Kabbalah is a mystical and esoteric branch of Jewish thought that explores the nature of God, the universe, and the human soul. It encompasses various teachings, texts, and practices aimed at understanding the divine and one’s relationship to it. Here’s an overview of Kabbalah, spellcasting, and Kabbalah magic:
Kabbalah
- Origins: Kabbalah has its roots in medieval Jewish mysticism, with foundational texts like the Zohar (Book of Splendor) emerging in the 13th century. It draws from earlier Jewish writings, including the Merkavah mysticism.
- Key Concepts:
- Ein Sof: The infinite aspect of God, beyond human comprehension.
- Sefirot: Ten attributes or emanations through which God interacts with the world, forming the Tree of Life.
- Tikkun Olam: The concept of repairing the world through spiritual and ethical actions.
- Purpose: Kabbalah aims to understand the mysteries of existence, the nature of the divine, and the process of creation. It often emphasizes personal spiritual growth and enlightenment.
Spellcasting in Kabbalah
- Intention and Focus: In Kabbalistic practices, spellcasting involves directing one’s intention and focus to align with divine forces and manifest desired outcomes.
- Use of Symbols: Kabbalistic magic often employs sacred symbols, Hebrew letters, and names of God to create powerful connections in spellwork.
- Meditation and Visualization: Practitioners may use meditation techniques to visualize their intentions and connect with higher spiritual realms.
Kabbalah Magic
- Types of Practices:
- Prayer: Specific prayers are often used to invoke divine assistance or guidance.
- Amulets and Talismans: Creating objects infused with Kabbalistic symbols for protection or to attract blessings.
- Numerology: Utilizing the numerical values of Hebrew letters (Gematria) to uncover deeper meanings and connections.
- Spiritual Transformation: Kabbalistic magic is not solely about material gains; it emphasizes spiritual transformation, self-awareness, and alignment with divine will.
- Ethics: Kabbalah stresses the importance of ethical behavior and the impact of one’s actions on the world, suggesting that true magic stems from a place of purity and intention.
The Tree of Life.
This diagram contains ten circles representing the Sephiroth (singular: Sephirah); that is, “spheres,” “numbers,” or “emanations”. The Sephiroth are the numbers 1 through 10 considered in their archetypal sense. Each Sephirah is an archetypal idea. Also, the Sephiroth represents emanations from God and describes the process of creation.
Traditionally the Kabbalists did not tell much about the different Sephiroth; usually giving only their name and a short description. This was done intentionally as they wanted to encourage students to experience the Tree of Life rather than just accepting intellectual ideas from others.
The Tree of Life and the Sephiroth can be looked at and experienced from many different angles and different levels.
Although created by Kabbalists the tree can be easily applied to other religions and esoteric teachings; it is that basic and fundamental.
But first and for, it is a blueprint of the human being, and everything on the Tree of Life is a reflection of what happens inside oneself. Therefore one should see, and experience, the Tree of Life inside oneself.
The Sephiroth have their own respective place on the Tree, and they relate to each other in particular ways, depending, for example, on the Paths that connect them. What I will give you here is the basic information based on my own studies and insight.
The Kabbalah is not a rigid system and there is a lot of flexibility in its interpretation.
The Kabbalah also attaches great importance to each letter and its numerical value, but that is a whole field (Gematria) that by itself we cannot go into here.
The Sephiroth
The sephiroth are emanations from the divine. They are strongly defined by number and place on the Tree of Life. But what are they? According to Israel Regardie, they are considered “to be substantial principles of power-vessels, or categorical ideas in which the consciousness of the universe expresses itself”. They are like vessels or channels, in which and through which the divine powers can manifest themselves in their creative evolution. They are spheres of light, receptacles that hold particular energies as they stream down from the divine source. They are like different potencies emanating from the divine. They are constantly there, always active, never ceasing. They are a medium between the divine, the Absolute (Ain-Soph) and the physical world as we know it. They are characterized by limitation, measure, and concretization. They are gradations of powers, that is why they have different places on the Tree of Life. They are the substance of reality. They emanated from the divine, but are uncreated. The created universe that followed is just a reflection.
The question arises, how did they come into being? Therefore we have to have a look at the Beginning.
First there is Ain. Ain is Negativity, Nothingness, The Negative Existence, the Great Emptiness, The Absolute, The Absence of Things, The Prime Cause, The Originless Origin of all manifestation. You guessed it; it is not knowable, it is indescribable, everything we say about it, it is not.
Then there is Ain Soph. Ain means ‘not’ and soph means “end”. Ain Soph is the Infinite, The Limitless, Infinite Space, Eternity. It is also called the Holy Old One, or the Old One of All Old Ones. Ain Soph is the primal darkness of the absolute unity above anything else. Ain Soph is the one in which everything has its origin, its existence, and to which everything returns.
Next we have the Ain Soph Aur. Aur means light. The Ain Soph Aur is the Limitless or Infinite Light. Now the Ain Soph Aur retracts itself within itself to a light point. Here we have substantiality out of nothing. This brings forth Kether (=the Crown), the first Sephira at the top of Tree of Life. Here is the primal vibration of the universe to follow. This light point starts to emit light energy, light rays. This is the primal ocean of subtle ether used for the building of the universe. This subtle ether is polarized into harmonious moving opposites of positive and negative, attraction and repulsion, contraction and expansion. There is harmonious equilibrium.
The negative energy creates the Severity (Judgment) pillar on the left side and the positive energy creates the Mercy pillar on the right side of the Tree of Life. And thus the next two Sephiroth arise: Chokmah (Wisdom) on the right side, and Binah (Understanding) on the left side. The left pillar is also called the Pillar of Form, the right pillar the Pillar of Force, and the middle pillar, the Pillar of Consciousness. Of the middle pillar it is said that it both shows how God reveals Himself to us (downward movement) and how it is our path for “conforming to His image” (upward movement).
Ok, now we have three Sephiroth, and they form a trinity, called the Supernal triad. Under this trinity is the Abyss. Above the Abyss is the realm of ideas, or the Ideal. Under the Abyss, is the world of the real, or Reality and Causality, in which the next seven Sephiroth are to come. The next seven Sephiroth are the crystallization, the densification, of the subtle ether. Together they produce the universe, the world we know.
To the right are all ten Sephiroth of the Tree of life with the columns superimposed.
The Traditional Names of the Sephiroth
I am using here the traditional names of the Sephiroth. Their names don’t always reflect the meaning or content of them. It is not clear why the ancient kabbalists choose those titles. To know what the Sephiroth are about, one needs to read the explanation of each Sephirah.
1. Kether
Kether is the first manifested Sephirah, the first condensation of the light of Ain-Soph. Kether means ‘the Crown’. It sits like a crown on the top of the Tree of Life, but at the same time is the Crown on top of our head. It is said that Kether encircles and covers the brain of the primordial Man, Adam Kadmon. One might compare it with the Crown Chakra of the yoga system. It is called the Crown because Kether belongs half to the human system (and the Tree of Life) and half to the Divine (or Ain-Soph), like a crown sits on top of the head, but is not quite part of the head itself. Kether connects the Divine and the human. Or, man lives in the universe but does not belong to the universe, but to the divine. Kether is man’s connection to the divine. That is why Kether is partly hidden, because of its connection to the Nothingness, and partly manifest because of its connection to the manifested universe.
Kether is the source of light rising up from the darkness. It is a monad of pure energy in which all opposites are unified. In Kether is the blueprint of the entire universe.
Kether is also called Mashabah, which is consciousness, as Kether is pure consciousness. In Kether resides the divine essence of a person, indestructible.
Kether is also called the Crown because of its ability to receive and integrate the divine energy.
For me, Kether means the very essence of my being, that divine monad that always has been and always will be. It is immortal, as it is part of the Divine, separated only in my present awareness. Being in Kether I truly can say, “I am the Divine”. Kether also represents my birth in this world and all the qualities I have been born with.
2. Chochmah
Chochmah is the second Sephiroth. Chochmah means ‘wisdom’. It is the Word, the Logos. It is the Son in relation to Kether as its Father. Remember Chochmah is on top of the right, positive, male pillar, and thus Chochmah is considered to embody the primal male energies. It is the active, male principle, the vital, energizing element of existence. In Chochmah is the will to create.
Chochmah is associated in the soul with the power of intuitive insight, flashing lightning-like across consciousness.
In man Chochmah corresponds to the right brain hemisphere. It rules imagination and conceptual faculties. Chochmah also relates to the sense of sight.
Chochmach is the power of selflessness that allows us to ‘taste’ divinity.
For me, Chochmah is the driving fore in this life, the energy that keeps me alive and allows me to do the things I want to do. It is my will to live and to fulfill my purpose in life. It also represents the primal male energies in me that were established in my early years by the contact with my father.
3. Binah
Binah (=Understanding) is the third Sephirah and sits on top of the left, negative, female pillar. It embodies the primal female energies. Binah and Chochmah form a harmonious relationship. She is the female that harbors the seed and brings forth the fruit. She is the Mother, the Great Sea, the primal substance filling the entire universe and the fundament of the universe.
Binah is stability, it organizes, regulates and gives form to the energies of Chochmah. Binah calms the stimulating energies of Chochmah. While Chochmah is the seed, Binah nurtures the seed.
Binah comprises the entire intellectual power of human consciousness. In the human thoughts, the intuitive formations of Chochmah come to fruition in Binah and become understandable and classifiable. Binah is associated in the soul with the power of conceptual analysis and reasoning, both inductive and deductive. The “understanding” of Binah also implies the ability to examine the degree of truth or falsehood inherent in a particular idea.
For me, Binah is what shapes my life, giving form to the different processes I have to go through: education, relationships, environment, everything that has shaped and is still shaping my character. Binah also contains the primal female energies that were established in my early years by the contact with my mother.
4. Chesed
Chesed (=Mercy) is the first Sephirah created underneath the Abyss. Chesed is unlimited benevolence. Chesed arises by the outpouring of of the energy of the supernal triad across the Abyss in the world of causality. It contains a productive and vivifying energy.
Chesed is the first of the seven lower Sephiroth that give form to the universe, and in this sense it is related to such concepts as laws, justice, generosity, protection, maintainer, aspects we associate with a king-ruler. Chesed is unlimited benevolence. Chesed is associated in the soul with the desire to embrace all of Creation and bestow upon it goodness.
Chesed contains the oral esoteric teachings, the secret teachings, the hidden knowledge.
For me, Chesed is my inner king-ruler, how I rule my life, how I manage my life. Am I helpful to those who need help? Am I just in my actions? Do I bring prosperity in my life and my environment? Do I give freely, or do I hold back too much?
5. Geburah
Geburah is the fifth Sephirah. It stands for power, strength and courage. As we saw in Chesed an outpouring of energy, in Geburah this energy is being controlled, contracted, limited. As a pair, their qualities provide an equilibrium between expansion and contraction. The contracting quality of Geburah allows for usefulness, activity, progress. It also decomposes that which is useless.
Geburah is the king-warrior, who is well aware of the boundaries of his territory and will fiercely defend it. Discipline, severity, restriction are his nature. It is the restraining might of Geburah, which allows one to overcome his enemies, be they from without or from within (his evil inclination).
Geburah contains the written teachings.
For me, Geburah is the inner king-warrior. In life, I have to set up boundaries. I have to keep out unwanted energies and people. But the gates are open for people I welcome. Boundaries have also to with behavior. I do not want people to take advantage of me, and I have to be aware what the boundaries of other people are. Sometimes I have to be more assertive, or even aggressive, and go out and fight. Sometimes I have to defend my (psychological) territory.
6. Tiphereth
The sixth Sephirah, Tiphereth (=Beauty) is the center of the Tree of Life. It corresponds to heart of the human body, where the sense of ego lies. Being in the center of the Tree of Life nothing happens without its mediation. It coordinates and gives harmony and equilibrium to the inflowing forces. It reconciles and gives compassion.
Tiphereth is also associated with sacrifice, since as we climb up the Tree of Life we have to sacrifice the ego at this place, before we can go any higher.
Tiphereth is also about sincerity and the meaning of individuality.
For me, Tiphereth is my sense of ego. The ego that has been nurtured by society, by family members, friends. They usually call it “character”. The ego is built during the first twenty years of one’s life, when there is no resistance against outside influences. Once adult, I started to analyze my ego and I got rid of some negative character traits,a difficult and long process that I am still working on.
7. Nezach
The seventh Sephirah is Nezach, Victory or triumph, victory without regret. Nezach is the place of the emotions, the feelings, the powers that stimulate creativity. Nezach contains what people usually understand by love, satisfaction, and art in all its forms.
Nezach, As the divine energies flow down the Tree of Life, Nezach makes them practical for man. It allows man to crystallize his intentions and sweep away parasitical energies.
For me, Nezach is my emotions, whether they are blocked, misdirected or free flowing; if my emotions are spontaneous or if they are learned habits because as a child I was programmed to react in a particular way. I try to cultivate higher emotions like enjoying music, and be aware of and restrict lower emotions, such as anger, when they are not constructive.
8. Hod
The eight Sephirah is Hod, Glory. Being the opposite of Nezach, Hod controls the practical, emotional energies of Nezach by its mental powers. Hod is associated with the intellect and thoughts. Intellect and emotions need to balance each other. Expressing emotions without thinking is equivalent to uncontrolled rage. Thinking without emotions leads to becoming rigid.
Hod gives stability, fixation and practical knowledge to the free flowing energies of Nezach. Hod by itself is very speculative and theoretical.
Hod is associated in the soul with the power to continually advance, with the determination and perseverance born of deep inner commitment, toward the realization of one’s life goals. The acknowledgment of a supreme purpose in life, and the total submission of self which it inspires, serves to endow the source of one’s inspiration with an aura of splendor and majesty.
For me, Hod is my thinking process, and my thinking structure. I try to be aware of my opinions; are they shaped by what I read or hear in the news, are they based on other people’s opinions? Does what I think really come from me, myself, or is it just a program put into my mind by others?
9. Yesod
The ninth Sephirah is Yesod, the Foundation. It is the foundation of the created world on which the other Sephirth rest. Yesod is usually seen as the lower astral world, the ether of electromagnetic substance well known in spiritualism and psychic phenomena. It is a subtle energy that vivifies, coordinates, integrates and stimulates the physical bodies. It is related to sexual energies and the sexual organs in the human body.
Yesod has the qualities of imagination, illusions, and dreams, all of which are necessary to make things happen in the world when properly understood. It gives us the power to connect, communicate and contact with outer reality (which is the next Sephirah, Malkuth).
All higher energies of the first eight Sephiroth have to pass through Yesod when expressing themselves in the physical world (=the tenth Sephirah). Yesod guides, forms and structures those higher energies and shapes them into their final patterns when expressed in the physical world. In this sense Yesod is also the foundation of the physical world, as the physical world is just the physical expression, or formation of what has already been structured and formed in Yesod.
Yesod is linked to the stream of blessings, or energies, that are flowing from the upper world to the physical world, for this Yesod is also called El Hai, the Living God, or El Shaddai, God the Provider.
For me, Yesod represents my dreams. The dreams I never realized because my expectations were not based on reality, but also the dreams I did realize. Yesod is the fertile ground of imagination that helps me to come up with new ideas and to try out new things.
10. Malkuth
The final and Tenth Sephiroth is Malkuth, the Kingdom. As last of the Sephiroth it is the synthesis of all other Sephiroth. Malkuth is the physical and total expression of the divine. It is the physical world as we daily experience it, the physical body, but also all crystallized energies that make this physical life possible. Malkuth gives us the power of self-expression.
Malkuth is also called The Queen, the Daughter, Bride, or Gate. As Gate it is the gate through which one enters the Tree of Life. As Queen, Daughter or Bride she is the Shekinah, the female aspect of the divinity, in relation to Kether, the first Sephirah, who is the King, Father or Groom. It also shows that when ascending the Tree, one needs to join Bride and Groom, that is joining our ordinary consciousness with the divine consciousness.
In Malkuth the Shekinah, or Divine presence, lies dormant. For Shekniah to rise up successfully, all six Sephiroth of what is called Zeïr Anpin (the Small Face) have to be purified, otherwise Shekinah will retreat back to Malkuth.
For me, Malkuth is the way I express myself on the physical plane. It is that what I actually have realized, and what I am still working on. I can the result in the environment I have created.
Conclusion
Kabbalah, spellcasting, and Kabbalistic magic represent a rich tradition that intertwines spiritual philosophy with practical application. For practitioners, it offers a pathway to deeper understanding, connection to the divine, and the ability to manifest change in their lives and the world around them.
Magic and spells from the Kabbalah Style of knowledge are considered to fall under the High magic, or Ceremonial Magick system. In such systems, the powers of nature, conceived of as being either angelic or Satanic, are controlled in conjunction with spirits, using words and the names of sacred gods.
Source: http://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/treeoflifetraditional.htm