Spiritual Article Directory | The History and Practice of Qabalah

The practice of Kabbalah has been going through something of a renaissance in recent years, with celebrities such as Madonna publisizing its benefits, and many people becoming interested in learning more about the subject. At the same time as gaining in popularity the study and practice of Kabbalah has also evolved from its ancient origins, to become much broader and more universal in its scope.

The origins of Kabbalah lie in early Jewish esoteric mysticism, its secrets closely guarded by the top Rabbi's. But from those humble beginnings the study of Kabbalah has grown and branched out, first being adapted to Christianity - the Christian tradition being known by the varient spelling of Cabala, and then being assimilated into the so called hermetic tradition, which has gone on to become the modern subject of Qabalah, another varient spelling which is generally used by people who study and practice Kabbalah outside of any particular religious affiliations, treating it as an independent spiritual system in itself. Within this modern approach it is treated more as a spiritual philosophy than a religious creed.

According to Jewish legend there are two distinct stories about the origins of the original system of Kabbalah; the first states that it was received by Moses on Mount Sinai, but whereas the ten commandments were for everybody the esoteric teachings of the Kabbalah were passed on to a select few as a secret inner teaching. This is what defined the early period, during which its wisdom was jealously guarded. The second states that these teachings have always been with man, and were given to Adam by one of the Archangels at the time of his and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden, out of pity for the suffering to come and a desire to help.

Within Judaism the Torah and other 'exoteric' teachings were often considered to be the body of Jewish teaching, and the Kabbalah, at the height of its practice, was considered to be the soul. In many ways Kabbalistic teachings can be thought of as the distilled essence of a spiritual teaching, without the cultural baggage and rigid dogmas that go along with most religious teachings. It is because of this that the Kabbalah has been so successful at moving out of the closed confines of Judaism to provide inspiration, guidance and empowerment to people of every different kind of background and belief.

The modern study of Qabalah has become intimately entwined with the concept of the 'Perennial Philosophy'; the idea that there is a unifying thread of truth behind all of the world’s religious, spiritual and philosophical teachings. Qabalistic principles can be used to understand, and so to draw upon, the teachings of a wide range of very different spiritual traditions by stripping away everything but the perfect 'essence' or soul of the teaching.

The esoteric nature of Qabalah means that rather than being built from a set of rules, rituals and dogmas, and being essentially a communal enterprise with primarily social goals, like so-called exoteric religions (like the 'religions of the book'), it is a much more intimate and individual endevour, guiding its practitioners on a very personal journey. Qabalah is composed in a large part of techniques rather than predefined answers - it is the way of mysticism and magick, and of philosophy, rather than dogma.

The entirety of the wisdom of Qabalah is contained within, and expressed by, a single diagram and system of classification called the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life has 10 spheres, or sephiroth, and 22 shining paths connecting them. The 10 Spheres can be thought of as describing objective existence whereas the 22 paths describe the subjective experience of being human. This system of classification lends itself well to use as a tool for the objective study of comparative religion and spiritual studies, which led the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley to describe the Tree of Life as a 'spiritual filling cabinet'.

In addition to being used philosophically as a system of classification the tree of life is also used in meditation and ritual. Associated with each sphere and path are the Archangels and choruses of Angels, and other symbolic representation of their nature.

Many of the so-called 'magical' practices of Qabalah can be understood in a modern scientific sense. The perfect example of this is the prarctice of invocation, in which a practitioner invokes the power of some spiritual force within themselves. This is described as a supernatural occurrence, but can be explained entirely as a psychological process harnessing the power of the subconscious mind, the divine archetypes being concieved as simply more universal examples of the same phenomenon described by psychological archetpyes. This approach is favoured by some modern practitioners of Qabalah, but is not accepted by everyone.

I would wholeheartedly recommend the study and practice of Qabalah to anyone.