Practical Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה מַעֲשִׂית ''Kabbalah Ma'asit'') in historical Judaism, is a branch of the
Jewish mystical tradition
Academic study of Jewish mysticism, especially since Gershom Scholem's ''Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism'' (1941), distinguishes between different forms of mysticism across different eras of Jewish history. Of these, Kabbalah, which emerged in 1 ...
that concerns the use of
magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
. It was considered permitted
white magic
White magic has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for selfless purposes. Practitioners of white magic have been given titles such as wise men or women, healers
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims t ...
by its practitioners, reserved for the elite, who could separate its spiritual source from
Qliphoth
In the Zohar, Lurianic Kabbalah and Hermetic Qabalah, the ''qliphoth/qlippoth/qlifot'' or ''kelipot'' ( ''qəlīpōṯ'', originally Aramaic: ''qəlīpīn'', plural of ''qəlīpā''; literally "peels", "shells", or "husks"), are the represent ...
realms of evil if performed under circumstances that were holy (
Q-D-Š) and pure, ''
tumah and taharah
In Jewish law, ''ṭumah'' (, ) and ''ṭaharah'' (, ) are the state of being ritually "impure" and "pure", respectively. The Hebrew noun ''ṭum'ah'', meaning "impurity", describes a state of ritual impurity. A person or object which contracts ' ...
'' (). The concern of overstepping Judaism's
strong prohibitions of impure magic ensured it remained a minor tradition in Jewish history. Its teachings include the use of
Divine
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine< ...](_blank)
and angelic names for
amulet
An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...
s and
incantation
An incantation, a spell, a charm, an enchantment or a bewitchery, is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremo ...
s.
[Elber, Mark. ''The Everything Kabbalah Book: Explore This Mystical Tradition--From Ancient Rituals to Modern Day Practices'', p. 137. Adams Media, 2006. ]
Practical Kabbalah is mentioned in historical texts, but most Kabbalists have taught that its use is forbidden. It is contrasted with the mainstream tradition in Kabbalah of ''Kabbalah Iyunit'' (contemplative Kabbalah), that seeks to explain the nature of God and the nature of existence through theological study and Jewish meditative techniques.
According to
Gershom Scholem
Gershom Scholem () (5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982), was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kaballah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish Myst ...
, many of the teachings of practical Kabbalah predate and are independent of the theoretical Kabbalah which is usually associated with the term:
History
Early practices
''
Halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
'' (Jewish religious law) forbids
divination
Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...
and other forms of soothsaying, and the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
lists many persistent yet condemned divining practices. The very frequency with which divination is mentioned is taken as an indication that it was widely practiced in the
folk religion
In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized re ...
of ancient Israel, and a limited number of forms of divination were generally accepted within all of Israelite society, the most common being
oneiromancy
Oneiromancy (from the , and ) is a form of divination based upon dreams, and also uses dreams to predict the future. Oneirogen plants may also be used to produce or enhance dream-like states of consciousness. Occasionally, the dreamer feels as if ...
(interpretation of dreams for prophetic meanings).
[Aune, David E. ''Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Ancient Mediterranean World'', p. 82. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1992. ] Other magical practices of Judaic folk religion which became part of practical Kabbalah date from Talmudic times and include the making of amulets and other folk remedies using the esoteric names of angels.
[
]
Merkabah mysticism
In Talmudic and Gaonic
''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of ...
times, rabbinic mysticism focused around exegesis of Ezekiel's vision of the divine Chariot-Throne, and meditative introspective ascent into the heavenly chambers. This elite practical mysticism, as described in the esoteric Hekhalot literature
The Hekhalot literature (sometimes transliterated Heichalot) from the Hebrew word for "Palaces", relating to visions of ascents into heavenly palaces. The genre overlaps with '' Merkabah'' or "Chariot" literature, concerning Ezekiel's chariot, so ...
, incorporated and merged into magical incantation elements. The Talmud and Midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
refer to this as "using the Divine Name" for theurgic
Theurgy (; ) describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more deities, especially with the goal of achieving henosis (uniting wi ...
-practical ascent, as in the story of the Ten Martyrs
The Ten Martyrs ( he, עֲשֶׂרֶת הָרוּגֵי מַלְכוּת ''ʿAsereṯ hāRūgēi Malḵūṯ'', "The Ten Royal Martyrs") were ten rabbis living during the era of the Mishnah who were martyred by the Roman Empire in the period after ...
who enquired in Heaven of the decree. In the Hekhalot literature, angels guarding each level are meditatively bound by formulae and seals to allow entry.
Medieval Hasidei Ashkenaz and the ''Sefer Yetzirah''
In the 13th century, one problem which intrigued the Ashkenazi Hasidim
The Hasidim of Ashkenaz ( he, חסידי אשכנז, trans. ''Khasidei Ashkenaz''; "German Pietists") were a Jewish mystical, ascetic movement in the German Rhineland during the 12th and 13th centuries.
Background
The leaders of the community o ...
(literally "the Pious of Germany") was the possibility of the creation of life through magical means. They used the word ''"golem
A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...
"'' (literally, shapeless or lifeless matter) to refer to an hypothetical homunculus
A homunculus ( , , ; "little person") is a representation of a small human being, originally depicted as small statues made out of clay. Popularized in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, it has historically referred to the ...
given life by means of the magical invocation
An invocation (from the Latin verb ''invocare'' "to call on, invoke, to give") may take the form of:
*Supplication, prayer or spell.
*A form of possession.
*Command or conjuration.
*Self-identification with certain spirits.
These forms are ...
of Divine names. This interest inspired an entire cycle of legend revolving around the ''golem'' which continued into the 18th century.[Trachtenberg, Joshua. ''Jewish Magic and Superstition'', pp. 84-86. New York: Behrman's Jewish Book House, 1939. Available online a]
/ref> The identification of the ancient ''Sefer Yetzirah
''Sefer Yetzirah'' ( ''Sēp̄er Yəṣīrā'', ''Book of Formation'', or ''Book of Creation'') is the title of a book on Jewish mysticism, although some early commentators treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory as opposed ...
'' concerning the creative force of the Hebrew letters as the means to create a golem was derived from interpretation of two statements in the Babylonian Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
, Tractate Sanhedrin
''Sanhedrin'' () is one of ten tractates of Seder Nezikin (a section of the Talmud that deals with damages, i.e. civil and criminal proceedings). It originally formed one tractate with Makkot, which also deals with criminal law. The Gemara of ...
. One relates that amora Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama ("Rava") created a person; in the second, two other Sages were studying "the laws of "creation" and created a "triple calf" that they ate for a celebration.
Medieval separation of Conceptual and Practical Kabbalah
The separation of the mystical
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
and magical elements of Kabbalah, dividing it into speculative theological Kabbalah (''Kabbalah Iyyunit'') with its meditative traditions, and theurgic practical Kabbalah (''Kabbalah Ma'asit''), had occurred by the beginning of the 14th century. Many traditional speculative Kabbalists disapproved of practical Kabbalah, including Abraham Abulafia
Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia ( he, אברהם בן שמואל אבולעפיה) was the founder of the school of "Prophetic Kabbalah". He was born in Zaragoza, Spain in 1240 and is assumed to have died sometime after 1291, following a stay on the ...
, who strongly condemned it.[ While the great majority of historical Kabbalistic involvement, writing and development concerns the theological Kabbalah, the majority of practical Kabbalaistic writings were never published.
One important tradition of practical Kabbalah thrived in Spain during the second half of the 15th century, before the ]Alhambra Decree
The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion; Spanish: ''Decreto de la Alhambra'', ''Edicto de Granada'') was an edict issued on 31 March 1492, by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ( Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Arag ...
. The main text of the tradition was called ''Sepher ha-Mashiv''. The practitioners of this tradition were described by Moshe Idel
Moshe Idel ( he, משה אידל; born January 19, 1947) is a Romanian-Israeli historian and philosopher of Jewish mysticism. He is Emeritus Max Cooper Professor in Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and a Senior Researcher at the ...
as "interested in demonology and the use of coercive incantations to summon demons, angels, and even God" in order to hasten the Messianic Age
In Abrahamic religions, the Messianic Age is the future period of time on Earth in which the messiah will reign and bring universal peace and brotherhood, without any evil. Many believe that there will be such an age; some refer to it as the consu ...
. Joseph Della Reina's (1418–1472) failure with his students in this, was considered a warning by later Kabbalists of the potential perils of involvement with Kabbalistic practice.
Ban of Safed Kabbalistic Renaissance
In the 16th century Isaac Luria
Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (mean ...
, who opposed ''Kabbalah Ma'asit'' and forbade his students from writing amulets and using other techniques of practical Kabbalah, evolved a form of exorcism which effectively transferred techniques from practical to speculative Kabbalah. While this led to the displacement of magical formulas and rites by contemplative exercises, the old forms of practical Kabbalah continued to exert broad appeal. Luria's position as the central teacher of modern Kabbalah, the foundation for later Hasidism
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
, gives his proscription authoritative force. He taught that in our generations, without the Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...
and its ashes of the Red Heifer to purify, the pursuit of the realm of practical Kabbalah by a person with an impure body is very detrimental.[What is Practical Kabbalah?](_blank)
from www.inner.org
Early modern Baalei Shem and other developments
The traditional role of the Baal Shem
A ''Baal Shem'' (Hebrew: בַּעַל שֵׁם, pl. ''Baalei Shem'') was a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and supposed miracle worker. Employing the names of God, angels, Satan and other spirits, ''Baalei Shem'' are claimed ...
healer involved accepted methods between borderline practical Kabbalah and meditative Kabbalah
Jewish meditation includes practices of settling the mind, introspection, visualization, emotional insight, contemplation of divine names, or concentration on philosophical, ethical or mystical ideas. Meditation may accompany unstructured, person ...
, such as amulets
An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...
and psychic
A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...
abilities.[Ginsburgh, Yitzchak]
Are Amulets Considered Practical Kabbalah?
from www.inner.org Among recorded figures from early-modern times were Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm
Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books o ...
(1550–1583) and the Baal Shem of London
Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk ( he, חיים שמואל יעקב דפאלק מרדיולה לנידו; 1708 – 17 April 1782), also known as the Baal Shem of London and Doctor Falckon, was a rabbi, '' baal shem'', and alchemist.
Biography
Falk was b ...
(1708–1782). Yisrael Baal Shem Tov
Israel ben Eliezer (1698 – 22 May 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ( he, בעל שם טוב, ) or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. "Besht" is the acronym for Baal Shem Tov, which ...
began his activity as a traditional Baal Shem, before founding Hasidism. While the association of the Maharal
Judah Loew ben Bezalel (; between 1512 and 1526 – 17 September 1609), also known as Rabbi Loew ( Löw, Loewe, Löwe or Levai), the Maharal of Prague (), or simply the Maharal (the Hebrew acronym of "''Moreinu ha-Rav Loew''", 'Our Teacher, Rabbi ...
of Prague (1520–1609) with the creation of a golem
A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...
only emerged in later times, contemporary tradition records Elijah Baal Shem as creating a golem. The Sabbatean
The Sabbateans (or Sabbatians) were a variety of Jewish followers, disciples, and believers in Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676),
a Sephardic Jewish rabbi and Kabbalist who was proclaimed to be the Jewish Messiah in 1666 by Nathan of Gaza.
Vast ...
mystical heresies of Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi (; August 1, 1626 – c. September 17, 1676), also spelled Shabbetai Ẓevi, Shabbeṯāy Ṣeḇī, Shabsai Tzvi, Sabbatai Zvi, and ''Sabetay Sevi'' in Turkish, was a Jewish mystic and ordained rabbi from Smyrna (now İzmir, Turk ...
(1626–1676) and Jacob Frank
Jacob Joseph Frank ( he, יעקב פרנק; pl, Jakub Józef Frank; born Jakub Lejbowicz; 1726 – December 10, 1791) was a Polish-Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi (1626 ...
(1726–1791) led to the 1750s accusation of Jonathan Eybeschütz
Rav Yonatan Eybeschütz (רבי יהונתן אייבשיץ) (also Eibeschutz or Eibeschitz; 1690 1764) was a Talmudist, Halachist, Kabbalist, holding positions as Dayan of Prague, and later as Rabbi of the "Three Communities": Altona, Hambur ...
by Jacob Emden
Jacob Emden, also known as Ya'avetz (June 4, 1697 April 19, 1776), was a leading German rabbi and talmudist who championed Orthodox Judaism in the face of the growing influence of the Sabbatean movement. He was acclaimed in all circles for his ...
of being a secret Sabbatean. It was chiefly based on the interpretation of some amulets prepared by Eybeschütz, in which Emden saw Sabbatean allusions. The leader of Mitnagdic
''Misnagdim'' (, "Opponents"; Sephardi pronunciation: ''Mitnagdim''; singular ''misnaged''/''mitnaged'') was a religious movement among the Jews of Eastern Europe which resisted the rise of Hasidism in the 18th and 19th centuries. The ''Misna ...
Lithuanian Judaism, the Kabbalist Vilna Gaon
Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( he , ר' אליהו בן שלמה זלמן ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman'') known as the Vilna Gaon (Yiddish: דער װילנער גאון ''Der Vilner Gaon'', pl, Gaon z Wilna, lt, Vilniaus Gaonas) or Elijah of ...
(1720–1797), related that in his youth he had attempted to make a golem, but stopped when he perceived a spirit of impurity involved.
Rabbi Aharon Yehuda of Chelm, a practitioner of practical Kabbalah, and baal shem, was said to have created a golem through use of the divine name.
Rabbi Yhitzak Ayhiz Halpern, a practitioner of practical Kabbalah, and baal shem, was said to have saved a ship from capsizing, and to have exorcised a dybbuk
In Jewish mythology, a (; yi, דיבוק, from the Hebrew verb meaning 'adhere' or 'cling') is a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished ...
.[The Besht: Magician, Mystic, and Leader, Immanuel Etkes, UPNE, 2012 - Biography & Autobiography, pg 26]
Rabbi Naftali Katz of Posnan was said to have brought a dead man back to life to free his wife from agunah.
Rabbi Hirsch Fraenkel was sentenced to imprisonment in Germany in 1713, on the basis of having a library of books said to contain examples of sorcery, such as how to use oaths, and amulets to overcome demons, see the future, and speak to the dead.
Divine intercession through Deveikut by the Hasidic Tzadik
In Hasidism
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
, the displacement of practical Kabbalah using directly magical means, by conceptual and meditative
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...
trends gained much further emphasis, while simultaneously instituting meditative theurgy
Theurgy (; ) describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more deities, especially with the goal of achieving henosis (uniting wi ...
for material blessings at the heart of its social mysticism. Hasidism internalised Kabbalah through the psychology of deveikut
Devekut, debekuth, deveikuth or deveikus ( Heb. דבקות; Mod. Heb. "dedication", traditionally "clinging on" to God) is a Jewish concept referring to closeness to God. It may refer to a deep, trance-like meditative state attained during Jewi ...
(cleaving to God), and cleaving to the Tzadik
Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...
(Hasidic Rebbe). In Hasidic doctrine, the tzaddik channels Divine spiritual and physical bounty to his followers by altering the Will of God (uncovering a deeper concealed Will) through his own deveikut and self-nullification. Dov Ber of Mezeritch
Dov Ber ben Avraham of Mezeritch ( yi, דֹּב בֶּער מִמֶּזְרִיטְשְׁ; died December 1772 OS), also known as the '' Maggid of Mezeritch'', was a disciple of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov), the founder of Hasidi ...
is concerned to distinguish this theory of the Tzadik's will altering and deciding the Divine Will, from directly magical process. This rendered the external methods of practical Kabbalah, its willed power over angels and lower spiritual forces, as unnecessary and a hindrance, though some Hasidic leaders retained use of traditional amulets at the borderline of practical Kabbalah.
This change was manifested in the personal life of Hasidism's founder, the Baal Shem Tov (1698–1760), in his move from Baal Shem
A ''Baal Shem'' (Hebrew: בַּעַל שֵׁם, pl. ''Baalei Shem'') was a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and supposed miracle worker. Employing the names of God, angels, Satan and other spirits, ''Baalei Shem'' are claimed ...
to the prototype of Hasidic leader. While a Baal Shem, he used amulets. At the end of his life, the Ba'al Shem Tov never wrote the Names of God, only his own name in amulets, Yisrael ben Sara or Yisrael ben Eliezer.[ A traditional story relates that on one early occasion the Baal Shem Tov resorted to practical Kabbalistic names of God, to cross a river and save his life. Afterward he regretted this, even though he had used it in holiness. He knew that his ]repentance
Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better.
In modern times, it is generally seen as involving a co ...
was accepted when later, he found himself again in a similar situation. This time he did not use practical Kabbalah to perform the miracle, but instead used faith to give him the miraculous supernatural power to cross the river. He then knew that his teshuvah was complete. Hasidic thought
Hasidic philosophy or Hasidism ( he, חסידות), alternatively transliterated as Hasidut or Chassidus, consists of the teachings of the Hasidic movement, which are the teachings of the Hasidic ''rebbes'', often in the form of commentary on th ...
teaches that its internalised mysticism enables the divine soul to affect the world through its essential connection to God, rather than Divine manifestations of Kabbalah.
Methods
Despite the prohibition against divination of the future, there is no prohibition against understanding the past nor coming to a greater understanding of present and future situations through inspiration gained by the Kabbalah (a subtle distinction and one often hard to delineate). The appeal to occult
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
power outside the monotheist deity for divination
Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...
purpose is unacceptable in Judaism, but at the same time it is held that the righteous have access to occult knowledge. Such knowledge can come through dream
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
s and incubation (inducing clairvoyant dreams), Metoposcopy
Metoposcopy is a form of divination in which the diviner predicts personality, character, and destiny, based on the pattern of lines on the subject's forehead. It was in use in the Classical era, and was widespread in the Middle Ages, reaching its ...
(reading faces, lines on the face, or auras emanating from the face), ''ibbur
Ibbur ( he, עיבור, "pregnancy" or " impregnation" or " incubation"), is one of the transmigration forms of the soul and has similarities with Gilgul neshamot. ''Ibbur'' is always good or positive, while dybbuk ( yi, ), is negative. ''Ibbur'' ...
im'' and '' maggidim'' (spirit possession), and/or various methods of scrying
Scrying, also known by various names such as "seeing" or "peeping", is the practice of looking into a suitable medium in the hope of detecting significant messages or visions. The objective might be personal guidance, prophecy, revelation, or in ...
.
The Midrash and Talmud are replete with the use of names of God and incantations that are claimed to effect supernatural or theurgic
Theurgy (; ) describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more deities, especially with the goal of achieving henosis (uniting wi ...
results. Most post-Talmudic rabbinical literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...
seeks to curb the use of any or most of these formulae, termed ''Kabbalah Ma'asit'' ("practical Kabbalah"). There are various arguments for this; one stated by the Medieval Rabbi Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin
Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin ( he, יעקב בן משה מולין) (c. 1365 – September 14, 1427) was a Talmudist and ''posek'' (authority on Jewish law) best known for his codification of the customs (''minhagim'') of the German Jews. He i ...
is that the person using it may lack the required grounding, and the ritual would be ineffective.
Yet the interest in these rituals of power continued largely unabated until recently. The Talmud mentions the use of charms for healing, and a wide range of magical cures were sanctioned by rabbis. It was ruled that any practice actually producing a cure was not to be considered superstitious and there has been the widespread practice of medicinal amulets, and folk remedies ''(segullot)'' in Jewish societies across time and geography.[Person, Hara E. ''The Mitzvah of Healing: An Anthology of Jewish Texts, Meditations, Essays, Personal Stories, and Rituals'', p.4-6. Union for Reform Judaism, 2003. ]
Image gallery
File:Inscription of Abraham son of Sarah from Mtskheta, Georgia. 4th-6th cc CE..JPG, Judeo-Aramaic inscription from gold plaque amulet, Georgia 4th-6th centuries CE
File:Kabbalistic texts 1701 JHM Amsterdam 08112012.jpg, '' Sefer Raziel'' edition printed Amsterdam 1701
File:Medieval amulet to protect mother and child. Wellcome M0008070.jpg, Amulet from ''Sefer Raziel HaMalakh
''Sefer Raziel HaMalakh'', (Hebrew:, "the book of Raziel the angel''"''), is a grimoire of Practical Kabbalah from the Middle Ages written primarily in Hebrew and Aramaic. ''Liber Razielis Archangeli'', its 13th-century Latin translation produc ...
''
File:Kaphtziel.jpg, 15th century Kabbalistic amulet of Cassiel
Cassiel ( he, קַצְפִּיאֵל ''Qaṣpīʾēl'', "God is my wrath"; also known as קַפְצִיאֵל ''Qap̄ṣīʾēl'', "God is my leap"; ar, كسفيائيل, '), is an angel appearing in extracanonical Jewish, Christian, and Islamic ...
File:Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia e2 359-0.jpg, Amulet for protection in childbirth
File:Exorcism prayer.jpg, 18th or 19th century exorcism text, Cairo Geniza
The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the ''genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo, ...
File:Falckon.jpg, Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk
Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk ( he, חיים שמואל יעקב דפאלק מרדיולה לנידו; 1708 – 17 April 1782), also known as the Baal Shem of London and Doctor Falckon, was a rabbi, ''baal shem'', and alchemist.
Biography
Falk was b ...
, Baal Shem
A ''Baal Shem'' (Hebrew: בַּעַל שֵׁם, pl. ''Baalei Shem'') was a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and supposed miracle worker. Employing the names of God, angels, Satan and other spirits, ''Baalei Shem'' are claimed ...
alchemist of London (1708–1782)
File:Löb Wormser Tafel III.jpg, Plaque to Seckel Löb Wormser, 1768–1847, a traditional late Baal Shem
A ''Baal Shem'' (Hebrew: בַּעַל שֵׁם, pl. ''Baalei Shem'') was a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and supposed miracle worker. Employing the names of God, angels, Satan and other spirits, ''Baalei Shem'' are claimed ...
in Germany
File:Kesavyismach1.jpg, Amulet of Divine Names, attributed to Hasidic
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
leader Moses Teitelbaum of Ujhel (1759–1841)
See also
* Angels in Judaism
In Judaism, angels ( he, ''mal’āḵ'', plural: ''mal’āḵīm'', literally "messenger") are supernatural beings that appear throughout the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), rabbinic literature, Jewish apocrypha, apocrypha and List of Old Testament p ...
* Jewish magical papyri
Jewish magical papyri are a subclass of papyri with specific Jewish magical uses, and which shed light on popular belief during the late Second Temple Period and after in Late Antiquity. A related category of contemporary evidence are Jewish magica ...
* Names of God in Judaism
Judaism considers some names of God so holy that, once written, they should not be erased: YHWH, Adonai, El ("God"), Elohim ("God," a plural noun), Shaddai ("Almighty"), and Tzevaot (" fHosts"); some also include Ehyeh ("I Will Be").This is th ...
* ''Sefer HaRazim
''Sefer HaRazim'' ( he, ספר הרזים; "Book of Secrets") is a Jewish magical text supposedly given to Noah by the angel Raziel, and passed down throughout Biblical history until it ended up in the possession of Solomon, for whom it was a gr ...
''
* Semitic neopaganism
* Witchcraft and divination in the Hebrew Bible
Various forms of witchcraft and divination are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament), generally (but not always) in a disapproving tone.
Prohibitions
Laws prohibiting various forms of witchcraft and divination can be found in t ...
* Jewish views on astrology
Notes
References
* Dan, Joseph. ''Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction''. Oxford University Press US, 2006.
* Faierstein, Morris M. (ed., trans.). ''Jewish Mystical Autobiographies: Book of Visions and Book of Secrets''. Paulist Press, 1999.
* Finkel, Avraham Yaakov. ''Sefer Chasidim: The Book of the Pious''. Jason Aronson, 1997.
* Mirecki, Paul & Meyer, Marvin W. (eds.). '' Magic and Ritual in the Ancient World''. Brill, 1995.
* Sherwin, Byron L. ''The Golem Legend: Origins and Implications''. University Press of America, 1985.
* Swart, Jacobus G. ''The Book of Sacred Names''. Sangreal Sodality Press, Johannesburg, 2011.
* Swart, Jacobus G. ''The Book of Seals & Amulets''. Sangreal Sodality Press, Johannesburg, 2014.
* Trachtenberg, Joshua. "The Folk Element in Judaism" in ''The Journal of Religion
''The Journal of Religion'' is an academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press founded in 1897 as ''The American Journal of Theology''. The journal "embraces all areas of theology ( biblical, historical, ethical, and constructive ...
'', Vol. 22, No. 2 (Apr., 1942), pp. 173–186. ISSN 0022-4189
External links
Practical Kabbalah
Learn Qabalah , Practical Qabalah
Kabbalistic Amulets Spiritual Protection , Traditional Kabbalistic Amulets
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