The
Kabbalah
The Kabbalah is the
science of letters, of language and the Word — not, however, the language of
the intellectual, but (mind you) the universal language. The term Kabbalah
is of Hebrew origin; the various religious systems have different terms for
this science. Thus, for instance, in India and Tibet the science of the Word
is called Tantra. And again in other religious systems they speak of
“formulas” and so on.
In my
present work I [Franz Bardon] will retain the term Kabbalah. To speak Kabbalistically is to
form words from letters — words analogous to this or that idea according to
the universal laws. Knowledge of the use of Kabbalistic language must be
gained through practical experience. Kabbalah, therefore, is the universal
language by which everything was created; it is the embodiment of one or
several divine ideas. God created everything by means of the universal
language of Kabbalah. John the Evangelist also refers to Kabbalah in the
Bible when he says, “In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with
God.” Thereby John clearly expresses the truth that God made use of the
Word in order to create out of Himself.
Only he
who is actually in a position to materialize the divinity within himself in
accordance with the universal laws in such a way that he will speak, out of
himself, as a deity, may be regarded as a true Kabbalist. The practicing
Kabbalist, therefore, is a theurgist, a “god-man,” capable of applying the
universal laws in the same way as the macrocosmic God.
Just
like the magician who, through the initiation he receives and the
development he endures upon the path of perfection, has realized the
connection with his inner deity and can now act accordingly, so does the
Kabbalist as well, the only difference being that the Kabbalist makes use of
the Divine Word externally as an expression of his divine spirit. Every true
magician who has control of the universal laws can become a Kabbalist by
acquiring knowledge of the practical Kabbalah. The structures of the
Kabbalah cited in numerous books are quite suitable for the theorist who
wants to get an idea of the lawfulness of the Kabbalah, but they are
thoroughly insufficient as regards that practice which promises knowledge of
the correct application of the powers of the Word.
Thus it
is clear that a perfect Kabbalist must be a person connected with God, a
person who has realized God within himself and who, being a god-man, makes
use of the universal language whereby whatever he utters immediately
becomes a reality. To whatever sphere he directs this language, there shall
his utterance be realized. In India, for instance, a person who immediately
realizes every spoken word is called a vag. In Kundalini Yoga this power and
ability is identified with the Visuddha Chakra. A perfect Kabbalist knows
everything concerning the lawfulness of the micro- and macrocosmic Word —
by which the law of creation through the Word is to be understood — and he
also knows what true harmony represents. Since, with his microcosmic
language, he is representing the deity, a true Kabbalist will never violate
the laws of harmony. If he acts contrary to the laws of harmony, he is no
longer a true Kabbalist but a man of chaos. From the Hermetic point of view,
a Kabbalist or theurgist is, in his own body, a representative of the
macrocosmic deity on our earth. Whatever he, as God’s representative,
speaks in the original language will occur, for he has the same power as the
creator, as God.
To
achieve this maturity and pinnacle of Kabbalistic initiation the theurgist
must first learn his letters like a child. In order to form words and
sentences with them and, in time, to speak in the cosmic language, he must
have a complete command of them. The methodology involved in this learning
is dealt with in the practical part of this book.
Anyone,
no matter which religious system he may adhere to, can occupy himself with
the true Kabbalah, theoretically as well as practically. The Kabbalistic
science is not a privilege of those who profess the Jewish faith. Hebrew
scholars affirm that the Kabbalah is of Jewish origin, but in the Jewish
mystical tradition itself the knowledge of the Kabbalah is said to be of
ancient Egyptian origin. The history of the Hebrew Kabbalah, its beginnings
and development, etc., may be found in the relevant literature on the
subject, for much has already been written in this field.
In my
book, I [Franz Bardon] explain the synthesis of Kabbalah only so far as is absolutely
necessary for the practice. I refrain from the unnecessary burden of
history and other structural interpretations of Kabbalistic philosophy.
The term
Kabbalah has often been abused by degrading it to a game of numbers,
horoscopic assessments, name analogies and various other mantic devices. As
the reader will learn from the practical part of this book, numbers do have
a certain relationship to letters, although this is one of the lowest
aspects of the Kabbalah, and one which we do not wish to deal with here.
True Kabbalah is not a mantic science which makes fortune-telling possible,
nor is it a form of astrology which facilitates the interpretation of
horoscopes, nor is it an anagram, the construed names of which make
prognosis possible.
Man as
Kabbalist
In my first book,
Initiation into Hermetics, I [Franz Bardon] divided man into three regions — body, soul and
spirit. Also, I discussed the concept of the “tetrapolar magnet.” Upon
meditation, it will be clear to the student that the mental body is
connected to the astral body by the mental matrix, and that the astral
matrix keeps the mental and astral bodies together with the material body.
It will also become clear that the physical body is kept alive by food (the
condensed substance of the elements), while the astral body is sustained
by breathing. The mental matrix links sense perception to the material and
astral bodies. The aspiring Kabbalist must understand these concepts
thoroughly and, if he seriously wishes to study the Kabbalah, must be able
to gain a clear picture of these processes in his own body. Apart from this
fundamental doctrine, the Kabbalist must acquire a deeper relationship with
his own self, for these deeper relations form the actual basis for the study
of the Kabbalah.
The
activities and effects between body, soul and spirit come to pass
automatically within every human being, whether or not he has been initiated
into the secrets of Hermetic science. For the Kabbalist these activities and
effects constitute the basics: he understands all the processes and is
therefore able to arrange his life in accordance with the universal laws....
