The history of Kabbalah is filled with many personalities and
events that have shaped not only the development of Kabbalah over the
centuries, but Hermeticism as well. While often lost to antiquity, or only
remembered by the disciples of their particular schools, it is important to
look at some of these illustrious and influential individuals and their
contributions to esoteric thought if we are to have a broader and more
complete picture of Europe's spiritual development.
Kabbalah, as most readers know, comes from Hebrew and is
generally translated as "tradition" or "received oral tradition". It is the
unwritten mystical and magical aspects of Judaism that run parallel to the
written rules, laws, and rituals of exoteric Jewish thought and philosophy.
What is not generally know however, is that although it
existed prior, the word "kabbalah" didn't come into use until the 12th or
13th century to designate the esoteric and mystical thoughts and practices
of Jewish philosophy. It was about this time, that Kabbalah, as we
understand it, with the Tree of Life and all the sepheroth, also came into
being. Like the word that denotes these studies, the Tree of Life also has
roots in older traditions and practices. While many schools of kabbalah
were, and some still are, exclusively Jewish in orientation, as time went on
many were adapted to the Christian world as well as influenced by other
schools of mystical and esoteric activity.
Isaac the Blind, a pivotal
figure in the study of early 13th century kabbalistic philosophy and ritual
studied not only Jewish, but also early Greek, and Christian Gnostic
writings, as well as the writing of a Sufi sect at Basra, the
Brethren of Sincerity.
Isaac the Blind was the leader of the influential Provencal schools of his
day. Another key figure in early kabbalistic development was the 14th
century Spanish scholar Abraham Abulafia of Saragossa. Said to have been of
messianic proportions, Abulafia traveled the Middle East and North Africa
and returned with certain yogic techniques of posture, breathing, and
rhythmic prayer, and introduced them to his disciples in a new kabbalistic
structure.
It is important to note that some of the most profound leaps
in human consciousness took place during this period when Europe was in the
last death throws of the Dark Ages. Yet despite the ignorance and
intolerance that existed in Europe north of the Pyrenees Mountains, in Spain
a mystical revival was taking place in a period of Arab ecumenical
tolerance. While Christians and Muslims were fighting wars for the political
and spiritual control of the Middle East and Spain, Jewish intellectuals
rose to positions of power and influence in the Arab empire.
This "Golden Age" of Medieval Judaism peaked in Arab occupied
Spain and contributed some of the most profound Jewish mystical philosophers
since the period of the Prophets in the Old Testament. Moses ben Maimon, the
preeminent commentator on classical Jewish writings, Solomon ben-Gabirol,
and Moses of Cordoba, the author, or more likely editor of the
Sepher Zohar come
from this period. The
Zohar, or Book
of Illumination, along with the
Sepher Yetzirah (Book
of Formation), forms the basis for all kabbalistic speculation,
meditation, and ritual. Its commentaries on Biblical lore are a never ending
storehouse of wisdom for students of Western mysticism. It is because of
these activities in Spain, in the region of Catalonia in particular, and
Provencal in Southern France, that Kabbalah grew into one of the most
powerful and influential mystical philosophies in Western history.
This is also important to mystical students because it is
from Arab Spain that the West gets much of its knowledge of Alchemy, and
Ritual Magic, the sisters of Kabbalah. Together, these three schools formed
the basis for Hermetic philosophy and practices as mentioned in the early
Rosicrucian manifestoes: the
Fama Fraternitatis,
the Confessio
Fraternitatis, and
The Chemical Wedding of
Christian Rosenkreuz. For many students of mysticism, the
pilgrimage to these schools was as great and as dangerous as their
forbearers had made to the temples of Egypt and Persia. Raymond Lull, Arnold
of Villanova, and the famed French mystic, alchemist, and Rosicrucian
Nicolas Flamel, bookseller turned patron of cathedrals, all received their
initiations into the Hermetic sciences, of which Kabbalah is a part, in
Spain and brought it to the rest of Europe.
Thus, the idea of a pure
unchanging stream of kabbalistic thought and technique having been handed
down to Adam and existing to this day, as perpetuated by some Jewish and
Hermetic schools, is mythology or foolishness. It is even suggested by some
scholars that while Kabbalah has its roots in earlier Jewish mystical
practices, particularly
Mercavah,
or Chariot mysticism, its ideas were entirely novel to the period of the
12th and 13th centuries. All things in nature change and adapt, kabbalah is
one of these changing and evolving creations.
A perfect example of this
change is the Christianization of kabbalistic ideas by mystics who sought to
preserve the early Jewish writings when they were in danger of being
destroyed by the Inquisition, as well as find practical uses for what was
contained within them. For this reason a kind of Christian Kabbalah (often
spelled
cabala)
developed in the 15th century. It had as its goal the harmonization of
Kabbalah with Christian doctrines, and found ripe justification for the
Christian Doctrine of the Trinity in the Kabbalah's first three sepheroth,
or "Holy Upper Trinity".
The two primary sources for "Christianized Cabala" were the
writings of 'conversio' Jews in Spain (sometimes called "crypto-jews"), or
Jews who converted to Catholicism, and the Platonic Academy, supported by
the Medicis, in Florence.
Those writing from Jewish converts in Spain that most
effected Kabbalah's development began at the end of the 13th
century and lasted until the Jewish "Diasphora" from Spain in 1492. Writers
such as Abner of Burgos and, Paul de Heredia secretly wrote several
Christian Cabalistic works in the name of Judah ha-Nasi and other famous
mystical authors. Two of their most famous texts are,
Iggeret ha-Sodot
and Galei Rezaya.
Other works were put out in Spain until the end of the 15th century by
Jewish converts, often imitating the styles of other well known and
respected works, such as the
Zohar. However,
such imitation was common and accepted in that period, and in itself is not
enough to doubt the integrity of the author involved.
The Florentine schools had a
greater impact than the writings of Jewish writers in Spain. While the
Spanish texts were often translated and to a greater or lesser degree
available, they won few if any converts from Judaism to Christianity, or
from Christianity to the effectiveness of the Kabbalah. The Florentine
school developed the belief that an indisputable source for the validation
of Christianity, and neo-Platonic, Pythagorean, and Orphic thought was
discovered in Kabbalah. Also, they believed that in Kabbalah, the long, lost
secrets of the Catholic, and possibly original Christian faith, had been
rediscovered.
The principle founder of this Christian Cabalistic school was Giovanni Pico
della Mirandola (1463-94). This young genius began his kabbalistic studies
in 1486 at the age of 23, and had a large selection of kabbalistic material
translated into Latin by Samuel ben Nissim who was himself a convert to
Catholicism. Pico later had Raymond Moncada, known as Flavius Mithridates,
translate for him as well. Among his 900 theses that he publicly displayed
for debate in Rome included the statement, "no science can better convince
us of the divinity of Jesus Christ than magic and the Kabbalah," thus
bringing the Kabbalah to many in the Christian world for the first time.
The Church's reaction was one of fierce opposition and
rejection to this and other propositions made by Pico. The public debate
Pico wanted was guaranteed. Kabbalah now became the principle discussion in
the Christian intellectual world, as it was seen as an otherwise unknown
Jewish esoteric doctrine that had been overlooked or lost completely.
Christian Platonists in Germany, Italy, and France quickly attached
themselves to Pico's school of thought. Pico's works also caused Johannes
Reuchlin, the famed Christian Hebrew scholar, to undertake kabbalistic
studies, publishing two books on it as a result -
De Verbo Mirifico
(On the Miracle-Working Name, 1494) and
De Arte Cabalistica
(on the Science of the Kabbalah, 1517).
Between the publishing of Reuchlin's
Verbo and
Arte, a number of
works appeared from the pen of Paul Ricius. Ricius was himself a convert to
Catholicism, as well as the physician to Emperor Maximilian, and had a
reputation for being erudite. Ricius took the ideas of Pico and Reuchlin and
added to them his own conclusions based upon kabbalistic and Christian
sources, forming a doctrine of the "Divine Name" and its relationship to
world history.
According to Ricius, all of
world history could be divided into three stages based upon the names of God
found in the Bible. The first period was the
natural period
where God reveals himself through the three lettered Divine Name Shaddai
(The Strong). The second phase is the
Torah period,
were God reveals to Moses the Divine Name of four letters, the
Tetragrammaton, or YHVH. The final period, or period of
grace and redemption,
God reveals the Tetragrammaton
plus
the fifth letter
shin,
or the letter of the Logos (Christ), spelling Yehoshua or the Cabalistic
rendition of Jesus, name. Thus, the name of Jesus, or the Miraculous Name,
become the pronounceable name of the previously unpronounceable YHVH. To
support his argument, Ricius used medieval manuscripts in which Jesus' name
was abbreviated JHS, the Jewish-kabbalistic doctrine of three world ages
(Chaos, Torah, Messiah), and the similar doctrine of Joachiam of Fiore, who
proposed a reign, or age, of the Father, Son, and finally, the Holy Spirit.
Many of these concepts, particularly the significance of
shin
in the Divine Name, and the Reign of the Paraclete (Holy Spirit) would play
a significant part in the development of 19th and early 20th century French
(Levi and his successors) occult schools and their philosophies.
What makes the writings of
Pico and Reuchlin significant, is that they placed for the first time the
kabbalah in the broader cultural and theological context of Christian
(principally Catholic) Europe and its intelligentsia. Their focus on "Divine
Names,"
practical
or magical kabbalah, and the synthesis of Christian doctrine with kabalistic
philosophy and speculation, became the zeitgeist of the era.
During this period, the most influential of all
magical-mystical kabbalistic texts that came from the newly formed Christo-centric
cabalistic tradition that was forming, was Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim's
De Occulta Philosophia
(1531) in four volumes. This series of works on practical kabbalah was an
encyclopedia of all the known occult and magical lore of the day. It is from
these works, that much of the Christian world received its information
regarding magical and numerological associations with kabbalah.
Other Christian thinkers sought to reconcile this lack of
mastery of principle kabbalistic source materials during the 16th century by
returning to the Hebrew and Latin originals. While the primary goal was to
further prove the connection between Christianity and mystical Judaism, the
end result was a broader intellectual understanding of Hebraic studies. Two
of the most prominent figures in this movement were Cardinal Egidio da
Viterbo (1465-1532) who was heavily influenced by the
Zohar and
Sefer ha-Temunah
in his writings Scechina
and "On the Hebrew Letters", and Francesco Giogio of Venice, (1460-1541) a
Franciscan, the author of two large volumes on kabbalah that were read
extensively at their time,
De Harmonia Mundi
(1525) and Problemata
(1536). In both works the kabbalah was central to the themes developed, and
the Zohar, for
the first time, was used en masse in a work of Christian origin. Giogio's
writings also elaborated extensively on Pico's theses.
Among all of these scholars,
the most influential, remembered, and closest to the original Hebrew sources
was Guillaume Postel (1510-1581). Postel, a French mystic, translated into
Latin the Zohar
and Sefer Yetzirah
before they were publicly printed in Hebrew. His translations included
mystical annotations of his own theosophic philosophy as applied to kabbalah.
His publications also include a Latin commentary (1548) on the mystical
symbolism of the
menorah,
and eventually a Hebrew edition.
Throughout the 16th century Christian cabala focused its own
internal theosophical development, and not upon evangelizing among the
Jewish populations of Europe. However, such a cause could be justification
enough for studies that might otherwise get one arrested or killed. With the
development of these increasingly Christ-centric theosophical speculations,
less and less time was spent with original Hebrew sources or their Latin
translations. One of the few exceptions to this was Johann Albrecht
Widmanstetter (1560-1557) who amassed a large collection of kabbalistic
source materials for his studies.
With the writings of Jacob
Boehme and Knorr von Rosenroth in 17th century Germany, Christian Cabala
took a definite turn away from Hebrew source material, a turn that would
last for some time to come. While Rosenroth's
Kabbalah Denudata
(1677-84) made much of the
Zohar available to
Christian readers for the first time, his essay on the
Adam Kadom
and its relationship to the 'primordial man Jesus' in Christian theology
seemed to upstage the
Zohar in many respects. The essay appearing at the end of
Denudata by the
Dutch theosophical speculator, Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont, is
particularly strong on this point. The essay is entitled "Adumbratio
Kabbalae Christinae" and is anonymously authored.
In England the 'Cambridge Platonists,' led by Henry More and
Ralph Cudworth, to made use of kabbalah for their own speculations, and
found a link in van Helmont for further Christianization of cabalistic
philosophy. In Germany, and later elsewhere, kabbalah had taken on a
strongly 'Boehmian' character as it found a strong similarity between Jacob
Boehme's writings and those of the various schools of kabbalah. While there
is no historical connection between the writings (and visions) of Boehme,
this definite link would only further remove Christian Cabala from its
earlier tenuous connections with Jewish kabbalah. Boehme's impact would
extend into the writings of Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, just prior to the
French Revolution, thus helping to change the face of Continental mysticism
and the later "French Occult Revival".
Christian Cabala almost from
the start developed into what we now call the Hermetic, or Alchemical
Kabbalah, for lack of better terms, which sprang out of the Hermetic schools
in the Renaissance period. The goals of Hermetic philosophy were to
synthesize all of humanity's previous learning, particularly the wisdom or
sophia
of the ancients, and present it in a single universal philosophy (pansophia).
This philosophy was the synthesis of four major stands of thought and
practice under the general heading of a form of mystical Christianity. These
four schools were Jewish Kabbalah, Hermetic literature, neo-Platonic
(Pythagorean) philosophy, and Gnosticism. In fact, the addition of
alchemical symbols and motifs to Christian Cabala began as early as the 16th
century. Among the chief exponents of this movement in Elizabethan England
were Sir Francis Bacon, Elias Ashmole, Thomas Vaughan (1622-1666) and the
Rosicrucian apologist Robert Fludd (1574-1637). On the continent, Blaise de
Vigenere, Traite du Feu
(1617), Heinrich Khunrath,
Ampitheatrum Sapientiae
Aeternae (1609) typified this kind of permanent departure from
traditional Jewish literature and the formation of a completely separate
system of theosophy. By the mid-18th century, this departure would be
complete with the writings of F.C. Oetinger (1702-1782), the
Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum
(1735) by Georg von Welling, and the virtual explosion of Masonic, and
psuedo-masonic, grades, degrees, rites, and orders.
The creation of Masonic and
masonic-style systems was nowhere more virulent than in 18th century France.
Here, like in Germany, the nobility had an almost insatiable appetite and
gullibility for things mysterious and magico-mystical. While many of the
rites created were for the purpose of perpetuating the true and authentic
mysteries of hermeticism, either on their own or as an addition to
Freemasonry through the 'High Grades' system, many were also created to
simply fill the pockets of their self-appointed Hierophant or Grand Master.
The majority of these systems had little known lasting influence outside of
the period, or even the rooms where their 'initiations' and 'conventicles'
were held. However, one of these systems, that of Don Martinez Pasquales,
was different, and its impact on Western mysticism would be felt for
centuries
to come.
The appearance of Martinez Pasquales upon the scene of French
"Initiation" was like that of many of his contemporaries: mysterious, of
unknown origin, filled with claims of supernatural contacts, and filled with
Cabalistic signs and symbols. Unlike many of his contemporaries, however,
Pasquales' influence would be a lasting one, and his system of magic,
restoration, and angelic communications was unique. Nothing of its kind had
been revealed to the world since the writings of Dr. Dee and Edward Kelly,
and while definitively Christian-Cabalistic in nature, nothing equal to it
has been delivered since. This is not to say that all other systems are
inferior to Pasquales (or even Dee), only that such uniqueness in thought
and form comes around only rarely.
Born in Grenoble, of Spanish descent, Martines Pasquales
received his authority to transmit the ancient teachings from his father,
who was granted a Masonic charter from Charles Stuart, "King of Scotland,
Ireland, and England," dated May, 20, 1738. The power and authority of this
charter was transmissible upon death of the holder. As a result, Martines
created a movement of distinct masonic character, open only to Master
Masons, and named it: Order of Knight Mason, Elect Priests of the Universe,
or Elus Cohen (Elect Priests).
While Pasquales' spiritual mission' officially began around
1758, he did create a masonic chapter in Montpellier four years earlier. It
was a year later, in 1755, that the Elect Priests were officially founded in
Bordeaux. Paris was the site of the ventual Sovereign Tribunal in 1766,
which had among its members several prominent masons of the period. Avignon,
Montpellier, Metz, La Rochelle, Versailles, and Lyon were all sites of
future Lodges of the Order of Elus Cohen.
What made the Elus Cohen
distinct from the masonic organizations it drew its membership from, was it
emphasis on ceremonial magic, or
theurqy,
for the 'Reintegration' of humanity. The Martinist doctrine of Pasquales
focused around the 'Fall of Man' and its rectification. It's fundamental
tenants were:
-
Archetypal Man, or Adam Kadom, was emanated
from God, and originally dwelt on a high spiritual plane.
-
Through abuse of his 'free will' Adam Kadom
'fell'.
-
This originally unified being shattered
into the many individual souls that now exist.
-
The goal of humanity is to reintegrate
itself with the original archetype, thus achieving unity.
The Order of Elect Priests was divided into three principle
parts, completed by the secret grade of "Reau+Croix". The first group was
composed of those who went through the first three degrees of Craft Masonry,
with a complementary degree following; the second group contained the 'Porch
Degrees" of Cohen-Apprentice, Fellow-Cohen, and Master Cohen; the third
group was the Temple Degrees of: Grand Master Elect Cohen, Grand Architect
of Chevalier (Knight) d'Orient, and Grand Elu de Zorobabel.
Through rituals, often lasting up to six or more hours in
length, in individual and group work, each member of the Order was given the
opportunity to communicate with angelic beings, overcome demonic forces in
the universe, manifest the power of God, and "Reintegrate himself with the
original Primordial Adam. The Ladder of Spiritual Entities that each member
had to contact and become initiated into began with the Minor in Privation
(worldly man), Reconciled Minor (one who has begun the spiritual path), the
Regenerated Minor, a transition phase exists with the Elect Minor, and
followed by the Superior and Major Spirits of the Celestial Hierarchy,
ending with God.
While the rites and rituals of the Elus Cohen are still
practiced much as they were two-hundred years ago (a lodge is still active
in Paris) it was through two of his disciple, who would take radically
different paths, that the legacy of Pasquales would be perpetuated.
Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin and Jean-Baptiste Willermoz.
Saint-Martin received his initiation into the Elus Cohen in
1786 while serving as an officer in the French garrison at Bordeaux. He was
25 at the time, and would later write, "It is to Martines Pasquales that I
owe my introduction to higher truths." His appreciation of his earlier
Master would serve him well, for unlike many who break from the tradition
that gave them spiritual birth, Saint-Martin was entirely grateful to
Pasquales despite his later philosophical disagreements.
After leaving the army in 1770 to devote himself to his
esoteric research, Saint-Martin became Pasquales' personal secretary. By
1777, however, three years after the death of his Master, Saint-Martin moved
away from the theurigic practices of the Elus Cohen, claiming personal lack
of 'talent' for the operations, and entered into the realm of pure, abstract
mysticism.
Soon afterwards, he became connected with the 'Order of
Unknown Philosophers' and quickly became a teaching force within its ranks,
traveling often to establish contacts, study groups, and convey initiations
throughout Europe. Claiming connection with an ancient Order, dating back to
1643 of a 'Rosicrucian character' and having Heinrich Khunrath, Alexander
Sethon, Sendivogius, and Boehme among its ranks, the Society of Unknown
Philosophers also linked itself to "Les Freres d Orient" created in
Constantinople in 1090. The teachings of this society were conveyed from
teacher to disciple and the their principle unifying form was the
distinction of receiving "The Initiation" which gave them the right to be
known as "Unknown Superiors" or "Superieurs Inconnus" or S.I. as it is
written. Saint-Martin's writings, under the pseudonym "The Unknown
Philosopher," made him quite in demand among European aristocracy. Being of
aristocratic blood himself, it is often considered a miracle that he not
only kept his head during the 'Reign of Terror' but also managed to continue
his work relatively unimpeded.
Jean-Baptiste Willermoz however continued the teachings of
the Elus Cohen, and even took them into the masonic Order of Strict
Observance, an order claiming direct Knights Templar descendency. It was
through these two principle forces, the teachings of Willermoz through the
Strict Observance, and Saint-Martin through his 'free Initiation' that
French esotericism in particular, and European esotericism in general,
continued until the period known as the "European Occult Revival".
While the "European Occult Revival" has its origins in France
with the writings of Eliphas Levi, it is not until the 1880's that it
becomes a full fledged social force, similar to today's "New Age Movement"
complete with celebrities, art galleries, mystical compositions of all
sorts, the usual ego's, personality failings, and just plain old gossip.
The principle character in all of this was a young medical
student by the name of Gerard Encausse, better known by his pseudonym, "Papus"
after the Egyptian genii of the healing arts. With Augustine Chaboseau,
Stanislas de Guaita, Sedir (Yvon Leloup), Charles Bartlet, Josepin Peladan,
and virtually all of the moving forces in French occultism the Martinist
Order was founded, by Papus, to perpetuate the ideas and teachings of
Saint-Martin, Martinez Pasquales, in a new kabbalistic framework, complete
with seven degrees, which were later reduced to three. Soon afterwards the "Kabbalistic
Order of the Rosy+Cross" was created, and after several years, and a few
'spitting matches', schisms among the founding members created about a dozen
off-shoots, most of which continue to this day in some form.
Yet, by 1914, what petty rivalry, egotism, and oneupsmanshipl
had failed to do to European mysticism and magical movements, world war
would accomplish. The world wide networks of initiates and lodges that were
created out of this period, along with similar movements in England (the
Hermetic order of the Golden Dawn, and the Societas Rosicruciana in
particular), Russia, and Germany (as well as the United States) were
virtually eliminated by two world wars and the totalitarian governments that
controlled most of Europe by the 19201 and 1930's.
Unfortunately, not all of the
'hermetic' 'kabbalistic or 'occult' movements that were born at the turn of
the century gave fruit to humanitarian offspring. In Germany and Austria the
Ariosophist movements gave not only 'spiritual' inspiration, but also men
and material support to what became the National Socialist German Workers
Party (NSDAP), or the Nazi movement. The
Germanen Ordnunq
(Order), the
Thule Society,
and other less well known groups, gave ideological justification for the
racist, militant, and nationalistic beliefs of the German Right Wing. In
1934 Hitler declared, "We shall form an Order, the Brotherhood of the
Templars around the Holy Grail of pure blood." The Grand Master of this
Order was Heinrich Himmler, its knights the Officer Corps of the SS, and the
Castle at Wewlsburg, with its Round Table, its spiritual center.
While promoting its own form
of occult madness, the Nazis systematically shut down all forms of occult
and esoteric activity. Psychics, astrologers, faith healers, writers,
publishers, and simply well known individuals in the field, were rounded up
under Berlin's "Witchcraft Laws" of 1934, all in a single night. Publishing
houses were shut down, books burned or carted off to
Ahnenerbe
(Racial Ancestry Department) research libraries, people imprisoned or forced
into 'domestic exile', and that was just the beginning. Several waves of
round ups would continue throughout the war, particularly as the tide turned
against German victory.
Viewed as part of the "Jewish
Conspiracy" Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Martinism, and other
kabalistic-hermetic or esoteric organizations were the special target of
these crackdowns, led by "Einsatzgruppen Rosenburg" and the
Ahnenerbe.
Not since the Inquisition had Western esoteric, initiatic, and
cabalistic-hermetic groups especially, been so violently suppressed with
such singleness of purpose. The role call of martyrs included many of the
leaders of the most prominent magical and mystical movements of the period.
The egotistical rivalries that separated them and kept the Light from
unifying, was skillfully and brutally used against them by Darkness. The
faggots burned again in Europe, this time with smoke stacks.
Despite its opponents, and in spite of some of its most
ardent supporters. kabbalah and hermeticism, the life blood of Western
esotericism, continues to survive and thrive. Never before has so much
material, books, publications, organizations, and students existed so openly
and freely. As we head toward the millennium, and pray for the "Reign of the
Paraclete," let's look back on history and learn its lessons. With Europe
and Asia looking more like 1914 than 1994, let our hearts unite in active
prayer and meditation to turn the world toward the Source of Light we all so
earnestly seek when we pray "Thy Kingdom come ... after all, that is what
kabbalah is all about.
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Article
used with Permission
©
Mark Stavish, M.A. -
Corpus Stavish
