Kabbalah

Where does one even begin? Kabbalah has been marked down as one of if not the foundational Element of the Western Magical Tradition. It has also been marked down as a much maligned and misused Judaic Esoteric Tradition; a beautiful and vast tradition that was passed from master to student. Suffice to say, a lot of what passes for Modern Magic is inspired in some way by what is called Hermetic and/or Practical Kabbalah. In this episode of What Magic is This? Doug is joined by Tanin to share some insights as well as their individual takes on Kabbalah.

My Guest Tanin has been a constant support and enthusiast of WMiT? for quite some time. They have a Blog online about New England Witchcraft. Click the pic!

Show Notes

• Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem – Beyond a doubt, the greatest book about Kabbalah you can find. A bit scholarly but hang in there
• The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism by Daniel C. Matt – A fantastic primer if you are interested in Kabbalah. Recommended
• Kabbalah: The Mystic Quest in Judaism by David S. Ariel
• The Zohar: Pritzker Edition
• Zohar and Kabbalah – Daniel C. Matt
• Introduction to Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism – Esoterica – Dr. Sledge absolutely crushes this topic. Must Watch! All 14 of them!
• Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation: In Theory and Practice by Aryeh Kaplan – I wish there was a better translation than this but at this point I haven’t found one
• Notes on the Sefer Yetzirah in English – Don Karr
• The Heart of Jewish Meditation: Abraham Abulafia’s Path of the Divine Names – This is amazing! Please purchase a Copy if you dig it!
• Abraham Abulafia and the Doctrine of Prophetic Kabbalism by Gershom Scholem
• Jewish Magic and Superstition by Rabbi Joshua Trachtenberg – Well worth your consideration and reading
• The Devil and the Jews by Rabbi Joshua Trachtenberg
• Uncovering the Latin Polemical Tradition – Dan Attrell on Glitch Bottle Podcast – Highly Recommended listening
• Christian Kabbalah
• Knots & Spirals – Notes on the Emergence of Christian Cabala
• Who Was Rabbi Isaac Luria? – Great educational video
• Gershom Scholem & the Study of Mysticism
• Essential Papers on Kabbalah by Lawrence Fine
• Kabbalah: New Perspectives by Moshe Idel
• The Age of Secrecy: Jews, Christians, and the Economy of Secrets, 1400-1800 by Daniel Jütte – A Fantastic Book
• Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts – If you can find a copy of this, the manuscripts within it are stunning
• Along the Path: Studies in Kabbalistic Myth, Symbolism, and Hermeneutics by Elliot R. Wolfson
• Grimoires: A History of Magic Books by Owen Davies – Great book
• David Rankine is pretty much one of the only people I will listen to regarding Practical Kabbalah. He has a couple books which are worth checking out if interested – Practical Qabalah Magick as well as Sepher Yetzirah Magic and he recently appeared on Witchhassle Podcast to discuss the latter
• The Caretakers of the Cosmos: Living Responsibly in an Unfinished World by Gary Lachman – Time to see yourself as part of the Tikkun; the repair
• My Episode on Jewish Magic & Mysticism with Dr. Justin Sledge

Music in this Episode is The Synagogue Cantor (Chazzan)