Qabbalah,
Kabbalah, Kiblah, Kabalah, Qabalah, Qabbala, Kabbala, Cabalah, Cabala.
Qabbalah,
Kabbalah, Kiblah, Kabalah, Qabalah, Qabbala, Kabbala, Cabalah, Cabala.
BY FRATER MARABAS
You will find it spelled in many different ways but we at the S.A. have always used Qabbalah. Qabbalah is the once secret Magical Mystery Tradition of Judaism. After the Jews were driven out of Zion the keepers of the sacred knowledge were persecuted in many lands. This persecution of the Holy Magic of the Jews , on which King Solomon's power was based, lasted for thousands of years when being in possession of a Torah or Pentatuch meant certain death. In an attempt to pursue their religious beliefs they had to conceal both their liturgies and their identities. For hundreds of years the true secrets were handed down from priest to neophyte not in written form, but by word of mouth only.
Qabbalah is an Ancient Hebrew word meaning 'To Take (or to receive) From Mouth To Ear' which is how the Magical Secrets of Solomon were transferred down through the centuries. During the 9th century the persecution of Jews in Spain ceased when the Moors invaded and took over the South of the country. In the enlightened climate set up by the Moslems Jewish scholars flourished and became an active part of the intelligentsia. So tolerant and confident was this period that Qabbalists began to write down their magical system for the first time.
Ancient Hebrew writing usually omits vowels hence there is no clear clue as to the way the words are pronounced. Later rendition of these texts has resulted in several competing established dialects from diasporated Hebrew communities. 'Mouth To Ear / to receive' is rendered 'QBL' in the texts and thus the pronunciations Qabbalah / Kabbalah / Kiblah / Cabalah developed throughout European languages, giving us our English word 'Cabal' (as in a secret clique working independently within a state, group or institution ). The 'text-books' of Qabbalism such as The Book of Splendours written during this era have been treasured and reprinted over the centuries and form the basis of all Qabbalistic teaching in the modern world.
Today, the precepts of the QBL and the Magic of Solomon have been somewhat divorced from its religious beginnings with many people from other than a Jewish background employing it. The Qabbalah is seen as a pre-emminent technical system for mapping the known and unknown universe and coping with the energies and forces which power it. It is EXCELLENT and well worth proper study. The ENTIRE monotheistic Mediterranean magical perspective is built upon it and it has influenced almost all magical techniques and grimoires over the centuries. Based on the Otz Chim or Tree of Life, a glyph of which you see reproduced here, one can chart one's progress through life and be in control of the present and the future by identifying and directing intelligences and forces which exist in parallel worlds.
Despite what some johnny-come-lately self-styled Qabbalistic Masters try to make you believe today, the practice of Qabbalism has always been an individual persuit because one can only achieve access to the parallel worlds through Self. It is in fact a preoccupation of priests and ascetics. Although Qabbalistic groups do exist and there are communal ceremonies, the very advantage in Qabbalism (and the thing which enabled it to survive the wicked persecutions of the Jews imposed by Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition when Christian fundamentalists over-ran Moslem Spain again in the 13c) is it's cellular structure which foretold the World Wide Web thousands of years ago.
You will meet many pretenders who will tell you that they have monopolised a direct Qabbalistic lineage to Biblical Times, but the real power of Qabbalism is that not only is this untrue, but it is unneccessary; as there is sufficient genuine printed material available now for any serious seeker to surpass the assumed knowledge of the present 'Qabbalistic Masters' in a couple of years hard study and their very first discovery will be that anyone who tries to flog water with a Kabbalah sticker on it is pretty dim but those who buy and use it are even dimmer because it is essential and relatively simple in Qabbalistic Magic to magnetise one's own Holy / Healing Water.
Ends:
WORLD COPYRIGHT THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE, 6-8 Burley Lodge Road, Leeds LS6 1QP, Yorkshire U.K. Tel: 0113 2451309. Reproduction in part or on while forbidden without written permission from Marabas.
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