According to most histories of Metaphysics and the Occult, the Qabbala, (also spelled Cabala, Cabbala, or Kabbala***) is basically the "Mystery of Mysteries" and "Secret of Secrets", for all intents and purposes. Dating back to the earliest times of the Hebrew people and the faith of Judaism, the Qabbala is said to be the very Wisdom of Creation, spoken directly to the chosen of humankind by the Creator Himself.
In this sacred work, the grand design of the universe and all of reality is said to have been described. Herein was given a hierarchal list of all the various powers and entities making up Heaven and Earth. With this list of powers and the understanding of the relationships and connections between them, it was then possible to define a map, of sorts, of the design of the universe. This map alledged to show the pathways of power between the creator and the Earth, and the descriptions and functions of each. Thus there are basically two parts to Qabbala; One being the map itself, and the other the written definitions of all parts of that map. While this map is a part of the Qabbala, it is also called by a name of it's own: The Tree of Life.
If the neophyte were knowing of the paths and powers then his/her soul was then considered to be saved. Note that this was in the time of the ancient Hebrews; the people of Jewish descent and culture; well before Jesus Christ offered a different way to Salvation through His own Way.
The various books and collected scriptures, that existed before there ever was a Bible, were said to be the history of Gods work and His expectations of the species. Yet for the learned elite of this religious order, there was secret knowledge that was rarely, if ever, written down.
These ancient mages saw something in the world that others did not: That there was some sort of underlying order to all things, and a kind of language that seemed to exist for no other reason but to describe this hidden reality. It was seen as Gods hidden testimony to what had been done. A part of everything, and visible in all of creation. Something almost beyond description, but not quite. For those of the faith to believe, there was also the proof that was not ever given out to everyone.
It was a system of its own that seemed to be a part of everything in existence. Whatever might be taken apart and analysed contained the same things. There was a numerical basis combined with a geometrical basis. Both of which are to this day the keys of all science. A repeating pattern was seen and described. Ten powers: Faces of God and Goddess; Horns of the Beast; the Decimal system: Wherein each and every number of any size, infinitely large as a multiple of one, or infinitely small as less than one, could be reduced to a single digit of significance. Where modern science now sees Quantity as something different from Quality, once these were seen as one and the same: A quantity is in itself a quality. And so there were Ten.
Each was seen as a Circle. As everything was always moving in such a pattern, these ten became the highest powers. Not just circles, but also lines: Waves of varying frequencies that either harmonized with, or acted discordantly with others of different vibrations. These Ten were thus seen and known by their inclusion into everything real as sacred.
Beyond this, the second stage in the understanding of Qabbala was sought: A true original arrangement of these Ten. Since everything is, and always has been in constant motion, this was never easy. Wherever these Ten might be seen together, they might also appear in a different arrangement. And so these wise men and scholars took it upon themselves to define a simple form that they thought would explain everything.
If these Ten are placed in any arrangement, there will be lines that can be drawn between them. These are the Paths: The connections between the powers; the descriptions of the interactions of these powers with one and other. While a power was a single number. the path between was the combination of two of these powers - two numbers. And four mathematical powers controlled these. Between any two numbers might be the Sum, the Difference, the Multiple, and the Divisional. As an example: Between 1 and 5 would be 6, 4, 5, and .2 (or 1/5). In order to establish any sort of understanding of these relations, they had to first establish that original arrangement.
Nothing in reality is perfect anymore. In fact, it really seems it never could have been. Perfection can really only be unreal, or momentary at best in the real world. Logic dictates that anything created perfect will only go into decay when left to the ways of the real world. By the same logic; anything created inperfect that rises to perfection will only be able to achieve it momentarily.
Anyone studying reality will find this to be true. If it be a gleaming statue of silver - polished to a high sheen: If starting to polish at the foot, and rising to the crown; by the time the crown is finished the oxidation will have begun working on the foot to tarnish again. If it be a human being of seemingly perfect beauty - There are only a few moments in the life of that individual when everything is just right. For as they grow to reach that azimuth of perfection, so are they also beginning to fall away from it. The original arrangement of the Ten powers, is no different. If it was the original design of the Creators, it has since become something else since inception. If it was something it was to become, then perhaps it is not yet there, or has past that peak. Either way, perfection is just an idea, which exists only in an intangible realm.
But even as such, an ideal was conceived and described. What was set as the ideal, I believe was wrong from the beginning, but that is for you to decide. There was, and still is, a pattern set forth by these ancient mages as the way it was supposed to be. Many of the finest have taken this pattern, the Original Tree of Life, and tried to form a working idea of magickal art with it. And they have been lost with no real significant gains to their names.
They gave us a skeleton of what they said it was. Many believed for the rest was just too true to deny. If they saw as much as they did, we might enquire of these ancient Jewish masters, How could they not see it all? But then again I would remind you that what the old ones knew was never intended to be written. Certain things can be used for the wrong reasons if they are found without the rest of the necessary knowledge that should come with the knowing. Still, a system was established, and set before us in writing. We can involve ourselves fully in that, or seek more. With that, I continue the story of the Qabbala.
Each path and power had a particular vibration and character that defined it. The ancient wizards attempted then to describe what these unique characteristics were. The purpose of such knowledge was at first intended only as a means of reaching out beyond the self and beyond death to achieve unity with the Divine. Much study then was made towards this goal, and most of it only cryptically written.
These studies were the very beginnings of abstract scientific thought. For in so studying all of creation, there became categories for everything in existence. Every sound, color, and shape had a place. Every plant, tree, animal, fish, bird, and insect was related into one of these new categories. Every symbol, aroma, and sensation could be placed within this scheme of things. In fact, to the ancient Hebrews who discovered and devised this Qabbalic system: All of everything in Reality, from GOD the Creator to the lowest speck of Creation, had a place within the original 32 values established. 10 Spheres or powers, and the 22 paths between them.
We might wonder why this was deemed necessary, but we must remember these were religious scholars of scientific thinking. It is not so difficult to understand the idea of what they were doing, even by standards of today. Let us then rethink this philosophy from origin, based upon what we commonly accept as fact today from established occult traditions.
The first of these must be understood that the Human being possesses more than just a body with organs for perceiving and processing sensory data in order to survive. Though most of the rest of the material life-forms in this world may function at this level only, Human beings do not. Occult belief follows that the mind exists within the body. Some go so far as to say that the mind is a part of the Soul, and is intangible and immortal while the body is tangible and mortal in nature.
These thoughts and ideas themselves lend support to this concept. For what animal or plant thinks of, or is even capable of thinking of, things like this? Can all of the mind possibly reside within the organ known as the Brain?
And if it is intangible: That is; cannot be held, touched, observed clearly, or sensed really in any physical way; how can anything in reality destroy it ever? Certainly it can be influenced, but can it ever really be annihilated by any physical force?
And if intangiblility means it is immortal, then how can this be proven? Well, really it cannot, for again there is no way to know. we can only assume from the facts that such a supposition is true. One of these facts that can illustrate this is the power of Writing, which is expressed intangibility. Do not the words written out from the mind of a long ago dead author not exist still with the same power to influence and change minds as ever they had? While we may not be as impressed now as peoples of old were, the words and phrases and sentences have not changed as to what thoughts they can invoke. Then again, by writing things down is intangibility converted into tangible form. (This is why people often try to burn books to destroy the influx of thoughts they find disturbing.)
But let us then consider the power of simply a spoken word. If not recorded by some means, it remains truly intangible. Though sounds cannot be passed except through material media, (Media in this case meaning medium as in matter: Sound requires Air to move through. Without Air, which is matter, there is nothing to carry the vibration of the sound from the one speaking to the one that hears.) they are still at least partly intangible. How can this string of characters in the English language be any more than jumble if you didn't understand the language I am writing in? Likewise, to look at all this information as your computer sees it would mean absolutely nothing at all. Everything meaningless signals and waves and vibration whether spoken or written or converted into any form. It is only the intangible mind that can receive such things and process them into Ideas and thoughts. And if you never read this again, it has already changed who and what you are intangibly.
Do these things have anything to do with who or what you are as a material body? I think not. The message is the same no matter who you are or what you are or where you are so long as you understand the words I write. Anymore it doesn't even matter what language you might speak. If you are a little old white lady in Pasadena, or a young black man in New York City, you might understand it a bit differently as it applies to you in your own life and in your own reality of the world, but it is the same message.
For a wealth of information regarding
the earliest written documentation of the Qabbala, I highly recommend these sites:
Copyright 2001 by J.S.Graham