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From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (Xiwangmu)
Subject: Re: Klippoth Nogah (again, and LONG)
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 09:33:22 -0400

49951011 [cc'd from Usenet]

[from thelema93-l: Jeffrey Smith ]

[some deleted; reformatted text out of chunky version; my comments in [],
	entirety cc'd to thelema93-l. - mu]

Mu:
|Can you recommend references which have been recently published and are good
|translations from the Hebrew (if that is the original language)?

There are several good sources now available in English which predate Luria.
However, none of them treat the Klippoth in any systematic fashion.  You will
have to hunt and dig through them.   Most notable are the Zohar itself;
of which no complete translation exists.  The Soncino "complete" translation
left out large ancillary portions,  including everything Mathers published
in "The Kabbalah Unveiled"  (which remains, to my knowledge, the only English
version of the "Assemblies" and other portions)--but there are significant
amounts of text which are only accessible in Hebrew or Aramaic.   

Scholem and Matt have published selections,  which I would recommend on 
general principles, but I don't remember much in them germane to the Klippoth.
The Paulist Press published an anthology under the title of The Early Kabbalah
as part of the "Classics of Western Spirituality".  Within the last few months
someone published a translation of Gikitalla's "Gates of Light";  Aryeh
Kaplan published translations with much commentary of the Sefer Bahir and Sefer
Yetzirah;  these are published by Weiser.  

Rabbi Moses Cordovero, known as the Ramak,  lived just before Luria and was 
one of his teachers.  His most famous work is "The Palm Tree of Deborah", 
an ethical presentation of the Tree of Life  (based on the idea that we, 
as images of God,  contain the Tree in ourself, and by our acts perfect or 
degrade the Tree), and a work called "Or Ne'erav", which is available in 
English,  which is a systematic introduction to the Kabbalah.  Ramak was 
the greatest preLurianic authority.

If you can find a systematic account of the Klippoth, it would probably be
in Or Ne'erav.  (I have had only a brief chance to look through it, so I 
can't be sure.)  The Bahir, by the way, has sections dealing with the Tree 
visualized upside down, which you mentioned in your first reply.

I would also recommend Kaplan's translation and commentary of "The Tales"
of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (Bratzlav), published by the Breslov Research
Institute.  This is definitely a postLurianic work,  but much worth it.
Imagine Snow White and Hansel and Gretel  rewritten by a master Kabbalist...
Kaplan's notes bring out the detailed allusions,  but there are other editions
in English if you can't get a hand on his.

Those are the primary sources, of course.  Scholem, Idel and a host of others
have written much academically.  In all of these,  you will have to dig and 
hunt and peck.    

Avoid the works of Philip Berg, BTW,  which are not worth the paper they
are printed on,  and you can safely skip the works of Zev Halevi,  which
is good for studying Qabalah,  but not Kabbalah (i.e.,  the Western "gentile"
Qabalah, but not the original "Rabbinic" version).


|Ok, so here's your paradigm: the 'shells' or 'kleppot' 'fell' into the
|'nondivine', which is the manifested cosmos.  You appear to presume that 
|'nondivine' equals 'here', that the 'natural world' is devoid of value 
|wrt divinity, the shells further removed from the divine than we.
|This is one reason that I accept that notion but presume that 'here',
|the 'manifested cosmos' *are* the divine, and that the paradigm of the
|shells 'falling into the lower levels' arises from a fractionated and
|anti-material theoretic.  God is dead.  We can rebuild Hir.  
|Corrections welcomed.

Actually the matter is more ambigous than that.  Remember that the shells
are intermingled with the sparks, so even where the shells are found,
the Divine is also found.  

Another perspective:  the Divine/nonDivine is not so much a contrast as 
a continuum,  with the Divine most concentrated at end, and most diluted 
at the other end--which, since the Divine is Infinite, may be described 
as the point at infinity.  

What is the last point of a line?  What is the boundary of a plane? 
(as defined in high school geometry)  This same place is where the 
nonDivine is found and the Divine is not found.  Can you reach Infinity?  
All along the way there you will still find the Divine,  albeit very 
diluted and tenous towards the end, but still present -- until the 
asymptote meets the axis.  

Basically,  I agree with you, at least in part.  The Divine is here and now.
It also is the Other,  the there outside of time and space;  but it is
present in all things.   Malkuth is as much God as Keter and Ain Sof.


|Hmmm, well I suppose if one locates the divine as some space-god in a
|big throne in a galaxy far far away then this makes sense to me.  I'd
|really like to try to understand the value of presuming that we live
|in 'Malkuth' and that 'God' is on some other plane.  I've always seen
|this as the mutterings of a protection racket (rabbinical?) who wish
|to convince the morons that if they do the 'right things' (usually
|supporting the religious institution) then they get to 'go to God'.
|Peeyoo.

See above.  Judaism--and therefore the Kabbalah, since the Kabbalah
took over the core Jewish beliefs when it originated among rabbinic circles--
believes Man can attain God only through This World.  Ultimately,  you must
find the Divine in Malkuth, and in the Klippoth, and in yourself, and in
your neighbors--or you will never find it at all.  

Both Christian and Buddhist soteriology are meaningless, even irrelevant, 
in Jewish terms.  There is nothing to be "saved" from.  Hell exists as a 
purgatory.  Rather like getting to your cousin's house at the end of a 
long road trip.  Before you go out to dinner with them, you will probably 
wash up and put on clean clothes.  Why let the dirt and fatigue of the 
trip disturb a good meal?  

Of course,  Gehenna is much more grim than a hot shower,  and more spiritually
intense,  but the core idea is the same:  the antechamber to Heaven.  And
since everyone (for all practical purposes)  gets to go to Heaven,  there
is not much to be protected from.   

However, there are some rabbis who try to run religion as a protection 
racket;  the silly thing is, the poor things really believe that's the way 
the Universe is, and that's how religion should be practiced.  On the other 
hand, there have always been a considerable number who have not done so. 

(It is possible to be eternally damned;  but the number is relatively small.
The Talmud could identify only ten people in the entire Bible who qualified
for "losing their share in the world to come".  And not the way that verdict
is phrased.  Hell is a negative concept;  there is not necessarily a penal
element involved,  except as the loss of the Presence of God is penal, and
not simply the result of one's continued actions in rejecting the Truth 
intentionally and willfully--the "Truth"  being God, and not necessarily the 
way culture presents God,  which are quite different things.)


Mu:
|>|I tend to identify 'God' and 'Man', but I'm weird that way.

Not really.  The Bible rather decisively teaches that God is present
in Man, as may be seen from the account of Adam's creation in Genesis.
"In the image of God he created Man,  male and female."  God has no Image
except Hir Own Self:  In making an Image of Hirself, God merely imparted
Hirself into Man.    So  human beings, as the images of God, are God.


[Mu asks "which spheres/numbers/letters" were shattered in the "Shevirat
 HaKelim--the Breaking of the Vessels.]

Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod.


Jeffrey:
|>Would it help if I note that a consequence of the restoration is the 
|>recognition by man of the true nature of the universe--its essential
|>Unity and Goodness?

|Not really.  I don't tend to think that the universe is essentially united
|or good. 

Well, I do.  Our premises diverge here, I guess.  Do you believe in Chaos
as the essential principle?  Or something else?

[I don't think that an 'essential principle' may be isolated except by the
 human mind, and this only in a subjective grasp at the Unknown.  - mu]


|I'd love to hear about the alternatives if you'd like to dive into them, 
|such as their general points of difference, how Luria incorporated them 
|into the layout you've been describing, etc.

Luria expanded and systemized,  so the alternatives would not be so 
alternate: More a change in metaphor or imagery than anything else.
But to present the major "alternative",  I would like to refer you to
the first chapter of Genesis, and the account of the second day.  

Notice when you read it that God, on viewing the results that day, did 
not "See that it was good"--in contrast to all the other days, when He  
did, and with the end result,  which is stated to be "very good."  
Kabbalah represents the days of creation as referring to the Sefirot--
or at least,  the various sayings ("God said,..." which occurs ten 
times) as referring to them.

(The first view is expounded in the Zohar, the second tabulated in Kaplan's 
comments to Sefer Yetzirah 1:1.)  Depending on the scheme used, the second
day is tied to either Binah or Gevurah--Gevurah of course being the echo
or reflext or resonance or whatever of Binah.  And Binah is the Sefirah of
Restriction.  So Binah/Gevurah--restriction and judgment--are not "good."

(Since this is the Thelema list,  perhaps I might cite a Thelemic
parallel--"the word of Sin is Restriction".)    That in itself is a topic.
Because the particular relevance  here is the fact that the Klippoth are 
often presented not as the fragments of several Sefirot, but as the "waste"
of Gevurah.  They derive from this restrictive, not-good,  Sefirah.  

Maybe the best analogy, to pick on the Ramak's metaphor of Klippoth as 
excrement, which I mentioned in my last post,  is that Gevurah is the 
Colon of the Divine Body--squeezing out the good from the bad, the usable 
from the non-usable,  and absorbing the "nutrients" into the Body--
while the rest gets pushed out into whatever passes for the Divine 
Toiletbowl.   [I will reserve judgement on what happens in case of 
Divine Constipation, etc.]    

Since Isaac is the Biblical patriarch associated with Gevurah (refer to 
the "Fear of God", and the alternate name of Gevurah is "Pachad"),  his 
waste is referred to as Esau or Edom  (just as Ishmael is the waste of 
Abraham, or Chesed).   And here is where it gets interesting.  Genesis 
Chapter 36 contains a genealogy of Esau's heirs, or rather a listing of 
the kings of Edom.  The formula used is X died, and Y was king in his 
place;  Y died, and Z was king in his place.  

Sometimes we are told that Y's city was such-and-such a place.
The whole list is prefaced by the statement, "These are the Kings which were
in Edom before there were Kings in Israel."   The Kabbalists took this chapter
as referring to the Klippoth,  the products of Esau, the waste of Gevurah, and
the passage as a whole was supposed to depict the Breaking of the Vessels.

The reference to "before there Kings in Israel" was taken as referring to 
this event taking place  before the current configuration of the world.
There is a practical outgrowth of this tradition:  supposedly,  by studying
the chapter for 24 hours straight,  one can bring about the Redemption
of the World.  I have always taken this to mean that study of the passage
(particularly of the names and their permutations, gematria, etc.)  would
bring complete mastery over the Klippoth, and the ability to finally purge
them.  So study Genesis!  All those begats actually have a use.  


|>The Talmud.... our universe is but the most recent, and most successful 
|>in a series.  The earlier ones were destroyed because they suffered from 
|>either too much of Strict Justice or too much of Strict Mercy;  only in 
|>our cosmos did God hit on the right balance between the two.   The 
|>fragments of these destroyed worlds are the Klippoth.

|Can we still interact with those worlds?  What do they look like?

Doubtful, although I suppose theoretically possible.  These are not just 
different worlds, but different *universes*.   To keep to the Tree of 
Life metaphors, some of them are missing the Sefirot on the Right Column, 
some those on the Left, some the Middle Column--and/or other combinations.  
Could you transpose yourself to, or interact with, such a place.  

To pick out a scientific analogy:  in our universe,  light acts as both 
a wave and an particle (apparently).  Suppose one came across a universe 
in which light is a wave, or light is a particle, but not both.  There 
would be decided differences in how everything exists, or appears, there.   

In these other universes, the differences could be even more fundamental,  
down to changes in "cause and effect", temporal flow,  and much else we 
calmly assume to be unchangeable physics (at least, those of us who do 
not routinely visualize alternate universes).  

You will note that the Rabbis adopted with this tradition a Panglossian
attitude--"this is the best of all possible worlds".

 
|>"Sekhel Meir" and not "Sekhel Nogah"--although the two Hebrew words have
|>similar meanings.  

|Hmmm, you're losing me.  Where do you get 'Sekhel Meir' and what does that
|phrase mean?  I've heard the paths more often called 'Shevelim'.
  
This is from Kaplan's edition of the Sefer Yetzirah.   He includes a
translation of the "32 Paths",  and gives the Hebrew original of each path's
name.  Thus he gives "14.  Illuminating Consciousness (Sekhel Meir) .  
It is called this because it is the essence of the Speaking Silence (Chashmal).
It gives instruction regarding the mysteries of their holy secrets and 
their structure."   

Every path is named "Sekhel Such-and-Such".  Sekhel in colloquial usages 
means "brains"  [as if "Use some sekhel and figure this out"].  It's most 
usual translation is "Intellect".  In Kabbalah,  the trio of upper Sefirot--
Chokhmah, Binah, and Da'at, to be precise--is referred to by this term.

Shevel means, simply enough, path.  One will also find the term "derech" 
(plural,  "darchei"),  meaning "way" or "road",  especially when invoking
the Biblical verse "Her ways are ways of pleasantness (darchei noam)."
Nogah means, essentially, brilliance.  Kaplan, in Meditation and Kabbalah,
gives an short extract from a work called "Gate of Intention",  which
dates  to the time of the early medieval Kabbalists (i.e, 1200.)  

In this work we do not find the Sefirot,  but rather a scheme of "Lights".  
One of these Lights is named Nogah, and apparently corresponds to the 
sefirah Gevurah.

The piece advises that for works of revenge, one should turn to Nogah,
and for works of mercy,  to the Light called Tov (=Chesed in the Sefirotic
terminology).  (This is in the context of visualizing a spatial relationship
among the Lights,  apparently.)


[Mu asked for specific titles by Kaplan]

Besides his translation, with commentary, of  the Sefer Yetsirah and the Sefer
Bahir,  the most important titles  are "Meditation and the Bible" and
"Meditation and Kabbalah",  both published by Weiser.  The first attempts
to tabulate the methods and astral world of the Biblical prophets. (That
would be my description, not Kaplan's.)   The Prophets are shown in
the way Kabbalah views them, as mystics, magicians of a very high order,
and occasionally acting as what can only be called shamans.  

The second book is an anthology of texts related to meditation techniques 
from the Talmud to the Chasidim.  The translation of the Sefer Yetzirah gives
in the comments a wealth of information about meditation, Yetziratic magic,
and Kabbalistic astrology.   The Sefer Bahir is less comprehensive and much
more devoted to expounding the doctrines of that particular work.  

There are also other works,  the most important of which is "Jewish 
Meditation", which are written with aim of improving the religious practice 
of his fellow Jews, and therefore considerably less germane to the topic 
at hand.

The one drawback to Kaplan is that he was devotedly Orthodox.  He speaks
matter of factly of the Zohar being authored by Bar Yohai.  He attempts
to back up tradition with modern science.  Since his doctorate was in
nuclear physics,  the mesh he makes can be very fascinating--and very tenous.
And you will have accept at face value statements which are  treated as
fact but are backed only by rabbinic tradition.  

Did you know that Adam was created on September 9, 3671 BCE? (Obtained by 
treating the Hebrew year count,  now at 5756,  as beginning at the 
literal creation of Man, and calculating the Gregorian equivalent of the 
Hebrew date 1 Tishri, Year 1.)


|>|...what happens if one descends into impurity?  

|>On the literal, level,  one descends into impurity by acts of ritual impurity
|>(applicable, on the Lurianic model, only to Jews) and immorality.  Incest,
|>murder, are good ways of doing it.  

|I figure 'Jew' is a metaphorical description of 'person' or 'child' of
|the divine.  Likely it refers to those who are sufficiently conscious
|to be responsible for their actions.  Those who accept that it refers
|to a particular culture or people are merely elitist xenophobes.

To which the elitist xenophobes otherwise known as the Sages of the
Talmud and the Mekabbalim Rishonim [the earliest Kabbalists]  would
answer "Theophobe!"   However, the difference between Jew and Gentile
is an important one, even if one does not accept the [admittedly
extreme] view that all Gentiles are inherently from the side of impurity.

No Gentile can say  "Blessed are you, O Lord of the Universe,  *who
has sanctified us with Your commandments and commanded us to wash the hands/
sound the shofar/light the Sabbath lights/wrap ourselves in "fringes"/etc.*"
or at least the part between asterisks.  This is the standard blessing said
upon commencement of any of the ritual acts mandated by tradition.

These ritual acts are among the primary ways by which the individual places
himself in close contact with the Divine.  No Gentile can do this because
no Gentile is commanded to do them, and "greater is he that does because it
is commanded [as compared to one who does it because his reason tells him
to do it--the difference being the subjection of the individual will to 
the True Will/Will of Heaven.]"  So even if a Gentile lights the candles,
there is no Kabbalistic consequence.  The Gentle does not draw closer to
the Divine, the Divine does not have another channel to bring itself
into the World with.   

Also technically,  no one is completely ritually pure.  Contact with the 
dead, and contact with the contactees of the dead,  renders impure on the 
ritual level.  Since the ritual means (ashes of a red heifer sacrificed in 
the Temple of Jerusalem) of cleansing oneself from impurity were used up 
in the early centuries CE,  no one has been able to properly purify 
themselves.   

This applies to Jews.  On this level of ritual purity, Gentiles are viewed 
as impure--pure and simple impurity, as it were.  This view is behind the 
fading of Merkavah mysticism at that era.  No one was pure enough to get 
to heaven. And if one did attempt it,  one either destroyed oneself, or 
merely played about with demons--which is just about the same thing.
	
This is one reason, BTW, why I have grave reservations about to the
efficacy of "Christian/Golden Dawn/Thelemic" "Qabalah".  From the viewpoint
of "Rabbinic" Kabbalah,  all that is gained by these methods is access to the 
Klippot, not the Sefirot.  And then there is the heavy use of pagan, especially
Egyptian, gods/god forms, in the Golden Dawn tradition.  

In Kabbalah,  Egypt is the archetype of being caught in the material world, 
and the God of Egypt are the forces which had to be overcome so that the 
Jews could be freed (not to mention Pharoah and his armies)--that is, the 
forces which were opposing spiritual liberation and freedom.  On the level 
of Kabbalistic symbolism,  the Egyptian godforms are the Klippoth, and not 
what the Golden Dawn makes of them (or Thelema, of course).    

But that is my individual grumble.
	
On the broader issue, you are of course correct.  From that angle,
there are certain  actions which are not right, not good,  not in harmony with
the universe.  Morality represents something basic to the universe.  Go against
it, and one adheres to the forces of impurity.  Murder denies the claims
of others to Life, and denies Life itself.  Idolatry denies  the Oneness
of God, of Life, of Reality.  Incest and adultery deny the Presence of
God in the most intimate part of Life;  at the very least, they trivialize
It (through Its vehicle, Sex), and pervert it out of its natural channels.

Thus,  it is deemed preferable to be killed rather than commit one of those
acts;  these are the only "sins" which are not excused by duress.  (To which
must be added the general concept that when required,  "Sanctification of 
the Name"  may require an act be done which would would end in one's death.
But here we have the positive pole.   Just as there are acts to which death
is preferable,  so there are acts which are preferable even to life.)


|'Ritual impurity'.  Ok.  I can see that.  The way I tend to look at
|things this means compositions of multitudinous fragments.  I don't
|see 'purity' except in terms of simplicity of composition.  My world
|is not composed of 'spirit' and 'matter', for example.

So you do believe in the underlying Unity of Being?  I thought a couple
of paragraphs ago you said you didn't.  Could you clarify?

[clarification: I don't tend to presuppose Unity or Disunity, Purity or
                impurity.  I remain unknowing.  - mu]


| Ok, so you see hatred and greed as indicators of Kliphotic influence.
|I tend to also, though I see these as extremes of a range.  Fear, anger
|and hatred are part of a range of demonic impositions.  Envy, greed and
|oppression are another set.  These represent extremes of deprivation,
|low self-esteem and unconsciousness, callousness.  Diving into these
|experiences (which I think most people have to a certain degree) would,
|I think, equate to 'encountering the shells' in life, not truly neces-
|sitating travelling into full-blown war-zones.

I tried to say that in my earlier response,  but you said it much better
than I did.  Thanks for putting words into my mouth.


|I see nothing as 'good' except that I like it.  So you see sociopathology
|and fascism to be the strengthening of the shells, hmm?  Interesting that
|you mention the SS, given the obvious relationship it has to Judaism in
|its opposition.  That serves the polar model all the more.  Jews are the
|Light-worshippers, dwelling within the sanctity of the Sefirah.  Nazis
|are the Dark-worshippers, dwelling in the deprivation of the Kleppah.
|Rather simplistic.  

Obviously, I have a certain prejudged view of the SS,  but that actually
was not the motivating factors.  Substitute the KGB under Brezhnev, or 
the Latin American dictators of the 70s and 80s.  Organized sociopathic
behavior--exalting oneself over others using greed, cruelty, etc. and
enjoying the greed, cruelty,etc. while you're at it.


|I prefer to think of the shells as the experiences of fear and loathing
|which the SS and Manson may *inspire*.  Walled off into their little
|compartments, we become enslaved to them as much through opposition to
|these bogeys (SS/Manson) as through support of them.

Interesting point.  You may be correct in this, although I would add that
the Shells are as much what the bogeys do as what they invoke/evoke/provoke
in ourselves.


|What does the Babe of the Abyss have to do with any of this?  I'm afraid
|I didn't follow your line of thought there.

Just waxing poetic for a moment.  Sometimes I also wax the car and
the furniture.


|>...I would question why one would want to strengthen the Klippoth.

|Because I feel that they are misunderstood.  I compare them to wolves and
|other natural predators who have been slandered, misunderstood and quite
|often wiped out in the mistaken impression that such massacre is a 'service'
|of some kind.  Actually it is the most heinous travesty.

I don't agree with you there.  


|I didn't know that the center of the shell is supposed to contain a 'Spark
|of Light'.  Personally I don't place much value in this 'Light' which so
|many have used as propulsion to constrain and oppress.  Had enough 'Light'
|for a while and prefer the deep 'Darkness' of the demons of the night.

Didn't I make that clear?  The Spark is what gives the Shell vitality.
Of itself, the Shell is lifeless;  Life is the Light.	

Interesting point I blundered across today.  One of the Hebrew words for 
"sparks" (not the one used in the technical terminology of the Kabbalists) 
is spelled Gimel-Tzaddi.  And that, Gematria fans, is.....

[left unfinished - mu]


|I think if I were to seriously undertake this project in a visualizing sense 
|(rather than seeing these descriptions as metaphors for what goes on in 
|my life), I would neither wish to enter into the hollow of the shell and
|encounter its Spark or try to dispell it, or remain there permanently.
|No, I see the shells as daemons, dakini, with whom I can mature and come
|to know the Obscure Mysteries.  I would dance, play, make love with and
|battle the daemons.
 
Thanks, but no thanks.  God is all of that--the Lights and the Shells,
me and you and the rest of the universe.  Why should one be content with 
a part of God--whether Light or Dark--when you can have the whole Shebang?

[response: given that one doesn't identify God with Part or Whole, one's
           contentment may arise in the contemplation of any aspect of 
	   God. - mu]

Tachat haRachamim.
Jeffrey Smith
f901030k@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us

Avinu Malkenu, chananu v'ananu ki ain banu ma'ashim 'aseh 'imanu tzedakah 
v'chesed v'hosheanu.

Our Father, Our King, be Thou gracious unto us and answer us, for lo, we 
are unworthy; deal Thou with us in charity and lovingkindness and save us.

===============

[from private email: Jeffrey Smith ]

PS--I forgot to add, that after sending that post,  I found a tract 
called "On the Left Emanations" by one Isaac haKohen,  included in the 
volume "Early Kabbalah"  published by the Paulist Press (mentioned in the 
post).  It is long, somewhat confusing,  but deals with the Klippoth, 
although they are not called that;  it lists angels and demons (although 
they are really angels assigned to destructive jobs, apparently) in the 
manner of a grimoire,  with hints on what they can do (but no details on 
the procedure to contact them), and goes on at length about Samael and 
Lilith, and the Serpent, and how Samael wants to climb into bed with 
Lilith, but that is a Bad Thing--or it may be how the Serpent wants to 
get something going with Lilith, or Samael, or both of them.  As I said, 
it is somewhat confusing,  but if you can find it,  it should be of interest.

Be well.

Tachat haRachamim.
Jeffrey Smith
f901030k@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us

Avinu Malkenu, chananu v'ananu ki ain banu ma'ashim 'aseh 'imanu tzedakah 
v'chesed v'hosheanu.

Our Father, Our King, be Thou gracious unto us and answer us, for lo, we 
are unworthy; deal Thou with us in charity and lovingkindness and save us.

EOF