History Of Kabbalah - Alternative View

History Of Kabbalah - Alternative View
History Of Kabbalah - Alternative View

Video: History Of Kabbalah - Alternative View

Video: History Of Kabbalah - Alternative View
Video: How did Kabbalah Begin? Brief History of Jewish Mysticism 2024, March
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The official creator of Kabbalah is Moses; he encoded the revelation he received in תישארנ רפם, the so-called. "Pentateuch". But the origins of Kabbalah, like most of the ancient teachings, should be sought in Mesopotamia - the cradle of human culture. Historical sources say that in the center of Babylon was the temple city of Esagila, and in its heart was the Tower of Babel of Etemenanki, which means the cornerstone of Heaven and Earth. Esagila was a world religious center in which Kabbalah took its present form 4000 years ago - the Babylonian priest Abraham revealed it and described its basic laws in the “Book of Creation”. Gathering his disciples, he created the first Kabbalistic group from them.

In Europe, the first Kabbalistic circle appears in the middle of the 12th century. in Provence (Southern France); Isaac the Blind, the "father of Kabbalah" (late 12th - early 13th centuries) also lived in Provence. Through his disciples of Kabbalah in the XIII century. goes to Spain, where a number of schools of its adherents appear (Heroic, Segovia, Isaac ben Latif, Abulafia).

In 1280 Rabbi Moses de Leon from Guadalajara (Spain) edited and published the book Zohar "The Book of Radiance" - a classic work of medieval kabbalism, combining the features and views of all previous schools.

In 1275, during a long fast on Mount Randa, Raymond Llull is illuminated by the idea of the method, which he expounds in his work entitled Ars Magna - The Great Art. The method is based on a combination of letters of the Latin alphabet, which designate the categories and concepts that underlie any science and are accepted by everyone without proof because of their self-evidence. The number of circles and sectors in the various works of Lully is different. Rotating the circles relative to each other, you can read the resulting combinations of terms, from which judgments and inferences are made. Thus, almost a century after the birth of Isaac the Blind, the Kabbalah through Raymond Llull becomes known to the Christian world.

In 1489, Pico della Mirandola published "900 theses", among which was this: "No science can better convince us of the divinity of Jesus Christ than Kabbalah." Among these theses, 47 were taken directly from Kabbalistic sources (chap. Rekanati's commentaries to the Torah), and another 72 were his own conclusions from reading Kabbalistic texts. His attempt to show the truth of Christianity as a teaching that unites all previous forms of thought was condemned by the papal curia, but thanks to her, interest in Kabbalah in the Christian world increased sharply.

In 1677, Knorr von Rosenroth (1636-89) publishes an extensive two-volume Kabbala Denudata, which includes several treatises of the Zohar, but not all, in both Hebrew and Latin, as well as the works of Moshe Cordovero and treatises of the Lurian school.

The earliest of the existing editions of "The Keys of Solomon" dates from 1686. This book is attributed to King Solomon, who, according to the beliefs widespread among occultists, possessed great magical knowledge. Unfortunately, not a single ancient Hebrew text of Solomon's magical abilities confirms. The book is a collection of spells, prayers and magic formulas, contains a description of talismans, pentacles and other attributes of kabbalistic magic. The foreword is the text of the apocryphal "Testament of King Solomon to his son Rehoboam."

In 1855, Eliphas Levi published The Teaching and Ritual of Transcendental Magic, in which the idea of linguistic magic symbolism is fully developed. Ideas about the magical symbolic power of language are nowhere near as strong and developed in magical literature of the 16th century as in the works of Levy. The Keys of Solomon is not so much about the allegorical power of language, but about the power of magical names: demons, angels and God.

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In 1888, MacGregor Mathers publishes The Kabbalah Unveiled, which consists of:

- Foreword by Mathers

- His articles "Introduction to Kabbalah"

- Translations of three treatises from the Book of Zohar (Sefer ha-Zohar):

- 1) The Book of Hidden Mystery (more precisely, the Book of Concealment. Sifra di-tseniuta). A small commentary on the first six chapters of Genesis, written in a very dark and mysterious language.

- 2) The Great Holy Assembly. A conversation between Shimon bar Yochai and his students, built in the form of a dialogue. This is a kind of commentary on the first treatise.

- 3) Small Holy Meeting. Shimon bar Yohai's dying speech to his students. Contains very important for the Christian Kabbalah reasoning about the Father, Mother, Son-Microprosopus and his Wife.

In addition to the actual treatises of the Zohar, Mathers's book includes very curious and detailed comments on these texts.

In 1890 Gerard Encausse, known under the pseudonym Papus, publishes the book "Kabbalah or the Science of God, the Universe and Man", published in Russian in 1910. Papus was a doctor, studied animal magnetism, studied under Levi, and in 1888 became the founder Kabbalistic Order of the Rose and Cross. In 1907, on the advice of Philip, who was at that time close to the tsarina, Papus came to Russia to give lectures. The interest of Russian society in mysticism introduced him to very high circles, and as a friend of Philip he was received at court. Papus three times - in 1901, 1905 and 1906 - visited Russia with lectures on magic and the occult. It is also known that he consulted Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra as a doctor and occult advisor. In October 1905, Papus allegedly summoned the spirit of Alexander III, the father of Tsar Nicholas, who predictedthat the tsar would be wrecked at the hands of the revolutionaries. They say that Papus promised the king to magically postpone the fulfillment of Alexander's prophecy, at least until his death (his statement turned out to be quite accurate, Nicholas lost his throne 141 days after the death of Papus). Although Papus was probably nothing more than a shaman for the king and queen, it is interesting that in the future he tried to help them in making government decisions. For example, in subsequent correspondence, he repeatedly warned them against the influence of Grigory Rasputin.that in the future he tried to help them in making government decisions. For example, in subsequent correspondence, he repeatedly warned them against the influence of Grigory Rasputin.that in the future he tried to help them in making government decisions. For example, in subsequent correspondence, he repeatedly warned them against the influence of Grigory Rasputin.

Subsequently, Jean Bricaud claimed that during his trips to Russia, Papus founded a Martinist lodge in Tsarskoye Selo, headed by Nicholas II. However, this message has not been confirmed by anything. More reliable information looks that the first Martinist lodge in Russia was founded in 1899 in St. Petersburg by Count Valerian Muravyov-Amursky (brother of the Minister of Justice), accepted by Papus in his Martinist Order around 1895.

In 1911 - 1912, a resident of Riga, Grigory Ottonovich Möbes, who wrote under the pseudonym GOM, read in St. Petersburg the lecture “Course of the Occult Encyclopedia”, which was very popular, as evidenced by dozens of memoirs and reviews. In his course, Möbes combines the Kabbalah and Tarot cards into a single whole and builds lectures in accordance with the magical Kabbalistic "Major Arcana Tarot". Each lecture corresponds to one "lasso", which, in turn, according to Papus and Möbes, corresponds to the Kabbalistic Sephirah, a certain characteristic of a person and an astrological sign.

Kabbalah is based on the law of analogy, it is the doctrine of the cause-and-effect relationship of spiritual sources that unite according to constant and absolute laws into one high goal - the comprehension of the Creator by creatures that exist in this world. Kabbalah works with three basic concepts:

1. Sephiroth tree (10 planets, 10 chakras, 10 numbers, 10 types of energy)

2. Hebrew alphabet (as a way of gaining strength and knowledge by successive passage of 22 states of consciousness)

3. Tetragrammaton (יהוה encrypted, unpronounceable name of God; symbol of the unity of the four elements)

The main differences between the doctrine of Kabbalah and other religious teachings is the recognition of devination, if it is carried out consciously; negative attitude towards the practice of monasticism, which Kabbalists consider to be a delusion. In Kabbalah, the doctrine of the transmigration of the spirit (not the soul) is accepted. Kabbalists practice composing their own prayers, but at the same time, the rules of the internal and external organization of prayer must be observed.

The internal organization must comply with the rule - never ask for material things, strive for the spiritual, and the material will come by itself. For example, in case of illness, one should ask for spiritual improvement, since illness is a manifestation of spiritual problems. If money is required, indicate the purpose, what it is for. At the beginning of the prayer, an appeal to God is always put, and at the end - the word Amen (read as Amein).

The external organization of prayer (concerning magical prayers) consists in the obligatory visualization of the program. This requires the development of imagination, will and faith. Faith is the main source of energy that gives life to the entire ritual.