabali>m, 149 ; interest of the occultist in the Kabalah, 150 occult estimate of the Sepher Yetzirah, 168 ; examination of this estimate, 173 ; occultism and physiognomy, 276, 277 ; errors of occultism as to the
; ; ;
occult antecedents, 416 ; his sum mary of the Kabalah, 418-421 ; on the practical Kabalah, 444, 445 on the Metzareph, 464 ; on the Tarot, 480.
;
&sh
Paracelsus,
alleged
in
his
traces
of
the
349 ; value of his references, 350-352 ; not a student of the Kabalah, 353.
system,
Pascjually, Marlines de, 394. Paths of Wisdom, doctrine concernin S* 5 special nature of their translation of the interest, 6b
>
Kabalah
Kabalah, 324
occult feeling as
to perversion of
Hebrew
tradition,
435
occultism and the practical Kabalah, 446 ; occultism and occultism and 477 nry,
5 ;
429
historical
association between occult science and the Kabalah, 491 ; see also
xv., xvi., 212, 220, 235, 261, 269,
; opinion of Haron Spedalieri, value of same, 431 ; 429, 430 statement of the allusions, 432 ;
;
Ockley,
301, 363, 380, 398, 461. Simon, his translation of the Improvement of Human
"
157.
;
Philo, his
142.
as:
his pneumatology, 83 analogic with Kabalism, 130-133. in the Zohar Phylacteries, difficulty ining, 109; how met by its
463;
on
Kabali<:ic
astrology,
i
defender.-,
in.
mderstood by the
469. 470. Oliphant, Laurence, on the islic aspect* of marriage, 58. Rev. on the Oliver, George, diffusion of the Mysteries, 126.
45 on the true name of Satan, 82; on Kabalism and the religion on Kabalism l_5 and Northern Mythology, 127,
"
128
his
transformation
of the
Sophia, 129.
Revolution of Souls, distinguished as 86 ; from reincarnation, described in the Zohar, 230, 231 ; the treatise of Isaac de Loria, 188,
294, 299-303. Riccius, Paulus, his translation of the Sepher Yetzirah, 172; his
Pneumatology, Kabalistic doctrine according to Saadya of, 74-88 Gaon, 176, 177; according to the
;
209, 210, 230-233, 255, 259, 260, 261, 263, 272; according to 271, Moses of Cordova, 290-292 ; according to Isaac de Loria,
Zohar, 200,
242, 264,
conversion to Christianity, 355. of the Rittangelius, his edition Sepher Yetzirah, 172, 179, 180. Ritual of the Dead, 116. Rodkinson, Michael, his translation
of the Babylonian Talmud, 15 ; excerpt from, 218, 219. Rose Cross, Kabalistic Order of, 422, 423.
299-303
according to A. Cohen
Poisson, A., on Alchemy, 454. Porter, Noah, on the Absolute, 34. Postel, William, on the Sephiroth, 44 ; his alleged translation of the Bahir, 246; his legend, 357; notice of his life, 358, 359; his
connection with Kabalism, 359 extravagance of his views, 360362 ; his commentary on the Yetzirah, 362, 363 ; other
;
Knorr von, his C. Rosenroth, importance to occultists, 380 ; his occult connections, 381 ; charac teristics, 382 ; religion, ib. ; views on the conversion of the Jews,
his sacrifices and labours, 383 384 his critical standpoint, 385, 386; see also 75, 84, 147, 151,
; ;
Sepher
to writings, 363, 364 ; according Stanislas de Guaita, 423, 424 ; see also 380, 430. Pott, Mrs. Henry, on the Rosi-
1 88, 191, 212, 213, 287, 310, 369. Rosicrucians, historical evidences of the Order, 364 ; as students of the Kabalah, 364, 365 ; Masonry
crucians, 364.
Prayer of Elijah, 282-284. Pre-existence, taught in the Zohar, 86 ; accepted by Saadya Gaon, 176; pre-existence of the soul of the Messiah, 204 ; see also 209,
271, 272.
Abbe
Zohar, 187.
Ruach, the rational nature, 84, 232 ; corresponds to Yetzirah) 85 ; reference of Saadya Gaon,
177 ; the lesser spirit of the Zohar, 231 ; a name of Neshamak, 242 ; in Adam, 252 ; according to Isaac de Loria, 300. Rulandus, Martinus, on the terms of
Pumbaditha,
157-
Jewish
academy
of,
Revolution,
METEMP
SAADYA Gaon,
his
commentary on
second
the Sepher Yetzirah, 157 ; written in Arabic, 175 ; summary of, 175178 ; scarcely a Kabalistic com
tenet
;
of
Talmud
pro
mentary,
80.
and Synagogue, 83
faith
in the
of Maimonides,
as taught in the Zohar, 261, 267-269 ; office of Metatron, 270 ; treatise of Manasses, 321. Reuchlinus, his translation of the
Sacramentalism,
the
form
of
all
Inbcx
394 395
not a student of the Kabalah, Kabalistic complexion of his ib. ; error of lesser doctrines, French occultists, 396 ; see also
; ;
505
istic
al.vi
see
424.
140.
Middle Ages Ghoolat Sect, 138. Seder Ha Kabalah, an important orthodox apology, 160, 161 ; see
also 179.
Sapere Aude on the Ash Mctzareph on the and Alchemy, 309, 312 Kahala and Chaldean philosophy, on the derivation of alchem 125 ical knowledge to the West, 449. Scaliger and the Knights of the Temple, 146. Schiller-Szinessy, on the authorship on of the Sepher Yetzirah, 92 modern criticism of the Targiimim on the late and Midrashim, 103 date and origin of the Zohar, 1 12, 439 on the original writings of Moses de Leon, 1 14 ; on the latest date which can be ascribed to the Zohar, 112, 119; on the Mishnic period of its nucleus,
;
244, 245.
Sepher I)/.enioutha, i.e., Book of Concealment, on Ain Soph, 33 ; on a holy intelligence and an animal soul in man, 75 probablj
;
the oldest part of the Zohar, 119, 136; its antithesis, 154; place in the Zohar, 212; summary of its contents, 213-216; see also 192,
435-
earliest
Israel,
form
211
;
debased
;
444 see also 6. Sepher Yetzirah, as a vehicle of the philosophic tradition of Kabalism, 28 part of a large mystical contains the germ literature, 29 its of the Sephirotic scheme, 44
;
;
410
Schiur
Komah,
154.
Schoettgenius, Christianus, on the Christianity of R. Simeon ben Jochai, 115. Sealing Names, permutations of the Tetragram in the Sepher Yet
zirah, 171, 172.
description of the Sephiroth, 45does not mention the Four 49 Worlds of later Kabalism, 53; nor yet the doctrine of the Countenances, 59 on the letters
; ;
Schure, Edouard, on a triple sense in Genesis, 420. Secret Commentary, fragments ex tant in the Zohar, 260 ; on the soul and connection between tin; soul at death, body, 261 262 ; on the two Edens,
;
<>n
of the Hebrew alphabet, 60, 131 ; on the instruments of creation, the 1 aths of Wisdom as a 60-62 dependency of the Sepher Yet/irah, 65 ; contains no reference to Kabalistic pneumatology, 74;
;
2<
happiness,
reel ion,
;
authorship, 91, 116, the ascribed to Akiba, 92, 146 reference to a Sepher Yet/irah in the Talmuds, 93, 94 ; its different influence on Christian minds as compared with the Zohar, 97 ; commentary of K. Abraham, III,
;
traditional
:-:el
t-j
the Secret
:.imentary, 2Sj5.
174, date,
Secret Doctrine, alleged lr.ui>mission from antiquity, xv., xvi., 11, 13 the Kabalah not demonstrably the a part of such tradition, 86 affirmative view wa, nt held in the past, 323, 324, and Hk. vii.
;
;
180-182; latest possible 93, 122 ; commentary of Saadya C.aon, 157, 175-178, 180 ; commentary of A/.ariel, 167, 174, general analysis, 168I82-I.S.;
;
174;
its
passim
Secret
Learning, an alleged early name of the Zohar, 114. uviit quoted Sirret of S in /:>har, 276; concerns Kabal
174-186; commentary of Nachmanides, 184; other com the Seph mentaries, 185 zirah said to end where the Zohar not a magical work, US, 21 1
encies,
; ;
324;
ice al-o
S o6
359, 489.
S^S,
378,
435>
446,
447,
246;
see also
of Gene alogies, 104, view of the Zohar, 105 ; narrative of Isaac de Acco, 106-108. Sephiroth, as emanations of the
Sepher Yuhasin,
i.e.,
Book
on an error of Walton, 21, 22 on superstitious sciences brought by the Jews from on magic and Chaldea, 24 on the Christian Kabalism, 26
;
42 initial purpose of the system, 43 first met with in the Sephtr tabulation of their Yetzirah, 44 qualities and symbolism, 44-49 an occult explanation concerning them, 49, 50 the Sephiroth in the Four Worlds, 51, 52, 58; the Sephiroth and the Two Counte the Sephiroth and nances, 55, 56 the Paths of Wisdom. 65 ;
Deity,
41
their
names,
aspect of the Kabalistic books, 98. Simon, R. Meir ben, 235. Simulacrum, curious fantasy of the
Zohar, 291. Soul and Death, statement in the Zohar, 262. Spain and Jewry, 137, 138. Spedalieri, Baron, on the Kabalah
and the Perfect Way, 429. Spencer, Herbert, on the positive the Uncon representation of
ditioned, 35.
archangelic correspondences, 76, 77 ; angelic correspondences, 78, 79 ; averse correspondences, 80, 8 1 ; value of the doctrine, 87 ; Sufic analogies, Persian 140 ;
analogies,
Spinoza, his
reminiscences
of the
141
;
analogies
in
Avicebron, 166 according to the Sepher Yetzirah, 169-172; how understood by Saadya Gaon, 178
;
Sufic Doctrine, hypothesis of Tholuck, 139 ; Kabalistic analogies in Sufic poetry, 140 ; the doctrine
Azariel
colours of the Sephiroth) 184 ; evolution of the Sephiroth, 256 ; according to the Supplements of the Zohar, 282, 283 ; according to Isaac de Loria, 297 et seq. ; the Sephiroth and
on
the
Sufism
and Jewish tradition, 144. Supplements of the Zohar, two 280 ; notice of the series of,
Ancient Supplements, 281-285 the Later Supplements, 285.
;
TALISMANIC Magic,
Talmud,
sources, ib. ; therein, 15; by
ib.
;
Malkuth, 49, 255 ; how it rests upon the first man, 200 as the form of God in the likeness of humanity, 208 ; its divine correspondences, 253 ; see also 219, 265.
whom methodised,
rival
Mishnayoth and
Mish
Shereera,
Gaon
R., 157.
his alleged authorship of the Zohar, 105, 108; his scribe, 112; his Midrash according to the Talmuds, 120; the authorship merely traditional, 136; a pupil of Akiba, 146; his traditional authorship of the Book of Concealment, 217; Talmudic account of R. Simeon, 218, 219 ; his Discourse in the Greater Synod, 220 et seq. ; in the Lesser Synod, 227, 228 ; account of his death, 228, 229 ; conversations with Elias, 229; in the Bahir, 243; in the Faithful Shepherd,
nayoth, ib. ; Tosephtoth, ib. ; the Ge/nara, ib. ; Talmuds of Jeru salem and Babylon, 16 ; connec tions of the Talmud and Kabalah, ib. ; errors of comparison, 16, 17 ; the Talmud not Kabalistic, 17 ; differences between the traditions, 17, 18 ; results of their confusion, 19 ; errors of Eliphas Levi, 19-22 ;
Talmud and Pneumatology, 74, 175; Talmud and Sepher Talmud and Yetzirah, 93, 168 Talmud and Tradition, 95 Mystic Tradition, 119; Talmud
83,
;
UN
of,
mentioned by Court de views of Levi and ; Vaillant, 480 analogies with the its history accord Kahalah, 481 true attri ing to Papus, 482 bution of its trump cards, 482, wealth of its symbolism, 483
479
first
Unmanlfest Deity,
Ain Soph.
Gebelin,
ib.
VAILLANT,
J.
on the Bohemian
Tarot, 480. Valentine, Basil, alleged treatise on Azoth, 454late Kabalistic Valley, Royal,
treatise, 39, 86.
of,
Ten
Tetragrammaton, pronunciation of, in what manner the universe 57 proceeds from this name, 60 its permutations in the Sepher Yetzirah, 172 transposition of, 338 mentioned by Fludd, 369 ; its attribution to the Lesser Counte nance, 404 Tetragrammaton and
;
;
reading, ib. ; points of contact with the Zohar, 377 ; on the true and false Kabalah, ib. ; on the Sephiroth, 378 ; Christian aspects of his Kabalism, 379 not a real Kabalistic see expositor, 380, also xv., 308.
;
Theosophy, Modern, object of this its success, ib. movement, 433 views on the Kabalah, 434 ; various statements of H. P.
;
Blavatsky,
434-437
the
move
treatise
of
May Gaon,
Points,
158.
Vowel
question
of
their
antiquity, 109,
no.
WAITE, A.
377, 3 s i
E., 19, 23, 308, 354, 394, 405, 460. Walton, on the terms Kabalah and
Tiphereth, see Sephiroth. ToM-phthoth, fragments in Zohar, where found, 271 ; excerpts from,
272, 273. Tradition, oral, liable to exaggera
tion, 7.
Transmigration, 230.
:y of Souls, 271. Triilu-mius, as misprinted by Levi, 400. Tsure, spiritual principle of man in the archetypal world, 85.
Massorah, 21. of Union, ir, 484. Weill, Alexander, on Christianity and the Talmud, 149 on Moses, on and the ib., pantheism Kabalah, 169, 170. on Kabalistu- Magic, 444. Welling Westcott, Dr. Wynn, on the word Kabalah, 26; his translation of the Sepher Yet/.irah, 67-70;
Way
>!
Zoh.;ric
Collect an--ii
doctrine, Ilam.-tica,
t
,
123, 455; on the ./:.// M.-txircph 309; on 365, 366; on the ChakLean 1;
i
Turba
the
Phil. iv
Zoharie
136.
Numbers, 436.
Widrnanstadt,
lean,
J.
A.,
lu\ collection
;ss., 357.
YARKER, John, on
the Mysteries of Antiquity, 6. Yetzirah, the third world of Kabalism, 52, 53, 60, 77, 79.
Wisdom
323-
ZANGWILL,
of,
Israel,
on the Zohar as
purpose of his rabbinical bibliography, 14 ; on the Metzareph, 311 ; Kabalistic MSS. of Mirandola, 332. Work of the Chariot, see Zohar. Work of Creation, see Sepher Yet-
Wolf,
ssh
a forgery, 119, 146, 147. Lazarus, his Theatrum Zettner, Chemicum, 458. Zohar, for date and authorship, 1031 14 ; for age of Zoharic tradition, 115-121 ; for full analysis, 187for minor references, 33, ; 35, 37,38, 39, 74, 75,^1,84,85, 95, 96, 97, ioo, I3 1 * l6 7, 324, 345, 369, 377, 385, 4H, 489Zoroaster, religion of, 125.
286
zirah.
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