Balder Ex-Libris

Author : Holub Alexander S.
Title : The origins of kabbalah
Year : 2005

Link download : Holub_Alexander_S_-_The_origins_of_kabbalah.zip

The term Kabbalah traditionally has been used to represent the esoteric teachings of Judaism and Jewish mysticism. The first time that the teachings were referred to as “kabbalah” was in the 13th century of this current era when Eleazer of Worms used the term in his writings about the angelic and Divine Names which were used in magic. Prior to that time the term “kabbalah” was used in the Talmud and post-Talmudic literature to denote the Oral Law. For the mystical aspects of Judaism, the expression Kabbalah is only one of the many terms used. The Talmud itself speaks of Sitri ha-Torah and Razel ha-Torah (Secrets of the Torah) and a secret tradition called Ma’aseh ha-Merkabah (The Work of the Chariot). The writings of the Kabbalah are not restricted to the Sepher ha-Yetzirah, the Sepher ha-Zohar, and the Sepher ha-Bahir either, although these are the best known of the writings. There are some two dozen or so other books which include the Sepher ha- Razin (The Book of the Secrets), the Sepher ha-Iyyun (The Book of Speculation), and the Sepher ha-Ma’ayan Chokmah (The Book of the Fountain of Wisdom). These latter books appear to be later writings coming down through the early part of the medieval period. Actually, it is from some of the medieval writings that the non-Jewish Occult tradition of the Qabalah is drawn. From this tradition comes the Rosicrucians, the Masons, and the Christian systems all of which are the foundation of magickal orders such as the Golden Dawn, the OˆTˆO, the AˆA, and others. One of the earlier texts which seem to have been all but forgotten is the Sepher ha-Chenoch (The Book of Enoch). This book was, at one time, included in the Jewish Scriptures but was expurgated in the 1st century C.E. when the Masoretic Texts were decided upon as the correct scriptures. This book was mentioned in some very early writings. As a matter of fact, the early Christian Gnostics did discuss it at some length and there was also a mention of it in the Dead Sea Scrolls. If you will look at the Book of Enoch you will find that the whole concept of the war between Jahweh and Satan came out of this book. (See The Other Bible by Willis Barnstone Ed.) With all of this, it appears that the Kabbalah is taken completely from the Jewish religious system. As much as many would like to believe it, this seems to not be so. The Jewish religion itself is a mixture of Semitic (Babylonian, Phoenician, Canaanite, and so on), as well as some aspects of the Egyptian and Persian religious systems. Consequently, any idea that the Kabbalah is unique to Judaism tends to be also unfounded. ...