From the initial letters of this name, this theosophic system is also denominated Grace. Vague and indefinite as this name may seem to the uninitiated, inasmuch as it conveys no idea whatever of the peculiar doctrines of the system, but simply indicates the manner in which they have been transmitted, it is nevertheless the classical and acknowledged appellation of this theosophy.

The difference between the word Kabbalah (reception) and the cognate term Massorah (tradition, from to transmit) which denotes the traditionally transmitted various readings of the Hebrew Scriptures, is, that the former expresses the act of receiving, which in this technical sense could only be on the part of one who has reached a certain period of life, as well as a certain state of sanctity, implying also a degree of secrecy; whilst the latter signifies the act of giving over, surrendering, without premising any peculiar age, stage of holiness, or degree of secrecy. The name, therefore, tells us no more than that this theosophy has been received traditionally. To ascertain its tenets we must analyze the system itself or the books which propound it; and to this task we now betake ourselves.

The Cardinal Doctrines of The Kabbalah (Cabala)

The cardinal doctrines of the Kabbalah are mainly designed to solve the grand problems about (1) the nature of the Supreme Being, (2) The cosmogony, (3) The creation of angels and man, (4) The destiny of man and the universe, and (5) To point out the import of the Revealed Law.

Assenting and consenting to the declarations of the Hebrew Scriptures about the unit of God, (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronom 4:35‑39; 6:4; 32:39)  his incorporation, (Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 4:15; Psalm 14:18)  eternity, (Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy 32:40; Isaiah 41:4; 43:10; 44:6; 48:12) immutability, (Malachi 3:6)  perfection, (Deuteronomy 32:4; 2 Samuel 22:31; Job 38:16; Psalm 18:31) infinite goodness, (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 25:10; 33:5; 100:5; 145:9) the creation of the world in time according to God's free will, (Genesis 1:1) the moral government of the universe and special providence, and to the creation of man in the image of God, (Genesis 1:27) the Kabbalah seeks to explain the transition from the infinite to the finite; the procedure of multifariousness from an absolute unity, and of matter from a pure intelligence; the operation of pure intelligence upon matter, in spite of the infinite gulf between them; the relationship of the Creator to the creature, so as to be able to exercise supervision and providence.

It, moreover, endeavors to show how it is that the Bible gives names and assigns attributes and a form to so spiritual a Being; how the existence of evil is compatible with the infinite goodness of God, and what is the Divine intention about this creation.

In our analysis of the Kabbalistic doctrines on these grand problems, we shall follow the order in which they have been enumerated, and accordingly begin with the lucubrations on the Supreme Being and the Emanations.

                                The Sephiroth

1). The Supreme Being and the doctrine and classification of the Emanations, or Sephiroth.

Being boundless in his nature, which necessarily implies that hie is an absolute unity and inscrutable, and that there is nothing without him, or that the ròπâv is in him, God is called En Soph == äπeipoç Endless, Boundless.

In this boundlessness, or as the En Soph, he cannot be comprehended by the intellect, nor described in words, for there is nothing which can grasp and depict him to us, and as such he is, in a certain sense, not existence, because, as far as our minds are concerned, that which is perfectly incomprehensible does not exit.

To make his existence perceptible, and to render himself comprehensible, the En Soph, or the Boundless, had to become active and creative. But the EN SOPH CANNOT BE THE DIRECT CREATOR, FOR HE HAS NEITHER WILL, INTENTION, DESIRE, THOUGHT, LANGUAGE, NOR ACTION, as these properties imply limit and belong to finite beings, WHEREAS THE EN SOPH IS BOUNDLESS.

Besides, the imperfect and circumscribed nature of the creation precludes the idea that the world was created or even designed by him, WHO CAN HAVE NO WILL NOR PRODUCE ANYTHING but what is like himself, boundless and perfect.

On the other hand, again, the beautiful design displayed in the mechanism, the regular order manifested in the preservation, destruction, and renewal of things, forbid us to regard this world as the offspring of chance, and constrain us to recognize therein an intelligent design.

[Yet] WE ARE, THEREFORE, COMPELLED TO VIEW THE EN SOPH AS THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD IN AN INDIRECT MANNER. Now, the medium by which the En Soph made his existence known in the creation of the world are ten Sephiroth or intelligences, which emanated from the Boundless One in the following manner:

At first the En Soph, or the Aged of the Aged or the Holy Aged, as he is alternately called, sent forth from his infinite light one spiritual substance or intelligence. This first Sephira, which existed in the En Soph from all eternity, and became a reality by a mere act, has no less than seven appellations. It is called:

(1) The Crown, because it occupies the highest position;

(2) The Aged, because it is the oldest or the first emanation, and this name must not be confounded with the Aged of the Aged, which as we have seen, is the appellation of the En Soph;

(3) The Primordial Point, or the Smooth Point, because, as the Sohar tells us,

"When the Concealed of the Concealed wished to reveal himself, he first made a single point: the Infinite was entirely unknown, and diffused no light before this luminous point violently broke through into vision;" (Sohar, 1, 15a)

(4) The White Head;

(5) The Long Face, Macroprosopon, because the whole ten Sephiroth represent the Primordial or the Heavenly Man, of which the first Sephira is the head;

(6) The Inscrutable Height, because it is the highest of all the Sephiroth proceeding immediately from the En Soph. Hence, on the passage,

"Go forth, O ye da­ug­h­t­ers of  Zion, and behold the King of Peace with the Crown!" (Song of Solomon 3:2)

The Sohar remarks,

"But who can behold the King of Peace, seeing that He is incomprehensible, even to the heavenly hosts? But he who sees the Crown sees the glory of the King of Peace." (Sohar 2. 100b)

And,

(7) It is expressed in the Bible by the Divine name Ehejeh, or I Am, (Exodus 3:4) because it is absolute being, representing the Infinite as distinguished from the finite, and in the angelic order, by the celestial beasts of Ezekiel, called Chajoth.

The first Sephira contained the other nine Sephiroth, and gave rise to them in the following order: At first a masculine or active potency, designated Wisdom, proceeded from it.

This Sephira, which among the divine names is represented by Jah, (Isaiah 26:4) and among the angelic hosts by Ophanim (Wheels), sent forth an opposite, feminine or passive, potency, denominated Intelligence, which is represented by the divine name Jehovah, and angelic name Arelim, and it is from a union of those two Sephiroth, which are also called Father and Mother, that the remaining seven Sephiroth proceeded.

Or, as the Sohar (3, 290a) expresses it, "When the Holy Aged, the Concealed of all Concealed, assumed a form, he produced everything in the form of male and female, as the things could not continue in any other form.

Hence Wisdom, which is the beginning of development, when it proceeded from the Holy Aged, emanated in male and female, for Wisdom expanded, and Intelligence proceeded from it, and thus obtained male and female vis., Wisdom, the father, and Intelligence, the mother, from whose union the other pairs of Sephiroth successively emanated. These two opposite potencies vis., Wisdom and Intelligence are joined together by the first potency, the Crown; thus yielding the first triad of the Sephiroth. From the junction of the foregoing opposites emanated again the masculine or active potency, denominated Mercy or Love, also called Greatness, the fourth Sephira, which among the divine names is represented by El, and among the angelic hosts by Chashmalin. (com. Ezekiel 1:4)

From this again emanated the feminine or passive potency, Justice, also called Judicial Power, the fifth Sephira, which is represented by the divine name Eloha, and among the angels by Seraphim; (Isaiah 6:6) and from this again the uniting potency, Beauty or Mildness, the sixth Sephira, represented by the divine name Elohim, and among the angels by Shinanim. (Psalm 68:18) 

Since without this union the exis­tence of things would not be possible, inasmuch as mercy not tempered with jus­tice, and justice not tempered with mercy would be unendur­able: and thus the second trinity of the Sephiroth is ob­tained. The medium of union of the second trinity, Beauty, the sixth Sephira, beamed forth the masculine or active potency, Firm­ness, the seventh Sephira, corresponding to the divine name Jehovah Sabaoth, and among the angels to Tarsh­ishim; (Daniel 10:6) this again gave rise to the feminine or passive potency, Splendour, the eighth Sephira, to which answer the divine name Elohim Sabaoth, and among the angels Benei Elohim; (Genesis 6:4) and from it again, emanated Foundation or the Basis, the ninth Sephira, represented by the divine name El Chai, and among the angelic hosts by Ishim, (Psalm 104:4) which is the uniting point  between these two opposites, th­us yielding the third trinity of Sephiroth.

From the ninth Sephira, the Basis of all, emanated the tenth, called Kingdom, and Shechinah, which is represented by the divine name Adonai, and among the angelic hosts by Cherubim. The table on the opposite page exhibits the different names of the Sephiroth, together with the several names of God and the angels, which correspond to them.

From this representation of each triad, as consisting of a threefold principle, viz., the two opposites, masculine and feminine, and the uniting principle, the development of the Sephiroth, and of life generally, is symbolically called the Balance, because the two opposite sexes, are compared with the two opposite scales, and the uniting Sephira is compared with the beam which joins the scales, and indicates its equipoise.

Before we enter into further particulars about the nature, operation, and classification of these Sephiroth, we shall give the Sohar's speculations about the Supreme Being, and its account of the origin of the Sephiroth, and their relationship to the Deity. The prophet Elias having learned in the heavenly college the profound mystery and true import of the words in Isaiah 40:25‑26,

“'To whom will ye like me, and shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things,”revealed to R. Simon b. Jochai that God in his absolute nature is unknown and incompre­hensible, and hence, in a certain sense, non‑existent; that this Who (unknown subject) had to become active and creative, to demonstrate his existence, and that it is only by these works of creation that he made himself known to us. It is therefore the combination of the unknown Who with these visible works that showed him to be God (which is produced by transposed, and united with).

“Or, as it is in the language of the Kabbalah; 'Before he gave any shape to this world, before he produced any form, he was alone, without a form and resemblance to anything else. Who then can comprehend him how he was before the creation, since he was formless? Hence it is forbidden to represent him by any form, similitude, or even by his sacred name, by a single letter or a single point; and to this the words 'Ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you (Deuteronomy 4:15) ye have not seen anything which you could represent by any form or likeness refer. But after he created the form of the Heavenly Man, he used it as a chariot wherein to descend, and wishes to be called by this form, which is the sacred name Jehovah.’

“He wishes to be known by his attributes, and each attribute separately; and therefore had himself called the God of Mercy, the God of Justice, Almighty, God of Sabaoth, and the Being. He wishes thereby to make known his nature, and that we should see how his mercy and compassion extend both to the world and to all operations. For if he had not poured out his light upon all his creatures, how could we ever have known him? How could the words be fulfilled, 'The whole earth is full of his glory'? (Isaiah 6:3)

“Woe be to him who compares him with his own attributes! or still worse with the son of man whose foundation is in the dust, who vanishes and is no more! Hence, the form in which we delineate him simply describes each time his dominion over a certain attribute, or over the creatures generally. We ca­n­not unde­r­st­and more of his nature than the attribute expresses.

“Hence, when he is divested of all these things, he has neither any attribute nor any similitude or form. The form in which he is generally depicted is to be compared to a very expansive sea; for the waters of the sea are in themselves without a limit or form, and it is only when they spread themselves upon the earth that they assume a form. We can now make the following calculation: the sources of the sea's water and the water stream proceeding there from to spread itself are two.

“A great reservoir is then formed, just as if a huge hollow had been dug; this reservoir is called sea, and is the third. The unfathomable deep divides itself into seven streams, resembling seven long vessels. The source, the water stream, the sea and the seven streams make together ten. And when the master breaks the vessels which he has made, the waters return to the source, and then only remain the pieces of these vessels, dried up and without any water. It is in this way that the Cause of Causes gave rise to the ten Sephiroth.

“The Crown is the source from which streams forth an infinite light: hence the name En Soph == infinite, by which the highest cause is designated: for it then had neither form nor shape, and there is neither any means whereby to comprehend it, nor a way by which to know it. Hence it is written, 'Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee, neither search the things that are above they strength.' 

“He then made a vessel, as small as a point, like the latter, which is filled from this source (the En Soph). This is the source of wisdom, wisdom itself, after which the Supreme Cause is called 'wise God.' Upon this he made a large vessel like a sea, which is called Intelligence: hence the name 'intelligent God.'

“It must, however, be remarked that God is wise, and through himself, for wisdom does not derive its name through itself, but through the wise one who fills it with the light which flows from him, just as intelligence is not comprehended through itself, but through him who is intelligent and fills it with his own substance. God needs only to withdraw himself and it would be dried up. This is also the meaning of the words, 'the waters have disappeared from the sea, and the bed is dry and parched up.' (Job 14:11)

“The sea is finally divided into seven streams, and the seven costly vessels are produced, which are called Greatness, Judicial Strength, Beauty, Firmness, Splendour, Foundation, and Kingdom.

“Therefore is he called the Great or the Merciful, the Mighty, the Glorious, the God of victory, the Creator, to whom all praise is due, and the Foundation of all things. Upon the last attribute all the others are based a well as the world.

“Finally, he is also the King of the universe, for every­thing is in his power; he can diminish the number of the ves­sels, and increase in them the light which streams from them, or reduce it, just as it pleases him." (Sohar, i, 42b, 43a)

In another place again the same authority gives the following description of the Deity and the emanation of the Sephiroth. The Aged of the Aged, the Unknown of the Unknown, has a form and yet HAS NO FORM. HE HAS A FORM WHEREBY THE UNIVERSE IS PRESERVED, AND YET HAS NOT FORM BECAUSE HE [God] CANNOT BE COMPREHENDED. When he first assumed the form [of the first Sephira], he caused nine splendid lights to emanate from it, which, shining through it, diffused a bright light in all directions.  

Imagine an elevated light sending forth its rays in all directions. Now if we approach it to examine the rays, we understand no more than that they emanate from the said light. So is the Holy Aged an absolute light, but in himself concealed and incomprehensible.

We can only comprehend him through those luminous emanations which again are partly visible and partly concealed. These constitute the sacred name of God. (Idra Suta, Sohar, iii, 288a)

Four things must be born in mind with regard to the Sephiroth.

(1). That they were not created by, but emanated (from, the En Soph; the difference between creation and emanation being, that in the former a diminution of strength takes place, whilst in the latter this is not the case.

(2). That they form among themselves, and with the En Soph, a strict unity, and simply represent different aspects of one and the same being, just as the different rays which proceed from the light, and which appear different things to the eye, form only different manifestations of one and the same light.

(3). That since they simply differ from each other as the different colors of the same light, all the ten emanations alike partake of the perfections of the En Soph; and,

(4). That, as emanations from the Infinite, the Sephiroth are infinite and perfect like  the En Soph, and yet constitute the first finite things. They are infinite and perfect when the En Soph imparts his fullness to them, so that in this respect these ten Sephiroth exactly correspond to the double nature of Christ, his finite and imperfect human nature and his infinite and perfect divine nature.

In their totality and unity These ten Sephiroth are not only denominated the world of Sephiroth and the world of Emanations, but represent and are called the Primordial or Archetypal Man, and the Heavenly Man. In the future, the Crown is the head; Wisdom, the brains; and Intelligence, which united the two and produces the first triad, is the heart or the understanding, thus forming the head.

The fourth and fifth Sephiroth, Mercy and Justice, are the two arms of the Lord, the former the right arm and the latter the left, one distributing life and the other death. And the sixth Sephira, Beauty, which united these two opposites and produces the second triad, is the chest; whilst the seventh and eighth Sephiroth, Firmness and Splendour, of the third triad, are the two legs; and Foundation, the ninth Sephira, represents the genital organs, since it denotes the basis and source of all things.

Thus it is said,

"Every thing will return to its origin just as it proceeded from it. All marrow, all sap, and all power are congregated in this spot. Hence all powers which exist originate through the genital organs." (Sohar, iii, 296a) Kingdom, the tenth Sephira, represents the harmony of the whole Archetypal Man. The following is the archetypal figure of the ten Sephiroth.

The Sephiroth The Heavenly Man

of The World of Emanations

It is this form which the prophet Ezekiel saw in the mysterious chariot, and of which the earthly man is a faint copy. Moreover, these Sephiroth, as we have already remarked, created the world and all things therein according to their own archetype or in the likeness and similitude of the Heavenly Man or the World of Emanations.

But, before we propound the Kabbalistic doctrine of the creation of the world, it is necessary to describe a second mode in which the trinity of triads in the Sephiroth is represented, and to mention the appellations and offices of the respective triads.

The Triads -- Intellectual World -- Sensuous World -- Material World

Now in looking at the Sephiroth which constitute the first triad, it will be seen that they represent the intellect; hence this triad is called the Intellectual World. The second triad, again, represents moral qualities; hence it is designated the moral or Sensuous World: whilst the third Triad represents power and stability, and hence is designated the Material World. These three aspects in which the En Soph manifested himself are called the Faces (and the two words are identical, the former being pure Aramaic, and the latter from the Greek).

In the arrangement of this trinity of triads, so as to produce what is called the Kabbalistic tree, denominated the Tree of Life, or simply the Tree, the first triad is placed above, the second and third are placed below, in such a manner that the three masculine Sephiroth are on the right, the three feminine on the left, whilst the four uniting Sephiroth occupy the center.

The three Sephiroth on the right, representing the principle of mercy, are called the Pillar of Mercy; the three on the left, representing the principle of rigor, are denominated the Pillar of Judgment; whilst the four Sephiroth in the center, representing mildness, are called the Middle Pillar. Each Sephira composing this trinity of triads is, as it were, a trinity in itself.

(1). It has it own absolute character;

(2) It receives from above; and

(3). It communicates to what is below it.

Hence the remark,

"Just as the Sacred Aged is represented by the number three, so are all the other light (Sephir­oth) of a three fold nature." (Sohar, iii, 288b)

Within this trinity in each unit and trinity of triads there is a trinity of units, which must be explained before we can propound the Kabbalistic view of the cosmogony.

We have seen that three of the Sephiroth constitute uniting links between three pairs of opposites, and by this means produce three triads, respectively denominated the Intellectual World, the Sensuous or Moral World, and the Material World, and that these three uniting Sephiroth, together with the one which unites the whole into a common unity, form what is called the Middle Pillar of the Kabbalistic tree. Now from the important position they thus occupy, these Sephiroth are synecdochically used to represent the worlds which by their uniting potency they respectively yield.

Hence the Sephira, Crown, from which the Sephiroth, Wisdom and Intelligence, emanated, and by which they are also united, thus yielding the Intellectual World, is by itself used to designate the Intellectual World. Its own names, however, are not changed in this capacity, and it still continues to be designated by the several appellations mentioned in the description of the first Sephira.

The sixth Sephira, called Beauty, which unites Sephiroth IV (Love) and V (Justice), thus yielding the Sensuous World, is by itself used to denote the Sensuous World, and in this capacity is called the Sacred King, or simply the King; whilst the Sephira called Kingdom, which unites the whole Sephiroth, is here used to represent the Material World, instead of the ninth Sephira, called Foundation, and is in this capacity denominated the Queen or the Matron. Thus we obtain within the trinity of triads a higher trinity of units, viz., the Crown, Beauty, and Kingdom, which represents the potencies of all the Sephiroth.

2). The Creation or the Kabbalistic Cosmogony.

Having arrived at the highest trinity which comprises all the Sephiroth, and which consists of the Crown, the King, and the Queen, we shall be able to enter into the cosmogony of the Kabbalah. NOW, IT IS NOT THE EN SOPH WHO CREATED THE WORLD, BUT THIS TRINITY, AS REPRESENTED IN THE COMBINATION OF THE SEPHIROTH; OR RATHER THE CREATION HAS ARISEN FROM THE CONJUNCTION OF THE EMANATIONS.

THE WORLD WAS BORN FROM THE UNION OF THE CROWNED KING AND QUEEN; OR, ACCORDING TO THE LANGUAGE OF THE KABBALAH, THESE OPPOSITE SEXES OF ROYALTY, WHO EMANATED FROM THE EN SOPH, PRODUCED THE UNIVERSE IN THEIR OWN IMAGE.

WORLDS, WE ARE TOLD, WERE INDEED CREATED BEFORE EVER THE KING AND QUEEN OR THE SEPHIROTH GAVE BIRTH TO THE PRESENT STATE OF THINGS, BUT THEY COULD NOT CONTINUE, AND NECESSARILY PERISHED, BECAUSE THE EN SOPH HAD NOT YET ASSUMED THIS HUMAN FORM IN ITS COMPLETENESS, which not only implies a moral and intellectual nature, but, as conditions of development, procreation, and continuance, also comprises sexual opposites. This creation, which aborted and which has been succeeded by the present order of things, is indicated in Genesis 36:41‑40.

THE KINGS OF EDOM, OR THE OLD KINGS AS THEY ARE ALSO DENOMINATED, WHO ARE HERE SAID TO HAVE REIGNED BEFORE THE MONARCHS OF ISRAEL, AND ARE MENTIONED AS HAVING DIED ONE AFTER THE OTHER, ARE THOSE PRIMORDIAL WORLDS WHICH WERE SUCCESSIVELY CONVULSED AND DESTROYED; whilst the sovereigns of Israel denote the King and Queen who emanated from the En Soph, and who have give birth to and perpetuate the present world.

Thus we are told:

"Before the Aged of the Aged, the Concealed of the Concealed, expanded into the form of King, the Crown of Crowns [the first Sephira], there was neither begin­ning nor end. He hewed and incised forms and figures into it [the crown] in the following manner: He spread before him a cover, and carved therein kings [worlds], and marked out their limits and forms, but they could not preserve them­selves. Therefore it is written, THESE ARE THE KINGS THAT REIGNED IN THE LAND OF EDOM BEFORE THERE REIGNED ANY KING OVER THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.' (Genesis xxxvi, 31) This refers to the primordial kings and primordial Israel. All these were imperfect: he therefore removed them and let them vanish, till he finally descended himself to this cover and assumed a form." (Idra Rabba, Sohar, iii, 148a)

The notion, however, that worlds were created and destroyed prior to the present creation, was propounded in the Midrash long before the existence of the Kabbalah.

Thus on the verse,

"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good.", (Genesis i, 31)

R. Abahu submits from this we see that the Holy One, blessed be he, had successively created and destroyed sundry worlds before he created the present world, and when he created the present world he said, this pleases me, the previous ones did not please me. (Bereshith Rabba, section or Parsha ix) 

This important fact that worlds were created and destroyed prior to the present creation is again and again reiterated in the Sohar. These worlds are compared with sparks which fly out from a red hot iron beaten by a hammer, and which are extinguished according to the distance they are removed from the burning mass.

"THERE WERE OLD WORLDS," the Sohar tells us,

"which perished as soon as they came into existence: were formless, and they were called sparks. Thus the smith when hammering the iron, lets the sparks fly in all directions. These sparks are the primordial worlds, which could not continue, because the Sacred Aged had not as yet assumed his form [of opposite sexes ‑‑ the King and Queen], and the master was not yet at his work." (Idra Suta, Sohar, iii, 292b)

But since nothing can be annihilated:

“N­ot­h­ing pe­ri­sh­eth in this world, not even the breath which issues from the mouth, for this, like everything else, has its place and destination, and the Holy One, blessed be his name! turns it into his service;" () these worlds could not be absolutely destroyed. Hence when the question is asked: 'Why were these primordial worlds destroyed?' the reply is given: 'Because the Man, represented by the ten Sephiroth, was not as yet. The human form contains everything, and as it did not as yet exist, the worlds were destroyed.'"

It is added,

"Still when it is said that they perished, it is only meant thereby that they lacked the true form, till the human form came into being, in which all things are comprised, and which also contains all those forms. Hence, though the Scripture ascribes death to the kings of Edom, it only denotes a sinking down from their dignity, the worlds up to that time did not answer to the Divine idea, since they had not as yet the perfect form of which they were capable." (Sohar, ii, 110b)

The Jews Believe God

is Both King and Queen!

It was therefore after the destruction of previous worlds, and after the En Soph or the Boundless assumed the Sephiric form, that the present world was created.

"The Holy One, blessed be he, created and destroyed several worlds before the present one was made, and when this last work was nigh completion, all the things of this world, all the creatures of the universe, in whatever age they were to exist, before ever they entered into this world, were present before God in their true form. Thus are the words of Ecclesiastes to be understood 'What was, shall be, and what has been done, shall be done.'" (Sohar, iii, 61b)

"The lower world is made after the pattern of the upper world; every thing which exists in the upper world is to be found as it were in a copy upon earth; still the whole is one." (Sohar, ii, 20a)

THIS WORLD, however, IS NOT A CREATION EX NIHILO, BUT IS SIMPLY AN IMMANENT OFFSPRING AND THE IMAGE OF THE KING AND QUEEN (Here is where Darwin got part of his theory of evolution), or, in other words, a farther expansion or evolution of the Sephiroth which are the emanations of the En Soph.

This is expressed in the Sohar in the following passage:

"The indivisible point [the Absolute], who has no limit, and who cannot be comprehended because of his purity and brightness, expanded from without, and formed a brightness which served as a covering to the indivisible point, yet it too could not be viewed in consequence of its immeasurable light. It too expanded from without, and this expansion was its garment. Thus everything originated through a constant upheaving agitation, and thus finally the world originated." (Sohar, i, 20a)

The universe therefore is an immanent emanation from the Sephiroth, and reveals and makes visible the Boundless and the concealed of the concealed. And though it exhibits the Deity in less splendor than its parents the Sephiroth, because it is further removed from the primordial source of light, yet, as it is God manifested, all the multifarious forms in the world point out the unity which they represent; and nothing in it can be destroyed, but everything must return to the source whence it emanated. Hence it is said that,

"all things of which this world consists, spirit as well as body, will return to their principal, and the root from which they proceeded." (Sohar, ii, 218b)

"He is the beginning and end of all the degrees in the creation. All these degrees are stamped with his seal, and HE CANNOT BE OTHERWISE DESCRIBED THAN BY THE UNITY. HE IS ONE, notwith-standing, THE INNUMERABLE FORMS WHICH ARE IN HIM." (Sohar, i, 21a)

The Jews Believe

in More than Thirty Gods!

Now THESE SEPHIROTH, OR THE WORLD OF EMANATIONS, OR THE ATZILATIC WORLD, GAVE BIRTH TO THREE WORLDS IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER: FROM THE CONJUNCTION [copulation] OF THE KING AND QUEEN, OR THE BRIATIC WORLD, ALSO CALLED THE THRONE, WHICH IS THE ABODE OF PURE SPIRITS, AND WHICH, LIKE ITS PARENTS, CONSISTS OF TEN SEPHIROTH, OR EMANATIONS.

The Briatic World, again, gave rise to, (2). The Word of Formation, or the Jetziratic World, which is the habitation of the angels, and also consists of ten Sephiroth; whilst the Jetziratic World, again, sent forth. (3). The World of Action, or the Assiatic World, also called the World of Keliphoth, which contains the Spheres and matter, and is the residence of the Prince of Darkness and his legions.

Or, as the Sohar describes it:

"After the Sephiroth, and for THEIR use, God made the Throne (the world of Creation), with four legs and six steps, thus making ten (the decade of Sephiroth which each world has)...For this Throne and its service he formed the ten Angelic hosts (the World of Formation), Malachim, Arelim, Chajoth, Ophanim, Chashmalim, Elim, Elohim, Benei Elohim, Ishim, and Seraphim, and for their service, again, he made Samaël and his legions (the World of Action), who are, as it were, the clouds upon which the angels ride in their descent on the earth, and serve, as it were, for their horses. Hence it is written: 'Behold the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt.'" ((Isaiah xix, 1) (Sohar ii, 43a))

THERE ARE, therefore, FOUR WORLDS, each of which has a separate Sephiric system, consisting of a decade of emanations.

(1). The Atzilatic World, called alternately the World of Emanations, the Image (== with  prefixed), and the Heavenly Man, which, by virtue of its being a direct emanation from God and most intimately allied with the Deity, is perfect and immutable.

(2). The Briatic World, called the World of Creation and the Throne which is the immediate emanation of the former, and whose ten Sephiroth, being further removed from the En Soph, are of a more limited and circumscribed potency, through the substances they comprise are of the purest nature and without any admixture of matter.

(3). The Jetziratic World, called the World of Formation and the World of Angels, which proceeded from the former world, and whose ten Sephiroth, though of a still less refined substance than the former, because further removed from the primordial source, are still without matter. It is in this angelic world where those intelligent and incorporeal beings reside, who are wrapped in a luminous garment, and who assume a sensuous form when they appear to man. And;

(4). The Assiatic World, called the World of Action and the World of Matter which emanated from the preceding world, the ten Sephiroth of which are made up of the grosser elements of all the former three worlds, and which has sunk down in consequence of its materiality and heaviness. It substances consist of matter limited by space and perceptible to the senses in a multiplicity of forms. It is subject to constant changes, generations, and corruptions, and is the abode of the Evil Spirit.

Before leaving this doctrine about the creation of the relationship of the Supreme Being to the universe, we must reiterate two things.

(1). Though the trinity of the Sephiroth gave birth to the universe, or, in other words, is an evolution of the emanations, and is thus a further expansion of the Deity itself, it must not be supposed that the Kabbalists believe in a Trinity in our sense of the word. Their view on this subject will best be understood from the following remark in the Sohar:

"Whoso wishes to have an insight into the sacred unity, let him consider a flame rising from a burning coal or a burning lamp. He will see first a twofold light, a bright white and a black or blue light; the white light is above, and ascends in a direct light, whilst the blue or dark light is below, and seems as the chair of the former, yet both are so intimately connected together that they constitute only one flame. The seat, however, formed by the blue or dark light, is again connected with the burning matter which is under it again. The white light never changes its color, it always remains white; but various shades are observed in the lower light, whilst the lowest light, moreover, takes two directions, above it is connected with the white light, and below with the burning matter. Now this is constantly consuming itself, and perpetually ascends to the upper light, and thus everything merges into a single unity.” (Sohar, i, 51a)

(2). THE CREATION, OR THE UNIVERSE, IS SIMPLY THE GARMENT OF GOD WOVEN FROM THE DEITY’S OWN SUBSTANCE; OR, AS SPINOZA EXPRESSES IT, GOD IS THE IMMANENT BASIS OF THE UNIVERSE. For although, to reveal himself to us, the Concealed of all the Concealed sent forth the TEN EMANATIONS CALLED THE FORM OF GOD, FORM OF THE HEAVENLY MAN, yet since even this luminous form was too dazzling for our vision, it had to assume another form, or had to put on another garment which consists of the universe. THE UNIVERSE, therefore, or THE VISIBLE WORLD, is a further expansion of THE DIVINE SUBSTANCE, and is called THE KABBALAH “THE GARMENT OF GOD.”

Thus we are told,

"when the Concealed of all the Concealed wanted to reveal himself, he first made a point [the first Sephira], shaped it into a sacred form [the totality of the Sephiroth], and covered it with a rich and splendid garment that is the world." (Sohar, i, 2a)

(3). The Creation of Angels and Men.

The different worlds which successively emanated from the En Soph and from each other, and which sustain the relationship to the Deity of first, second, third, and fourth generations, are, with the exception of the first (the World of Emanations), inhabited by spiritual beings of various grades.

"God animated every part of the firmament with a separate spirit, and forthwith all the heavenly hosts were before him. This is meant by the Psalmist, when he says, (Psalm xxxiii, 6) 'By the breath of his mouth were made all their hosts.'" (Sohar, iii, 68a)

These angels consist of two kinds, good and bad; they have their respective princes, and occupy the three habitable worlds in the following order. As has already been remarked, the first world, or the Archetypal Man, in whose image everything is formed, is occupied by no one else. The angel Metatron occupies the second or the Briatic World, which is the first habitable world; he alone constitutes the world of pure spirits. He is the garment of the visible manifestation of the Deity; his name is numerically equivalent to that of the Lord. (Sohar, iii, 231a)

He governs the visible world, preserves the unity, harmony, and the revolutions of all the spheres, planets and heavenly bodies, and is the Captain of the myriads of the angelic hosts who people the second habitable or the Jetziratic World, and who are divided into ten ranks, answering to the ten Sephiroth. EACH OF THESE ANGELS IS SET OVER A DIFFERENT PART OF THE UNIVERSE. ONE HAS THE CONTROL OF ONE SPHERE, ANOTHER OF ANOTHER HEAVENLY BODY; ONE ANGEL HAS CHARGE OF THE SUN, ANOTHER OF THE MOON, ANOTHER OF THE EARTH, ANOTHER OF THE SEA, ANOTHER OF THE FIRE, ANOTHER OF THE WIND, ANOTHER OF THE LIGHT, ANOTHER OF THE SEANSONS etc.,; and the question, however, about the doctrine of the Trinity in other passages of the Sohar will be discussed more amply in the sequel, where we shall point out the relation of the Kabbalah to Christianity.

The Kabbalistic description of Metatron is taken from the Jewish angelogy of a much older date than this theosophy.

Thus Ben Asai and Ben Soma already regard the divine voice, as Metatron. (Beresh. Rab., Parsha v) He is called the Great Teacher, the Teacher of Teachers, and it is for this reason that Enoch, who walked in close communion with God, and taught mankind by his holy example, is said by the Chaldee paraphrase of Jonathan b. Uzziel, to 'have received the name Metatron, the Great Teacher' after he was transplanted. (Genesis v, 24)

Metatron, moreover, is the Presence Angel, the Angel of the Lord that was sent to go before Israel; (Exodus xxiii, 21) he is the visible manifestation of the Deity, for in him is the name of the Lord, his name and that of the Deity are identical, inasmuch as they are of the same numerical value (viz.: and are the same according to the exegetical rule called Gematria, 10 + 4 + 300 = 314; 50 + 6 + 200 + 9 + 9 + 40 = 314. (See Rashi on Exodus xxiii, 21, and Sanhedrin 38b)

So exalted is Metatron's position in the ancient Jewish angelology, that we are told that when Elisha b. Abnja, also called Acher, saw this angel who occupies the first position after the Deity, he exclaimed, 'Peradventure, but far be it, THERE ARE TWO SUPREME POWERS.' (Talmud, Chagiga, 15a)

The etymology is greatly disputed; but there is no doubt that it is to be derived from metator, messenger, outrider, way maker, as has been shown by Elias Levita, and is maintained by Cassel. (Ersch und Gruber's Encyklopädie, section ii, vol.  xxvii, s.v.; Juden, p. 40, note 84)

Sachs (beiträge zur Sprachund Alterthumsforschung, vol. i, Berlin 1852, p. 108) rightly remarks that this etymology is fixed by the passage from siphra, (quoted in kaphter‑Va‑Ph­era­ch, c. x, p. 34b) the finger of God was the messenger or guide to Moses, and showed him all the land of Israel. The termination has been appended to obtain the same numerical value.

The derivation of it from the angel is immediately under the divine throne, which is maintained by Frank, (Kabbala, p. 43) Graetz (Gnosticismus, p. 44) and others, has been shown by Frankel (Zeitschrift, 1846 vol. iii, p. 113) and Cassel, (Ersch und Gruber's Encyklop. section ii, vol. xxvii, p. 41) to be both contrary to the form of the word and to the description of Metatron. THESE ANGELS DERIVE THEIR NAMES FROM THE HEAVENLY BODIES THEY RESPECTIVELY GUARD. Hence one is called Venus, one Mars, one the substance of Heaven, one the angel of light, and another the angel of fire. (Comp. Sohar i, 42, etc.) The demons, constituting the second class of angels, which are the grossest and most deficient of all forms, and are the shells of being, inhabit the third habitable or Assiatic World.

They, too, form ten degrees, answering to the decade of Sephiroth, in which darkness and impurity increase with the descent of each degree. Thus the two first degrees are nothing more than the absence of all visible form and organization, which the Mosaic cosmology describes in the words before the hexahemeron, and which the Septuagint renders.

The third degree is the abode of the darkness which the book of Genesis describes as having in the beginning covered the face of the earth. Whereupon follow seven infernal halls == Hells, occupied by the demons, which are the incarnation of all human vices, and which torture those poor deluded beings who suffered themselves to be led astray in this world. These seven infernal halls are subdivided into endless compartments, as to afford a separate chamber of torture for every species of sin.

The prince of this region of darkness, who is called Satan in the Bible, is denominated by the Kabbalah, Samaël == angel of poison or of death. HE IS THE SAME EVIL SPIRIT, SATAN, THE SERPENT, WHO SEDUCED EVE. He has a wife, called the Harlot or the Woman of Whoredom, but they are both generally represented as united in the one name of the Beast. (Comp. Sohar, ii, 255‑259, with i, 35b)

The whole universe, however, was incomplete, and did not receive its finishing stroke till man was formed, who is the acme of the creation, and the microcosm uniting in himself the totality of beings.

"THE HEAVENLY ADAM (the ten Sephiroth), who emanated from the highest primordial obscurity (the En Soph), CREATED THE EARTHLY ADAM." (Sohar, ii, 70b)

"Man is both the import and the highest degree of creation, for which reason he was formed on the sixth day. As soon as man was created, everything was complete, including the upper and nether worlds, for everything is comprised in man. He unites in himself all forms." (Sohar, iii, 48a)

Man was created with faculties and features far transcending those of the angels. The bodies of the protoplasts were not of that gross matter which constitutes our bodies. ADAM AND EVE, BEFORE THE FALL, WERE WRAPPED IN THAT LUMINOUS ETHEREAL, SUBSTANCE IN WHICH THE CELESTIAL SPIRITS ARE CLAD, AND WHICH IS NEITHER SUBJECT TO WANT NOR TO SENSUAL DESIRES.

They were envied by the angels of the highest rank. The fall, however, changed it all, as we are told in the following passage:

"When Adam dwelled in the garden of Eden, he was dressed in the celestial garment, which is a garment of heavenly light. But when he was expelled from the garden of Eden, and became subject to the wants of this world, what is written? 'The Lord God made coats of skins unto Adam and to his wife, and clothed them'; (Genesis iii, 21) for prior to this they had garments of light, light of that light which was used in the garden of Eden." (Sohar, ii, 229b)

“The garments of skin, therefore, mean our present body, which was given to our first parents in order to adapt them to the changes which the fall introduced. But even in the present form, the righteous are above the angels, and every man is still the microcosm, and every member of his body corresponds to a constituent part of the visible universe.

“What is man? Is he simply skin, flesh, bones, and veins? No! That which constitutes the real man is the soul, and those things which are called the skin, the flesh, the bones, and the veins, all these are merely a garment, they are simply the clothes of the man, but not the man himself. When man departs, he puts off these garments wherewith the son of man is clothed. Yet are all these bones and sinews formed in the secret of the highest wisdom, after the heavenly image.

“The skin represents the firmament, which extends everywhere, and covers everything like a garment, as it is written, 'Who strethest out the heavens like a curtain.' (Psalm clv, 2) The flesh represents the deteriorated part of the world...the bones and the veins represent the heavenly chariot, the inner powers, the servants of God...But these are the outer garments, for in the inward part is the deep mystery of the heavenly man. Everything here below, as above, is mysterious.

“Therefore it is written: 'God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him'; (Genesis i, 27) repeating the word God twice, one for the man and the other for the woman. The mystery of the earthly man is after the mystery of the Heavenly man.

“And just as we see in the firmament above, covering all things, different signs which are formed of the stars and planets, and which contain secret things and profound mysteries, studied by those who are wise and expert in these signs; so there are in the skin, which is the cover of the body of the son of man, and which is like the sky that covers all things, signs and features which are the stars and planets of the skin, indicating secret things and profound mysteries, whereby the wise are attracted, who understand to read the mysteries in the human face." (Sohar, ii, 76a)

He is still the presence of god upon earth [this is where the humanist religion was born. That man is god!], and the very form of the body depicts the Tetragrammation, the most sacred name Jehovah.

Thus the head is the form of the arms and the shoulders are like the breast represents the Sephiroth from which it emanates, EVERY SOUL HAS TEN POTENCIES, WHICH ARE SUBDIVIDED INTO A TRINITY OF TRIADS, AND RESPECTIVELY REPRESENTED BY:

(1) The Spirit, which is the highest degree of being, and which both corresponds to and is operated upon by The Crown, representing the highest triad, in the Sephiroth, called the Intellectual World;

(2) The Soul, which is the seat of good and evil, as well as the moral qualities, and which both corresponds to and is operated upon by Beauty, representing the second triad in the Sephiroth, called the Moral World; and

(3) The Cruder Spirit, which is immediately connected with the body, is the direct cause of its lower functions, instincts, and animal life, and which both corresponds to and is operated upon by Foundation, representing the third triad in the Sephiroth, called the Material World.

In its original state each soul is androgynous, and is separated into male and female when it descends on earth to be borne in a human body. We have seen that the souls of the righteous, in the world of spirits, are superior in dignity to the heavenly powers and the ministering angels. It might, therefore, be asked why do these souls leave such as abode of bliss, and come into this vale of tears to dwell in tabernacles of clay?

The only reply to be given is that these happy souls have no choice in the matter. Indeed we are told that the soul, before assuming a human body, addresses God:

"Lord of the Un­i­ve­r­se! I am happy in this world, and do not wish to go into another world, where I shall be a bond‑maid, and be exposed to all kinds of pollutions." (Sohar, ii, 96)

And can you wonder at this pitiful ejaculation? Should your philanthropic feelings and your convictions that our heavenly Father ordains all things for the good of his children, impel you to ask that an explanation of this mystery might graciously be vouchsafed to you in order to temper your compassion and calm your faith, then take this parable:

“A SON WAS BORN TO A KING; HE SENDS HIM TO THE COUNTRY, THERE TO BE NURSED AND BROUGHT UP TILL HE IS GOWN UP, AND INSTRUCTED IN THE CEREMONIES AND USAGES OF THE ROYAL PALACE. WHEN THE KING HEARS THAT THE EDUCATION OF HIS SON IS FINISHED, WHAT DOES HIS FATHERLY LOVE IMPEL HIM TO DO? FOR HIS SON’S SAKE HE SENDS FOR THE QUEEN HIS MOTHER, CONDUCTS HIM INTO THE PALACE AND MAKES MERRY WITH HIM ALL DAY.

“Thus the Holy One, blessed be he, has a son with the Queen [Here the Jews are saying it is alright for a man to make love with his own mother!]: this is the heavenly and sacred soul. He sends him into the country, that is into this world, therein to grow up and to learn the customs of the court. When the King hears that this his son has grown up in the country, and that it is time to bring him into the palace, what does his love for his son impel him to do? He sends, for his sake, for the Queen and conducts him to the palace." (Sohar, i, 215b)

As has already been remarked, the human soul, before it descends into the world, is androgynous, or in other words, consists of two component parts, each of which comprises all the elements of our spiritual nature.

Thus the Sohar tells us:

“Each soul and spirit, prior to its entering into this world, consists of a male and female united into one being. When it descends on this earth the two parts separate and animate two different bodies.

“At the time of marriage, the Holy One, blessed be he, who knows all souls and spirits, unites them again as they were before, and they again constitute one body and one soul, forming as it were the right and left of one individual; therefore 'There is nothing new under the sun.' (Ecl. i, 9) This union, however, is influenced by the deeds of the man and by the ways in which he walks. The soul carries her knowledge with her to the earth, so that 'everything which she learns here below she knew already, before she entered into this world.'" (Sohar, iii, 61b)

Since the form of the body as well as the soul, is made after the image of the Heavenly Man, a figure of the forth‑coming body which is to clothe the newly descending soul, is sent down from the celestial regions, to hover over the couch of the husband and wife when they copulate, in order that the conception may be formed according to this model.

"At connubial intercourse on earth, the Holy One, blessed be he, sends a human form which bears the impress of the divine stamp. This form is present at intercourse, and if we were permitted to see it we should perceive over our heads an image resembling a human face; and it is in this image that we are formed. As long as this image is not sent by God and does not descend and hover over our heads, there can be no conception, for it is written: 'And God created man in his own image.' (Genesis i, 27)

“This image receives us when we enter the world, it develops itself with us when we grow, and accompanies us when we depart this life; as it is written: 'Surely, man walked in an image': (Psalm xxxvii, 5) and this image is from heaven. When the souls are to leave their heavenly abode, each soul separately appears before the Holy King, dressed in a sublime form, with the features in which it is to appear in this world. It is from this sublime form that the image proceeds. It is the third after the soul, and precedes it on the earth; it is present at the conception, and there is no conception in the world where this image is not present." (Sohar, iii, 104a‑b)

All human countenances are divisible into the four primordial types of faces, which appeared at the mysterious chariot throne in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, viz., the face of man, of the lion, the ox and the eagle. Our faces resemble these more or less according to the rank which our souls occupy in the intellectual or moral dominion;

"And physiognomy does not consist in the external lineaments, but in the features which are mysteriously drawn in us. The features in the face change according to the form which is peculiar to the inward face of the spirit. It is the spirit which produces all those physiognomical peculiarities known to the wise; and it is only through the spirit that the features have any meaning. All those spirits and souls which proceed from Eden (the highest wisdom) have a peculiar form, which is reflected in the face." (Sohar, ii, 73b)

The face thus lighted up by the peculiar spirit inhabiting the body, in the mirror of the soul; and the formation of the head indicates the character and temper of the man. An arched forehead is a sign of a cheerful and profound spirit, as well as of a distinguished intellect; a broad but flat forehead indicates foolishness and silliness; whilst a forehead which is flat, compressed on the sides and spiral, betokens narrowness of mind and vanity. (Comp. Sohar, ii, 71b, 75a)

As a necessary condition of free existence and of moral being, the souls are endowed by the Deity, from the very beginning, with the power of adhering in close proximity to the primordial source of infinite light from the very beginning, with the power of adhering in close proximity to the primordial source of infinite light from which they emanated, and of alienating themselves from that source and pursuing an independent and opposite course.

Hence, Simon ben Jochai said,

"If the Ho­ly One, bl­es­sed be he, had not put within us both the good and the evil desire, which are denominated light and darkness, the created man would have neither virtue nor vice. For this reason it is written: 'Behold, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil.' (Deuteronomy xxx, 15) To this the disciples replied, Wherefore is all this? Would it not be better if reward and punishment had not existed at all, since in that case man would have been incapable of sinning and of doing evil. He rejoined, It was meet and right that he should be created as he was created, because the Law was created for him, wherein are written punishments for the wicked and rewards for the righteous; and there would not have been any reward for the righteous and punishment for the wicked but for created man." (Sohar i, 23a)

So complete is their independence, that souls, even in their pre‑existent state, can and do choose which way they intend to pursue.

"All souls which are not guiltless in this world, have already alienated themselves in heaven from the Holy One, blessed be he; they have thrown themselves into an abyss at their very existence, and have anticipated the time when they are to descend on earth...Thus were the souls before they came into this world." (Sohar, iii, 61b)

(4). The Destiny of Man and the Universe.

As the En Soph constituted man the microcosm, and as the Deity is reflected in this epitome of the universe more than in any component part of the creation, all things visible and invisible are designed to aid him in passing through his probationary state here below, in gathering that experience for which his soul has been sent down, and in returning in a pure state to that source of light from which his soul emanated.

This destiny of man, the reunion with the Deity from which he emanated, is the constant desire both of God and man, and is an essential principle of the soul, underlying its very essence. Discarding that blind power from our nature, WHICH GOVERNS OUR ANIMAL LIFE [This is where Darwin got the idea for the origin of the species], which never quits this earth, and which therefore plays no part in our spiritual being, the soul possesses two kinds of powers and two sorts of feelings.

It has the faculty for that extraordinary prophetical knowledge, which was vouchsafed to Moses in an exceptional manner, called the Luminous Mirror (speculator), and the ordinary knowledge termed the Non‑Luminous Mirror, respectively represented in the earthly Paradise by the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil; and it possesses the higher feeling of love and the lower feeling of fear. Now the full fruition of that higher knowledge and of that loftier feeling of love can only be reaped when the soul returns to the Infinite Source of Light, and is wrapped in that luminous garment which the protoplasts forfeited throughout the fall.

Thus we are told,

"Come and see when the soul reaches that place which is called the Treasury of Life, she enjoys a bright and luminous mirror, which receives its light from the highest heaven. The soul could not bear this light but for the luminous mantle which she put on. For just as the soul, when sent to this earth, puts on an earthly garment to pre­serve herself here, so she receives above a shining garment, in order to be able to look without injury into the mirror whose light pro­ceeds from the Lord of Light. Moses too could not approach to look into that higher light which he saw, without putting on such an ethereal garment: as it is written: 'And Moses went into the midst of the cloud.', (Exodus xxiv, 18) which is to be translat­ed by means of the cloud wherewith he wrapped himself as if dressed in a garment. At that time Moses almost discarded the whole of his earthly nature; as it is written, 'And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights' (ibid); and he thus approached that dark cloud where God is enthroned. In this wise the departed spirits of the righteous dress themselves in the upper regions in luminous garments, to be able to endure that light which streams from the Lord of Light." (Sohar, i, 65b, 66a)

The two feelings of love and fear are designed to aid the soul in achieving her high destiny, when she shall no more look through the dark glass, but see face to face in the presence of the Luminous Mirror, by permeating all acts of obedience and divine worship. And though perfect love, which is serving God purely out of love, like that higher knowledge, is to be man's destiny in heaven, yet the soul may attain some of it on earth, and endeavor to serve God out of love and not from fear, as thereby she will have an antepast on earth of its union with the Deity, which is to be so rapturous and indissoluble in heaven. 

“Yet is the service which arises from fear not to be depreciated, for fear leads to love. it is true that he who obeys God out of love has attained to the highest degree, and already belongs to the saints of the world to come, but it must not be supposed that to worship God out of fear is no worship. Such a service has also its merit, though in this case the union of the soul with the Deity is slight.

“There is only one degree which is higher than fear: it is love. In love is the mystery of the divine unity. It is love which unites the higher and lower degrees together; it elevates everything to that position where everything must be one. This is also the mystery of the words, 'Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one God.'" (Sohar, ii, 216a)

The Kabbalists and The Ten Sephira

Hence it is that these two principles play so important a part in the devotions and contemplations of the Kabbalists. Love is made to correspond to Mercy, the fourth Sephira, whilst Fear is made to answer to Rigor, the fifth Sephira; and it is asserted that when these two principles are thoroughly combined by the righteous in their divine worship and acts of obedience, the name Jehovah, which comprises these two principles, and which is now rent in twain by the preponderance of sin and disobedience, will be re‑ united.

Then, and then only will all the souls return to the bosom of the Father of our spirits; then will the restitution of all things take place, and the earth shall be covered with the knowledge of God even as the waters cover the sea. This is the reason why the Kabbalists utter the following prayer prior to the performance of any of the commandments:

"For the re‑union of the Holy One, blessed be his name, and his Shechinah, I do this in love and fear and love, for the union of the name into a perfect harmony! I pronounce this in the name of all Israel!"

In order to represent this union to the senses the words Fear and Love, are divided, and so placed above each other that they may be read either across or down. When thus fulfilling the commandments the pious not only enjoy a prelibation of that sublime light which shines in heaven, and which will serve them as a garment when they enter into the other world and appear before the Holy One (Sohar, ii, 299b), but become on earth already the habitation of the Sephiroth, and each saint has that Sephira incarnate in him which corresponds to the virtue he most cultivates, or to the feature most predominant in his character.

Among the patriarchs, therefore, who were the most exalted in piety, we find that Love, the fourth Sephira, was incarnate in Abraham; Rigor, the fifth Sephira, in Isaac; Mildness, the sixth Sephira, in Jacob; Firmness, the seventh Sephira, in Moses; Splendour, the eighty Sephira, in Aaron; Foundation, the ninth Sephira, in Joseph; and Kingdom, the tenth Sephira, was incarnate in David.

Hence all the righteous who constitute the emanations, of the ten Sephiroth are divided into three classes corresponding to the three principles or Pillars exhibited in the Kabbalistic Tree, viz.:

(1). The Pillar of Mercy, represented by the Patriarch Abraham; (Comp. Micah, vii, 20)

(2). The Pillar of Justice, represented by Isaac; (Comp. Gensis xxxi, 42) and,

(3). The Middle Pillar, represented by Jacob, (comp. Micah vii, 20) which is the connecting or uniting principle. (Sohar, i, 146a; 148b)

It is for this reason that the patriarchs are denominated the Chariot‑throne of the Lord. Thus it is said:

"All the prophets looked into the Non‑Luminous Mirror, whilst our teacher, Moses, looked into the Luminous Mirror." (Jebamoth, 49b)

And again:

"Also the divine service which is engendered by fear and not by love, has its merit." (Jerusalem Berachoth, 44; Babylon Sota, 22a)

But since nothing can be annihilated: 

"N­ot­h­ing pe­ri­sh­eth in this world, not even the breath which issues from the mouth, for this, like everything else, has its place and destination, and the Holy One, blessed be his name! turns it into his service;' (Sohar, ii, 110b) ‑‑ these worlds could not be absolutely destroyed. Hence when the question is asked ‑‑ 'Why were these primordial worlds destroyed?' the reply is given: 'Because the Man, represented by the ten Sephiroth, was not as yet. The human form contains everything, and as it did not as yet exist, the worlds were destroyed.'

“It is added, ‘Still when it is said that they perished, it is only meant thereby that they lacked the true form, till the human form came into being, in which all things are comprised, and which also contains all those forms. Hence, though the Scripture ascribes death to the kings of Edom, it only denotes a sinking down from their dignity, the worlds up to that time did not answer to the Divine idea, since they had not as yet the perfect form of which they were capable.’" (Idra Rabba, Sohar, iii, 135b)

The Heavens and

The Earth Created by Letters!

Hence the admonition:

"He who has to start on a journey very early, should rise at day­break, look carefully towards the east, and he will perceive certain signs resembling letters which pierce through the sky and appear above the horizon. THESE SHINING FORMS ARE THOSE OF THE LETTERS WHEREWITH GOD CREATED HEAVEN AND EARTH..." (Sohar, ii, 130b)

Now since IT IS AN ABSOLUTE CONDITION OF THE SOUL TO RETURN TO THE INFINITE SOURCE FROM WHICH IT EMANATED, AFTER DEVELOPING ALL THOSE PERFECTIONS, THE GERMS OF WHICH ARE ETERNALLY IMPLANTED IN IT; AND SINCE SOME SOULS DO HOT AT ONCE DEVELOP THESE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH PRECLUDES THEIR IMMEDIATE REUNION WITH THEIR PRIMORDIAL SOURCE, ANOTHER TERM OF LIFE IS VOUCHSAFED TO THEM [This is where the idea of reincarnation came from. It's just another Jewish subterfuge to destroy some unsuspecting persons' faith], so that they may be able to cultivate those virtues which they stifled in their former bodily life, and without which it is impossible for them to return to their heavenly home. HENCE, IF THE SOUL, IN ITS FIRST ASSUMING A HUMAN BODY AND SOJOURN ON EARTH, FAILS TO ACQUIRE THAT EXPERIENCE FOR WHICH IT DESCENDS FROM HEAVEN, AND BECOMES CONTAMINATED BY THAT WHICH IS POLLUTING, IT MUST RE-INHABIT A BODY AGAIN AND AGAIN TILL IT IS ABLE TO ASCEND IN A PURIFIED STATE THROUGH REPEATED TRIALS.  (This is Buddahism, who belive and worship reincarnation, and where our people go the belief in reincarnation; when the jews implemented it into our religious institutions)

Thus we are told that, "All souls are subject to transmigration, and men do not know the ways of the Holy One, blessed be he; they do not know that they are brought before the tribunal, both before they enter into this world and after they quit it, THEY ARE IGNORANT OF THE MANY TRANSMIGRATIONS AND SECRET PROBATIONS WHICH THEY HAVE TO UNDERGO, AND OF THE NUMBER OF SOULS AND SPIRITS WHICH ENTER INTO THIS WORLD, AND DO NOT RETURN TO THE PALACE OF THE HEAVENLY KING. MEN DO NOT KNOW HOW THE SOULS REVOLVE LIKE A STONE WHICH IS THEIR OWN FROM SLING; as it is written:‑‑ 'And the souls of thine enemies them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.' (1 Samuel xxv, 29) But the time is at hand when these mysteries will be disclosed." (Sohar, ii, 99b)     

Here we can see how the Jews, again and again distort the Word of God and teach men lies and falsehoods: 

"And as IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MEN ONCE TO DIE, BUT AFTER THIS THE JUDGMENT." (Hebrews 9:27)

THE TRANSMIGRATION OF THE SOUL INTO ANOTHER BODY, however, IS RESTRICTED TO THREE TIMES; and if two souls in their third residence in human bodies are still too weak to resist all earthly trammels and to acquire the necessary experience, they are both united and sent into one body, so that they may be able conjointly to learn that which they were too feeble to do separately.

It sometimes, however, happens that it is the singleness and isolation of the soul which is the source of her weakness, and she requires help to pass through her probation. In that case she chooses for a companion a soul which has more strength and better fortune. The stronger of the two then becomes as it were the mother; she carries the sickly one in her bosom, and nurses her from her own substance, just as a woman nurses her child.

Such an association is therefore called pregnancy, because the stronger soul gives as it were life and substance to the weaker companion. According to Josephus, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls into other bodies, was also held by the Pharisees, (comp. Antiq. xviii, 1, 3: de Bell. Jud. ii, 8, 14) restricting, however, the metempsychosis to the righteous.

And though the Midrashim and the Talmud are silent about it, yet from Saada's vituperations against it (Emunoth ve‑Deoth, vi, 7; viii, 3) there is no doubt that this doctrine was held among some Jews in the ninth century of the present era.

At all (Comp. Frankel, Monatschrift, x, 177, etc.) events it is perfectly certain that the karaite Jews firmly believed in it ever since the seventh century. St. Jerome assures us that it was also propounded among the early Christians as an esoteric and traditional doctrine which was entrusted to the select few; (abscondite quasi in foveis viperarum versari et quasi haereditario malo serpere in paucis. Comp. epist. ad Demedriadem) and Origen was convinced that it was only by means of this doctrine that certain Scriptural narratives, such as the struggle of Jacob with Esau before their birth, the reference about Jeremiah when still in his mother's womb, and many others, can possibly be explained. With which the history of the creation begins, and which is also the first letter in the word blessing.

Even the archangel of wickedness, or the venomous beast, or Samäel, as he is called, will be restored to his angelic nature and name, inasmuch as he too, like all other beings, proceeded from the same infinite source of all things. The first part of his name, which signifies venom, will then be dropped, and he will retain the second part, which is the common name of all the angels. This, however, will only take place at the advent of Messiah.

But his coming is retarded by the very few new souls which enter into the world; as many of the old souls which have already inhabited bodies have to re‑ enter those bodies which are now born, in consequence of having polluted themselves in their previous bodily existence, and THE SOUL OF THE MESSIAH, WHICH, LIKE OTHER SOULS, HAS ITS PRE-EXISTENCE IN THE WORLD OF THE SEPHIROTH, CANNOT BE BORN TILL ALL HUMAN SOULS HAVE PASSED THROUGH THEIR PERIOD OF PROBATION ON THIS EARTH, BECAUSE IT IS TO BE THE LAST BORN ONE AT THE END OF DAYS.

REINCARNATION, OR TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS, IS A DOCTRINE OF THE CABALA (Kabbalah) Generally. Failing to wash off the demons of the hands may turn one into a river, says the Jewish Encyclopedia under "Transmigration of Souls."

The theory is the cause of much degradation in Hinduism. In the Cabala, each soul corresponds to a part of the body of the Adam Kadmon universe, some being "lower" organs, some "higher."

The "dibbuk" or possessing spirit who can only be expelled by a "Baal Shem" wonder‑worker came into the Jewish press in 1955 when the dibbuk was alleged to have been seen leaving the body of its unwilling host.

The Jewish press all carried the report.

"Zoharic elements...crept into the liturgy of the 16th and 17th centu­ries ...the characteristic features of which were the representation of the highest thoughts by human emblems and human passions, and the use of Erotic terminology to illustrate the relations between man and God, RELIGION BEING IDENTICAL WITH LOVE...sensuous pleasures, and especially intoxication, typify the highest degree of divine love as ecstatic contemplation, while the wine‑room represents merely the state through which the human qualities merge or are exalted into those of the Deity." (Jewish Encyclopedia)

There is nothing now there that the pagans who consulted the oracles, and indulged in booze and sex degeneracies, to worship the old sex‑gods who were the deities of all pagan civilizations, did not have centuries and centuries ago. No wonder the unsparing denunciations of the Prophets have to be "allegorized" away into nothing!

But the Word of God states that Christ:

"For whom he did fo­re­kn­ow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that HE MIGHT BE THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN." (Romans 8:29) Thus, again and again the Jews are shown to be liars.

Making the words of Christ ever more true when He said:

"Ye [Jews] are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, AND ABODE NOT IN THE TRUTH, BECAUSE THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM. WHEN HE SPEAKETH A LIE, HE SPEAKETH OF HIS OWN: FOR HE IS A LIAR, AND THE FATHER OF IT.” (John 8:44)

Returning to the Kabbalah. Then the great Jubilee year will commence, when the whole pleroma of souls, cleaned and purified shall return into the bosom of the Infinite Source; and they shall be in

"the Palace which is situate in the secret and most elevated part of heaven, and which is called the Palace of Love."

There the profoundest mysteries are; there dwells the Heavenly King, blessed be he, with the holy souls, and is united with them by a loving kiss. (Sohar, ii, 97a)

"this kiss is the union of the soul with the substance from which it emanated." (Sohar, i, 168a)

Then hell shall disappear; there shall be no more punishment, nor temptation, nor sin: life will be an everlasting feast, a Sabbath without end. Then all souls will be united with the Highest Soul, and supplement each other in the Holy of Holies of the Seven Halls.

Everything will then return to unity and perfection, every thing will be united into one idea, which shall be over, and fill the whole universe. The basis of this idea, however (the light which is concealed in it), will never be fathomed or comprehended; only the idea itself which emanates from it shall be comprehended. In that state the creature will not be distinguished from the Creator, the same idea will illuminate both. Then the soul will rule the universe like God, and what she shall command he will execute. (Sohar, i, 45a and b) (5). The Kabbalistic view of the Old Testament, and its relation to Christianity. We have already seen that the Kabbalah claims a pre‑Adamite existence, and asserts that its mysteries are covertly conveyed in the first four books of the Pentateuch.

Those of us who read the Books of Moses, and cannot discover in them any of the above­‑mentioned doctrines, will naturally ask for the principles of exegesis whereby these secrets are deduced from or rather introduced into the text.

These principles are laid down in the following declaration:

"If the Law simply consisted of ordinary expressions and narratives, e.g., the words of Esau, Hagar, Laban, the ass of Balaam, or of Balaam himself, why should it be called the Law of truth, the perfect Law, the true witness of God? Each word contains a sublime source, each narrative points not only to the single instance in question, but also to generals." (Sohar, iii, 149b)

The notion that the creation is a blessing, and that this is indicated in the first letter, is already propounded in the Midrash, as may be seen from the following remark. The reason why the Law begins with Beth, the second letter of the Alphabet, and not with Aleph, the first letter, is that the former is the first letter in the word blessing, while the latter is the first letter in the word accursed. (Midrash Rabba, sec. i) 

"Woe be to the son of man who says that the Tora (Pentateuch - to the Jew it means Talmud) contains common sayings and ordinary narratives. For, if this were the case, we might in the present day compose a code of doctrines from profane writings which should excite greater respect. If the Law contains ordinary matter, then there are nobler sentiments in profane codes. Let us go and make a selection from them, and we shall be able to compile a far superior code. But every word of the Law has a sublime sense and a heavenly mystery...

“Now the spiritual angels had to put on an earthly garment when they descended to this earth; and if they had not put on such a garment, they could neither have remained nor be understood on the earth. And just as it was with the angels so it is with the Law. When it descended on earth, the Law had to put on an earthly garment to be understood by us, and the narratives are its garment. There are some who think that this garment is the real Law, and not the spirit which it clothed, but these have no portion in the world to come; and it is for this reason that David prayed, 'Open thou mine eyes that I may behold the wondrous things out of the Law.' (Psalm cxix, 18)

“What is under the garment of the Law? There is the garment which everyone can see; and there are foolish people who, when they see a well‑dressed man, think of nothing more worthy that this beautiful garment, and take it for the body, whilst the worth of the body itself consists in the soul. The Law too has a body: this is the commandments, which are called the body of the Law. This body is clothed in garments, which are the ordinary narratives.

“The fools of this world look at nothing else by this garment, which consists of the narratives in the Law; they do not know any more, and do not understand what is beneath this garment. But those who have more understanding do not look at the garment but at the body beneath it (the moral); whilst the wisest, the servants of the Heavenly King, those who dwelt at Mount Sinai, look at nothing else but the soul (the secret doctrine), which is the root of all the real Law, and these are destined in the world to come to behold the Soul of this Soul (the Deity), which breathes in the Law." (Sohar iii, 152a)

The opinion that the mysteries of the Kabbalah are to be found in the garment of the Pentateuch is still more systematically propounded in the following parable.

"Like a beautiful woman, concealed in the interior of her palace, who when her friend and beloved passes by, opens for a moment a secret window and is seen by him alone, and then withdraws herself immediately and disappears for a long time, so the doctrine only shows herself to the chosen (to him who is devoted to her with body and soul); and even to him not always in the same manner.

“At first she simply beckons at the passer‑by with her hand, and it generally depends upon his understanding this gentle hint. This is the interpretation known by the name. Afterwards she approaches him a little closer, lisps him a few words, but her form is still covered with a thick veil, which his looks cannot penetrate.

“She then converses with him with her face covered by a thin veil; this is the enigmatic language. After having thus become accustomed to her society, she at last shews herself face to face and entrusts him with the innermost secrets of her heart. This is the secret of the Law. He who is thus far initiated in the mysteries of the Tora will understand that all those profound secrets are based upon the simply literal sense, and are in harmony with it; and from this literal sense not a single iota is to be taken and nothing to be added to it." (Sohar ii, 99)

This fourfold sense is gradually disclosed to the initiated in the mysteries of the Kabbalah by the application of definite hermeneutical rules, which chiefly affect the letters composing the words. The most prominent of these canons are:

1). Every letter of a word is reduced to its numerical value and the word is explained by another of the same quantity. Thus from the words

"Lo! three men stood by him," (Genesis xviii, 2)

it is deduced that these three angels were Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, because and lo! three men, and these are Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, are of the same numerical value, as will be seen from the following reduction to their numerical value of both these phrases. 5 + 300 + 300 + 5 + 50 + 5 + 6 == 701 30 + 1 + 20 + 10 + 40 + 6 + 30 + 1 + 30 + 1 + 10 + 200 + 2 + 3 + 30 + 1 + 80 + 200 + 6 == 701 This rule is a metathesis of a Greek word, in the sense of numbers as represented by letters.

2). Every letter of a word is taken as an initial or abbreviation of a word. Thus every letter of the first word in Genesis, is made the initial of a word, and we obtain, in the beginning God saw that Israel would accept the Law. This rule is denominated, from notarius, a shorthand writer, one who among the Romans belonged to that class of writers who abbreviated and used single letters to signify whole words.

3). The initial and final letters of several words are respectively formed into separate words. Thus from the beginnings and ends of the words who shall go up for us to heaven? (Deuteronomy xxx, 12) are obtained circumcision and Jehovah, and inferred that God ordained circumcision as the way to heaven.

4). Two words occurring in the same verse are joined together and made into one. Thus who and these are made into God by transposing. (Vide supra, p. 192)

The words of those verses which are regarded as containing a peculiar recondite meaning are ranged in squares in such a manner as to be read either vertically or boustrophedonally, beginning at the right or left hand.

Again the words of several verses are placed over each other, and the letters which stand under each other are formed into new words. As to the relation of the Kabbalah to Christianity, it is maintained that this theosophy propounds the doctrine of the trinity and the sufferings of Messiah. How far this is true may be ascertained from the following passages.

We have already remarked in several places that the daily liturgical declaration about the divine unity is that which is indicated in the Bible, (Deuteronomy vi, 43) where Jehovah occurs first, then Elohenu, and then again Jehovah, which three together constitute a unity, and for this reason he [Jehovah] is in the said place.

But there are three names, and how can they be one? And although we read one, are they really one? Now this revealed by the vision of the Holy Ghost, and when the eyes are closed we get to know that the three are only one. This is also the mystery of the voice.

The voice is only one, and yet it consists of three elements, fire [warmth], air [breath], and water [humidity], yet are all these one in the mystery of the voice, and can only be one, three forms which are one. And this is indicated by the voice which man raises [at prayer], thereby to comprehend spiritually the most perfect unity of the En Soph for the finite, since all the three [Jehovah, Elohenu, Jehovah] are read with the same loud voice, which comprises in itself a trinity. And this is the daily confession of the divine unity which, as a mystery, is revealed by the Holy ghost. This unity has been explained in different ways, yet he who understands it in this way is right, and he who understands it in another way is also right. The idea of unity, however formed by us here below, from the mystery of the audible voice which is one, explains the thing. (Sohar ii, 43b)

On another occasion we are informed that R. Eleazar, whilst sitting with his father R. Simeon, was anxious to know how the two names, Jehovah and Elohim, can be inter­changed, seeing that the one denotes mercy and the other judgment.

Before giving the discussion between the father and the son, it is necessary to remark that whenever the two divine names, Adonai and Jehovah, immediately follow each other, Jehovah is pointed and read Elohim. The reason of this, as it is generally supposed, is to avoid the repetition of Adonai, Adonai, since the Tetragrammation is otherwise always pointed and read.

The Kabbalah, however, as we shall see, discovers in it a recondite meaning:

"R. Eleazar, when sitting before his father R. Simeon, said to him, we have been taught that whenever Elohim sometimes be put for Jehovah, as is the case in those passages wherein Adonai and Jehovah stand together, (Comp. Gen. xv, 8; Ezekiel ii, 4, etc.) seeing that the latter denotes mercy in all the passages in which it occurs? To which he replied, Thus it is said in the Scripture, 'Know therefore this day and consider it in thine heart, that Jehovah is Elohim'; (Deuteronomy iv, 19) and again it is written 'Jehovah is Elohim.' (Deuteronomy ver. 35.)

“Whereupon he [the son] said, I know this forsooth, that justice is sometimes tempered with mercy and mercy with justice. Quoth he [the father], Come and see that it is so; Jehovah indeed does signify mercy whenever it occurs, but when through sin mercy is changed into justice, then it is written Jehovah, but read Elohim. Now come and see the mystery of the word [Jehovah]. There are three degrees, and each degree exists by itself [in the Deity], although the three together constitute one, they are closely united into one and are inseparable from each other." (Sohar iii, 65a)

We shall only give one more passage bearing on the subject of the Trinity. 

"He who reads the word One [in the declaration of the divine unity] must pronounce the Aleph quickly, shorten its sound a little, and not pause at all by this letter, and he who obeys this, his life will be lengthened.

“Whereupon they [the disciples] said to him [to R. Ilai], he [R. Simeon] has said, There are two, and one is connected with them, and they are three; but in being three they are one. He said to them, those two names, Jehovah Jehovah, are in the declara­tion 'Hear O Israel', (Deuteronomy vi, 4) and Elohenu, between them, is united with them as the third, and this is the conclusion which is sealed with the impression of Truth. But when these three combined into a unity, they are one in a single unity." (Sohar iii, 262a)

Indeed one Codex of the Sohar had the following remark on the words "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts"; (Isaiah iv, 3) the first holy refers to the Holy Father; the second to the Holy Son; and the third to the Holy Ghost.

This passage, however, is omitted from the present recessions of the Sohar. Some Jewish writers have felt these passages to be so favorable to the doctrine of the Trinity, that they insist upon their being interpola­tions into the Sohar, whilst other have tried to explain them as referring to the Sephiroth.

As to the atonement of the Messiah for the sins of the people, this is not only propounded in the Sohar, but is given as the explanation of the fifty‑third chapter of Isaiah.

"When the righteous are visited with sufferings and afflictions to atone for the sins of the world, it is that they might atone for all the sins of this generation. How is this proved? By all the members of the body. 'When all members suffer, one member is afflicted in order that all may recover. And which of them? The arm. The arm is beaten, the blood is taken from it, and then the recovery of all the members of the body is secured. So it is with the children of the world: they are members of another. When the Holy One, blessed be he, wishes the recovery of the world, he afflicts one righteous from their midst, and for his sake all are healed. How is this shown? it is written: ‑‑ 'He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniqui­ties... and with his stripes we are healed.' (Isaiah liii, 5) 'With his stripes,' healed, as by the wound of bleeding an arm, and with this wound we are healed, it was a healing to each one of us as members of the body." (Sohar iii, 218a)

Spirits Hover About The World

To the same effect is the following passage:

"Those souls which tarry in the ne­th­er ga­r­den of Eden hover about the world, and when they see suffering or patient martyrs and those who suffer for the unity of God, they return and mention it to the Messiah. When they tell the Messiah of the afflictions of Israel in exile, and that the sinners among them do not reflect in order to know their Lord, he raises his voice and weeps because of those sinners, as it is written, 'he is wounded for our transgressions.' (Isaiah liii, 5) Whereupon those souls return and take their place.

“In the garden of Eden there is one place which is called the palace of the sick. The Messiah goes into this palace and invokes all the sufferings, pain, and afflictions of Israel to come upon him, and they all come upon him. Now if he did not remove them thus and take them upon himself, no man could endure the sufferings of Israel, due as punishment for transgressing the Law; as it is written: 'Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, etc. (Isaiah liii, 4, with Romans  xii, 3‑4) When the children of Israel were in the Holy Land they removed all those sufferings and afflictions from the world by their prayers and sacrifices, but now the Messiah removes them from the world." (Sohar ii, 212b)

That these opinions favor, to a certain extent, the doctrines of the Trinity and the Atonement, though not in the orthodox sense, is not only admitted by many of the Jewish literati who are adverse to the Kabbalah, but by some of its friends. Indeed, the very fact that so large a number of Kabbalists have from time to time embraced the Christian faith would of itself show that there must be some sort of affinity between the tenets of the respective systems.

Some of these converts occupied the highest position in the Synagogue, both as pious Jews and literary men. We need only specify Paul Ricci, physician to the Emperor Maximilian I; Julius Conrad Otto, author of The Unveiled Secrets, consisting of extracts from the Talmud and the Sohar, to prove the validity of the Christian doctrine (NÜrenberg, 1805); John Stephen Rittengal, grandson of the celebrated Don Isaac Abravanel, and translator of The Book Jetzira, or of Creation, into Latin (Amsterdam, 1642); and Jacob Frank, the great apostle of the Kabbalah in the eighteenth century, whose example in professing Christianity was followed by several thousands of his disciples.

The testimony of these distinguished Kabbalists, which they give in their elaborate works, about the affinity of some of the doctrines of this theosophy with those of Christianity, is by no means to be slighted; and this is fully corroborated by the celebrated Leo di Modena, who, as an orthodox Jew, went so far as to question whether God will ever forgive those who printed the Kabbalistic works.

The use made by some well‑meaning Christians of the above‑named Kabbalistic canons of interpretation, in controversies with Jews, to prove that the doctrines of Christianity are concealed under the letter of the Old Testament, will now be deprecated by every one who has any regard for the laws of language.

As a literary curiosity, however, we shall give one or two specimens. No less a person than the celebrated Reuchlin would have it that the doctrine of the Trinity is to be found in the first verse of Genesis. He submits, if the Hebrew word, which is translated created, be examined, and if each of the three letters composing this word be taken as the initial of a separate word, we obtain the expressions Son, Spirit, Father, according to Rule 2 (p. 229).

Upon the same principle this crudite scholar deduces the first two persons in the Trinity from the words:

"the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner," (Psalm cxviii, 22)

by dividing the three letters composing the word stone, into Father, Son. (Comp. De Verbo mirifico, Basel, 1494)

In more recent times we find it maintained that the 'righteousness' spoken of in Daniel ix, 24, means the Anointed of Jehovah, because the original phrase is by Gematria, == numerical value, (which is Rule 1, given above, p. 229).

So pleased is the author with this discovery, that he takes great care to remark:

"It is a proof which I believe has hitherto escaped the notice of interpreters."

Such proofs, however, of the Messiaship of Christ bring no honor to our religion; and in the present day argue badly both against him who adduces them and against him who is convinced by them.

Origin of The Kabbalah

We now proceed to trace the date and origin of the Kabbalah. Taking the ex parte statement for what it is worth, viz., that this secret doctrine is of a pre‑Adamite date, and that God himself propounded it to the angels in Paradise, we shall have to examine the age of the oldest documents which embody its tenets, and compare these doctrines with other systems, in order to ascertain the real date and origin of this theosophy.

But before this is done, it will be necessary to summarize, as briefly as possible, those doctrines which are peculiar to the Kabbalah, or which it expounds and elaborates in an especial manner, and which constitute it a separate system within the precincts of Judaism. The doctrines, the beliefs of the Jews are as follows:

1). God is boundless in his nature. HE [God] HAS NEITHER WILL, INTENTION, DESIRE, THOUGHT, LANGUAGE, NOR ACTION. He cannot be grasped and depicted; and, for this  reason, IS CALLED EN SOPH, and as such HE IS IN A CERTAIN SENSE NOT EXISTENT.

2). HE [God] IS NOT THE DIRECT CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, SINCE HE COULD NOT WILL THE CREATION; and since a creation proceeding directly from him would have to be as boundless and as perfect as he is himself.

3). He at first sent forth ten emanations, or Sephiroth, which are begotten, not made, and which are both infinite and finite.

4). From these Sephiroth, which are the Archetypal Man, the different worlds gradually and successively evolved. These evolutionary worlds are the brightness and the express image of their progenitors, the Sephiroth, which uphold all things.

5). These emanations, or Sephiroth, gave rise to or created in their own image all human souls. These souls are pre‑existent, they occupy a special hall in the upper world of spirits, and there already decide whether they will pursue a good or bad course in their temporary sojourn in the human body, which is also fashioned according to the Archetypal image.

6). No one has seen the En Soph at any time. It is the Sephiroth, in whom the En Soph is incarnate, who have revealed themselves to us, and to whom the anthropomorphisms of Scripture and the Hagada refer.

Thus when it is said,

"God spake, descended upon earth, ascended into heaven, smelled the sweet smell of sacrifices, repented in his heart, was angry,"

etc., or when the Hagadic works describe the body and the mansions of the Deity, etc., all this does not refer to the En Soph, but to these intermediate beings.

7). It is an absolute condition of the soul to return to the Infinite Source whence it emanated, after developing all those perfections the germs of which are indelibly inherent in it. If it fails to develop these germs, it must migrate into another body, and in case it is still too weak to acquire the virtues for which it is sent to this earth, it is united to another and a stronger soul, which, occupying the same human body with it, aids its weaker companion in obtaining the object for which it came down from the world of spirits.

8). When all the pre‑existent souls shall have passed their probationary period here below, the restitution of all things will take place; SATAN WILL BE RESTORED TO AN ANGEL OF LIGHT, hell will disappear, and all souls will return into the bosom of the Deity whence they emanated. The creature shall not then be distinguished from the Creator. Like God, THE SOUL WILL RULE THE UNIVERSE: SHE SHALL COMMAND, AND GOD [Will] OBEY. (Here is where the stupid saying among the jews, and feminists {2 Timothy 3:6: ‘For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts.’}, that God is a woman, came from)

With these cardinal doctrines before us we shall now be able to examine the validity of the Kabbalists' claims to the books which, according to them, propound their doctrines and determine the origin of this theosophy. Their works are (1). The Book of Creation; (2) The Sohar; and (3). The Commentary of the Ten Sephiroth. As the Book of Creation is acknowledged by all parties to be the oldest, we shall examine it first.

1). The Book of Creation of Jetzira.

This famous document pretends to be a monologue of the patriarch Abraham, and premises that the contemplations it contains are those which led the father of the Hebrews [Here the Jews inadvertently admit that they are not the children of Abraham!] to abandon the worship of the stars and to embrace the faith of the true God.

Hence the remark of the celebrated philosopher, R. Jehudah Ha‑levi (born about 1086):

"The Book of the Creation, which belongs to our father Abraham...demonstrates the existence of the Deity and the Divine Unity, by things which are on the one hand manifold and multifarious, whilst on the other hand they converge and harmonize; and this harmony can only proceed from One who originated it." (Khozari iv. 25)

The whole Treatise consists of six Perakim or chapters, subdivided into thirty‑three very brief Mishnas or sections, as follows. The first chapter has twelve sections, the second has five, the third five, the fourth four, the fifth three, and the sixth four sections. The doctrines which it propounds are delivered in the style of aphorisms or theorems, and, pretending to be the dictates of Abraham, are laid down very dogmatically, in a manner becoming the authority of this patriarch.

As has already been intimated, the design of this treatise is to exhibit a system whereby the universe may be viewed methodically in connection with the truths given in the Bible, thus showing, from the gradual and systematic development of the creation, and from the harmony which prevails in all its multitudinous component parts, that One God produced it all, and that He is over all.

The order in which God gave rise to this creation out of nothing, and the harmony which pervades all the constituent parts of the universe are shown by the analogy which subsists between the visible things and the signs of thought, or the means whereby wisdom is expressed and perpetuated among men.

Since the letters have no absolute value, nor can they be used as mere forms, but serve as the medium between essence and form, and like words, assume the relation of form to the real essence, and of essence to the embryo and unexpressed thought, great value is attached to these letters, and to the combinations and analogies of which they are capable.

The patriarch Abraham, therefore, employs the double value of the twenty‑two letters of the Hebrew alphabet [It is for this reason that the Book of Jetzira is also called the Letters or alphabet of the Patriarch Abraham]; he uses them, both in their phonetic nature and in their sacred character, as expressing the divine truths of the Scriptures.

But, since the Hebrew alphabet is also used as numerals, which are represented by the fundamental number ten, and since the vowels of the language are also ten in number, this decade is added to the twenty‑two letters, and these two kinds of signs, the twenty‑two letters of the alphabet and the ten fundamental numbers, are designated the thirty‑two ways of secret wisdom; and the treatise opens with the declaration: "By thirty‑two paths of secret wisdom, the Eternal, the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, the living God, the King of the Universe, the Merciful and Gracious, the High and Exalted God, HE WHO INHABITETH ETERNITY, Glorious and Holy is His name, HATH CREATED THE WORLD BY MEANS OF NUMBERS, PHONETIC LANGUAGE, AND WRITING." (Sepher Jetzira, Chapter 1; Mishna 1)

First of all comes the fundamental number ten. This decade is divided into a tetrade and hexade, and thereby is shown the gradual development of the world out of nothing. At first there existed nothing except the Divine Substance, with the creative idea and the articulate creative word as the Spirit or the Holy Spirit, which is one with the Divine Substance and indivisible. Hence, the Spirit of the living God stands at the head of all things and is represented by the number one.

"One is the spirit of the living God, blessed be His name, who liveth for ever! voice, spirit, and word, this is the Holy ghost." (Chapter 1, Mishna ix)

From this spirit the whole universe proceeded in gradual and successive emanations, in the following order. The creative air, represented by number two, emanated from the Spirit. "In it He engraved the twenty‑two letters." The water again, represented by the number three, proceeded from the air. "In it He engraved darkness and emptiness, slime and dung." While the ether or fire, represented by the number four, emanated from the water.

"In it He engraved the throne of His glory, the Ophanim, the Seraphim, the sacred animals, and the ministering angels, and from these three he formed His habitation; as it is written:  'He maketh the wind his messengers, flaming fire his servants." (Cap. i. Mish. ix, x)

These intermediate members between the Creator and the created world sustain a passive and created relationship to God, and an acting and creating relationship to the world; so that God is neither in immediate connection with the created and material universe, nor is His creative fiat hindered by matter. 

Then comes the hexade, each unit of which represents space in the six directions, or the four corners of the world, east, west, north, and south, as well as height and depth which emanated from the ether, and in the center of which is the Holy Temple supporting the whole. The position of the decade is therefore as follows: 

(1) Spirit;                            (6) North;

(2) Air;                                (7) West; Holy Temple.

(3) Water;                           (8) East;

(4) Ether or Fire;                  (9) South; and                            (5) Height;                     (10) Depth.                                                              

These constitute the primordial ten, from which the whole universe proceeded. And lastly follow,

"THE TWENTY-TWO LETTERS, BY MEANS OF WHICH GOD, having, drawn, hewn, and weighed them, and having variously changed and put them together, FORMED THE SOULS OF EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN MADE, AND THAT SHALL BE MADE." (Chapter ii, Mishna ii)

These twenty‑two letters of the alphabet and are then divided into three groups, consisting respective­ly of, (1). The three mothers, or fundamental letters, (2) Seven double and (3) Twelve simple consonants, to deduce there from a triad of elements, a heptade of opposites, and a duodecimo of simple things, in the following manner.

1). Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem, Shin.

The above‑named three primordial elements, viz., ether, water and air, which were as yet partially ideal and ethereal, became more concrete and palpable in the course of emanation. Thus the fire developed itself into the earth, embracing sea and land, whilst the elementary air became the atmospheric air.

These constitute the three fundamental types of the universe. The three primordial elements also thickened still more in another direction, and gave birth to a new order of creatures, which constitute the course of the year and the temperatures.

From the ether developed itself heat, from the water emanated cold, and from the air proceeded the mild temperature which shows itself in the rain or wet. These constitute the fundamental points of the year. Whereupon the three primordial elements developed themselves in another direction again, and gave rise to the human organism. 

The ether sent forth the human head, which is the seat of intelligence; the water gave rise to the body, or the abdominal system; whilst the air, which is the central element, developed itself into the genital organ. These three domains, viz., the macrocosm, the revolution of time, and the microcosm, which proceeded from the three primordial elements, are exhibited by the three letters Aleph, Mem and Shin.

Hence it is said that by means of these three letters, which, both in their phonetic and sacred character, represent the elements, inasmuch as a gentle aspirate, and as the initial of air, symbolizes the Air; as a labial or mute, and as the initial of water, represents the Water: whilst, as a sibilant, and as the last letter of fire, typifies the Fire: (Chapter iii, Mishna iii)  God created,

In the World ‑‑ The Fire, Water, Air.

In Man ‑‑ the Head, Body, Breast.

In the Year ‑‑ Heat, Cold, Wet.

2). Seven double consonants ‑‑ Beth, Gimel, Daleth, Caph, Pe, Resh, Tau.

The three dominions proceeding from the triad of the primordial elements which emanated from the unity continued to develop themselves still further. In the macrocosm were developed the seven planets, in time the seven days, and in the microcosm the seven sensuous faculties.

These are represented by the seven double consonants of the alphabet. Hence it is said that by means of these seven letters, which are called double because they have a double pronunciation, being sometimes aspirated and sometimes not, according to their being with or without the Dagesh, God created:

In the World ‑‑ Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon.

In Man ‑‑ Wisdom, Riches, Dominion, Life, Favour, Progeny, Peace.

In the Year ‑‑ Sabbath, Thursday, Tuesday, Sunday, Friday, Wednesday, Monday.

Owing to the opposite == double pronunciation of these seven letters, being hard and soft, they are also the symbols of the seven opposites in which human life moves, viz., wisdom and ignorance, riches and poverty, fruitfulness and barrenness, life and death, liberty and bondage, peace and war, beauty and deformity. Moreover, they correspond to the seven ends, above and below, east and west, north and south, and the Holy Place in the center, which supports them; and with them God formed the seven heavens, the seven earths or countries, the seven weeks from the feast of Passover to Pentecost. (Chapter iii, Mishna, i‑v; cap. iv, Mishna, i‑iii)

3). Twelve simple consonants.

The three dominions then respectively developed themselves into twelve parts, the macrocosm into the twelve signs of the Zodiac, time into twelve months, and the microcosm into twelve active organs. This is shown by the twelve simple consonants of the alphabet. Thus it is declared, that by means of the twelve letters, God created the twelve signs of the Zodiac, viz.: ‑‑

In the World: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces.

In Man: The organs of Sight, Hearing, Smelling, Talking, Taste, Copulating, Dealing, Walking, Thinking, Anger, laughter, Sleeping.

In the Year: The twelve months, viz., Nisan, Jiar, Sivan, Tamus, Ab, Elul, Tishri, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tebet, Shebat, Adar. (Comp. Chapter v, Mishna i)

The three dominions continued gradually to develop into that infinite variety of objects which is perceptible in each. This infinite variety, proceeding from the combination of a few, is propounded by means of the great diversity of combinations and permutations of which the whole alphabet is capable.

These letters small in number, being only twenty‑two, by their power of combination and transposition, field and endless number of words and figures, and thus become the types of all the varied phenomena in the creation.

"Just as the twenty‑two letters yield two hundred and thirty‑one types by combining Aleph with all the letters, and all the letters with Alph; Beth, with all the letters, and all the letters with Beth, so all the formations and all that is spoken proceed from one name." (Chapter ii, Mishna, iv)

Accordingly, the material form of the spirit, represented by the twenty‑two letters of the alphabet, is the form of all existing beings. Apart from the three dominions, the macrocosm, time, and microcosm, it is only the Infinite who can be perceived, and of whom this triad testifies; for which reason it is denominated "the three true witnesses."

Each of this triad, notwithstanding its multifariousness, constitutes a system, having its own center and dominion. Just as God is the center of the universe, the heavenly dragon is the center of the macrocosm; the foundation of the year is the revolution of the Zodiac; whilst the center of the microcosm is the heart. The first is like a king on his throne, the second is like a king living among his subjects, and the third is like a king in war.

The reason why the heart of man is like a monarch in the midst of war is, that the twelve principal organs of the human body,

"are ar­ra­yed against each other in battle array; three serve love, three hatred, three engender life, and three death. The three engendering love are the heart, the ears and the mouth; the three for enmity are the liver, the gall and the tongue; but God, the faithful King, rules over all the three systems. One [god] is over the three, the three are over the seven, the seven over the twelve, and all are internally connected with each other." (Chapter vi, Mishna iii)

Thus the whole creation is one connected whole; it is like a pyramid pointed at the top, which was its beginning, and exceedingly broad in its basis, which is its fullest development in all its multitudinous component parts.

Throughout the whole are perceptible two opposites, with a reconciling medium. In the macrocosm,

"the ethereal fire is above, the water below, and the air is between these hostile elements to reconcile them." (Chapter vi, Mishnai)

The same is the case in the heaven, earth and the atmosphere, as well as in the microcosm. But all the opposites in the cosmic, telluric and organic spheres, as well as in the moral world, are designed to balance each other.

"God has placed in all things one to oppose the other; good to op­pose evil, good proceeding from good, and evil from evil; good purifies evil, and evil purifies good; good is in store for the good, and evil is reserved for the evil." (Chapter vi, Mishna ii)

From this analysis of its contents it will be seen that the Book Jetzira, which the Kabbalists claim as their oldest document, has really nothing in common with the cardinal doctrines of the Kabbalah.

There is not a single word in it bearing on the En Soph, the Archetypal Man, the speculations about the being and nature of the Deity, and the Sephiroth, which constitute the essence of the Kabbalah.

Even its treatment of the ten digits, as part of the thirty‑ two ways of wisdom whereby God created the universe, which has undoubtedly suggested to the authors of the Kabbalah the idea of the ten Sephiroth, is quite different from the mode in which the Kabbalistic Sephiroth are depicted, as may be seen from a most cursory comparison of the respective diagrams which we have given to illustrate the plans of the two systems.

Besides the language of the Book Jetzira and the train of ideas therein enunciated, as the erudite Zunz rightly remarks, shew that this treatise belongs to the Geonim period, about the ninth century of the Christian era, when it first became known.

The fabrication of this pseudograph was evidently suggested by the fact that the Talmud mentions some treatises on the Creation, denominated and (Sanhedrin 65b; 67b) which R. Chanina and R. Oshaja studied every Friday, whereby they produced a calf three years old and ate it; and whereby R. Joshua ben Chananja declared he could take fruit and instantly produce the trees which belong to them. (Jerusalem Sanhedrin cap. vii. ad finem)

Indeed Dr. Chwolson of Petersburg has shown in his treatise "on the Remnants of the ancient Babylonian Literature in Arabic translations," that the ancient Babylonians laid it down as a maxim that if a man were minutely and carefully to observe the process of nature, he would be able to imitate nature and produce sundry creatures.

He would not only be able to create plants and metals, but even living beings. These artificial productions the Babylonians call productions or formations. Gutami, the author of the Agricultura Nabat, who lived about 1400 B.C. devoted a long chapter to the doctrine of artificial productions. The ancient sorcerer Ankebuta declares, in his work on artificial productions, that he created a man, and shows how he did it; but he confesses that the human being was without language and reason, that he could not eat, but simply opened and closed his eyes.

This and many other fragments adds R, from whose communication we quote, show that there were many works in Babylon which treated on the artificial productions of plants, metals, and living beings, and that the Book Jetzira, mentioned in the Talmud, was most probably such a Babylonian document.

As the document on creation, mentioned in the Talmud, was lost in the course of time, the author of the Treatise which we have analyzed tried to supply the loss, and hence not only called his production by the ancient name the Book of Creation, but ascribed it to the patriarch Abraham.

The perusal, however, of a single page of this book will convince any impartial reader that it has as little in common with the magic work mentioned in the Talmud or with the ancient Babylonian works which treat of human creations, as with the speculations about the being and nature of the Deity, the En Soph and the Sephiroth, which are the essence of the Kabbalah.

For those who would like to prosecute the study of the metaphysical Book Jetzira, we must mention that this Treatise was first published in a Latin translation by Postellus, Paris, 1552. It was then published in the original with five commentaries, viz., the spurious one of Saadia Gaon, one by Moses Nachmanides, one by Eleazer Worms, one by Abraham b. David, and one by Moses Botarel. Mantua, 1565.

Another Latin version is given in Jo. Pistorii artis cabalistical semptorum, 1587, Tom. 1, p. 869 seq., which is ascribed to Reuchlin and Paul Ricci; and a third Latin translation, with notes and the Hebrew text, was published by Rittangel, Amsterdam, 1662. The Book is also published with a German translation and notes, by John Freidrich v. Meyer, Leipzig, 1830.

As useful helps to the understanding of this difficult Book we may mention The Kusari of R. Jehudah ha‑levi, with Cassel's German version and learned annotations, part iv. chap 25, p. 344, etc. Having shown that the Book Jetzira, claimed by the Kabbalists as their first and oldest code of doctrines, has no affinity with the real tenets of the Kabbalah, we have now to examine:

The Sohar

2). The Book Sohar.

Before we enter into an examination concerning the date and authorship of this renowned code of the Kabbalistic doctrines, it will be necessary to describe the component parts of the Sohar. It seems that the proper Sohar, which is a commentary on the five Books of Moses, according to the division into Sabbatic sections, was originally called the Midrash or Exposition.

Let there be Light, from the words in Gen. i, 4; because the real Midrash begins with the exposition of this verse. The name Sohar, Light Splendour, was given to it afterwards, either because this document begins with the theme light, or because the word Sohar frequently occurs on the first page. It is referred to by the name of the Book Sohar in the component parts of the treatise itself. (Comp. The Faithful Shepherd, Sohar, iii, 153b) The Sohar is also called Midrash of R. Simon b. Jochai, because this Rabbi is its reputed author.

The Sohar was first published by the Padova and Jacob b. Naphtali, 3 vols.  Mautna, 1558‑1560, with an Introduction by Is. de Lattes. Interspersed throughout the Sohar, either as parts of the text with special titles, or in separate columns with distinct superscriptions, are the following dissertations, which we detail according to the order of the pages on which they respectively commence.

1). Tosephta and Mathanithan and, or Small Additional Pieces which are given in vol. i, 31b; 32b; 37a; 51b; 59a; 60b; 62; 98b; 121a; 122, 123b; 147; 151a; 152a; 232; 233b; 234a; vol. ii, 4, 27b; 28a; 68b; 135b; vol. iii, 29b; 30a; 54b; 55.

They briefly discuss, by way of supplement, the various topics of the Kabbalah, such as the Sephiroth, the emanation of the primordial light, etc., and address themselves in apostrophes to the initiated in these mysteries, calling their attention to some doctrine or explanation.

2). Hechaloth or The Mansions and Abodes forming part of the text vol. i, 38a‑45b; vol. ii, 245a‑269a.

This portion of the Sohar describes the topographical structure of Paradise and Hell. The mansions or palaces, which are seven in number, were at first the habitation of the earthly Adam, but, after the fall of the protoplasts, were rearranged to be the abode of the beautified saints, who for this reason have the enjoyment both of this world and the world to come.

The seven words in Genesis 1:2  are explained to describe these seven mansions. Sohar, i, 45a, describes the seven Hells. In some Codices, however, this description of the Infernal Regions is given vol. ii, 202b.

3). Sithre Tora, or The Mysteries of the Pentateuch, given in separate columns, and at the bottom of pages as follows. Vol. i, 74b; 75a; 76b‑77a; 78a‑81b; 97a‑102a; 107b‑111a; 146b‑149b; 151a; 152b; 154b‑157b; 161b‑162b; 165; vol. ii, 146a.

It discusses the divers topics of the Kabbalah, such as the evolution of the Sephiroth, the emanation of the primordial light, etc.

4). Midrash Ha‑Neelam, or The Hidden Midrash, occupies parallel columns with the text in vol. i, 97a‑140a, and endeavors more to explain passages of Scripture mystically, by way of Remasim and Gematrias, and allegorically, than to propound the doctrines of the Kabbalah.

Thus Abraham's prayer for Sodom and Gomorrah is explained as an intercession by the congregated souls of the saints in behalf of the sinners about to be punished. (Sohar i, 104b) Lot's two daughters are the two proclivities in man, good and evil. (Sohar, 110) Besides this mystical interpretation wherein the Kabbalistic rules of exegesis are largely applied, the distinguishing feature of this portion of the Sohar is its discussion on the properties and destiny of the soul, which constitute an essential doctrine of the Kabbalah. 

5). Raja Mehemna, or the Faithful Shepherd. This portion of the Sohar is given in the second and third volumes, in parallel columns with the text; and when it is too disproportioned for columns, is given at the bottom or in separate pages, as follows. Vol. ii, 25; 40; 59b; 91b‑93a; 134b; 157b‑159a; 187b‑188a; vol. iii, 3a-4b; 20a; 24b; 27; 28a‑29a; 33a‑34a; 42a; 44a; 63; 67b‑68a; 81b‑83b; 85b‑86a; 88b‑90a; 92b‑93a; 97a‑101a; 103b‑104a; 108b‑111b; 121b‑126a; 145a‑146b; 152b‑153b; 174a‑175a; 178b‑179b; 180a; 215a‑239a; 242a‑258a; 263a‑264a; 270b‑283a.

     It derives its name from the fact that it records the discussions which Moses the Faithful Shepherd held in conference with the prophet Elias, and with R. Simon b. Jochai, the celebrated master of the Kabbalistic school, who is called the Sacred Light.

The chief object of this portion is to show the profound and allegorical import of the Mosaic commandments and prohibitions, as well as of the Rabbinic injunctions and religious practices which obtained in the course of time. At the dialogue which Moses the lawgiver holds with R. Simon b. Jochai the Kabbalistic lawgiver, not only is the prophet Elias present, but Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, David, Solomon, and God himself make their appearance; THE DISCIPLES OF R. SIMON ARE FREQUENTLY IN ECSTASIES WHEN THEY HOLD CONVERSE WITH THESE ILLUSTRIOUS PATRIARCHS AND KINGS OF BYGONE DAYS.  

6). Raze Derazin, or the Secret of Secrets, Original Secrets, is given in vol. ii, 70a‑75a.

And is especially devoted to the physiognomy of the Kabbalah, and the connection of the soul with the body, based upon the advice of Jethro to his son‑in‑law Moses "and thou shalt look into the face." (Exodus xviii, 21)

7). Saba Demishpatim, or the Discourse of the Aged in Mishpatim, given in vol. ii, 94a‑114a

The Aged is the prophet Elias, who holds converse with R. Simon b. Jochai about the doctrine of metempsychosis, and the discussion is attached to the Sabbatic section called, Exod. xxi, 1 ‑ xxiv, 18, because the Kabbalah takes this word to signify punishments of souls, and finds its psychology in this section. So enraptured were the disciples when their master, the Sacred Light, discoursed with Moses on this subject, that they knew not whether it was day or night, or whether they were in the body or out of the body. (Sohar ii, 105b) 

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; FOR SATAN HIMSELF IS TRANSFORMED INTO AN ANGEL OF LIGHT. Therefore it is no great thing if HIS ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." (2 Corinthians 11:13‑15)

8). Siphra Detzniutha, or the Book of Secrets or Mysteries, given in vol. ii, 176b‑178b.

It is divided into five sections, and is chiefly occupied with the discussing the questions involved in the creation, the transition from the infinite to the finite, from absolute unity to multifariousness, from pure intelligence to matter, the double principle of masculine and feminine, expressed in the Tetragrammaton, the andrgynous protoplast, the Demonology concealed in the letters of Scripture, as seen in Gen. vi, 2; Josh. ii, 1; 1 Kings viii, 3‑16; the mysteries contained in Isa. i, 4, and the doctrine of the Sephiroth concealed in Gen. i; etc., as well as with showing the import of the letters composing the Tetragrammation which were the principal agents in the creation. This portion of the Sohar has been translated into Latin by Rosenroth in the second volume of his Kabbala Denudata, Frankfort‑on‑the‑Maine, 1684.

9). Idra Rabba, or the Great Assembly is given in vol. iii, 127b‑145b.

And derives its name from the fact that it purports to give the discourses which R. Simon b. Jochai delivered to his disciples who congregated around him in large numbers. Upon the summons of the Sacred Light, his disciples assembled to listen to the secrets and enigmas contained in the Book of Mysteries.

HENCE IT IS CHIEFLY OCCUPIED WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE FORM AND VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE DEITY, A DISQUISITION ON THE RELATION OF THE DEITY, IN HIS TWO ASPECTS OF THE AGED AND THE YOUNG, TO THE CREATION AND THE UNIVERSE, as well as on the diverse gigantic members of the Deity, such as the head, the beard, the eyes, the nose, etc.; a dissertation on pneumatology, demonology, etc. it concludes with telling us that three of the disciples died during these discussions. This portion too is given in a Latin translation in the second volume of Rosenroth's Kabbala Denudata.

10). Januka, or the Discourse of the Young Man, is given in vol. iii, 186a‑19a, and forms part of the text of the Sohar on the Sabbatic section called Balak, Numb. xxii, 2‑xxv, 9.

It derives its name from the fact that the discourses therein recorded were delivered by a young man, under the following circumstances: R. Isaac and R. Jehudah, two of R. Simon b. Jochai's disciples, when on a journey, and passing through the village where the widow of R. Hamnuna Saba resided, visited this venerable woman. She asked her son, the young hero of this discourse, who had just returned from school, to go to these two Rabbins to receive their benediction; but the youth would not approach them because he recognized, from the smell of their garments, that they had omitted reciting on that day the prescribed declaration about the unity of the Deity.

When at meals this wonderful Januka gave them sundry discourses on the mysterious import of the washing of hands, based on Exod. xxx, 20, on the grace recited at meals, on the Shechinah, on the angel who redeemed Jacob, (Genesis xlviii, 16) etc., which elicited the declaration from the Rabbins that "this youth is not the child of human parents"; and when hearing all this, R. Simon b. Jochai coincided in the opinion, that "this youth is of superhuman origin."

11). Idra Suta or the Small Assembly, is given in vol. iii, 287b‑296b.

And derives its name from the fact that many of the disciples of R. Simon b. Jochai had died during the course of these Kabbalistic revelations, and that this portion of the Sohar contains the discourses which the Sacred Light delivered before his death to the small assembly of six pupils, who still survived and congregated to listen to the profound mysteries.

It is to a great extent a recapitulation of the Idra Rabba, occupying itself with speculations about the Sephiroth, THE DEITY IN HIS THREE ASPECTS, or principles which successively developed themselves from each other, viz., the en Soph, or the boundless in his absolute nature, the Macroprosopon, or the Boundless as manifested in the first emanation, and the Microprosopon, the other nine emanations; the abortive creations, etc., and concludes with recording the death of Simon b. Jochai, the Sacred Light and the medium through whom God revealed the contents of the Sohar.

From this brief analysis of its component parts and contents, it will be seen that the Sohar does not propound a regular kabbalistic system, but promiscuously and reiteratedly dilates upon the diverse doctrines of this theosophy, as indicated in the forms and ornaments of the Hebrew alphabet, in the vowel points and accents, in the Divine names and the letters of which they are composed.

Hence the Sohar is more a collection of homilies or rhapsodies on Kabbalistic subjects than treatises on the Kabbalah. It is for this very reason that it became the treasury of the Kabbalah to the followers of this theosophy. Its diversity became its charm.

The long conversations between its reputed author, R. Simon b. Jochai, and Moses, the great lawgiver and true shepherd, which it records; the short and pathetic prayers inserted therein; the religious anecdotes; the attractive spiritual explanations of scripture passages, appealing to the hearts and wants of men; the description of the Deity and of the Sephiroth under tender forms of human relationships, comprehensible to the finite mind, such as father, mother, primeval man, matron, bride, white head, the great and small face, the luminous mirror, the higher heaven, the higher earth, etc., which it gives on every page, made the Sohar a welcome text‑book for the students of the Kabbalah, who, by its vivid descriptions of divine love, could lose themselves in rapturous embraces with the Deity.

The Sohar pretends to be a revelation from God, communicated through R. Simon b. Jochai, who flourished about A.D. 70‑110, to his select disciples. We are told that

"when they assembled to compose the Sohar, permission was granted to the prophet Elias, to all the members of the celestial college, to all angels, spirits, and superior souls, to assist them; and the ten spiritual substances were charged to disclose to them their profound mysteries, which were reserved for the days of the Messiah."

On the approach of death, R. Simon b. Jochai assembled the small number of his disciples and friends, amongst whom was his son, R. Eleazar, to communicate to them his last doctrines,

"when he ordered as follows R. Aba writes, R. Eleazar, my son propound, and let my other associates quietly think about it." (Idra Suta, Sohar iii, 287b)

It is upon the strength of these declarations, as well as upon the repeated representation of R. Simon b. Jochai as speaking and teaching throughout this production, that the Sohar is ascribed to this Rabbi on its very title‑page, and that not only Jews, for centuries, but such distinguished Christian scholars as Lightfoot, Gill, Bartolocci, Pfeifer, Knorr von Rosenroth, Molitor, etc., have maintained this opinion.

A careful examination, however, of the following internal and external evidence will show that this Thesaurus of the Kabbalah is the production of the thirteenth century.

1). The Sohar most fulsomely praises its own author, calls him the Sacred Light, and exalt him above Moses, "the true Shepherd.”

"I testify by the sacred heavens and the sacred earth that I now see what no son of man has seen since Moses ascended the second time on Mount Sinai, for I see my face shining as brilliantly as the light of the sun when it descends as a healing for the world; as it is written, 'to you who fear my name shall shine the Sun of Righteousness with a healing in his wings.' (Malachi iii, 20; iv, 2) Yea, more, I know that my face is shining, but Moses did not know it nor understand it; for it is written, (Exodus xxxiv, 29) 'Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone.'" (Sohar iii, 132b; 144a) The disciples deify R. Simon in the Sohar, declaring that the verse, "all thy males shall appear before the Lord God" (Exodus xxiii, 17)

REFERS TO R. SIMON B. JOCHAI, WHO IS THE LORD, AND BEFORE WHOM ALL MEN MUST APPEAR. (Sohar ii, 38a)

2). The Sohar quotes and mystically explains the Hebrew vowel points, (Sohar, i, 16b; 24b; ii, 116a; iii, 65a) which were introduced for the first time by R. Mocha of Palestine, A.D. 570, to facilitate the reading of the Scriptures for his students.

3). The Sohar Faithful Shepherd, (on section iii, 82b), has literally borrowed two verses from the celebrated Hymn of Ibn Gebiro, who was born about A.D. 1021 and died in 1070. This Hymn which is entitled The Royal Diadem, is a beautiful and pathetic composition, embodying the cosmic views of Aristotle, and forms part of the Jewish service for the evening preceding the Great Day of Atonement to the present day.

4). The Sohar (i, 18b, 23a) quotes and explains the interchange, on the outside of the Mezuza, of the words Jehovah our God is Jehovah for Kuzu Bemuchzaz Kuzu, by substituting for each letter its immediate predecessor in the alphabet, which was transplanted from France into Spain in the thirteenth century.

5). The Sohar (iii, 232b) uses the expression Esnoga, which is a Portuguese corruption of  synagogue, and explains it in a Kabbalistic manner as a compound of two Hebrew words, Es == and Noga == brilliant light.

6). The Sohar ii, 32a. mentions the Crusades, the momentary taking of Jerusalem by the  Crusaders from the Infidels, and the retaking of it by the Saracens.

"Woe to the time wherein Ishmael [see how the Jews lie again and again ‑ it was Abraham who received the commandment to circumcise his male children ‑ not Ishmael!] saw the world, and received the sign of circumcision!

“What did the Holy One, blessed be his name? He excluded the descendants of Ishmael, the Mohommedans, from the congregation in heaven, but gave them a portion on earth in the Holy Land, because of the sign of the covenant which they possess. The Mahommedans are, therefore, destined to rule for a time over the Holy Land; and they will prevent the Israelites from returning to it, till the merit of the Mahommedans is accomplished. At that time the descendants of Ishmael will be the occasion of terrible wars in the world, and the children of Edom, the Christians [Here again they lie and say Christians are Edomites, when the Scriptures along with the Jews own writings show it is the Jews who are the Edomites not the Christians], will gather together against them and do battle with them, some at sea and some on land, and some in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, and the victory will now be on the one side and then on the other, but the Holy Land will not remain in the hands of the Christians." (Sohar ii, 32a)

7). The Sohar records events which transpired A.D. 1264.

Thus on Num. xxiv, 17, which the Sohar explains as referring to the time preceding the advent of Messiah, it remarks,

"the Holy One, blessed be he, is prepared to rebuild Jerusalem. Previous to the rebuilding thereof he will cause to appear, a wonderful and splendid star, which will shine seventy days. It will first be seen on Friday, Elul == July 25th, and disappear on Saturday or Friday evening at the end of seventy days. On the day preceding [its disappearance, October 2nd] when it will still be seen in the city of Rome, on that self‑same day three high walls of that city of Rome and the great palace will fall, and the pontiff ruler of the city will die." (Sohar iii, 212b)

The comet here spoken of appeared over Rome, July 25th, 1264, and was visible till October 2nd, which are literally the seventy days mentioned in the Sohar. Moreover, July 25th, when the comment first appeared actually happened on a Friday; on the day of its disappearance, October 2nd, the sovereign pontiff of Rome, Urban IV, died at Perugia, when it was believed the appearance of the comment was the omen of his death, and the great and strong palace Vincimento, fell on the self‑same day, October 2nd, into the hand of the insurrection­ists.

8). The Sohar, in assigning a reason why its contents were not revealed before, says that the "time in which R. Simon ben Jochai lived was peculiarly worthy and glorious, and that it is near the advent of the Messiah," for which cause this revelation was reserved till the days of R. Simon, to be communicated through him.

Yet, speaking elsewhere of the advent of the Messiah, the Sohar, instead of placing it in the second century when this Rabbi lived, forgets itself and says:

"When the sixtieth or the sixty‑sixth year shall have passed over the threshold of the sixth millennium [A.M. 5060‑66 == A.D. 1300‑1306] the Messiah will appear," (Sohar i, 116a; 117b; Comp. also iii, 252a)

thus showing that the author lived in the thirteenth century of the Christian era. In perfect harmony with this is the fact that:

9). The doctrine of the En Soph, and the Sephiroth, as well as the metempsychosisian retribution were not known before the thirteenth century...

"With the assistance of this mysterious science a man could master all the spirits that flit like shadows through the universe: could obtain the services of the angels, perform the most astounding deeds. Such was the meaning attached to this science and the awe which the Kabbalist inspired was far superior to that which the wizard or magician inspired. For the Kabbalist owed his power to the knowledge which was vouchsafed to him through the study of sacred writings, whilst the wizard or magician was suspected of some unholy compact with the Master of Darkness. This at once shows that even in the darkest ages of superstition and blind belief, Kabbala was never associated with evil purposes, nor the Kabbalist with some mysterious dark power. He was credited with having penetrated the mysteries of this world by almost a special grace of God; through some holy agency the veil that covers everything had been lifted for him." (Origin of the Kabbala, M. Gaster, Ramsgate, 1894, p. 15)

The line drawn here between the white Kabbalist and the black magician is as arbitrary as all attempted classifications of magic under rubrics are doomed to be; white and black are continually mingling and fertilizing each other; and the ineffable names of the Kabbala were used and misused by the magical confraternity quite as profusely as those of the divinities of Egypt, Greece and Christendom.

The holier the names, the more powerful they were supposed to be; and even the divine appellations of the Kabbalistic Sephiroth did not escape magical pollution. This fundamental doctrine of the emanations of God from Ain (En) Soph (the Illimitable One) through Kether, the Crown; Binah, Understanding; Chokmah, Wisdom; Geburah, Strength; Chesed, Pity; Hod, Greatness; Netzach, Victory; Jesod, Foundation; Malkuth, Kingdom, supplied Jewish mystics with food for enraptured contemplation and their philosophers with matter for abstruse speculations. But it also ministered to the insatiable demand for names of power inherent in the very nature of magic.

By connecting a particular name for God with each of His emanations (Jah, Jehovah, El, Elohim, Jehod, Eloha, Sabaoth, Shadai, Adonai), it delivered these sacred symbols into the hands of sorcerers; and most eagerly of course was grasped the one about which there seemed to be the most mystery.

A great and almost impenetrable mystery had indeed gradually grown up round the name which there seemed to be the most mystery. A great and almost impenetrable mystery had indeed gradually grown up round the name which to us seems the most familiar of all, even though its pronunciation has shifted in our own day: Jehovah or Jahweh. Represented by the letters JHVH (Yod He Vau He), it seems at first to have been openly spoken.

But a time came when, possibly owing to the mystery‑mongering about divine names in Egypt and Babylonia, the Hebrew priests refrained from pronouncing it, and substituted Adonai (Lord) when they read the sacred texts out loud.

The Jewish people followed their lead; and, because of the absence of vowels from the Hebrew alphabet, the original pronunciation was finally forgotten and not rediscovered until A.D. 300 or there about.

It was the Kabbalists who emphasized the mystery surrounding the letters JHVH by referring to the name they represented as the 'word of four letters,' Tetragrammation, and this caught on like wild‑fire in the magical texts. Few indeed and far between are those modern rituals in which that awe‑inspiring name does not occupy the place of honor.

It is not one of the many bizarre appellations to be found in the Sword of Moses, which may have been pre‑Kabbalistic in origin; but this text nevertheless illustrates particularly vividly the strange hold which cipher‑language has always had over the Jewish mind, and which has rendered the obscurity and complexity of magical names still more hopeless to disentangle.

There are well over a hundred and forty divine or angelic ineffable names in this treatise; but the majority, according to Gaster, defy transliteration. The following passages, however, throw some light on the mental gymnastics involved in composing them:

"...and these are the Ineffable names and their surnames: Spirit Piskonnit, kunya, X; Atimon, kunya, X; Piskon (?), Hugron, kunya, X; Sanigron, kunya, X; Msi, Kunya, X; Mokon, kunya, X; Astm, kunya, X; Sktm, kunya, X; Ihoaiel, kunya, X; Iofiel, kunya, X; Ssnialiah, kunya, X; Kngiela, kunya, X; Zabdiel, kunya, X. I conjure thee with these fourteen names, by which all the secrets and mysteries and signs are sealed and accomplished, and which are the foundations of heaven and earth. (Kunya is the surname; X stands for names which have not been transliterated).

“I further call thee with the greatest of thy Names, the pleasant and beloved one, which is the same as that of thy Master, save one letter, with which He created and formed everything, and which He placed as a seal upon all the work of His hand; and this is its equivalent ‑‑ X, and the other in the language of purity (permutations of the letters Yod, He) is read so ‑‑ X. I conjure thee with the right hand of sanctity and with His beloved Name, in whose honor everything has been created, and all are terror‑struck by His mighty arm, and all the sons of the internal heavenly cohort tremble and shake of His fear, which is X, and its equivalent by means of JHVH is X...in the name X, Lord, most high and holy, in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel's battalions; in the name of the holy living Creatures, and in the name of the Wheels of the Chariot, and in the name of the river of fire, Ih, Ziin, and all His ministers, and in the name of IH, Ziin, Sabaoth, Z, El Z, Shaddai Z, X revealed Himself on Mount Sinai in the glory of His majesty." (The Sword of Moses, Gaster, p. 49‑50f)

These names were held to be omnipotent over both good spirits and evil ones; and to be exceedingly terrible:

"And if you should refuse me, I will hand you over to the Lord God and to his Ineffable name, whose wrath and anger and fire are kindled, who honors his creatures with one letter of his name, and is called X; so that if you refuse he will destroy you, and you will not be found when searched after." (The Sword of Moses, p. 30; an invocation to Azliel, Arel, Ta'aniel, Tafel, Yofiel Mittron, Yadiel, Ra'asiel, Haniel, Haniel, Asrael, Yisriel, A'shael, Amuhael, Asrael, the lords of the 'Sword.') 

"With these Names, terrible and mighty, which darken the sun, and obscure the moon, and turn the sea, and break the rocks, and extinguished the light I conjure you, spirits, and...Shiddim, and Satanism, that you depart and disappear from N, son of N." (The Sword of Moses, p. 51)

The affiliations between Kabbalism and Gnosticism are notoriously very close, for indeed the Gnosis not only derived from but also entered into every contemporary doctrine and religious or mystical system. As regards the Ineffable Name, it out‑clamored (as was its custom) even the Kabbala:

"If anyone knows that Name when he goes out of the material body, neither smoke nor darkness, neither Archon, angel, or archangel, would be able to hurt the soul which knows that Name.

“And if it be spoken by anyone going out from the world and said to the fire, it will be extinguished; and to the darkness, it will disappear; and if it be said to the demons and to the satellites of the external darkness, to its Archons, and to its lords and powers, they will all perish, and their flame will burn them so that they exclaim: 'Thou are holy, Thou art holy, the Holy of all the Holy.' And if that Name is said to the judges of the wicked, and to their lords and all their powers, and to Barbelo and the invisible God, and to the three Gods of triple power, as soon as that Name is uttered in those regions they will fall one upon the other, so that being destroyed they perish and exclaim: 'Light of all the Lights, who art in the infinite lights, have mercy upon us and purify us." (The Sword of Moses, p. 14)

Magicians did rather more than borrow ineffable names from the Kabbala. The Zohar first became known in Europe in the thirteenth century, when a poor Jew, Moses Leon, brought it to Spain.

“From then onwards Kabbalism has never ceased to exert an incalculable influence upon occultists of every descrip­tion. The Kabbalistic tree, which give the Sephiroth in a tabular form, and the doctrine that the invisible can be known by analogy from the visible ('as below, so above') have led to abysmally abstruse speculations, to the most extravagant flights of fancy and to the most fine‑spun theories; for the obscurity of the language of Zohar as well as the pantheism underlying the doctrine of the emanations have had an almost intoxicating effect on the minds of mystics, mystagogues and magicians, as the language of Eliphas Lèvi, who was a combination of all three, amply testifies: 'On penetrating into the sanctuary of the Kabbalah one is seized with admiration in the presence of a doctrine so logical, so simple and at the same time so absolute.

“The essential union of ideas and signs; the consecration of the most fundamental realities by primitive characters; the trinity of words, letters and numbers; a philosophy simple as the alphabet, profound and infinite as the Word; theorems more complete and luminous than those of Pythagoras; a theology which may be summed up on the fingers; an infinite which can be held in the hollow of an infant's hand; ten figures and twenty‑two letters, a triangle, a square and a circle: such are the elements of the Kabbalah. Such also are the component principles of the written Word, reflection of that spoken Word which created the world! All truly dogmatic religions have issued from the Kabbalah and return therein.

“Whatsoever is grand or scientific in the religious dreams of the illuminated, of Jacob Böhme, Swedenborg, Saint‑Martin and the rest, is borrowed from the Kabbalah; ALL MASONIC ASSOCIATIONS OWE TO IT [Kabbala or Cabbala] THEIR SECRETS AND THEIR SYMBOLS.

“The Kabbalah alone consecrates the alliance of universal reason and the Divine Word; it establishes, by the counterpoise of two forces in apparent opposition, the eternal balance of being; it alone reconciles reason with faith, power with liberty, science with mystery: it has the keys of the present, past and future!" (Transcendental Magic, E. Lèvi, tr. Waite, London, n.d., pp. 24f)

The hoary (though mythical) antiquity of the Kabbala, fathered on the fallen angels and also on Moses, was another reason which recommended it to magicians; for magic, always conscious of a remote and glorious golden age, seeks in the distant past and its memorials for the secrets of knowledge, wisdom and power. This is why magical rituals have been ascribed, from time immemorial, to sages as far removed in time as was compatible with the survival of their memory.

In the fifteenth century books of magical secrets and ritual processes were attributed to Adam, Abel, Noah, Joseph, Moses, Solomon, Reuben, Enoch, Zoroaster, Hermes Trismegistus, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Virgil and Mahomet, to mention only the most outstanding and popular. This custom has persisted until today, and moved Waite to scholarly but uncritical wrath:

"Back‑dating and imputed authorship are the two crying sins of magical hand‑ books...There never was a literature so founded on forgery as Mag­ic...Knavish methods...have ruled the manufacture of most magical books...A literature which has done nothing but ascribe falsely..." (The Book of Black Magic, A.E. Waite, London, 1898, Passim)

These false assumptions and antedatings, if they are symptoms of the fundamental delusiveness of magic, also witness to its reverence for age, authority and tradition. The individual claims are invalid; but the antiquity of magic and its supremacy in ancient times are matters of historical fact.

Venerable indeed as well as many and diverse were the strands woven into the rope with which medieval and modern magicians hoped to draw into their sphere the unknown powers around them; deities and demons from Babylon, Egypt, Persia, Palestine and Greece; magic names spoken in the dawn of time in languages now dead and gone; others taken from a ghost‑speech which had never exited in reality; ritual processes enacted through countless ages and fixed in high perfection before the birth of Christ; pagan practices; Eastern mysticism; Hebrew folk‑lore; Christian theology; apocalyptic angelology and demonology; Kabbalistic symbolism; neo‑Platonic philosophy.

All this (not to mention the considerable part played by astrology in the rituals of magic nor the presence of ritual elements in the experiments of alchemy) was assimilated well or ill, partially or totally misunderstood, mangled, mutilated, corrupted, but still there in the quasi‑modern rituals which have found their way into print.

Superficially considered, these appear to be a mass of unintelligible nonsense which it would be a waste of time to examine closely. But a patient scrutiny reveals much of great interest buried underneath the rubbish on the top. A philosophy underlies the rituals; and beneath these mounds of folly are remnants of ancient civilizations.

Satanism

In the records of antiquity the result and not the origin meets the gaze; but the relationship of cause and effect seems undeniable. The necromantic scene in the Epic of Gilgamish undoubtedly gives the impression of being based on ritual ceremonies (notably burial rites) witnessed by the poet, and so does the raising of Darius in The Persians; whereas Homer's descrip­tion deems rather to have been in­spired by legend or hearsay. The love‑charms in Virgil's Pharmaceutria were deliberately chosen for their poetical quality, and Lucan's hair‑raising account of the rites of Erichtho illustrates the propensity of ritual to produce fiction, consummated in Apuleius' Golden Ass.

A less conscious and more organic development can be traced in the influence of the katabasis on the descent of Aeneas into the Underworld in the wake of many an actor‑hero in kingship and fertility‑rites; and Dante's Divine Comedy is a poet's vision and interpretation of the journey through the nether and upper regions con­stantly undertaken by magicians in legend because they had done so in the rites. These two examples show the creative energy in ceremonial magic trans­formed into peerless poetry; but the question still remains as to whether any comparable process has occurred in more recent times.

Shakespeare's Ariel and Milton's Azael derive from magical texts and it is just possible that the demonologies which were such a marked feature of these manuals from The Testament of Solomon downwards contributed the notion of a pandemonium to Milton, who crystallized the floating conceptions generated by the rituals into a superb pageantry of evil.

But this is speculation and does not admit of proof. One is on firmer ground with the Greek magical papyri which show spontaneous development into poetry in many of the texts, a process also visible in some of Anti‑Scot's rituals, in which magic for magic's sake lords it over practical considerations, and poetry is achieved.

This however is in the framework of the ceremony itself, as are also the epic elements discernible in The Testament of Solomon, which elaborated the legend of the demons building of the Temple and contributed some items to it, verging on the territory of folk‑lore. The introductions to the Key of Solomon also used and added something to the mythical matter about the wise king, and the first part of the Lemegeton could be described as an amplification and elaboration of the legend of the brazen vessel.

'Fosts's Magi has epic streaks in it also; the planetary spirits as well as the presumed author and Mephisto give autogiographical details, which are also present in the Black Raven; while the pygmies in Magia and Luridan in Anti‑Scot show affiliations with folk‑lore. In all these case the rituals owe far more to legend than they add to it, and are hardly more than signs and tokens of a persistent magical tradition associated with certain well‑known names.

Rather less hidebound is The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage as delivered by Abraham the Jew unto his son Lamech A.D. 1458. This mid‑fifteenth‑century text, originally written in Hebrew and translated from French into English by Mathers, has a long autobiographical introduction describing how the writer became possessed of the secrets communicated in the manuscript.

Having received instruction in the Kabbala from his father Simon, Abraham set out at the age of twenty when Simon died upon a voyage of discovery into the mysteries of the Lord. He went first to Mayence, where for ten years he sat at the feet of a Jew called Moses, only to come to the conclusion that his arts were infidel and idolatrous, whether deriving from Egyptian, Median, Persian, or Arabian sources.

On February 13, 1397 he therefore embarked for Egypt and spent two years in Constantinople, learning the sacred wisdom of Abramelin and copying out his secret books.

On the way home he visited the magicians in all the cities he passed through and was disillusioned or disgusted with nearly all, notably with the wizard whom he found in Prague;

"...a wicked man named Antony, who in truth showed me wonderful and supernatural things, but the infamous wretch avowed to me, that he had made a pact with the demon, and had given himself over to him in body and in soul, while the deceitful Leviathan had promised him forty years of life to do his pleasure. To this day they sing in the streets of the terrible end which befell him, for his body was found dragged through the streets and his head without any tongue therein lying in a drain." (C.J.S. Thomson, The Mysteries and Secrets of Magic, London, 1927, pp. 221f)

"They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever com­mitteth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I KNOW THAT YE [Jews] ARE ABRAHAM’S SEED; but YE [Jews] SEEK TO KILL ME, BECAUSE MY WORD HATH NO PLACE IN YOU. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which YE [Jews] HAVE SEEN WITH YOUR FATHER. They answered and said unto, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, IF YE [Jews] WERE ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. YE [Jews] DO THE DEEDS OF YOUR FATHER. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication [This is making reference to Judah and Tamar and their twin sons Pharez and Zarah, whom the Jews believe to have been born of fornication. This does not make reference to Christ Himself as the Jews knew nothing about Mary, His mother being with child of the Holy Spirit until centuries later]; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, IF GOD WERE YOUR FATHER, YE WOULD LOVE ME: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye [Jews] ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, AND THE LUSTS OF YOUR FATHER YE WILL DO. HE WAS A MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING, AND ABODE NOT IN THE TRUTH, BECAUSE THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM [Here Christ is saying there is no truth in the Jews]. WHEN HE SPEAKETH A LIE, HE SPEAKETH OF HIS OWN: FOR HE IS A LIAR, AND THE FATHER OF IT. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not." (John 8:33‑45)

 We are warned by Christ. But most of America's so‑called Christians will not, because of lying pastors, ministers, etc., listen to His Words:

"For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Matthew 24:5)

For a second witness:

"For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Mark 13:6)

But God will send us ministers, priests, pastors and etc., who will:

"Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom [Christ] go forth of his chamber, and the bride [Israel] out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, SPARE THY PEOPLE, O LORD, AND GIVE NOT THINE HERITAGE TO REPROACH, THAT THE HEATHEN SHOULD RULE OVER THEM: WHEREFORE SHOULD THEY SAY AMONG THE PEOPLE, WHERE IS THEIR GOD? Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity is people." (Joel 2:15‑18)