Hermetic Qabalah

Syncretism of Cabala, Alchemy, Astrology and other esoteric Hermetic disciplines in Stephan Michelspacher's Cabala, Spiegel der Kunst und Natur: in Alchymia (1615)

A primary concern of Hermetic Qabalah is the nature of divinity, its conception of which is quite markedly different from that presented in monotheistic religions; in particular there is not the strict separation between divinity and humankind which is seen in classical monotheism.[2] Hermetic Qabalah adheres to the Neoplatonic conception that the manifest universe, of which material creation is a part, arose as a series of "emanations" from the "godhead".[3]

These emanations arise out of three preliminary states that are considered to precede manifestation. The first is a state of complete nullity, known as Ain (אין "nothing"); the second state, considered a "concentration" of Ain, is Ain Suph (אין סוף "without limit, infinite"); the third state, caused by a "movement" of Ain Suph, is Ain Suph Aur (אין סוף אור "limitless light"), and it is from this initial brilliance that the first emanation of creation originates.[4]

The Sephirothic tree showing the lightning flash and the paths

The Qabalistic Tree of Life in the Servants of the Light organisation's Hermetic theory

The emanations of creation arising from Ain Suph Aur are ten in number, and are called Sephiroth (סְפִירוֹת, singular Sephirah סְפִירָה, "enumeration"). These are conceptualised somewhat differently in Hermetic Qabalah to the way they are in Jewish Kabbalah.[5]

From Ain Suph Aur crystallises Kether, the first sephirah of the Hermetic Qabalistic tree of life. From Kether emanate the rest of the sephirot in turn, viz. Kether (1), Chokhmah (2), Binah (3), Daath, Chesed (4), Geburah (5), Tiphareth (6), Netzach (7), Hod (8), Yesod (9), Malkuth (10). Daath is not assigned a number as it is considered part of Binah or a hidden sephirah.[6]

Each sephirah is considered to be an emanation of the divine energy (often described as 'the divine light') which ever flows from the unmanifest, through Kether into manifestation.[7] This flow of light is indicated by the lightning flash shown on diagrams of the sephirotic tree which passes through each sephirah in turn according to their enumerations.

Each sephirah is a nexus of divine energy, and each has a number of attributions. These attributions enable the Qabalist to form a comprehension of each particular sephirah's characteristics. This manner of applying many attributions to each sephirah is an exemplar of the diverse nature of Hermetic Qabalah. For example, the sephirah Hod has the attributions of: Glory, perfect intelligence, the eights of the tarot deck, the planet Mercury, the Egyptian god Thoth, the archangel Michael, the Roman god Mercury and the alchemical element Mercury.[8][9] The general principle involved is that the Qabalist will meditate on all these attributions and by this means to acquire an understanding of the character of the sephirah including all its correspondences.

Hermetic Qabalists see the cards of the tarot as keys to the Tree of Life. The 22 cards including the 21 Trumps plus the Fool or Zero card are often called the "Major Arcana" or "Greater Mysteries" and are seen as corresponding to the 22 Hebrew letters and the 22 paths of the Tree; the ace to ten in each suit correspond to the ten Sephiroth in the four Qabalistic worlds; and the sixteen court cards relate to the classical elements in the four worlds.[10][11] While the sephiroth describe the nature of divinity, the paths between them describe ways of knowing the Divine.[12]

According to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's interpretation of the Kabbalah, there are ten archangels, each commanding one of the choirs of angels and corresponding to one of the Sephirot.[13] It is similar to the Jewish angelic hierarchy.

Both Jewish tradition and mainstream academic scholarship understand Kabbalah to have originated from within the Judaism, developing concepts and ideas from earlier Medieval Jewish neoplatonism. In the mid-twentieth century, Gershom Scholem hypothesized that Medieval Kabbalah had its roots in an earlier Jewish version of Gnosticism; however, contemporary scholarship of Jewish mysticism has largely rejected this idea.[17] Moshe Idel instead has posited a historical continuity of development from early Jewish mysticism.[18] In contrast, some Hermeticists see the origins of Qabalah in a western tradition originating in classical Greece with Indo-European cultural roots, later adopted by Jewish mystics.[19]

Jewish Kabbalah was absorbed into the Hermetic tradition at least as early as the 15th century when Giovanni Pico della Mirandola promoted a syncretic worldview combining Platonism, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, Hermeticism and Kabbalah.[20] Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), a German magician, occult writer, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist, wrote the influential Three Books of Occult Philosophy, incorporating Kabbalah in its theory and practice of Western magic. It contributed strongly to the Renaissance view of ritual magic's relationship with Christianity. Pico's Hermetic syncretism was further developed by Athanasius Kircher, a Jesuit priest, hermeticist and polymath, who wrote extensively on the subject in 1652, bringing further elements such as Orphism and Egyptian mythology to the mix.[21]

The "Kircher Tree": Athanasius Kircher's 1652 depiction of the Tree of Life, based on a 1625 version by Philippe d'Aquin. This is the most common arrangement of Sephiroth and Paths on the Tree in Hermetic Qabalah.

Rosicrucianism and esoteric branches of Freemasonry taught religious philosophies, Qabalah, and divine magic in progressive steps of initiation. Their esoteric teachings, and secret society structure of an outer body governed by a restricted inner level of adepts, laid the format for modern esoteric organisations.

Post-Enlightenment Romanticism encouraged societal interest in occultism, of which Hermetic Qabalistic writing was a feature. Francis Barrett's The Magus (1801) handbook of ceremonial magic gained little notice until it influenced the French magical enthusiast Eliphas Levi (1810–1875). His fanciful literary embellishments of magical invocations presented Qabalism as synonymous with both white and black magic. Levi's innovations included attributing the Hebrew letters to the Tarot cards, thus formulating a link between Western magic and Jewish esotericism which has remained fundamental ever since in Western magic. Levi had a deep impact on the magic of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Through the occultists inspired by him (including Aleister Crowley, who considered himself Levi's reincarnation) Levi is remembered as one of the key founders of the 20th-century revival of magic.

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Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Leading figures Florence Farr Samuel MacGregor-Mathers Henry B. Pullen Burry A. E. Waite William Wynn Westcott William Robert Woodman
Teachings Astrology Body of light Esoteric Christianity Ceremonial magic incl. Enochian magic Clairvoyance Egyptian mythology Geomancy Hermetic alchemy Hermetic Qabalah Neoplatonism Rosicrucianism Tarot Theurgy
Texts Cipher Manuscripts
Organizations Alpha et Omega Isis-Urania Temple The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc. Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn
Related topics Enochian chess Great Work Holy Guardian Angel Lesser ritual of the pentagram Magic circle Opening by Watchtower Secret Chiefs Table of magical correspondences Tattva vision Thelema

Part of a series on
Thelema
Unicursal hexagram
Holy Book and Stele The Book of the Law The Stele of Revealing
Key figures Ankh-af-na-khonsu François Rabelais Aleister Crowley Jack Parsons Kenneth Grant James Lees Nema Andahadna Lon Milo DuQuette
Core concepts Abrahadabra Gnostic Mass Great Work Holy Guardian Angel Magick The Abyss The Aeon True Will
Methods Banishing Body of light Bornless Ritual English Qaballa Enochian magic Hermetic Qabalah Magical formulae Sex magic Thoth Tarot Tree of life Yoga
Thelemic texts The Holy Books of Thelema Works of Crowley (Libri) Thelemic texts
Organizations A∴A∴ O∴A∴A∴ Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) Typhonian Order (TO)
Deities Nuit Hadit Heru-ra-ha Aiwass Babalon Baphomet Chaos Ma'at Therion
Related topics Abbey of Thelema Abramelin oil Astrotheology Cake of Light Choronzon Enochian IPSOS Night of Pan Table of magical correspondences Whore of Babylon

Hermetic Qabalah was developed extensively by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,[22] Within the Golden Dawn, the fusing of Qabalistic principles such as the ten Sephiroth with Greek and Egyptian deities was made more cohesive and was extended to encompass other systems such as the Enochian system of angelic magic of John Dee and certain Eastern (particularly Hindu and Buddhist) concepts, all within the structure of a Masonic or Rosicrucian style esoteric order.

Aleister Crowley passed through the Golden Dawn before going on to form his own magical orders. Crowley's book Liber 777[23] is a good illustration of the wider Hermetic approach. It is a set of tables of correspondences relating various parts of ceremonial magic and Eastern and Western religion to the thirty-two numbers representing the ten spheres (Sephiroth) plus the twenty-two paths of the Qabalistic Tree of Life. The panentheistic nature of Hermetic Qabalists is plainly evident here, as one may simply check the table to see that Chesed (חסד "Mercy") corresponds to Jupiter, Isis, the colour blue (on the Queen Scale), Poseidon, Brahma, and amethyst.

Many of the Golden Dawn's rituals were published by Crowley, altered in various ways to align them with his own New Aeon magickal approach. Israel Regardie eventually compiled the more traditional forms of these rituals and published them in book form.[24]

Dion Fortune, an initiate of Alpha et Omega (an offshoot of the Golden Dawn), who went on to found the Fraternity of the Inner Light wrote The Mystical Qabalah, considered by her biographers to be one of the best general introductions to modern Hermetic Qabalah.[25][26]

Primary sources

Secondary sources