Practical Kabbalah vs Black Magic: A Reprise [Corrected]

I find the ridiculous onslaught of a "faceless faction" against Practical Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism in general a little tiresome. As can be expected, the belligerence appears to be getting uglier as Jewish Magic is increasing in popularity. This also appears to be the case with this blog, however, I should make it clear that on this site all comments are "moderated." This is necessary firstly to avoid the bane of "spam"; secondly to eliminate the scourge of "anonymous" commentators, who believe they are untouchable behind walls of obscurity, whilst their personal identities are clearly displayed to the one who has to approve their comments on a blog; and thirdly to halt the incessant detractors who keep wrangling about nothing of the slightest importance, and doing so from the narrowest "exclusivist" perspectives. In fact, about all the latter seem to want is an opportunity to argue fruitlessly and pointlessly, especially since such activities divert attention, and keep one from getting on with the task under ones nose, so to speak.

Once again I am told that Practical Kabbalah and all Jewish magical activities amount to "Black Magic." In turn, I ask again whether we should then consider highly respected individuals like Joseph Karo, Moses Chaim Luzzatto, and all other "astute rabbis" who communicated with "Maggidim" (Spirit Mentors); Moses Chaim Zacutto; Israel ben Eleazar Baal Shem Tov and all other Baalei Shem; highly regarded Rabbis like Moshe Teitelbaum; Yeshayah Steiner, the founder of Kerestirer Chasidim; Eliyahu Guttmacher; David Chaim Azulai; Shalom Sharabi; Chaim Palagi; Yitzhak Kaduri and his teacher Yehuda Fatiyah; and all "astute rabbis" who wrote, and are yet writing, more texts on Jewish magic and Hebrew amulets, and offering these as "spiritual benefits" to their congregation.....to be "black magicians"? In fact, does Practical Kabbalah, and perforce all Jewish magical traditions, including the entirety of Jewish Mysticism according to some, equate with "Black Magic"? Shall we turn sacred texts like the Talmud, in which a variety of magical practices are shared like cake recipes, into works of "Black Magic"?

I am told that "Practical Kabbalah" is pure superstition with no validity whatsoever. Now, if what I believe in and practice is "phoney" and "illogical," why bother arguing about it? Don't tell me that it is against the "Will of God." In fact, I suspect it is the very success of "spiritual remedies," i.e. those which have successfully impacted and relieved the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual stress of numerous individuals around the globe, which elicit serious discomfort amongst those who are beginning to feel their loss of power and control over the masses. I have been informed again that what I am publishing is forbidden by the Divine One "Himself," and that I can expect repercussions of the worst kind from "heaven" for my actions. How long has this employment of "spiritual terrorism" to coerce our fellow humankind into obedience and submission been going on, and how long will it still continue? I simply do not trust the dictates of those who are informing us on "Divine Will" from very skewed personal agendas. Why would we be expected to continue buying into religions which would have us place our faith in a deity who determines our fate with the absolute authority of the worst human dictator? Why are we expected to continue believing in “Father Christmas” ideas of "God" dreamed up over the last two millennia of human existence on this planet, i.e. a totally benevolent and paternal deity who could be stern, yet demand unthinking obedience to "His" presumed dictates as translated by "His" faithful ministers on earth?

Two World Wars have stripped this insipid "creator" of his trimmings in tinsel, and brought us up against the more terrible truth that everything was not created specially for our benefit alone, and that we shall not be given everything free of charge if we flatter "God" enough. Oddly enough we are coming up against a "God" much more like our remote ancestors visualised. An enormous Power. Sheer ENERGY without emotions as we know them at all. Motivated, if one can call it that, by pure plus-minus-balance necessity with balance as the desideratum. The “swinging pendulum principle.” It is we who translate this into emotional terms such as Love-Hate, Like-Dislike, etc.

Be that as it may, our relationship with "God" should always be based on a continuous flow of energy, generated and projected by Divinity to us, which we have to focus and return for renewal and re-projection to us, to be refocused and returned to God, and so on. I believe that the Divine One and ourselves stand in a reciprocal relationship, each benefiting the other. This "interpersonal relationship" between the Divine One and ourselves, is fully affirmed when we recognise the "Oneness" of "All," i.e. spirit and matter. Matter is Materialised Spirit, and Spirit is Subtle Matter. Furthermore, we are all “Intentions of God” incarnate, each of us an individual agent. If we are not perfect, then neither is He/She/It. Whatever we are He/She/It is to the extent of our natures, but thank God, we are not, and never will be ALL of It, so we can only speak for our own share. What we have to rely on is the Intention of God to perfect Itself. The Will. The promise if you like. The Hope. A matter for our Faith, which is a reflection in us of this Intention.

As far as I am concerned, there is no real difference between "religious worship" and "ceremonial magic." In fact, correct rituals, prayers and worship is a kind of "magic" humans work upon both the Divine One and themselves. It is absolutely clear to me that we are creating our personal realities in accordance with what we "buy into" mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Now, if "all" are indeed "one," if the Divine One "manifests" in the many, and the many "unifies" in the One, then the "flow of force" between the "centre and circumference" is what successful existence in manifestation is all about. Thus the successful expression of the phrase "Y'hi razton milfanecha....." (May it be your will....) is dependent on the recognition that the Divine One and all manifestation are part of the "selfsameness" of one great "Beingness" called "I Am."

After all, how can a “God” hear us? Only through ourselves, and to the extent that we are in contact with Divinity. On this Earth we are the ears, eyes and agents whereby He/She/It knows man, and in this regard, both "Religious Worship" (passive "exoteric magic") and "Practical Kabbalah" (active "esoteric magic") are valid and extremely powerful in the process of our eternal "Self Creation"!

Magical Healing & a Consumer Society - Part 3

It should be noted that since time immemorial there has been a common conception amongst many people that pain, illness and sin can be transferred to stones, trees and even animals. Many magical customs are built around this idea. In many societies there is no differentiation between the physical and the subtler, spiritual realms. Of course, from personal experience and as a practising Kabbalist, I agree that matter and spirit are “one”; that matter is only “materialised spirit” and spirit only “subtle matter,” all being part of one consciousness manifesting itself “multi-dimensionally,” as it were without boundaries. One could say that for us the experience of these dimensions is like reading a ruler centimetre by centimetre in order to eventually discover that they are all part of the selfsameness of a single, vast, universal consciousness called “I Am.”

However, this idea was understood in a variety of ways by humans early in their long journey towards “civilisation.” Many felt that just as a heavy load, perhaps a sack filled with stones, could be transferred from one person to another, so could illness and sin be interchanged. The viewpoint here is that there are spirit intelligences everywhere. All things, i.e. trees, rivers, stones, air, planets, etc., are alive and filled with power. In fact, this belief is not so primitive as might be supposed by its would-be modern detractors. Even in Kabbalah we talk of Ruchaniyut in the stars or in anything really [Idel, M.: Hasidism: Between Ecstacy and Magic, SUNY Press, Albany 1995; Shulman, D.D. & Stroumsa, G.G.: Self and Self-transformation in the History of Religions, Oxford University Press, New York 2002], and that the smallest manifestation has an angel attached to it. In fact, we claim that even our thoughts and deeds are constantly creating “spirits” within the “fiery river of life” which is streaming into manifestation out of the “Being” of the Eternal Living Spirit.

Though this is a wonderful realisation, and one should think that it would lead to a greater respect for life around us, one has to sadly admit that our actions down the ages prove humanity to mainly comprise selfish opportunists, rarely ready to take personal responsibility for their deeds. If the opportunity presents itself, responsibility will be shifted to make the victim in fact the guilty party in the first instance. This behaviour does not only belong in the arena of modern-day, trigger happy politicians or that of global economics, but reaches way back to prehistoric man, who believed magical activity would grant him the power to control “Spirit Intelligences,” the power over life and death, and to achieve miracles. For example, through magical means involving all kinds of curious rituals, a bad spirit could be banished and directed off course into anywhere else. In this manner an infirm person could be liberated from the evil grip of baneful forces. If this did not work, propitiatory actions might do the trick, amongst which were ways of exchanging ill fortune with a surrogate, i.e. a stone, tree, animal, or even an unwilling victim. Of course, we might think this to be wrong, inconsiderate and rather deplorable, but our opinions will certainly not help much in societies around the world, where people always go for the chance of getting themselves “off the hook” so to speak, and where most of the populace are still thinking only of themselves as “people” and the rest of existence as the “consumables.”

Be that as it may, what we need to understand is that the magical transference of misfortune to both animate and/or inanimate objects, is not only a possibility but a reality generally enacted by many spiritual traditions around the globe. What is more, this often involves fowls, especially chickens. Why? It is traditionally believed that evil spirits are scared of light, and roosters frighten away these baneful entities with their early morning crowing which heralds the rising light. Thus the act of sacrificing roosters and hens was understood to not only placate baneful spirits, but to actually scare them off. This viewpoint was in fact very prominent in ancient Persia, which incorporated Babylonia where the majority of Jews had been living in exile for many centuries, and where the previously mentioned ritual of the Kaparot started. The Persians maintained that the creation of the rooster was for the express purpose of banishing demonic entities [Oliver, P.: Shelter, Sign and Symbol, Overlook Press, Woodstock 1977.].

By the way, the big, red comb of the rooster was another motive for accrediting this creature with a magical nature [Dennis, G.W.: The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism, Llewellyn Publications, Woodbury 2007.]. The colour red was then believed to keep evil at bay [Morgernstern, J.: The Rites of Birth, Marriage, Death and Kindred Occasions among the Semites, Hebrew Union College Press, Cincinatti 1966.], an echo of which can be found in the “red string” idea. Another point we should also note is that in Jewish folklore the devil has the legs and feet of a rooster. We might also remember that in Gnostic thinking the rooster was equated with the god Abraxas [Hoeller, S.A.: Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing, Quest Books, Wheaton 2002; Hoeller, S.A.: The Gnostic Jung and The Seven Sermons to the Dead, Quest Books, Wheaton 1982.].

There is so much information on the “divinisation” and “demonising” of the rooster in the folklore and spiritual traditions of the world, that it would make a most interesting and illuminating research for anyone interested in pursuing the subject.

It was inevitable that a rooster, having so much magical power, should have some of it transferred to the hen, and eventually both would be roped into the sacrificial custom of the transference of sins. What is more, while offering them in lieu of the human, they would at the same time chase the evil forces vying for the sinful soul, and thus was born the Kaparot ritual, even though the ultra-orthodox would have us believe that the rooster was chosen because the Hebrew word Gever means both a “man” and a “cock,” indicating that those who originated the ritual understood this to mean that a rooster could be substituted for a man. In this case this explanation came after the fact [Shkalim, E.: A Mosaic of Israel’s Traditions: Unity through Diversity, edited by Schiowitz, D. and Horwitz, F., Devora Publishing Company, Jerusalem & New York 2006]. There is simply no doubt that this is definitely a heathen custom which ended up in Jewish garb, as did many others.

Probably the main reason for it still being performed in our day, is because Yom Kippur initially did involve sacrifice. Sheep and other “kosher” animals were originally sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem as a repentance for the sins of the community. As you probably know, none of the animal species which were sacrificed in the original Temple were allowed to follow the same destiny after the destruction of the Temple in 70 c.e. when prayers replaced animal sacrifices.

Despite the fact that the Kaparot rituals persist within ultra-orthodox communities, this custom is not practised amongst the Sefardim, Holland being a case in point, and many Ashkenazi Jews elsewhere want nothing to do with it. Over the years many have discarded the practice, claiming that there is no history of substitutiary sacrifices in Judaism. These communities offer money instead of blood sacrifice, often placing these in bags or handkerchiefs, usually in values of 18 since this is the gematria of Chai, the Hebrew for “life” [Goodman, P.: The Yom Kippur Anthology, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia 1971]. As in the case of chickens in the Kaparot ritual, the money is also waved around the head and afterwards given to the poor, usually for them to buy the foodstuffs they require for the sacred holidays.

Now, beside the Kaparot rituals, there are other expiatory customs associated with Yom Kippur, like for example the custom on Erev Yom Kippur (Eve of the Day of Atonement) of asking someone, such as the Gabbai (warden of the synagogue) or the Rabbi, for a portion of Lekach (honey cake). This is considered an exchange for the charity which an individual might have to request during the forthcoming year, as well as a wish that the new year be good and sweet. The custom is meant to cause us to pause and think of those who are in less fortunate positions, and to make us thankful for being the “givers” rather than the “receivers.” A thoughtful life is a thankful life. One can easily combine activity and contemplation, which is definitely one of the highest ideals in Kabbalism, leading to Communion with Eternal Nil. As mentioned in my "Book of Self Creation," the first volume of the "Shadow Tree Series," “the words 'think' and 'thank' derive from the same root meaning “to know,” thus, in terms of our Tradition, the person who really knows, should think and thank all the time” [Swart, J.G.: The Book of Self Creation, The Sangreal Sodality Press, Johannesburg 2009].

Now, another atonement ritual performed by all branches of Jewry during the High Holy Days, which is much more common than the Kaparot ritual, is Tashlich (literally to “cast away”). This is one of my favourite rituals, which is traditionally enacted on the first day of Rosh Hashanah (New Year), when the Rabbi escorts his congregants into nature, to a river or a running stream. Here prayers are uttered in the fresh air, while individuals symbolically divest themselves of past transgressions and detriments, as they pray for a life of blessing and peace in the forthcoming year. Pockets are turned inside-out and crumbs or pieces of bread thrown into the water, as a symbol that we are ridding ourselves, by word and deed, of past sins which may still adhere to us. The bread signifying the sins is cast upon the waters [Chill, A.: The Minhagim: The Customs and Ceremonies of Judaism: Their Origins and Rationale, Sepher-Hermon Press, New York 1979; Crompton, M.: Children, Spirituality, Religion and Social Work, Aldershot, Hants 1998].

The idea of the waters carrying away ones sins is not unusual at all, as the Christian baptism or water lustration clearly indicates. In a similar manner Hindus believe the Ganges washes away the sins of the bathers and carries them out to sea. In Britain folk used to “cast their sins” on the Severn tidal bore, which happened every seven years. The river god Nordens, Gwyn son of Nudd in ancient British, was said to ride this tidal bore [Mabinogian, trans. J. Gautz. Penguin Books Ltd., London 1976]. Although there is no reference in either the Bible or the Talmud to the ritual of Tashlich, which originated way back in antiquity, it is based on the scriptural injunction in Michah 7:19 which reads “And Thou shalt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”

Now to end this deliberation on some Jewish expiatory rituals, I should point out that though there are no Kabbalistic origins to the custom of the Kaparot, Kabbalists like Isaiah Horowitz and Isaac Luria sanctioned the practice by finding all kinds of hidden meanings in the ritual formulas, but this does not mean that all Kabbalists agreed with these “special insights,” as noticed previously from Rabbi Joseph Karo’s objection to this reprehensible practice.

Magical Healing & a Consumer Society - Part 2

Naturally I am quite aware that some readers will raise the challenge that the previously listed "barbaric customs" are amongst the reasons for the separation between mainstream Judaism and "Practical Kabbalah." That is only true if one turns a blind eye to a somewhat tasteless "magical anomaly" in the very heart of fundamentalist Judaism. I am referring to a sacrificial ritual practice, regarding which a dear friend queried me a while back. He was under the impression that this was "an old Kabbalistic ritual" in which a chicken is slaughtered to "take away the sins" of all present. As it is, the sacrificial ritual in question is not of kabbalistic derivation at all. It is the Kaparot, meaning "expiations" or "atonements," which is a sort of "scapegoat" ceremony in which sins are transferred to a sacrificial victim, and which is mostly performed by the ultra-Orthodox on the day prior to Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). The custom represents the symbolic transference of personal sins onto a chicken which is afterwards slaughtered, and whilst its body is presented to the poor, some have it that the entrails should be given to the wild birds. [Trachtenberg, J.: Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion, Behrman’s Jewish Book House Publishers, New York 1939; Strassfeld, M., Teutsch, B.P., Eisen, A.M.: The Jewish Holidays: A Guide and Commentary, Harper & Row, New York 1985.]

The custom is to offer a rooster for a male and a hen for a female. The individuals in question commence the ritual by reciting the Bnei Adam (Children of Man) prayer, while holding the live bird in the hand. Afterwards, while twirling the fowl around the head, several prayers are read which say, in effect: “May this be a substitute for me; if it has been ordained that I die, may this fowl die in my place,” or “Although I have sinned, I’m being given the opportunity to live again.....I must atone for my sins.” The fowl is then placed under the table, and afterwards presented to the Shochet (kosher butcher), and finally given to the poor, or better still eaten by everyone present and its value in money donated to the poor.

Recently there has been quite a rumpus over the practice with Jews and gentiles alike objecting to it as being cruel and barbaric. In fact, it made the front page of the New York Times. [New York Times, 16th September 2002.] Rabbi Avi Shafran, the director of public affairs for Agudat Israel of America, replied to the article calling it “simple ignorance,” and tried to detract from the main argument of the practice being barbaric, by referring to the “adorable little girl in Jerusalem with a squeal-smile on her face as a chicken was being swung around her head,” and saying that the rite has nothing to do with the transference of sin. Tell that to the rest of the populace who believes otherwise, and “wrongly” as far as this Rabbi is concerned! He sharply steers away from the Kaparot ritual onto the need for Teshuvah (repentance), and does concede that the Shulchan Aruch, the authoritative “Code of Jewish Law” disapproves of the Kaparot ritual. [Karo, J. ben E.: Shulchan Aruch: Orach Chayim, Mishkal, Tel Aviv 2009.]

Afterwards he continues by saying that the renowned “Chofetz Chaim,” Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, “explains that when anyone performs the ritual, the individual should consider that what will happen to the bird—its slaughter—would be happening to him or her were strict justice, untempered by God’s mercy, the rule. As a result, the supplicant will come to regret his sins and ‘through his repentance’ cause God ‘to revoke any evil decree from him’.” The good Rabbi means to tell us that we need to sacrifice hens and roosters by swinging them three times (some nine times) around our heads, then killing them, feed them to the poor and throwing their entrails to the birds, purely as a reminder of what the Divine One would do to us should we not toe the line? Does he honestly believe that this act spurs the practitioner on to “meditation on the need for atonement, and.....to stir feelings of repentance and recommitment to the performance of good deeds”?

Rabbi Shafran did not clarify the exact meaning of the following words being uttered while swinging the unfortunate fowl around the head: “This is instead of me; this is in my place. Let this chicken die, so that I may go on to have a good, peaceful life”? Its plain meaning reads exactly like those one would use during vicarious sacrifices, i.e. ritual acts of transferring sinfulness to a substitute. It also seems hardly appropriate for the Rabbi to speak of “the deep meanings that lie in the rites and rituals of Jewish religious life,” when fowls are treated in a cruel manner, which actually goes totally against the grain of the traditional Jewish stance of kindness to all God’s creatures.

Throughout the history of this unsavoury practice, participants have claimed that they are following this custom as an honest and heartfelt act of contrition, as they contemplate the perception that, due to their sins, the same lot which is now befalling the chicken might be in store for them, if not for the mercy of the Divine One. At the same time a large number of rabbis, equally as distinguished as the “Chofetz Chaim,” have raised the strongest objections to the ritual of the Kaparot. Amongst these were the great Maimonides, Nachmanides, Solomon ben Adret who deprecated the custom as a heathen practice at variance with Judaism, in which he maintained there is no history of vicarious sacrifices. Rabbi Joseph Karo, the famous 16th century Kabbalist, Halachist and author of the earlier mentioned Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law), called it a stupid custom which should be stopped. Others objected to the magical ideas associated with it, e.g. that white fowl are especially efficacious, and so forth. Rabbi Chaim Halevy, late Sefardi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, in his ruling against the custom, said: “Why should we show unnecessary cruelty to animals specifically on the eve of the holiest day, slaughtering them without mercy, precisely when we stand to plead for long life for ourselves before the Living God?” [Cohen, J.M.: Prayer and Penitence: A Commentary on the High Holy Day Machzor, Jason Aronson Inc., Northvale 1994.]

That sums up my feeling exactly. As far as the Kaparot ritual itself is concerned, I think it is worthwhile understanding how and why it started in the first place. It appears to be a “spill over” as it were, from the animal sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem, despite the fact that it started in Babylonia in the 9th century, many centuries after the destruction of the Temple. Rashi, commenting on the Babylonian Talmud, said that fishes and plants were used at first in the Kaparot rituals, but it also appears that the ram was used as a sacrifice in Babylonia, as a reminder of the ram substituted for Isaac in the well-known biblical saga. Later the rooster became more popular in the Kaparot ritual, and I believe we need to look at this practice from a much wider perspective, i.e. from the angle that this kind of ritual was and still is being practised by many other nations around the world. Thus we can get a much clearer understanding of it. [Bloch, A.P.: The Biblical and Historical Background of Jewish Customs and Ceremonies, Ktav Publishing House, New York 1980.]

(More to follow)

Maggidim: Spirit Messengers - Part 1

I recently received a query regarding Maggidim (Spirit Messengers), and I thought the topic might be of interest to readers of this blog. As it is, I devoted an extensive chapter on this specific topic in "The Book of Self Creation," in which I also shared a technique on contacting a Maggid. This subject, so often referred to in Kabbalah, reminds me of the tenth century Rabbi Hai Gaon, the famous religious leader and mystic, who wrote: “God arranged the order of creation so that all things are bound to each other. The direction of events in the lower world depends on entities above them, as our sages teach, ‘there is no blade of grass in the world below that does not have an angel over it, striking it and telling it to grow!’

Human souls are also bound to higher levels, and therefore, when a perfect individual becomes involved in Meditation (Hitbodedut) upon Wisdom, it is possible for him to predict the future events. As a result of his deep meditation, his consciousness and mind fall into a trance, and through his deep probing of the mysteries of existence, he reaches the First Cause. The faculties of his heart then become like the Urim and Thumim, mystically bound to the angels in heaven, and he becomes attached to the Ultimate Good.” A Kabbalist can communicate with entitised awareness, whether incarnated in a physical body or not, and included here is the Maggid, which can be a departed Saint, beloved Teacher or Master, an Angel, etc.

It saddens me when modern scholarship, starting already in the nineteenth century, refers to the phenomena of Maggidim as something totally illusory, devoid of all truth, and belonging to the realm of psycho-pathology. Some even apologetically refer to it as a “regrettable weakness” on the part of the person claiming such a contact, while others, including the very religious, see the whole subject of the Maggid as a fabrication, believing it to be heresy and a disgrace.

Despite all this, it is worth noting that many famous Rabbis, Masters and scholars had a Maggid. In fact, Maggidism comprising mentor angels, spirit guides, voices, and so forth, certainly played a massive role in all mysticism, and, as one author puts it, existed in certain periods and amongst certain groups almost like an “epidemic.” So despite modern scholarship referring only to the worshipful “religious-spiritual” side of mysticism, there is no doubt that manifestations like Maggidim are a widespread and valued phenomenon.

The meaning of the word Maggid is “one who relates,” and it ordinarily refers to itinerant preachers. However, on another level, as already indicated, a Maggid is a mentor or ministering angel, spirit guide, or voice, which could in some cases appear in dream as a departed friend, teacher or master, an angel or spirit guide instructing the dreamer, who can question the Maggid. At other times it may appear while the receiver is completely conscious and awake, alone or in the company of other people. Often all present would hear the voice of the Maggid, though at times a contactee would be taken over by the Maggid as in possession, and then the “spirit messenger” would speak through his/her mouth, which is not unlike what sometimes occurs in modern Spiritualism when the medium becomes “controlled.”

Yet not always is the Maggid a spirit classifiable as Elijah, or some known friend, master or angel. The Maggid can be the personified spirit of sacred texts, that is the spirit of the Torah, Mishnah, Talmud, Zohar, Tosefta, or other holy text, seen as conscious living entities, such as in the case of the sixteenth century Rabbi Shlomo Molcho where, at night time, the Mishnah descended as a personified feminine spirit, to whisper revelations into the ear of “Her” servant.

The same holds true for the sixteenth century Rabbi Joseph Karo who had a Maggid appear to him every time he recited the Mishnah by heart, who then spoke, saying: “Peace upon thee, Rabbi Joseph Karo. I am the Mishnah which thou hast studied. I came forth to teach thee understanding.” Then the Maggid would instruct the contactee regarding remarkable mysteries of life and its manifestations, and the teachings related to these mysteries, such as Kabbalistic explanations. Yet, the Maggid never appeared in visual form to Rabbi Karo, but spoke through the Rabbi’s mouth, and, as one author puts it, this is “a genuine case of well-ordered, lucid, automatic-speech,” of course still under the guidance of a Maggid, a heavenly messenger.

A Maggid could bring great visual revelations, even though it may not necessarily itself be visual. Thus the Maggid of Rabbi Karo said: “I shall grant thee to behold Elijah, for the ancient of days will be clothed in white garments and will sit facing thee and will speak unto thee as a man speaketh unto his friend and thine eye shall behold thy teacher and.....He will speak with thee and thou shalt behold him.”

The subject of Maggidism is not only related to automatic speech, but to both clairvoyance and clairaudience. More and more I think you may realise how closely this relates to normal mediumistic states and trances. A Maggidic manifestation is not only related to a spirit messenger, angel, dream figure or automatic speech, occurring during sleep, while in a trance or fully conscious, but is also related to automatic writing. Connected to the latter is the Kabbalistic Chochmat ha-Tzeruf, “Science of Permutation,” but this topic is much too large to address in any great detail in this brief post. Briefly Tzeruf is a method of mentally permuting the letters in Hebrew words as a form of profound meditation, leading to expanded sensory perceptions and ecstatic states.

On Practical Kabbalah being termed "Black Magic" revisited

I simply could not resist visiting the following "incident" on the net to which I was alerted by an observant friend. Since it pertains to a message I posted here, and since I am somehow personally involved, though not directly so by "name," I thought I would share the mentioned "incident."

In February 2010 I posted a short essay titled "Practical Kabbalah vs Black Magic." I am delighted to discover, if somewhat belatedly, that my little essay was crossposted on an "official" Chabad forum, where opinions were being sought on its contents. I did notice that the crosspost was edited in order to eliminate the link to my blog which was defined a "non-Jewish religious site." Since I am a Jew, I find this definition of my blog quite hillarious! Furthermore, whilst dealing with spiritual matters of "Jewish concern," my blog is not actually a "religious site" per se. Otherwise, though not cited by name, I am listed as "an academic whose impact outside of the university has been nil," yet I cannot be sure whether the commentator was referring to me personally, or to J.H. Chajes, the "real academic" mentioned in my missive, considering the fact that I have discarded my "academic mantle" some decades ago, and no longer make any pretensions in this regard.

Be that as it may, I was amazed at witnessing the incoherence and inability of those who, other than hiding behind their utmost rigid fundamentalist religious stance, have failed to deal with my essay in any meaningful manner. The strongest allegation is that I posited Abraham Abulafia, Shabbatai Tzvi and Jacob Frank against Josef Karo, which is plainly not the case, and which the commentator might have realised had he actually READ and UNDERSTOOD my original missive.

What I found most surprising of all is unfamiliarity with the contents of Moses Cordovero's "Pardes Rimmonim," by the one who was seeking indications of "Practical Kabbalah" in the writings of the great rabbi, and who very obliquely hinted at familiarity with this text. All right, lets give him the benefit of the doubt! In the mentioned text Moses Cordovero dealt with "early Kabbalah" from the broadest, most inclusive perspective possible, and his extensive essays on Divine Names and their practical applications in this book may not have been directly termed "Practical Kabbalah" (Kabbalah Ma'asit), but these were certainly recognised to be just that by other equally "orthodox," equally "frum," and equally respected Rabbis.....and of course those scholars whom the commentator considers to have no influence outside their acadamic institutions. Come to think of it, I made reference in my essay to some of these seemingly "mainstream" rabbis who openly indulged their minds, souls and bodies in the dreaded "non-Kosher" domain of "Practical Kabbalah," including the great Josef Caro himself, who do not appear to have been unduly bothered by his personal nightly "channellings" of a "spirit intelligence," although he did so in absolute secrecy, and details of which were discovered only after his demise.

It is quite telling that my detractors who carefully avoided commenting on these "anomalies," would rather, in accordance with the norm when it comes to dealing with "uncomfortable" issues, divert attention and focus on a personal assault on the poor chap who posted my "offensive" essay on the said forum. Come to think of it, perhaps they thought HE wrote it! I actually feel a little sorry for this guy who held out very bravely against the onslaught, but what chance would he have had discoursing with anyone whose consciousness does not extend beyond the length of his nose? I would say "ZERO"!

Yet, I believe it would have been interesting to have queried the said forum regarding the "occult" activities of the Besht, the very founder of modern Chasidism, who was in fact proud of being a "Baal Shem," a "wonder worker" in the traditional "practitioner of magic" or "wonderworker" sense, as recently highlighted by those who no longer follow the general inclination of suppressing evidence [See "The Besht: Magician, Mystic and Leader" by Immanuel Etkes].

All of this notwithstanding, I am absolutely delighted to have witnessed my essay "making it" on the Chabad forum, and those who would like to "revisit" it on this site, AND read the entire diatribe themselves, may access the "thread" on the forum at:

http://www.chabadtalk.com/forum/showthread.php3?t=11758

Practical Kabbalah vs "Black Magic"

As indicated in the header of this blog, I intend discussing some of those techniques of "Practical Kabbalah" which I addressed in my "The Book of Self Creation," and which I have greatly expanded upon, with lots of additional practical Kabbalistic material translated from primary Hebrew sources, in my forthcoming "The Book of Sacred Names," to be published by The Sangreal Sodality Press as the second volume in "The Shadow Tree Series."

For more than forty years I have devoted myself to both a serious investigation as well as the practical implementation of Kabbalistic teachings in my everyday life. For me "Kabbalah" was like a pair of old slippers, i.e. absolutely comfortable and easily slipped into, and it has remained so for the entire period that I have been associated with it. There are certainly times when I battle with the obscurities of the doctrines found in some of the primary texts, but, in the main, Kabbalah has served me well on many levels, whether these be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. In terms of my everyday existence, I have found the teachings of "Practical Kabbalah" especially meaningful, despite the endless warnings about these being "bad," and that I might incur "the wrath of the Almighty."

Of course, it is worth noting that "Kabbalah" and Orthodox Judaism have always been uneasy bedfellows. Sometimes they would be more or less comfortable in their relationship and need of each other, but at other times they would burst into open conflict. The strong messianic tendencies of certain Kabbalists, like for example Shabbetai Tzvi, Jacob Frank, or, much further back, that of Abraham Abulafia, contributed to the notion amongst the orthodoxy that the tradition is a blasphemous quagmire out to snare the gullible. Yet, should the same Messianic tendency shine forth in what appears to be a most godly and sanctified individual, such as Rabbi Isaac Luria, then we can relax and bask in the glory of his "unique light," without any trepidation of being led up the garden path, so to speak.

We know that mysticism goes hand in hand with Judaism, as it does with other faiths, provided it stayed on the thin and narrow and managed to dress its visions, miracles, and what can only be termed "magical activities," in the garb of the formal and accepted religious views of the day. Step out of line, and that individual, who was deemed into manifestation in order to be redeemed in eternity, will be doomed by his peers unto the aeons. To put it simply, certain concepts of Kabbalah entered into mainstream Judaism, and comfortably remained there to this very day. These concepts mainly pertained to the speculative side of the Tradition. In fact, many Rabbis were both Kabbalists and orthodox religious leaders of their communities, as they are still today, with no particular problem one way or the other.

Having said that, I should also mention that some of them did keep their more "controversial" experiences and activities quite hidden for fear of rejection, as for example the case of Rabbi Joseph Caro and his Maggid clearly indicates. However, the more individualistic aspects of the tradition, such as "Practical Kabbalah," which patently involves magical practices, often led to a fracas everywhere, and yet there were again many orthodox Rabbis who beneficially utilized this forbidden zone of the tradition. In fact, many still do with their Kameot (Hebrew amulets), Segulot, Terufot, and magical use of holy writ. To this day the grave of Rabbi ben Duan in Wazzan outside Fez in Morocco, is used as a place where miraculous healings take place. Prior to his demise, the good Rabbi issued an instruction that a certain Kamea (amulet) should be engraved on his tombstone, which would then cause the grave itself to become a place of healing when the sick are placed on it. I can relate a first hand example of its effectiveness, but it will make this introduction much too lengthy. It would appear that the many people undertaking a healing pilgrimage to the good Rabbi’s tomb, is not bothering the orthodoxy unduly.

Naturally we need to recognise that the rise of pseudo-messiahs, such as the earlier mentioned Shabbetai Tzvi and Jacob Frank, contributed enormously towards the fall of Kabbalah from grace in the eyes of mainstream Judaism. Even more so after Shabbetai Tzvi’s conversion to Islam, following the Jewish authorities denouncement of him as a blasphemer to the Muslim authorities. He caused a lot of havoc with his enormous influence over thousands of Jews across the then "civilized" world, and naturally this was more than worrying to the rabbinical authorities who wanted to protect their flocks, and who could see Tzvi’s appeal as spelling disaster for Jewry as a whole. This was certainly a very dark period for both Kabbalah and Judaism alike. However, today Shabbatai Tzvi and his approach to both Kabbalah and Judaism, are understood in a much more open manner, and he appears less of a threat. The same cannot be said for "Practical Kabbalah," which is still drawing vehement condemnation from mainstream religious authorities.

I recently responded to a post online in which it was claimed that Joseph Karo, the great 16th century legalist and Kabbalist, referred to "Kabbalah Ma'asit" (Practical Kabbalah) in his Shulchan Aruch as "black magic." Seeking clarification I wrote:

"In the numerous pre-Lurianic Kabbalistic texts, as well as several subsequent works of the same genre penned by East European Baalei Shem, the term 'Kabbalah Ma'asit' referred to 'Practical Kabbalah' exclusively. There is no specific indication in these writings that the appellation 'Kabbalah Ma'asit' referred to 'Black Magic' per se. When exactly did it acquire the adverse connotation you are referring to?"

To this I received the following response:

"Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah.....laws of Avoda Zerah. The Shulchan Aruch makes very clear that Kabbalah Ma'asit is what the Torah was referring to when it spoke about magic. There are a few rare exceptions, but by and large that is the status."

Since I could not find any reference to Kabbalah Ma'asit being "black magic" in the reference provided, I continued quizzing lest it appeared somewhere else in that authoritative legalistic tome, asking:

"Does the Shulchan Aruch use the specific appellative 'Black Magic' in reference to 'Kabbalah Ma'asit,' and does this turn astute and highly revered Kabbalists like Rabbi Eleazar of Worms, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Rabbi Moshe Zacutto, Rabbi Avraham Chamaui, et al, who openly shared techniques belonging to the 'Kabbalah Ma'asit' arena, into heretics who pandered what is forbidden? By the same token are 'Practical Kabbalistic' writings like the Sefer Raziel, Brit Menucha, Shorshei ha-Shemot, amongst others, considered 'black magic' texts?"

In response I was told:

"Actually the Sh"A refers to black magic and all other forms of forbidden sorcery as Kabbalah Ma'asit. As well as enumerates the practices that are forbidden. Considering that R' Cordovero was actually a teacher of R' Karo, I would assume that R' Karo learned what was forbidden from him. Receipt and knowledge of Kabbalah ma'asit is not forbidden, its usage is. Read the introduction by R' Zecuto (who is post-Lurianic by the way) he specifically warns against the usage of what he has written. There are exceptions to this within the bounds of halacha, but one first must be a competent Rav versed in the applicable halachot to know what they are and when they can be properly applied."

Realising the "deflective" nature of this response, the lack of direct textual references, the absurdity of the claim that it is in order to read and learn about Practical Kabbalah, but that you are not allowed to put such knowledge to practical use, and that I am not likely to get a clear answer to my query, I did not press for further details. It quickly became abundantly clear that pursuing the matter any further would just result in me listing more and more of those astute rabbis who did not only wrote about, but actually employed that which the individual in question termed "Black Magic," and likewise he will come back with a list of equally as many astute rabbis who decried "Practical Kabbalah." So why bother?

I thought the statement that Moses Cordovero was the teacher of Joseph Karo, and that the respondent assumed that accordingly "R' Karo learned what was forbidden from him," to be indeed most curious, since Cordovero himself freely shared techniques of the Kabbalah Ma'asit (Practical Kabbalah) genre in his Pardes Rimmonim (Garden of the Pomegranates). Joseph Karo was certainly not unfamiliar with the more "extreme aspects" of Kabbalah. After all, he diligently kept a diary, albeit a secret one, of his clairvoyant channelling of a Maggid, a heavenly spirit mentor, and he apparently left his mark in the local lore of Nicopolis, the town in which he grew up, where visitors are still shown Karo's Kan Gishmi (Fountain of Blood), a spot where it is said he "performed miracles." One wonders if the latter were of the "Practical Kabbalah" variety?

Regarding Moses Zacutto's warning "against the usage of what he has written," we know that he personally employed many of the magical techniques he listed so openly and enthusiastically in his Shorshei ha-Shemot (Roots of Names) and Sefer ha-Sodot she-Kibbalti mi Rabbotai (The Book of Secrets I Received from My Masters). In fact, in many instances he affirmed the efficacy of these procedures with the phrase "tested by me," and hence J.H. Chajes appears to be correct in his observation that Zacutto "assembled this magical material for practical and not merely theoretical purposes." It is also curious, as also noted by Chajes, that both Chaim Vital, of Lurianic fame, and his son Samuel did not hesitate to consult with Muslim magicians when they felt it necessary to do so!!