kabbalahblog

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Introduction

The Hebrew word Kabbalah means "receive." Kabbalah as a mystical practice is about transforming ourselves into receptive vessels, vessels for receiving Divine wisdom in its varied forms... the "speaking silence," the "small still voice," the experience of union with the Divine Presence.

I was born and raised Jewish, then left the faith for many years, journeying through the landscape of other traditions. I finally returned to my religion of origin following the death of my mother when I began to explore the Judaic rituals for grieving the loss of a loved one. That year I entered into the depths of sorrow and the mysteries of Kabbalah. I began to receive information from an inner source that guided me in my sacred studies and through a process of psycho-spiritual healing. My practice has grown into an integral spirituality with mystical Judaism as my core tradition. The journey of striving to become a receptive vessel for Divine guidance has become the central goal in my life.

This is a journal of Kabbalah, a journal of receiving, a journal of my journey to receive. I do not know what will come next. I only know that I desire to be open to receive, and share what I receive in this KabbalahBlog, this ReceivingBlog...

Comments

Mark,

Thank you for sharing what you have received. I'm sure a great deal of good will come out of and into this vessel that you are creating online for the benefit of all.

Is there a simple meditation, perhaps related to breath, that someone can do before reading your KabbalahBlog in order to put them in the right frame of mind/soul/spirit?

-- Jordan

Jordan,

Thank you for receiving what I shared, for your kind words, and for your wonderful question, which I synchronistically received as I was finishing up my next entry and meditating on how to end it. I was sensing I was missing something and sought the guidance. I felt drawn to check out the KabbalahBlog entry I had already completed and there I found my answer in the form of your question. I followed the gift of your question and added a simple meditation at the end of the next entry (In Beginning) which can be used before reading my KabbalahBlog. And so the circle of receiving continues...

-- Mark

Posted by: markallankaplan

Hi Mark,

Thank you for taking on such a wonderful blog! I'm glad to see the kabbalah being represented here on enlightenment.com in assiah.

My question for you is thus:

I practice a form of the Qabalahistic (Kabbalahistic) cross, are you familiar with this practice? Thine Kingdom and the Power and the Glory Forever Amen. Could you provide for us here the phonetic pronounciations of Thine, Kingdom, Power, Glory, Forever, Amen? That would be really wonderful.

Also, if you have practiced/practice the cross could you give us a short description of some of the experiences you have had? I especially like to use the cross when driving, it seems to help creative a safty buffer around my vehicle.

Thank you again,
-gabriel

Posted by: Gabriel

Dear Gabriel,

Thank you for the warm welcome and the wonderful question about the Kabbalistic Cross, which is one of the traditional practices within the Golden Dawn school of the Hermetic Kabbalah tradition.* The Hebrew words and the phonetic pronunciations traditionally used in this practice are:

ATAH (pronounced 'ah-tah') = 'for thine'
MALKUT (pronounced 'mal-koot') = 'is the kingdom'
V' GEBURAH (pronounced v' geb-oo-rah') = 'the power'
V' GEDULAH (pronounced 'v' ged-oo-lah') = 'and the glory'
L' OLAM (pronounced l' oh-lahm') = 'for ever and ever'

I have not had a lot of personal experience with this practice because I am more personally drawn to the practices of the Judaic Kabbalah tradition, although I have received many wonderful gifts of understanding and inspiration from my studies within the Hermetic Kabbalah.

*I am using the term Hermetic Kabbalah to refer to the various schools of non-Judaic Kabbalah which blend elements from Judaic Kabbalah with other philosophical, mystical, and magical traditions; from this perspective, the Hermetic Kabbalistic tradition includes the Christian Kabbalah, and the Golden Dawn, Rosicrucian, Freemasonry and Theosophical schools of Kabbalah. (For a wonderful graphic representation of the history of the different Kabbalistic traditions check out Colin Lows chart at: http://altreligion.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fdigital-brilliance.com%2Fkab%2Findex.htm)

In gratitude,

Mark

Posted by: markallankaplan

Daniel Kottke sent me this reference, remembering my interest in Carlo Suares, whose "Cipher of Genesis" remains a classic key to unlocking the concealed multi-layered meanings the letters and hence phrases in Hebrew and across languages. A reading of
Beresheet..... to consider is that rosh, "head," and the prefix b' , indicating inclusion, containment - the letter beyt, a house or container, then indicates all that follows is "in your head," and all of creation is in the consciousness of each individual.

Posted by: Peter

Dear Peter,

Thank you for adding another dimension to our exploration of the first words of genesis (from the "In Beginning" entry of this KabbalahBlog). I was especially moved by your phrasing: "...all of creation is in the consciousness of each individual." Thank you also for the great reference to Carlo Suares' "Cipher of Genesis," which I also consider a wonderful key to unlocking the concealed multi-layered meanings of the sacred texts from the perspective of Hermetic Kabbalah.

Posted by: markallankaplan