THE
ARCANE
ARCHIVE

a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.


TOP | RELIGION | JUDAISM | KABBALAH | NEO KABBALAH

Scholem Politically-Biased?

To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.consciousness.mysticism,talk.religion.misc
From: catherine yronwode 
Subject: Scholem Politically-Biased? (was: Re: Hermetic QBL Unsupportable? (was Parpola Discovered! ....)
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 00:03:49 GMT

Joseph wrote:
> 
> does [Gershom Scholem's use of the word] "charlatan" include the 
> honest  seeker after "knowledge" who dosnt happen to qualify for the 
> "traditional oral community participation"?

Obviously not, since Scholem did not characterize the hermetic,
Rosicicrucian, Christian, non-Jewish author Arthur Edward Waite as a
"charlatan" but rather a "scholar."

I think that some non-Jews taking part in this discussion feel attacked
when they are not being attacked. I am sorry this is happening. I wish
everyone would take a more reasoned, measured look at this material. 

Below you will again see the quote from Scholem, by way of supporting my
(and siva's) contentions that 

1) Scholem was capable of distinguishing what he believed to be
"charlatans" and "scholars" from one another based on their written
texts with respect to the kabbalah. 

2) Scholem did not dismiss all hermetic authors on kabbalah as
"charlatans" nor did he endorse all hermetic authors on kabbalah as
"scholars." 

3) There is no evidence that Scholem's dismissal of Crowley as a
"charlatan" was race-based. 

4) There is no evidence that Scholem's endorsement of Waite as a
"scholar" wish a "fine philosophical intuition and [a] natural grasp [of
the kabbalah]" was race-based. 

5) Therefor it is insupportable to accuse Scholem of having called
Crowley's writings on the kabbalah "charlatanry" due to a "political
bias" as some here have asserted. 

Gershom Scholem's text labelling Crowley a "charlatan": 

        The many books written on the subject [of Kabbalah] in the
        19th and 20th centuries by various theosophists and mystics
        lacked any basic knowledge of the sources and very rarely
        contributed to the field, while at times they even hindered
        the development of a historical approach. Similarly, the
        activities of French and English occultists contributed
        nothing and only served to create considerable confusion
        between the teachings of the Kabbalah and their own totally
        unrelated inventions, such as the alleged kabbalistic origin
  ->    of the Tarot-cards. To this category of supreme charlatanism
  ->    belong the many and widely read books of Eliphas Levi 
  ->    (actually Alphonse Louis Constant; 1810-1875), Papus (Gerard 
  ->    Encausse; 1868-1916), and Frater Perdurabo (Aleister Crowley; 
  ->    1875-1946), all of whom had an infinitesimal knowledge of 
        Kabbalah that did not prevent them from drawing freely on 
        their imaginations instead. The comprehensive works of A.E. 
        Waite, (*The Holy Kabbalah*, 1929), S. Karppe, and P. 
        Vulliaud, on the other hand, were essentially rather confused 
        compilations made from secondhand sources [e.g. Knorr Von 
        Rosenroth's "Kabbalah Denudata" -- hara].
        ----------------------------------------------
        "Kabbalah", Gershom Scholem, Dorset Press, 1987 (1974
         copyright), pp. 202-3.


Gershom Scholem's text labelling Waite a "scholar" with "fine
philosophical intuition and [a] natural grasp [of the kabbalah]":  

        It is not to the credit of Jewish scholarship that the works
        of the few writers who were really informed on the subject
        [of Kabbalah] were never printed, and in some cases were not
        even recorded, since there was nobody to take an interest.
        Nor have we reason to be proud of the fact that the greater
        part of the ideas and views which show a real insight into
        the world of Kabbalism, closed as it was to the rationalism
        prevailing in the Judaism of the nineteenth century, were
  ->    expressed by Christian scholars of a mystical bent, such as
  ->    the Englishman Arthur Edward Waite of our days and the German
        Franz Josef Molitor a century ago. It is a pity that the fine
        philosophical intuition and natural grasp of such students 
        lost their edge because they lacked all critical sense as to 
        historical and philological data in this field, and therefore 
        failed completely when they had to handle problems bearing on 
        the facts.
        ----------------------------------------------
        "Kabbalah", Gershom Scholem, Dorset Press, 1987 (1974
         copyright), pp. 2.

I hope this sets the record straight and eases fears that Jews such as
Gershom Scholem are politically biased or are trying to degrade or
demean the writings of non-Jews as a result of racial prejudice. 

cat yronwode 

Hoodoo and Blues Lyrics --------- http://www.luckymojo.com/blues.html

The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org.

Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small
donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site.

The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories,
each dealing with a different branch of
religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge.
Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit:
interdisciplinary: geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness
occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells
religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo
societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc.

SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE

There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):

Search For:
Match:  Any word All words Exact phrase

OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST

Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including slave narratives & interviews
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode: an introduction to African-American rootwork
Lucky W Amulet Archive by cat yronwode: an online museum of worldwide talismans and charms
Sacred Sex: essays and articles on tantra yoga, neo-tantra, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
Sacred Landscape: essays and articles on archaeoastronomy, sacred architecture, and sacred geometry
Lucky Mojo Forum: practitioners answer queries on conjure; sponsored by the Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
Herb Magic: illustrated descriptions of magic herbs with free spells, recipes, and an ordering option
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: ethical diviners and hoodoo spell-casters
Freemasonry for Women by cat yronwode: a history of mixed-gender Freemasonic lodges
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith, the Smallest Church in the World
Satan Service Org: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Lucky Mojo Usenet FAQ Archive: FAQs and REFs for occult and magical usenet newsgroups
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic
Aleister Crowley Text Archive: a multitude of texts by an early 20th century ceremonial occultist
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective
The Mystic Tea Room: divination by reading tea-leaves, with a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Lucky Mojo Magic Spells Archives: love spells, money spells, luck spells, protection spells, etc.
      Free Love Spell Archive: love spells, attraction spells, sex magick, romance spells, and lust spells
      Free Money Spell Archive: money spells, prosperity spells, and wealth spells for job and business
      Free Protection Spell Archive: protection spells against witchcraft, jinxes, hexes, and the evil eye
      Free Gambling Luck Spell Archive: lucky gambling spells for the lottery, casinos, and races