A very, very basic overview of Kabbalah.
A ten minute primer. ...Kaballah 101.
Please ignore the bad publicity of Madonna, and her red wrist string nonsense -- this is an intelligent and elaborate philosophical system.
"The Tree of Life" poster I show is published and available from B.O.T.A., "Builders of the Adytum."
(Info below.)
Steve's Kabbalah Reading List:
"The Mystical Qabalah" by Dion Fortune. The classic book on the subject that everyone tells you to read. Very dense, so it's not the best introduction to the subject, but full of info. Available in paperback in a revised edition by Weiser Books.
"Qabalistic Concepts: Living the Tree" by William G. Gray. Very intelligent, detailed, covering many areas. More accessible than Dion Fortune. Published by Samuel Weiser, Inc.
"Qabalah: A Magical Primer" by John Bonner. A scholarly study, with more of an emphasis on contemporary Western Magick, and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Weiser Books.
"The Kabbalah Tree: A Journey of Balance & Growth" by Rachel Pollack. The author is a major authority on Tarot, and gives fascinating insights. The trade paperback includes a Tree of Life poster by Hermann Haindl, who has designed his own Tarot deck. The poster is very "organic," with animals and subtle imagery -- a great alternative to the standard graphical depictions. Llewellyn Publications, 2004.
"The Fool's Pilgrimage: Kabbalistic Meditations on the Tarot" by Stephan A. Hoeller. The twenty-two paths on the Tree of Life correspond to the twenty-two Major Arcana cards of the Tarot. The slim book has a very informative introduction and overview, and also comes with a CD of Mr. Hoeller reading the meditations for each path. Quest Books, Theosophical Publishing House.
Mr. Hoeller is a leading Gnostic scholar, his Gnostic Society is located in the Los Angeles area. Their website:
http://gnosis.org/gnostsoc/gnostsoc.htm
Some of his best lectures on Kabbalah, and related Western Hermetic traditions, are available at:
http://www.bcrecordings.net/store/
"The Complete Guide to the Kabbalah" by Will Parfitt. Subtitled, "How to apply the ancient mysteries of the Kabbalah to your everyday life." Great insights, with some charts, and suggestions for meditations. Published by Rider.
"The Practical Kabbalah Guidebook" by C.J.M. Hopking. A great overview/introduction, with many illustrations. Has visualization exercises. Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York.
"God Is a Verb: The Practice of Mystical Judaism" by Rabbi David A. Cooper. An accessible study of Kabbalah from a more Judaic perspective. Riverhead Books, New York.
B. O. T. A., "Builders of the Adytum,"
Adytum is "a sacred place," a metaphor for the soul. The organization was founded in 1922 by Paul Foster Case, to teach the Western Mystery Tradition. They have well-respected correspondence courses in Qabalah, Tarot, Alchemy, and so on.
B.O.T.A., 5101 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042. Web site:
http://www.bota.org/
Email: botahq@aol.com (800) 255-0041.
They also have books and audio tapes for sale via mail order. And they have the best Tree of Life poster I've come across -- it's the large poster I used.
"Promethea" by Alan Moore & J.H. Williams, III. Comic book series originally published in 1999 thru 2004.
In issues 13 to 23 Promethea goes on a Kabbalah "Road Trip" through all ten Sephiroth. Each Sephirah is illustrated by a different style of art, like Van Gogh or Dali or MC Escher, while the characters discuss the meanings and symbolism contained therein. Available in collected editions as graphic novels in paperback & hardcover, in most book stores; the individual issues of comics, are available at most comic shops. Published by America's Best Comics, a division of Wildstorm, a division of DC Comics. DC website:
http://www.dccomics.com/
StevenErnest's MySpace blog...
http://blog.myspace.com/realmyth
OTHER CREDITS:
One illustration used for "the creativity of art and the imagination," at 09:18, is by Snowfeet. It is titled, "This Painting Has No Name." I hope she doesn't mind.
Her channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/snowfeet
The opening music excerpt:
From "The Animatrix" Soundtrack.
The band: Juno Reactor
The song: "Conga Fury" (Animatrix Mix)
The music excerpt used for the
"Ain to Ain Soph Aur" montage is:
Artist: Deodato
Album: Prelude
Song: "Also Sprach Zarathustra"
Original/classical version by
Richard Strauss. This is a cool, jazzy-pop cover of that famous theme to "2001: A Space Odyssey." Released 1972, and actually 9 minutes long.
Some other brief clips of art -- random images I found on the internet -- still need to be identified -- I want to give everyone full due credit.
The various creator's retain full ownership of, and rights to, their work. And no endorsement of my ideas is, or should be, implied or inferred.
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10:04
Secrets of Kabbalah part 2by TheosEra68,984 views
I have four questions 1- what is the relation between kabbala and the two angels in babilion (Harut and Marut)?
2- Why Prohpet Soloymone buried the books of magic or (Kabbala) under his throne?
3- Why angel Gibriel refused to kill the king of Babilion?
4- how did the old jews made most of the Taurat as codes?
nabil12345100 1 month ago
@nabil12345100 I haven't a clue, this is beyond my level of expertise. Perhaps someone else can provide your answers.
StevenErnest 1 month ago
@StevenErnest Well. First let me thank you very much for the simple way of this intro which means you paid a big effort to make that simple. i also would like to express my respect to you and your honesty admitting that you donot know the answers of my questions. LOL Sorry but actually there is a source of information for those questions and much more than such issues if you also want to know more about judiasim in general the only complete source is the Holly Quraan, try it you'll lose nothing.
nabil12345100 1 month ago
@nabil12345100 If you look at my reading list in the info area, you'll see I'm mainly interested in the Hermetic tradition of Kabbalah.
Re, "...about judiasim (sic) in general the only complete source is the Holly Quraan,"
Oh, not the Torah or Talmud?
I accept no one system of religion as having all the answers, as none do. They each have a piece of the puzzle. Existentialism, modern science, and the evolving new myths have much to teach us. "Try it, you'll lose nothing." ^_^
StevenErnest 1 month ago
@StevenErnest the Torah and Talmud those are holy books but are positive that they are still the same as they were at the old ages. I agree with you when you said They each have a piece of the puzzle, so don't you agree that always the last piece is the biggest and clearest one of the picture? and actually I don't agree with you that myths can be a source of information but they can be stories to tell for a child to go to sleep.Once again thank you very much .
nabil12345100 4 weeks ago
@nabil12345100 Actually there is no "last piece of the puzzle." If you think you've found it, you are fooling yourself. There is always more to learn; life is a mystery.
You have the common misunderstanding of myths -- they are metaphors or models -- ways to understand higher truths that sometimes cannot be spoken with words. You might want to read some Joseph Campbell, he is very accessible, and will steer you in the right direction to understand the positive use of myths.
StevenErnest 3 weeks ago