TarosophyFastTrackSheet1:Kabbalah

TarosophyFastTrackSheet1:Kabbalah Introduction WhylearnaboutKabbalah?Itisusuallyseenasanextremelydenseanddiversesubject,and oftenassociatedwithdryintellectualpracticeandobscureterminology.However,inactual practiceitisanincrediblewayoflearningtoseethepatternsoftheUniverseandengaging in structured mystical experience. It is so widely used in the Western esoteric initiatory system, through the Hermetic Society of the Golden Dawn which flourished in the 1890 1910period,thatitslearningleadstoadeeperappreciationofritual,esotericpsychology, andTarot,amongstmanyothersubjects. InthisTarosophyFastTrackSheet,exclusivetoTarotProfessionals,wewillintroduceyou rapidly to some of the key concepts of Kabbalah, point you in various directions of study, and give you an exercise to explore Kabbalah as part of your Tarot studies or in its own context. Do enjoy the discovery, and feel encouraged to continue your journey in this fascinatingsubject! If you wish to explore the Kabbalah more fully, you might consider our online selfstudy KabbalahCoursewhichisavailableatwww.kabbalahcourse.comorpurchasetheMagicians KabbalahfromthatsitebyMarcusKatz,adetailed142ppbook(publishedDecember2011). KeyConcepts TheKabbalahisanoral(spoken)traditionofJewishMysticism The Kabbalah is a system of Jewish Mysticism that arose in the early first century at the same time as Christianity. There are many aspects of Kabbalah that are still debated by scholars, but it can be seen to play an important role in the western esoteric tradition, historicallyandincontemporaryformsofmagicalpractice. Although originally an oral tradition, a number of books were published and widely circulatedbetweenstudentsandteachersthroughouttheearlydevelopmentofKabbalah. Themostimportantbooks(inHebrew,Sepher)areusuallyseenas: Yetzirah Formation Bahir Illumination Zohar Splendour KabbalahisaHebrewwordfromtherootmeaning,toreceivespeltinHebrew:

VKCE

ThesearethelettersHLBQ(dontforgettoreadrighttoleft!)

Hebrew has no vowels, and the letter Qoph (Q) is pronounced as a hard K, so when writteninEnglish,thewordisoftenspeltasKabbalah,Qabalah,Qabala,Kabbala,etc.

TarotProfessionalsLtd,2010

www.tarotprofessionals.com

TarosophyFastTrackSheet1:Kabbalah

Itis oftenseenthatCabbalahrelatestoChristianCabbalah,KabbalahrelatestoJewish KabbalahandQabalahrelatestoesotericornewageQabalahbutthesearenotrigidor consistentlabels. EarlyKabbalahinvolvedMysticalExperience Early Jewish mystics in Palestine, during the first half of the second century, developed a visionary system which precedes the Kabbalah. There were two major trends or schools, namelytheheikhalot(palaces)andmerkavah(divinechariot)classesofexperience,relating tothevisionsofthesupremehallsofthedivine,andthemeansofascenttothosehallsthe chariot,asdescribedbyEzekiel(1:426). These early versions of Kabbalah were far more akin to shamanistic practice than many realise, with ecstatic visions, vision quests, practicein remote places,etc. This wasbefore theKabbalahbecameacomplexcodifiedsystemofinterpretationsofthefirstfivebooksof theBible. RenaissanceScholarsintroducedKabbalahintotheWest GiovanniPicodellaMirandola(146394) is credited as introducing Kabbalah into Europe. Pico also argued that Magic theperfectandhighestwisdomledto God in that it disclosed the wonders of creation by assiduous contemplation. He utilised specifically Kabbalistic concepts such as the four worlds (in Heptaplus)andclassicalGematria(letter analysis and numerology) analysing the firstHebrewwordintheBible,Beresitin thebeginning. In Germany, over 14001700, Khunrath, Reuchlin,AgrippaandRosenrothpicked up the threads of Kabbalah, Magic and Alchemy and published works which would form the basis of contemporary magicalpractice.
llus.GatesofLight,thefirstpublishedimageoftheTreeofLife(1516).ItisactuallyKircherslaterversionof theTreeofLifefrom1652thatisthemorecommonlyuseddiagramthroughtheGoldenDawn.

TarotProfessionalsLtd,2010

www.tarotprofessionals.com

TarosophyFastTrackSheet1:Kabbalah

MagicianshaveusedKabbalahasamapoftheUniverse EliphasLevi(18101875)suggestedthattherearethreesciences:theQabalah,Magicand Hermeticism.HisdefinitionofMagicwasthescienceofuniversalequilibriumandinthis LevimadeanewemphasisonthesyncreticismofMagic,KabbalahandAlchemy. He went on to define Kabbalah as the mathematics of human thought. However, his understandingandpresentationofKabbalisticprincipleswasofteninconsistent! It was Levi who most popularly suggested that the Tarot in the form of the deck of 78 cards symbolised the Keys of Solomon and as such corresponded to the paths of the Kabbalistic TreeofLife.InthisheledthewayforMathers,Waite,Crowley,Regardieand Fortune (all members of the Golden Dawn) in grafting Kabbalah to other traditions and creatingthesyncreticWesternEsotericTradition.HoweveritwasTheComtedeMelletwho firstmadethissuggestioninpublication,inhisarticleincludedinCourtdeGebelin'sMonde primitifin1781. 1 KabbalahisaModeloftheUniverseandtheSoul KabbalahisasystemwhichisbasedonfourworldsthroughwhichtheUniversemanifestsin tenemanations.Thefourworldsareplacedindescendingorder,oroutwardsorder: Atziluth Theworldofemanation Briah Theworldofcreation Yetzirah Theworldofformation Assiah Theworldofaction These four worlds hold the manifestation of all creation through ten numerical emanations,whichistheliteralmeaningoftheHebrewwordSephirah(pluralSephiroth). TheseareoftendrawnastheTreeofLifediagram,asspheresorcircles,buttheyshould beconsideredabstractconceptsratherthansolidobjects! TheSephirothhavechannelsforthelightofcreationtomanifest(andthroughwhichwecan learn and ascend back up the Tree of Life) which are called paths. There are twentytwo pathscorrespondingtothelettersoftheHebrewalphabet.Thesearethesamepathswhich arethencorrespondedtothetwentytwoMajorTarotcards. Thehumansoulisalsoseenintermsofthesefourworlds,withdifferentpartsofourbeing correspondingtodifferentworldsorSephiroth. It is important to stress that Kabbalah states we cannot know directly the Sephiroth, because they are part of the divine emanation from the unknowable source, but we can deduct their activity and nature through the paths, through the letters, and of course throughtheTarot.Thisisaphilosophyofexemplarism,wheretheworldandnatureteachus asalivingexampleoftherealityfromwhichallarises.
1

http://www.donaldtyson.com/gebelin.html www.tarotprofessionals.com

TarotProfessionalsLtd,2010

TarosophyFastTrackSheet1:Kabbalah

10ThingstoDo 1. BuyandreadtheWayofKabbalahbyZevbenShimonHalevi 2. RefertotheZoharandtheKabbalahbyGershomScholemforthecoreofKabbalah 3. BuyTheKabbalahDecoderbyJanetBerensonPerkinswhichisagreatintroduction 4. ReadtheSepherYetzirah,particularlythetitlesofthepaths 2 5. Learn the names of the Sephiroth, their meaning, their attributions and the correspondencesoftheTarotMajorstothepaths. 6. Applyeverything,seeeverythinginrelationshiptothemodelyouarelearning 7. Practiceanalysisandsynthesisofothersystems(i.e.Tarot)usingtheTreeasaguide 8. Learn basic symbology, particularly biblical (see Hidden Wisdom of the Holy Bible by GeoffryHodson,whichisfromaTheosophicalperspective) 9. DiscusswithothersKabbalahisanoraltradition 10. When you are ready, practice letter permutation meditations (see Meditation and KabbalahbyAryehKaplan)whichisagoodpracticeforTarotreaders Notes Kabbalah is a most incredibly rich system and is truly a lifes work. It suits some but not others,andisopentospeculative(practical)aswellaspurelyintellectualapproaches.Using theTreeofLifediagramandtheideaofthefourworldscanrevealhiddenpatternsinthe Universeandinonesownpsyche(aswellasineverydaylife)withalarmingclarity.Indeed, coincidence is the communication method of the Tree! Practising Kabbalah is important, applyingittoeverydaylifeandsystems.Itisadifficultsystemtolearninthatyouhaveto learnitpiecemealwhilstrememberingthatitisaholisticsystemandpartscanonlytrulybe comprehendedinrelationtothewhole. APracticalExercise Take the Hebrew word for Kabbalah, meaning to receive, signifying tradition or spoken teaching which is QBLH, spelt QophBethLamedHeh, reading left to right in Hebrewcharacters:

VKCE
NowtaketheTarotcardswhichcorrespondtothoselettersaccordingtothesystemofthe GoldenDawn,andasusedbyAleisterCrowley(withafewvariations).Wewillnotprovide thewholecharthereinthisFastTracksheet,justtherelevantcorrespondences: Qoph: Moon Beth: Magician Lamed: Justice Heh: Emporer
http://www.sacredtexts.com/jud/yetzirah.htmwhichistranslatedbyW.W.WestcottoftheGoldenDawn. ThisisusefultoseehowtheGoldenDawnsawthedocument,butabettertranslationisbyAryehKaplan. TarotProfessionalsLtd,2010 www.tarotprofessionals.com
2

TarosophyFastTrackSheet1:Kabbalah

Illus.JeanNobletTarot(restored)fromc.1650athttp://www.tarothistory.com/index.html

NowimagineeithertheFoolsJourneyorabeamoflightenteringintothissequencefrom lefttoright,startingattheMoonandexitingfromtheEmperor.Whatwouldanencounter withthesecardsinthatsequencedotoaninnocentwandererinastory?Whatwouldthese forces do to a beam of light as it traversed its way through their influences? If this was a diagramofthepartsofamachine,whatwouldthatmachinedo? So for example, one might say that a beam of pure light (or spirit) would go through the Moonandgainareflection,oneitdidnothavebefore.ThentheMagicianwouldaddthe fourelements,astructure.ThenJusticewouldprovidebalanceofthoseelements,andthe Emperorwouldprovidecontrolanddirection.Thebeamoflightwouldleavethemachineas areflective,structured,balanced,directedspirit. ThiscanthengiveyouthepicturebookversionofwhatKabbalahitselfmeans.Whatwill thesecardsmeantoyou?TheyholdtheverynatureofKabbalahintheirstory. PracticalApplication Whilst it can be enlightening to discover these patterns in the Universe through Kabbalah andillustratedbyourTarotcorrespondences,theyarenotfulfilleduntiltheyareconnected all the way down the Tree of Life into reallife manifestation. So we should also wonder whatusesomethingistoourlives.Isitengagingormerelyescapinglife? Withtheaboveexample,Kabbalahsignifiestraditionandthecardsillustratingtheletters showushowthattraditionistransmitted.Sonow,wecanapplythattoourreallife. Istheresomethingyouwanttotransmittosomebody,alessonyouneedtoteach?Areyou strugglingtolearnanimportantlessonorteachinginyourownliferightnow?Thentakea look at the strategy you have learnt from the cards above, and apply it to that situation. Takeactionandmakechangesinaccordwiththislessonforexample,youmightapplyitto bringing up your children, and notice that when you try and teach them to tidy their bedrooms,theMoonpartoftheengineismissing.Thereisnoreflectionontheminthe lesson;itdoesnotapplytothem.SobringtheMoonintoplaybyreflectingtheuntidinessin yourcookingforthem!
TarotProfessionalsLtd,2010 www.tarotprofessionals.com

TarosophyFastTrackSheet1:Kabbalah

RecommendedLinks http://www.hermetic.com http://www.kabbalahcourse.com http://digitalbrilliance.com/kab/link.htm RecommendedReading There are many books describing the development of the Kabbalah through the Renaissance, its introduction to the esoteric traditions of Europe and from there its integration into modern occult theory and practice. For a wide and scholarly overview, I wouldreferyoutoKabbalah(Scholem,G.)pp.886. ThemostpopularintroductiontoKabbalahasitwasseenbytheGoldenDawnandsimilar westernmysteryschoolsisthatwrittenbyDionFortune,TheMysticalQabalah(Fortune, D.)pp.1318.IwouldparticularlyurgeyoutoreadChapterIII,TheMethodoftheQabalah, andChaptersXVIIIandXIX,onChesedandGeburah. Although many of the ideas may be unfamiliar to the newcomer to Kabbalah, Fortunes workhasahabitofunfoldingitselfovertime. A key point in my teaching is to emphasize the concept of emanation as a key idea to unlocking the heart of Kabbalah. This concept is at the root of the tree and it is useful to start to contemplate it from the beginning of your studies. There is a useful extract and notestotheZohariccommentaryonInthebeginninginTheEssentialKabbalah(Matt, DanielC.)pp.5253&173176(notes).Thisbookcanalsoprovideausefulsourceofquotes forstudy,clarificationandmeditation,andisorganizedintoessentialthemesofKabbalistic thought. There are two modern introductions to Kabbalah, being The Elements of the Qabalah (Parfitt,W.)andThePrinciplesoftheQabalah(Jayanti,A.).Bothcoverinreadablebrevity the basics of Kabbalah from a modern perspective. I find the Jayanti book to be lighter, whilstParfittsbooktakesamorepracticaltone. AnotherpopularmodernbookisAKabbalahfortheModernAge(GonzalezWippler,M.) althoughIfindthisoneisquitedenseandperhapsismoreusefulasareferenceguidelater oninyourstudies. Finally,Ishouldpointoutafinalbookwhichisausefulguideattheintroductorystageof yourstudies,namelyAKabbalisticUniverse(Halevi,Z.)Therearemanyotherbooksbythis author,andallareinterestingreading,butthisonemakesagoodintroductiontexttohis writingstyleandapproach.IhavefoundhisworkonPsychologyandKabbalahandGroup Dynamics and Kabbalah (School of the Soul) to be particularly fascinating. Although there are now more works on Psychosynthesis and Kabbalah, (A Psychology with a Soul by J. Harding)andprobablyalotmoreingrouptheorytobediscoveredthroughKabbalah. IhavenotreferredtoanyoftheKabbalisticworksofLevi,CrowleyorRegardieatthisstage astheseauthorsassumeamodicumofKabbalisticknowledgeintheirreaders!
TarotProfessionalsLtd,2010 www.tarotprofessionals.com

TarosophyFastTrackSheet1:Kabbalah

BookSheet ThethreeprimarysourcebooksforKabbalahstudentsandausefulanthology: Zohar(5Volumeset) TheEssentialKabbalah

Bahir

SeferYetzirah:TheBookofCreation

Bookssuitableforthebeginner,withparticularreferencetothehistoryandgeneralscope ofKabbalistictraditions:

IntroductiontotheCabala TheWayofKabbalah AKabbalisticUniverse KabbalahfortheModernWorld PrinciplesofKabbalah KabbalahDecoder

ElementsoftheQabalah Kabbalah MysticalQabalah

TarotProfessionalsLtd,2010

www.tarotprofessionals.com