Hermetic Qabalah is a Western esoteric, occult and mystical tradition. It is the
underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Golden
Dawn, Thelemic orders, mystical-religious societies such as the
Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, and is a
precursor to the Neopagan, Wiccan and New Age movements. The Hermetic Qabalah
is the basis for Qliphothic Qabala as studied by left hand path orders, such
as the Typhonian Order. Occult Hermetic Qabalah arose alongside
and united with the Christian Cabalistic involvement in the European Renaissance,
becoming variously Esoteric Christian, non-Christian, or anti-Christian across
its different schools in the modern era. It draws on a great many influences,
most notably: Jewish Kabbalah, Western astrology, Alchemy, pagan religions,
especially Egyptian and Greco-Roman, neoplatonism, gnosticism, the Enochian
system of angelic magic of John Dee and Edward Kelley, hermeticism, tantra and
the symbolism of the tarot. Hermetic Qabalah differs from the Jewish form in
being a more admittedly syncretic system, however it shares many concepts
with Jewish Kabbalah. Teachings
= Conception of Divinity= 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
monotheisms. Hermetic Qabalah holds to the neoplatonic conception that the
manifest universe, of which material creation is a part, arose as a series of
emanations from the godhead. 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; the second state, considered a
"concentration" of Ain, is Ain Suph; the third state, caused by a "movement" of
Ain Suph, is Ain Suph Aur, and it is from this initial brilliance that the
first emanation of creation originates. = The Sephiroth in Hermetic Qabalah=
The emanations of creation arising from Ain Suph Aur are ten in number, and are
called Sephiroth. These are conceptualised somewhat differently in
Hermetic Qabalah to the way they are in Jewish Kabbalah.
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, Chokhmah, Binah, Daath, Chesed, Geburah, Tiphareth,
Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Malkuth. Daath is not assigned a number as it is
considered part of Binah or a hidden sephirah.
Each sephirah is considered to be an emanation of the divine energy which
ever flows from the unmanifest, through Kether into manifestation. 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. The general
principle involved is that the Qabalist will meditate on all these attributions
and by this means acquire an understanding of the character of the
sephirah including all its correspondences.
= Tarot and the Tree of Life= Hermetic Qabalists see the cards of the
tarot as keys to the Tree of Life. The 22 cards including the twenty-one Trumps
plus the Fool or Zero card are often called the "Major Arcana" or "Greater
Mysteries" and are seen as corresponding to the twenty-two Hebrew letters and the
twenty-two 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. While the sephiroth describe the
nature of divinity, the paths between them describe ways of knowing the
Divine. History
= Hermetic views of Qabalah origins= Traditionalist Judaic views of
Kabbalah's origins view it as an inherent development from within the
Jewish religion, perhaps expressed through syncretic terminology from
Medieval Jewish Neoplatonism. Contemporary academics of Jewish
mysticism have reassessed Gershom Scholem's theory that the new doctrine
of Medieval Kabbalah assimilated an earlier Jewish version of Gnosticism;
Moshe Idel instead has posited a historical continuity of development
from early Jewish mysticism. In contrast, Hermeticists have taken
different views of Qabalah's origins. Some authors see the origins of Qabalah
not in Semitic/Jewish mysticism, or ancient Egyptian Gnosticism, but in a
western tradition originating in classical Greece with Indo-European
cultural roots, later adopted by Jewish mystics.
According to this view, "Hermetic Qabalah" would be the original Qabalah,
even though the word itself is Judaic Hebrew, over the Christian Cabalah or
the Jewish Kabbalah: Alongside the historical process of Christian
conversion from paganism, Jewish mystical circles would have been able to
incorporate gematria and the Tree of life to their own concepts and fully
monotheistic framework, without being suspect. Christians, in contrast, would
have been persecuted for the same process, as it would have been similar
to their pre-Christian polytheistic panentheism. With the Renaissance, this
wisdom would have been relearned by Christianity from Judaism.
= Renaissance occultism= Jewish Kabbalah was absorbed into the
Hermetic tradition at least as early as the 15th century when Giovanni Pico
della Mirandola promoted a syncretic world view combining Platonism,
Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, Hermeticism and Kabbalah. Heinrich
Cornelius Agrippa, 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. = Enlightenment era esoteric societies=
Once Hermeticism was no longer endorsed by the Christian Church it was driven
underground and a number of Hermetic brotherhoods were formed. With the
Enlightenment Age of Reason and its skepticism of mainstream religion, the
tradition of exoteric-theological Christian Cabala declined, while
esoteric-occult Hermetic Qabalah flourished in the Western mystery
tradition. Non-Jewish Cabala, unlike in Judaic Kabbalah's mainstream censure of
its magical side, became a central component of Western occult, magic and
divination. 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.
= Nineteenth century magical revival= Post-Enlightenment Romanticism
encouraged societal interest in occultism, of which Hermetic Qabalistic
writing was a feature. Francis Barrett's The Magus handbook of ceremonial magic
gained little notice until it influenced the French magical enthusiast Eliphas
Levi. His fanciful literary embellishments of magical invocations
presented Qabalism as synonymous with both so-called White and so-called 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 Levi is remembered as one of the key
founders of the 20th century revival of magic.
= Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn= Hermetic Qabalah was developed
extensively by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, 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 concepts, all within the structure of a Masonic or Rosicrucian
style esoteric order. Aleister Crowley, who passed through the
Golden Dawn before going on to form his own magical orders, is the most widely
known exponent of Hermetic Magic or Magick as he preferred to spell it.
Crowley's book Liber 777 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 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 corresponds to Jupiter, Isis, the colour blue, Poseidon, Brahma,
and amethyst. = After the Golden Dawn=
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. Dion Fortune, an initiate of Alpha et
Omega, who went on to found the Fraternity of the Inner Light wrote the
seminal book The Mystical Qabalah, widely considered one of the best
general introductions to modern Hermetic Qabalah.
Paul Foster Case was an American occultist and author of influential
books on occult tarot and Qabalah. He founded the Builders of the Adytum
mystery school, rooted in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Masonic
blue lodge system, later extended by Ann Davies. B.O.T.A. teaches esoteric
psychology, occult tarot, Hermetic Qabalah, astrology, and meditation.
Pat Zalewski is a student of Jack Taylor, who was in turn a student of
Robert Felkin's Golden Dawn school, as taught in New Zealand after Felkin
emigrated there. Zalewski has published numerous on Hermetic Qabalah and the
Golden Dawn tradition. Samael Aun Weor has written many
significant works that discuss Kabbalah within many religions, such as the
Egyptian, Pagan, and Central American religions, which is summarized in his
work The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of Tarot and Kabbalah.
See also English Qabalah
Goetia Hermetism and other religions
Invocation Magical organizations
Renaissance magic Thaumaturgy
Theosophy Theurgy
Sephirot Western esotericism
References Further reading
Paul A. Clark. The Hermetic Qabalah. Fraternity of the Hidden Light. 1999
Dion Fortune. The Mystical Qabalah. Aziloth Books. 2012
Lon Milo DuQuette.The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford: Dilettante's
Guide to What You Do and Do Not Need to Know to Become a Qabalist, Weiser Books,
2001. John Michael Greer. Paths of Wisdom: A
Guide to the Magical Cabala. Thoth Publications. 2007
Israel Regardie. A Garden of Pomegranates: Skrying on the Tree of
Life. Llewellyn Publications. 1995 Kocku von Stuckrad. Kabbalah and
Modernity: Interpretations, Transformations, Adaptations. Brill.
2010 External links
Survey of Occultism in the Renaissance Hermetic Kabbalah website
The Mystical Qabalah pdf from The Society of the Inner Light