What is Kabbalah, Kabbalah or Qabbalah
Kabbalah (originally Qabbalah, or Kabbalah, from the Hebrew קבלה ) meaning "received doctrine") is a system of knowledge and reading that is strongly linked to the main esoteric experiences of human history: magic, gnosis, Orphism, occultism... even entire philosophies and religions are centered on Kabbalah .
However, a distinction must be made between esoteric and Hermetic Kabbalah and Jewish Kabbalah : the esoteric one is syncretic and does not require any specific religious affiliation. However, it shares many principles with Jewish Kabbalah .
But it also finds inspiration in pagan religions, alchemy, astrology, ancient Roman and Egyptian traditions… It has been studied and expanded by countless magical societies, the best known of which is the Golden Dawn .
To explain some of the fundamental concepts of Kabbalah , we'll be forced to make some brutal syntheses. This esoteric tradition is quite complex, and to sketch a comprehensible outline upon first reading, we'll have to be a little superficial.
Let's start with the highest and most supreme concept: the divine. The separation between God and Man, between Spirit and Matter, in this tradition is much more subtle than in monotheistic religions.
God went through several stages before creating the universe: both physical and spiritual. The first of these was complete nothingness, called Ein;
Then came a second stage, called Ein Soph, which is a kind of concentration of the previous state, and finally God became Ein Soph Or, or unlimited light.
From this final stage, everything existing on the various planes of existence arose. For, according to this type of knowledge, there are different worlds, of which ours, the physical, is only the lowest.
Ein Soph Or, or Ain Suph Aur, then expressed itself through ten emanations, which are called Sephiroth . Each of them possesses a whole series of peculiar characteristics and a specific function.
The highest of these is Kether, from which the other nine Sephirot will emanate. Kether is the manifestation of the Unmanifest: of God. Of the Boundless Light.
The second Sephirot is Chokhmah, the third is Binah, the fourth is Chessed, the fifth is Gevurah, the sixth is Tiferet, the seventh is Nezach, the eighth is Hod, the nineth is Yesod, and the tenth is Malkuth. There is also a suggestion of an eleventh Sephirot , Daat, which is unnumbered and considered hidden.
The Sephirot form a tree, called the Tree of Life, whose components and connections represent the supporting structure of the Existent.
Divine light flows between the Sephirot through the channels that connect them and reaches the material world, the physical world. An example of the characteristics of God's emanations can be found in the eighth emanation: Hod.
Hod is linked to glory and perfect intelligence, to the Egyptian God Toth, to the Archangel Michael, to Mercury and corresponds to the number eight in the tarot deck.
Thus, each Sephirah, the singular of Sephirot , has specific characteristics that characterize it and make it necessary in the structure of the Tree of Life. To better understand this complex concept, let's begin by briefly discussing the other emanations.
We have already spoken of Kether, it represents “The Crown”, the first Will, the Divine nothingness that manifests itself.
Chokhmah is Wisdom, the Beginning, the Starting Point, the First discernible Aspect of God, the Masculine Principle of God, the Higher Father who fertilizes the subsequent Sephirah.
Binah is Understanding, the Feminine Principle of God, the Womb from which all other Divine and Earthly Life derives.
Chessed stands for Benevolence, Clemency, Mercy, Love.
Ghevurah is Power, Fear, Justice, Rigor, Judgment.
Tiferet is Beauty, Compassion, the Harmonizing Principle, Glory.
Nezach is Eternity, persistence, Victory, the Righteous.
We have already spoken about Hod but to summarize it is linked to Glory, Majesty, Royalty, and Justice.
Yesod is the Foundation, the Righteous.
Malkuth is the Kingdom, the Presence, and is the last Sephirah, the only receptive one.
In the extremely symbolic diagram called the Tree of Life, made up of the Sephirot and the connections between them, it is possible to notice various aspects.
The Sephirot are arranged in three parallel rows: three "pillars" on the left, three on the right, and four in the center. The 22 channels connecting them are each represented by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Each row of Sephirot corresponds to a path back to God: the one on the right is that of Love or Grace, the one on the left is the path of Strength or Severity, and the one in the center is that of Compassion.
The central path is also called the "royal" path because it mediates between opposites. In fact, if we remove the central row, we could obtain the biblical Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Also note that the right side is the male side, while the left column is the female side. Remember that male and female are not to be understood in the biological sense of the term, but rather symbolically.
This type of tradition is connected to such an infinite variety of topics that it's difficult to cover it all in one article. For example, the Tree of Life is also connected to the Major Arcana of the Tarot.
Esoteric Kabbalah is a true, vast language, capable of depicting the worlds of Existence, which according to this tradition are five, and of describing their supporting structure.
We will undoubtedly return to this interesting topic in future articles, with the clear intention of going a little deeper, building on the foundations defined in this first article.