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To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.divination,alt.thelema,alt.occult,talk.religion.misc
From: jake@kiblah.demon.co.uk (jake stratton-kent)
Subject: EQ Glossary
Date: 7 Jan 1999 22:39:07 -0800

tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (hara):
>#> but why call it 'English Qaballa'?  why use the word 'Qaballa' at
>#> all rather than coming up with a different name for it which will
>#> avoid confusing cultural mystical identifications?

93

let's 'define our terms' - here is what I mean by the term Qabalah etc.

Glossary

Astrology (Astro-Qaballa): ritual language and symbolic structure based
on the exterior order of the heavens and various analogies with the
human body. Almost every major tradition of antiquity can be understood
only by reference to astrology. The esoteric sense of the astrological
symbolism is of far greater significance than the 'divinatory'
applications. Ritual timing need not pre-suppose a causal relation
between planetary movements and terrestrial events. 

Caballa: Generally denotes the Renaissance adaptation of the Hebrew
system; the 'Christian Caballa' of Mirandola and Agrippa.

Chaos Magick: An important modern occult school emphasising magical
technique and influenced strongly by Crowley and Spare. Not to be
omitted by students seeking 'living' schools in which to acquire and
hone their skills.

Cult: a) Religious grouping and their methodology. b) The elements of
magick which involve devotional methods common to Ceremonial Magick,
Tantra and Bhakti Yoga. Also the use of particular personifications of
archetypes for magical or mystical purposes. The use of prayer and
formulae in such activities as consecrating the instruments and
materials for a given ritual are examples of cultic methodology. The
existence of a coherent and flexible archetypal symbolism in an occult
tradition, whereby such cult elements may be usefully retained and a
personal ritual language developed should be welcomed. It would be
unwise to abandon scepticism and critical appraisal in favour of crude
'faith' in such symbols and personifications, but it is equally unwise
to consider these elements unhelpful or indicative of dogmatism. See
syncretism.

Enochian: the magical system of John Dee, intended to supersede the
Hebrew system.

Gematria: the method of converting words into numbers by number-letter
equivalence. In modern use this term is borrowed from the Hebrews, who
borrowed it from the Greeks. The method is far older than the Kabbalah
and there is no good reason to suppose it originated in connection with
the Hebrew language. The term alphanumerics is a reasonable modern
equivalent without inferred cultural bias.

Gnosticism: A religious tradition advocating Gnosis (or spiritual
knowledge) as superior to Faith, a major opponent of early Christianity,
of which it is the true form.

Grimoire Tradition: The medieval grimoires are ceremonial manuals with a
strong emphasis on invocation and evocation. The methods include
elaborate ceremonial and prayer alongside fasting, sleep deprivation,
periods of celibacy and so on. The use of religious ceremonial may be
ascribed to superstition, deliberate blasphemy or what one pleases;
essentially however it forms an important element of the technique
however we may choose to analyse its use outside of their real context.
Strongly influenced by Kabbalah and Gnosticism.

Kabbalah: The Hebrew system of alpha-numeric mysticism &c which deeply
influenced Western occultism from the Middle Ages up to the nineteenth
century 'Occult Revival'. Not identical to earlier forms of Jewish
mysticism which have often been confused with it, Kabbalah represents a
reinfusion of Gnostic and Neoplatonist ideas into European culture. 

Magick: Occult means of participation in the processes of change and
chance. A combination of psycho-spiritual techniques and the
manipulation of consciousness through symbols. An experiential and
individualistic system, the combination of Sceptical and Cultic elements
is essential if seemingly paradoxical. Attempts to accommodate Magick to
a Scientific (parapsychological) or Religious (miraculous)  perspective
are only effective as camouflage or propaganda.

Mantra: A tantric term indicating a verbal or mental chant devised
according to the alphabetical symbolism of the Sanskrit language. By
extension any phrase or word repeated as a concentration aid or for
magical purposes etc. Alpha-numerical ideas are frequently associated
with Sanskrit and other mantras.

Merkabah: Literally 'Chariot', a major system of Jewish Gnosticism, with
an established connection to the prophetic tradition. Linear descent
from this tradition to the medieval Kabbalah is sustainable only as a
myth or metaphor, however they have elements in common despite this
difficulty.

Qabalah: a) Denotes the nineteenth century Hermetic revision of the
Christian Cabala. Insofar as it has no relation to any sacred text it is
to a large extent not a Cabala at all but a complex system of
correspondences relying on obsolete religious forms. b) a generic term
with no necessary link to the Hebrew system, representing instead the
use of an alpha-numeric cosmological model to generate a ritual
language. 

Qaballa: This spelling ALWAYS refers to the English Qaballa; the
spelling, structure and gematria of the word are not arbitrary but
deliberate. It has been objected by traditionalists that, with no
specifically Hebraic content, English Qaballa should go under a
different name. However, since the Hermetic Qabalah is so far distinct
from the Hebrew Kabbalah as to render the retention of the Hebrew
elements anachronistic or at least unnecessary, such objections tend to
rebound on their authors. 

Syncretism: Syncretism endeavours to unify or reconcile differing
religious and mystical systems. Gnosticism and Neo-Platonism were
notable syncretic movements paralleled in more recent times by
Theosophy; similarly 'The Golden Dawn synthesis' and Crowley's extension
of it are syncretist. The true unity is not in ideology but in method.
There is thus no necessary incompatibility between the so-called
'pragmatic' and 'dogmatic' (sic) schools of modern magick.
Tantra: a) System of attainment involving sexual technique, alphabet
mysticism (mantra) and astrological symbolism. 'The Qabalah of the
Indians'. b) A book of this tradition is called a Tantra.

Taoism: Important Chinese school of mysticism and magick. Medieval and
Renaissance ideas of Alchemy were strongly influenced by Taoism, and
there are striking parallels between this ancient philosophy and the
ideas of Crowley and Spare. Taoism as a broad tradition rather than a
philosophy contains elements of shamanism, sexual magic, complex
ceremonial, divination, astrology and alchemy &c. There are striking
correspondences between Taoist occultism and certain elements of
'Qabalah'. A prime example is in the structure of the Yi King, which
derives from the linear symbols of the Yin and Yang (2 lines), which are
first combined into four double combinations (8 lines), and thence into
eight 'trigram' combinations (24 lines) and from thence to 64 'hexagram'
combinations (384 lines). 2+8+24+384=418. Still more striking is the
similarity between the diagram of the 'Supreme Pole' and the Kabbalistic
Tree of Life.

Thelema: The most important modern school of occultism originating with
Aleister Crowley; as a forward looking 'synthesis' it exceeds the Golden
Dawn in scope and its sceptical methodology is paralleled rather than
improved on by the more recent Chaos Magick. 

Yantra: cosmological diagram or symbol of the Tantric tradition. The
most important is the Sri Yantra, as significant to that tradition as
the Tree of Life is to the Qabalah.

JSK.

The Gnostic Alchemical Church of Typhon-Christ

http://members.aol.com/kiblah1/index.html
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-- 
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http://www.abyss.com/tokus; http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocatSPELLS.html