Kabbalah: An Introduction

A Brief History

קַבָּלָה (Qabbala), literally meaning "tradition", "correspondence" or "that which is received" is the dominant school of Jewish Esoteric thought. Finding its origins in the Jewish communities of 12th &13th century France & Spain, it is a common misconception that Kabbalah has always existed in the form we have it today, complete with the Etz Hayim (Tree of Life), the 10/11 Sephiroth (Emanations), the various pathways & the transcendent Ein Sof (Infinite). Many people even associate the entirety of Jewish Mysticism with Kabbalah, which could not be further from the truth.

In reality, Kabbalah is one school of Jewish mystical thought, albeit the most popular & modern. Historically speaking, it refers to the current of mystical thought that emerged from the 12th century onwards in Jewish communities, but while Kabbalah absorbed many of the older traditions, it was not the first.

Jewish Mysticism likely stretches back to before historical records. The two oldest mystical texts composed in Israelite culture (coincidently also being two of the oldest portions of the Hebrew Bible) were written by women (the Song of Miriam & Deborah). 

These parts of the Old Testament are so old that the Hebrew language did not even had a definitive article (a "the") at their time of composition. The earliest appearance of the Torah in history is also on a series of silver amulets found in Jerusalem, containing the priestly benediction.

Therefore, the first time the Torah appears in history is as a magickal artefact designed to protect the wearer (most likely a deceased family member) from demons. To truly discuss mysticism in Jewish contexts however, we must briefly address Yahwistic Theophany.

Theophany is a Greek word that denotes the appearance of a god. Yahweh appears four times in the Old Testament, to Abraham, Moses, Isaiah & Ezekiel. However, despite popular culture depicting God as loving, filled with light & compassionate, in all accounts, Yahweh (and the divine in general) is not a figure that you want appearing. The revelation of the divine is terrifying and in every case leaves the prophets shaking, in fits comparable to modern schizophrenic episodes and in a state of near madness. 

The theophanies of Isaiah and Ezekiel are likely referring to an esoteric experience of the divine, meaning that Isaiah and Ezekiel themselves likely did experience some kind of mystical event and then recorded it in text. As such, those texts are the founding doctrines behind Merkabah ("Chariot") Mysticism, named after Ezekiel's vision of the Cherubim & Haqodesh.

Merkabah Mysticism was the dominant form of Jewish Mysticism for 800 years. If we think of Kabbalah as existing for 800 years from today, Merkabah Mysticism was the dominant form of Jewish Mysticism for the 800 years before that.

In Merkabah Mysticism, the Rabbis would descend into the Palace of Yahweh, meeting with various angels who they would show various passwords or magickal formula to. In doing so, they could climb through the various heavens (ironically downwards) to get a glimpse of the Throne of God. Sometimes they describe seeing the body of God and attempt measure it. One of the main goals however, was to sit upon the Throne of God, thereby being transformed into an angel, in the same manner as Enoch.

Kabbalistic Philosophy

Historical Kabbalah is unbelievably vast, which is not always helped by the various modern interpretations & currents that have sprung out of it such as Christian & Hermetic Qabalah. While these denominations are fascinating in their own right, they are far too vast to cover here. 

Part of what makes Historical Kabbalah so complicated is that in order to understand the historical current (and therefore the context of practice), the system is predicated on you being familiar with the Torah, Rabbinical Literature (including the Talmud & Midrash) as well as Halakha (Jewish Law). 

For introductory purposes however, the current of thought we now identify as Kabbalah emerged in the 12th century in Provence, France before reaching its Classical & Golden Age in 13th century Spain. As time progressed and various persecutions of Jewish communities continued, the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 under the Alhambra Decree, which caused an influx of migrations to other areas of Europe where they brought Kabbalistic wisdom with them into the Renaissance states.

The entire system of Kabbalah is predicated on one simple truth. That God -in its truest and most abstract form, is unknown to us, and is in principle unknowable. The Kabbalists called this god Eyn Sof, meaning "without limit", or sometimes just the Ayin ("nothingness"). At the dawn of creation, the Eyn Sof began a process known as the Azilut (emanation), which created a series of 10 spheres known as Sephiroth (emanations):

Taken as a whole, these Sephiroth represent the totality of creation & embody every archetype, energy, idea, emotion & aspect in the universe. They are structured in the form of a tree known as the Etz Hayim (Tree of Life), which forms a diagrammatic map of the universe & the self (since ALL things in the universe are structured in this way, so are we). In theory, if you can understand the Tree of Life, you will understand the nature of the universe & the mind itself.