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To: alt.magick.moderated,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.divination,alt.magick.order
From: tyagi@hollyfeld.org (nigris (333))
Subject: The Qabalah
Date: 16 Nov 1996 23:51:12 -0800

49961008 AA1  Hail Satan!


rjc@plaza.ds.adp.com (Rick Crowell):
#I have seen many books about the Cabala (such as 777) but I have never
#seen the Cabala itself.   

usually it is heard or conceptualized, not seen in a strict sense.  the
book _777_ is a composite of Qabalistic information, inclusive of a table
of correspondences ('777' proper) begun by Knorr von Rosenroth, continued
by Aleister Crowley in an attempt to mesh global conceptualizations and
language to a numeric tridecameter centered in Hebrew letters and 
numbers (together totally 32 in number), which are heavily featured in 
any system, some favoring Hebrew, some other languages/cultures.


#Does it exist as a book? 

there are books called things like 'The Cabala' (various spellings).
some will claim that their particularly favored book constitutes the
entirety of the Cabala, though others would dispute this and there 
are Jewish and Hermetic traditions which appear to contradict this.

 
#I looked up the word Cabala in a dictionary and found the following
#defintion: An occult theosophy of rabbinical origin, widely transmitted
#in medieval Europe, based on an esoteric interpretation of the Hebrew
#Scriptures.  

not detailed but respectable.


#This isn't clear if it's an actual book or not.  

usually it is not, though it does have to do with particular books within
the traditions of its manifestation, and it may participate within the
unusual notion that the cosmos is such a Book.


#If it is a book then who wrote it and when? 

I'm not the ceremonialist on this list.  you ought to get more detailed
answers from those who are Hebrew-fanatics (which I am not).  when seeking
information about the Cabala, try books like 'The Sephir Yetzirah', 'The
Zohar', books by Isaac Luria, Halevi and Scholem for starters.  this is
in part what is valued within the Kabbalah or Jewish mystical tradition
("rabbinical").  beyond this, you may find books by Dion Fortune ('The
Mystical Qabalah') and other Hermetics like Regardie ('A Garden of
Pomegranates') or Frater Achad (Jones; various, ask Sr. Lillyth)  to 
be valuable.  this is what is popular in the Qabalah or Hermetic-
Christian mystical tradition ("theosophic").

the first books I mentioned are ascribed historical authors by some, but 
their origins are in dispute.  the timing someone can pin down who knows
the texts better than I.


#If it's not a book then what is it.  

some say that the Cabala is a kind of interpretation of the events around
one in terms of their spoken significance to the divine ('Logos').  see
the concept within Crowley and others on the 'Oath of the Abyss' for more, 
as well as letters within _Magick Without Tears_ referencing 'qabalah' for 
more liberal interpretations of the term.

literally it translates as 'spoken instruction' or 'tradition' or something.


#When someone studies the Cabala what is it they are studying.

usually when people say this they are studying the over-popularized 
ideas of people like Luria, or learning Hebrew letters or learning
the Golden Dawnian symbol-associations within what they are told is
'the Tree of Life' (a symbolic schematic which refers to something
beyond illustration and may have many different configurations
despite the dogma promoted within vulgar occult hack-houses).

some relate this tree to hidden worlds, some to systems or hoardings
of esoteric wisdom supposed secreted on 'other planes', some their
'psychic' or 'astral body' (compare the kundalini yoga ideas), some
to the entirety of the cosmos, splayed out in a multitude of symbols
for our rational minds to grasp hold of.  often we may hear people
speak of 'categorizing all known phenomena within the file system
of the Tree of Life' so as to come to comprehend the Word (of God).

others see these things as metaphors only to direct experience, and
that studying the Tree of Life (however it be constructed) is like
looking at a map of one's ideal life pattern.  orienting with respect
to that map and moving about or following through with some posited
'progression' (often enacting mythic mimicry of popular formulae)
may become the goal or 'working' or 'study'.

sometimes this involves visualization and presuming a specific
sequence of symbolic association which one may encounter in the
'astral' (imagination) realm.  some people even believe that 
experiences and revelation gained within such ritual visualizations
can 'mature their soul' or 'enhance their wisdom'.  others go
further in asserting that the instructions or reflection (what I
would call 'divination') gained through this process must be 
applied or 'grounded' in the world of the material (sometimes 
called 'Malkuth' in QBL studies).

most who make the claim are just throwing around words which we
do not understand in order to sound important and impress our
friends.  seldom are the oft-potent tools we have discovered or
stolen truly benefit us in any long-term way.

also see:	ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Web/Amgkfaq/qblref

		the alt.magick QBL REF ("Kabbalah FAQ")

blessed beast!

E6/6/6

nigris (333)
-- 
see http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/nagasiva.html  and  call: 408/2-666-SLUG!!!
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