tradition. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for
movements.
.
, non-Christian, or anti-Christian across its different schools in the modern era. It draws on a great many influences, most notably:
. Hermetic Qabalah differs from the Jewish form in being a more admittedly
A primary concern of Hermetic Qabalah is the nature of divinity, its conception of which is quite markedly different from that presented in
monotheistic religions; in particular there is not the strict separation between divinity and humankind which is seen in monotheisms.
[2] Hermetic Qabalah holds to the neoplatonic conception that the manifest universe, of which material creation is a part, arose as a series of emanations from the godhead.
[3]
These emanations arise out of three preliminary states that are considered to precede manifestation. The first is a state of complete nullity, known as
Ain (אין "nothing"); the second state, considered a "concentration" of
Ain, is
Ain Suph (אין סוף "without limit, infinite"); the third state, caused by a "movement" of
Ain Suph, is
Ain Suph Aur (אין סוף אור "limitless light"), and it is from this initial brilliance that the first emanation of creation originates.
[4]
The Sephiroth in Hermetic Qabalah
Main article:
Tree of life (Kabbalah)
The emanations of creation arising from
Ain Suph Aur are ten in number, and are called
Sephiroth (סְפִירוֹת, singular Sephirah סְפִירָה, "enumeration"). These are conceptualised somewhat differently in Hermetic Qabalah to the way they are in
Jewish Kabbalah.
[5] See
Tree of life (Kabbalah) for the Hermetic conceptualisation, and
Sephirot for the Jewish conceptualisation.
From Ain Suph Aur crystallises Kether, the first sephirah of the Hermetic Qabalistic tree of life. From Kether emanate the rest of the sephirot in turn, viz. Kether (1), Chokhmah (2), Binah (3), Daath, Chesed (4), Geburah (5), Tiphareth (6), Netzach (7), Hod (8), Yesod (9), Malkuth (10). Daath is not assigned a number as it is considered part of Binah or a hidden sephirah.
[6]
Each sephirah is considered to be an emanation of the divine energy (often described as 'the divine light') which ever flows from the unmanifest, through Kether into manifestation.
[7] This flow of light is indicated by the lightning flash shown on diagrams of the sephirotic tree which passes through each sephirah in turn according to their enumerations.
Each sephirah is a nexus of divine energy and each has a number of attributions. These attributions enable the Qabalist to form a comprehension of each particular sephirah's characteristics. This manner of applying many attributions to each sephirah is an exemplar of the diverse nature of Hermetic Qabalah. For example the sephirah Hod has the attributions of; Glory, perfect intelligence, the eights of the tarot deck, the planet Mercury, the Egyptian god Thoth, the archangel Michael, the Roman god Mercury and the alchemical element Mercury.
[8][9] The general principle involved is that the Qabalist will meditate on all these attributions and by this means acquire an understanding of the character of the sephirah including all its correspondences.
Tarot and the Tree of Life
Hermetic Qabalists see the cards of the
tarot as keys to the Tree of Life. The 22 cards including the twenty-one Trumps plus the Fool or Zero card are often called the "
Major Arcana" or "Greater Mysteries" and are seen as corresponding to the twenty-two
Hebrew letters and the twenty-two paths of the Tree; the ace to ten in each suit correspond to the ten Sephiroth in the four Qabalistic worlds; and the sixteen court cards relate to the
classical elements in the four worlds.
[10][11][12] While the sephiroth describe the nature of divinty, the paths between them describe ways of knowing God.
[13]
Relation to Western Magic, Alchemy and Astrology
History
Hermetic views of Qabalah origins
Traditionalist Judaic views of
Kabbalah's origins view it as an inherent development from within the Jewish religion, perhaps expressed through
syncretic terminology from Medieval Jewish
Neoplatonism. Contemporary academics of Jewish mysticism have reassessed
Gershom Scholem's theory that the new doctrine of Medieval Kabbalah assimilated an earlier Jewish version of
Gnosticism;
[14] Moshe Idel instead has posited a historical continuity of development from early Jewish mysticism.
[15] In contrast, Hermeticists have taken different views of Qabalah's origins. Some authors see the origins of Qabalah not in Semitic/Jewish mysticism, or ancient Egyptian Gnosticism, but in a western tradition originating in classical Greece with Indo-European cultural roots, later adopted by Jewish mystics.
[16]
According to this view, "Hermetic Qabalah" would be the original Qabalah, even though the word itself is Judaic Hebrew, over the
Christian Cabalah or the
Jewish Kabbalah: Alongside the historical process of Christian conversion from
paganism, Jewish mystical circles would have been able to incorporate
gematria and the
Tree of life to their own concepts and fully monotheistic framework, without being suspect. Christians, in contrast, would have been persecuted for the same process, as it would have been similar to their pre-Christian polytheistic
panentheism. With the Renaissance, this wisdom would have been relearned by Christianity from Judaism.
Renaissance occultism
Jewish Kabbalah was absorbed into the Hermetic tradition at least as early as the 15th century when
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola promoted a
syncretic world view combining
Platonism,
Neoplatonism,
Aristotelianism, Hermeticism and Kabbalah.
[17] Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), a German magician, occult writer, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist, wrote the influential
Three Books of Occult Philosophy, incorporating Kabbalah in its theory and practice of Western magic. It contributed strongly to the
Renaissance view of ritual magic's relationship with Christianity. Pico's Hermetic syncretism was further developed by
Athanasius Kircher, a Jesuit priest, hermeticist and polymath, who wrote extensively on the subject in 1652, bringing further elements such as
Orphism and
Egyptian mythology to the mix.
[18]
Enlightenment era esoteric societies
Once
Hermeticism was no longer endorsed by the Christian Church it was driven underground and a number of Hermetic brotherhoods were formed. With the Enlightenment
Age of Reason and its skepticism of mainstream religion, the tradition of exoteric-theological
Christian Cabala declined, while esoteric-occult Hermetic Qabalah flourished in the
Western mystery tradition. Non-Jewish Cabala, unlike in
Judaic Kabbalah's mainstream censure of its
magical side, became a central component of Western
occult,
magic and
divination.
Rosicrucianism and esoteric branches of
Freemasonry taught religious philosophies, Qabalah, and
divine magic in progressive steps of
initiation. Their esoteric teachings, and
secret society structure of an outer body governed by a restricted inner level of adepts, laid the format for modern esoteric organisations.
Nineteenth century magical revival
Post-Enlightenment
Romanticism encouraged societal interest in occultism, of which Hermetic Qabalistic writing was a feature.
Francis Barrett's
The Magus (1801) handbook of
ceremonial magic gained little notice until it influenced the French magical enthusiast
Eliphas Levi (1810-1875). His fanciful literary embellishments of magical
invocations presented Qabalism as synonymous with both so-called
White and so-called
Black magic. Levi's innovations included attributing the Hebrew letters to the
Tarot cards, thus formulating a link between Western magic and Jewish esotericism which has remained fundamental ever since in Western magic. Levi had a deep impact on the magic of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Through the occultists inspired by him (including
Aleister Crowley, who considered himself Levi's reincarnation) Levi is remembered as one of the key founders of the 20th century revival of magic.
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Hermetic Qabalah was developed extensively by the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,
[19] Within the Golden Dawn, the fusing of Qabalistic principles such as the ten Sephiroth with
Greek and
Egyptian deities was made more cohesive and was extended to encompass other systems such as the
Enochian system of angelic magic of
John Dee and certain Eastern (particularly
Hindu and
Buddhist) concepts, all within the structure of a
Masonic or
Rosicrucian style esoteric order.
Aleister Crowley, who passed through the Golden Dawn before going on to form his own magical orders, is the most widely known exponent of Hermetic Magic
[20] or
Magick as he preferred to spell it. Crowley's book
Liber 777 is a good illustration of the wider Hermetic approach. It is a set of tables of
correspondences relating various parts of ceremonial magic and Eastern and Western
religion to the thirty-two numbers representing the ten spheres (Sephiroth) plus the twenty-two paths of the Qabalistic
Tree of Life. The
panentheistic nature of Hermetic Qabalists is plainly evident here, as one may simply check the table to see that
Chesed (חסד "Mercy") corresponds to
Jupiter,
Isis, the colour blue (on the Queen Scale),
Poseidon,
Brahma, and
amethyst.
After the Golden Dawn
Many of the Golden Dawn's rituals were published by Crowley, altered in various ways to align them with his own
New Aeon magickal approach.
Israel Regardie eventually compiled the more traditional forms of these rituals and published them in book form.
[21]
Dion Fortune, an initiate of
Alpha et Omega (an offshoot of the Golden Dawn), who went on to found the
Fraternity of the Inner Light wrote the seminal book
The Mystical Qabalah, widely considered one of the best general introductions to modern Hermetic Qabalah.
[22][23]
Paul Foster Case (1884–1954) was an American occultist and author of influential books on occult tarot and Qabalah. He founded the
Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A) mystery school, rooted in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Masonic blue lodge system, later extended by
Ann Davies. B.O.T.A. teaches esoteric psychology, occult tarot, Hermetic Qabalah, astrology, and meditation.
Pat Zalewski is a student of
Jack Taylor, who was in turn a student of
Robert Felkin's Golden Dawn school, as taught in New Zealand after Felkin emigrated there. Zalewski has published numerous on Hermetic Qabalah and the Golden Dawn tradition.
Samael Aun Weor has written many significant works that discuss Kabbalah within many religions, such as the Egyptian, Pagan, and Central American religions, which is summarized in his work
The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of Tarot and Kabbalah.
See also
Practices:
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