The Cabala
The Cabala has been traditionally associated
with Jewish mysticism. This doctrine is considered by many as the
/
Ching of the West (I describe the / Ching at the end of this
chapter). The Cabala is a discipline worthy of a lifetime of
contemplation and study. It is complex, yet accessible, and
has attracted some of the great minds of the world to its
study.
The mystery and secrecy surrounding
the Cabala has attracted occultists and magicians alike. The concept
that
all things in the Universe are part of an organized whole,
governed by secret laws, and with hidden correspondences between many
things that do not on the surface appear to
be connected, is a basic premise of the Cabala.
This idea is shared by both occultists
and magicians. Shared too, is the notion that all phenomena contain
something of the divine, and that man is, in some way and
on a minute scale, a reflection of both God and the Universe.
The idea of a path that we can climb in stages to reach
God is fundamental both to the Cabala and to theories of
magic throughout the centuries.
Gnosticism also mirrors the basic
principles of the Cabala. The term "gnosis" means knowledge of spiritual
things obtained by divine inspiration. Gnostics and Cabalists
held that it was only possible to reach God through
knowledge. This was contrary to the Christian road to
salvation, which consisted of good deeds, love, and faith.
The Gnostics flourished in the Eastern
Mediterranean countries around the time of Christ. Gnostics believed
that
the chosen were those who had obtained this knowledge,
and that we are cut off from God not by sin in the Christian
sense, but by ignorance. Cabalist thought is centered around
the doctrine that God is completely unknowable. He cannot
even be directly addressed in prayer. He is everything and
nothing. He cannot be ascribed qualities of good and evil.
He is known as En Sot, Infinite Radiance.
According to Cabala, God did not create
the Universe, I and therefore cannot be responsible for it. The Universe
emanated or flowed out from Him. According to the Zohar,
a single ray of light burst out from the closed confines of
En Sof, and from this light came nine further lights. This
process of emanation was the way in which the unknowable
God revealed certain aspects of Himself. Each of the ten
lights can be seen both as facets of God and as stages in
His revelation of Himself. They are known as the sefiroth
(one light is a sefira), and are seen as constituting God's
name because they are the identity that he has revealed.
The underlying foundation of the Universe
and man are these ten sefiroth. These sefiroth are made in the image
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