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Hermetic Qabalah (From the Hebrew "reception" or "accounting") is a Western esoteric, occult and mystical tradition. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Golden Dawn, Thelemic orders, mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, and is a precursor to the Neopagan, Wiccan and New Age movements.[1] The Hermetic Qabalah is the basis for Qliphothic Qabala as studied by left hand path orders, such as the Typhonian Order. Occult Hermetic Qabalah arose alongside and united with the Christian Cabalistic involvement in the European Renaissance, becoming variously Esoteric Christian, non-Christian, or anti-Christian across its different schools in the modern era. It draws on a great many influences, most notably: Jewish Kabbalah, Western astrology, Alchemy, pagan religions, especially Egyptian and Greco-Roman (the latter being from which the term "Hermetic" is derived), neoplatonism, gnosticism, the Enochian system of angelic magic of John Dee and Edward Kelley, hermeticism, rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, tantra and the symbolism of the tarot. Hermetic Qabalah differs from the Jewish form in being a more admittedly syncretic system, however it shares many concepts with Jewish Kabbalah.
Contents
1 Teachings 1.1 Conception of Divinity 1.2 The Sephiroth in Hermetic Qabalah 1.3 Tarot and the Tree of Life 1.4 Relation to Western Magic, Alchemy and Astrology 2 History 2.1 Hermetic views of Qabalah origins 2.2 Renaissance occultism 2.3 Enlightenment era esoteric societies 2.4 Nineteenth century magical revival 2.5 Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn 2.6 After the Golden Dawn 3 See also 4 References 5 External links
Teachings
Conception of Divinity
A primary concern of Hermetic Qabalah is the nature of divinity, its conception of which is quite markedly different from that presented in monotheistic religions; in particular there is not the strict separation between divinity and humankind which is seen in monotheisms.[2] Hermetic Qabalah holds to the neoplatonic conception that the manifest universe, of which material creation is a part, arose as a series of emanations from the godhead.[3]
These emanations arise out of three preliminary states that are considered to precede manifestation. The first is a state of complete nullity, known as Ain (" nothing"); the second state, considered a "concentration" of Ain, is Ain Suph (" without limit, infinite"); the third state, caused by a "movement" of Ain Suph, is Ain Suph Aur (" limitless light"), and it is from this initial brilliance that the first emanation of creation originates.[4]
The Sephirothic tree showing the lightning flash and the paths
in the four worlds.[10][11][12] While the sephiroth describe the nature of divinty, the paths between them describe ways of knowing God.[13]
History
Hermetic views of Qabalah origins
See also: Gnosticism Traditionalist Judaic views of Kabbalah's origins view it as an inherent development from within the Jewish religion, perhaps expressed through syncretic terminology from Medieval Jewish Neoplatonism. Contemporary academics of Jewish mysticism have reassessed Gershom Scholem's theory that the new doctrine of Medieval Kabbalah assimilated an earlier Jewish version of Gnosticism;[14] Moshe Idel instead has posited a historical continuity of development from early Jewish mysticism.[15] In contrast, Hermeticists have taken different views of Qabalah's origins. Some authors see the origins of Qabalah not in Semitic/Jewish mysticism, or ancient Egyptian Gnosticism, but in a western tradition originating in classical Greece with Indo-European cultural roots, later adopted by Jewish mystics.[16]
Syncretism of Cabala, Alchemy, Astrology and other esoteric Hermetic disciplines in a 1616 German depiction
According to this view, "Hermetic Qabalah" would be the original Qabalah, even though the word itself is Judaic Hebrew, over the Christian Cabalah or the Jewish Kabbalah: Alongside the historical process of Christian conversion from paganism, Jewish mystical circles would have been able to incorporate gematria and the Tree of life to their own concepts and fully monotheistic framework, without being suspect. Christians, in contrast, would have been persecuted for the same process, as it would have been similar to their pre-Christian polytheistic panentheism. With the Renaissance, this wisdom would have been relearned by Christianity from Judaism.
Renaissance occultism
See also: Christian Kabbalah and Hermeticism Jewish Kabbalah was absorbed into the Hermetic tradition at least as early as the 15th century when Giovanni Pico della Mirandola promoted a syncretic world view combining Platonism, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, Hermeticism and Kabbalah.[17] Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (14861535), a German magician, occult writer, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist, wrote the influential Three Books of Occult Philosophy, incorporating Kabbalah in its theory and practice of Western magic. It contributed strongly to the Renaissance view of ritual magic's relationship with Christianity. Pico's Hermetic syncretism was further developed by Athanasius Kircher, a Jesuit priest, hermeticist and polymath, who wrote extensively on the subject in 1652, bringing further elements such as Orphism and Egyptian mythology to the mix.[18]
Rosicrucianism and esoteric branches of Freemasonry taught religious philosophies, Qabalah, and divine magic in progressive steps of initiation. Their esoteric teachings, and secret society structure of an outer body governed by a restricted inner level of adepts, laid the format for modern esoteric organisations.
Aleister Crowley, who passed through the Golden Dawn before going on to form his own magical orders, is the most widely known exponent of Hermetic Magic[20] or Magick as he preferred to spell it. Crowley's book Liber 777 is a good illustration of the wider Hermetic approach. It is a set of tables of correspondences relating various parts of ceremonial magic and Eastern and Western religion to the thirty-two numbers representing the ten spheres (Sephiroth) plus the twenty-two paths of the Qabalistic Tree of Life. The panentheistic nature of Hermetic Qabalists is plainly evident here, as one may simply check the table to see that Chesed (" Mercy") corresponds to Jupiter, Isis, the colour blue (on the Queen Scale), Poseidon, Brahma, and amethyst.
Paul Foster Case (18841954) was an American occultist and author of influential books on occult tarot and Qabalah. He founded the Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A) mystery school, rooted in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Masonic blue lodge system, later extended by Ann Davies. B.O.T.A. teaches esoteric psychology, occult tarot, Hermetic Qabalah, astrology, and meditation. Pat Zalewski is a student of Jack Taylor, who was in turn a student of Robert Felkin's Golden Dawn school, as taught in New Zealand after Felkin emigrated there. Zalewski has published numerous on Hermetic Qabalah and the Golden Dawn tradition. Samael Aun Weor has written many significant works that discuss Kabbalah within many religions, such as the Egyptian, Pagan, and Central American religions, which is summarized in his work The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of Tarot and Kabbalah.
See also
Hermetism and other religions Renaissance magic Western esotericism Theosophy Occult Alchemy Divinatory, esoteric and occult tarot Magical organizations English Qabalah Esoteric Christianity Christian Kabbalah Practices: Theurgy Thaumaturgy Goetia Invocation
References
1. ^ Bogdan, H; "Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation", University Of New York Press, 2007, ISBN 9780-7914-7069-5, p 49. 2. ^ Fortune, Dion; "The Mystical Qabalah", Aquarian Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-85030-335-3, p 44. 3. ^ Fortune, Dion; "The Mystical Qabalah", Aquarian Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-85030-335-3, p 37-42. 4. ^ Fortune, Dion; "The Mystical Qabalah", Aquarian Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-85030-335-3, p 29-36. 5. ^ Fortune, Dion; "The Mystical Qabalah", Aquarian Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-85030-335-3. 6. ^ Regardie, Israel; "The Golden Dawn", Llewellyn, 2000, ISBN 978-0-87542-663-1, p 51. 7. ^ Fortune, Dion; "The Mystical Qabalah", Aquarian Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-85030-335-3, p 1. 8. ^ Regardie, Israel; "The Golden Dawn", Llewellyn, 2000, ISBN 978-0-87542-663-1, p 20-21 9. ^ Fortune, Dion; "The Mystical Qabalah", Aquarian Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-85030-335-3, p 238-251 10. ^ Waite, A.E.; "The Holy Kabbalah", University Books, 1971, p 554-557 11. ^ Regardie, Israel; "The Golden Dawn", Llewellyn, 2000, ISBN 978-0-87542-663-1, p 540-593 12. ^ Fortune, Dion; "The Mystical Qabalah", Aquarian Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-85030-335-3, p 107. 13. ^ Fortune, Dion; "The Mystical Qabalah", Aquarian Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-85030-335-3, p 102
14. ^ Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction, Joseph Dan, Oxford. Chapter on early Jewish mysticism discusses contemporary views that Gnosticism did not form a distinct religion. 15. ^ Kabbalah: New Perspectives, Moshe Idel, Yale 1990 16. ^ The Greek Qabalah: Alphabetic Mysticism and Numerology in the Ancient World, Kieren Barry, Samuel Weiser 1999 17. ^ Farmer, S.A; "Syncretism in the West: Pico's 900 Theses (1486)", Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1999, ISBN 978-0-86698-209-2 18. ^ Schmidt, Edward W. "The Last Renaissance Man: Athanasius Kircher", SJ. Company: The World of Jesuits and Their Friends. 19(2), Winter 20012002. 19. ^ York, The Magicians of the Golden Dawn, (1972) p. ix. 20. ^ Symonds, J & Grant, K; The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, Hill & Wang, 1969, ISBN 978-0-8090-3591-5. 21. ^ Cicero, Chic & Cicero, Sandra; `Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition, Llewellyn, 1998, ISBN 9781-56718-136-4, p xix. 22. ^ Fielding, Charles and Collins, Carr; The Story of Dion Fortune, Thoth Books, 1998, ISBN 978-1-870450-331, p. 151 23. ^ Richardson, Alan, The Magical Life of Dion Fortune, Aquarian Press, 1991, p. 137, ISBN 978-1-85538-0516
External links
Survey of Occultism in the Renaissance (http://www.gangleri.nl/articles/51/the-occult-renaissance/) Hermetic Kabbalah (http://www.digital-brilliance.com/) website The Mystical Qabalah (http://gnosticfellowship.com/reading/qabalah/mystical.pdf) pdf from The Society of the Inner Light Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hermetic_Qabalah&oldid=586132578" Categories: Esoteric schools of thought Hermetic Qabalah Hermeticism Kabbalah This page was last modified on 15 December 2013 at 02:50. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.