C. Mystical Qabalah and Practical/Hermetic
Qabalah
The Qabalah is traditionally traced back to Adam and Eve. It has been maintained
in its purest forms by unbroken lineages of known and mostly unknown masters,
saints, and prophets over thousands of years. The practices of the Mystical
Qabalah, passed down from teacher to student, generally involve a variety
of yogic disciplines that are rooted in scriptural revelations and primary
texts. The highest intentions and experiences of the Mystical Qabalah correlate
with those of all other mystical traditions. At the same time, and without
contradiction, each mystical tradition has its own unique totality archetypes,
scriptures, Messiahs and great souls, and styles of observances.
The disciplines of the Mystical Qabalah are distinct from those practiced
by magicians, wizards, and sorcerers who seek to acquire creative and/or
destructive power, depending on what paths they traverse on the Tree of
Life. The occult disciplines of wizards and magicians are often called the
Practical, Hermetic, or Magical Qabalah. Practical Qabalah has its ancient
roots in the "Thirteen Enochian Keys" of Enoch son of Qain, along
with a highly eclectic admixture of material taken from Egyptian, Mesopotamian,
and other non-Hebrew sources. It is important not to confuse Enoch son of
Qain with Enoch son of Yared. The former Enoch was the grandson of Adam
and the son after whom Qain was said to name a city.Torah B’reshith 4:17. Enoch son of Yared
was the great, great, great, great grandson of Adam, and the one who "walked
with Elohim" and was transformed into Metatron.The ascension and transformation of Enoch ben Yared is
vaguely alluded to in Torah B’reshith 5:24, and related in
detail in I Enoch, the first of the two remaining books of
Enochian literature traced to the reign of Sheba in Ethiopia. I
Enoch was translated by R.H. Charles in the late nineteenth
century. In the Qur’an, Metatron is referred to as Al Khidr. The "Thirteen
Enochian Keys" of Enoch son of Qain are reflected in such works as
The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, the Greater
and Lesser Keys of Solomon, and medieval grimoires such as the Armadel,
Goetia/Lemegeton, etc.S.L. MacGregor Mathers translated The Sacred Magic of
Abramelin the Mage, the Greater and Lesser Keys of
Solomon, and the Grimoire of Armadel. These books were
drawn upon by both the Golden Dawn and Ordo Templis
Orientis for some of their rituals and experiments. Aleister
Crowley incorporated material from them in his writings as
well. Mathers also brought attention to the Sifra Detzniyutha
and the Idra Rabba with his English translation of Knorr
Von Rosenroth’s Latin translation of those texts. The primary text of the Mystical Qabalah that
appears to occupy a central place of importance in the Hermetic Qabalah
is the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation). However,
from what is written in many of the books of Hermetic Qabalah, it is apparent
that the structure of the Tree of Life, nature of the Inner Court, and function
of the letter-gates as explicated by the Sefer Yetzirah are
widely misunderstood.
The two most prominent contemporary schools of Practical or Hermetic Qabalah
are the Golden Dawn and the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), which still exist
and continue to attract followers today. The Golden Dawn was founded in
the late nineteenth century in the heyday of the Victorian Period. The document
reputed to be at the foundation of the Golden Dawn system was the Cypher
Manuscript attributed to Fraulein Sprengel. The Sacred Magic of Abramelin
the Mage was also an important document for the Golden Dawn and a significant
influence on the controversial Aleister Crowley, who broke with the Golden
Dawn and formed the Order Templis Orientis. The O.T.O was founded primarily
upon works of sexual mysteries and Masonic Charters, and incorporated the
Abramelin material at a later date. Until very recently, almost all books
in English on the subject of the Qabalah, regardless of their title or professed
subject, could be traced to members of these orders or to orders that evolved
from them. While these two orders (and their respective leading lights-MacGregor
Mathers and Aleister Crowley) gained the most notoriety and "product
packaging" among recent Practical Qabalists, more powerful Magical
Qabalists do exist and have existed unknown to the world at large.
