New Kabbalah Student

Announce your presence, if you will.

Post Reply
DavenuBerg
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2015 6:43 pm

New Kabbalah Student

Post by DavenuBerg »

I really like how this forum combines multiple interests in occult things. I started getting really interested in Practical Kabbalah following a certain experience I had recently and I'm looking for places to read more about it and people who share this interest. I'm from Canada, by the way.

User avatar
Haelos
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 849
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 11:36 am

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by Haelos »

I would recommend using the search bar in the top right of the website, and simply searching for "Kabbalah."
There are a lot of good posts among the forums here, and a lot of common questions have been answered a few times. There should be several threads to start you off on the right track just within the first couple of pages of the search page.
.
.
.
"God is an imprecise name for the only thing in the universe that actually exists."
.
Tell me what you know about darkness, and I will tell you about the light.
.
.
Selected Contributions;
Planetary Associations of Common Intoxicants
The Mysteries of Death

https://hdagaz.wordpress.com/

User avatar
Frumens
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 486
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:01 am

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by Frumens »

Hi Davenu Berg. That's an interesting name. Might I ask what it means/where it comes from?
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔

User avatar
corvidus
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 438
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 10:09 pm

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by corvidus »

DavenuBerg wrote:I really like how this forum combines multiple interests in occult things. I started getting really interested in Practical Kabbalah following a certain experience I had recently and I'm looking for places to read more about it and people who share this interest. I'm from Canada, by the way.
Hello DavenuBerg,
I'm a bit of a Qabalist myself, but not much of a Kabbalist. What books have you read on the subject already?

Theoretical Qabalism defines the structure and qualities of Reality, and the practice thereof is the practice of altering this underlying structure through the adaptation of the qualities/characteristics which Reality presents in the present moment. It's a very interesting study, but can be weighty for the mind.

I recommend reading Eliphas Levi and Franz Bardon (specifically the True Key to the Kabbalah), as well as the classic Primary Kabbalistic Texts. They don't supply the details, but the majority of the theoretical structure is there and some meditation techniques to get you started.

:)
Free yourself from the seduction of words.

User avatar
Haelos
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 849
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 11:36 am

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by Haelos »

The spelling doesn't matter..
They are cultural language nuances, not specific denominations of branches. There is only One Kabbalah (this is just my preferred spelling, and means nothing when said next to Qabbalah, etc.)
.
.
.
"God is an imprecise name for the only thing in the universe that actually exists."
.
Tell me what you know about darkness, and I will tell you about the light.
.
.
Selected Contributions;
Planetary Associations of Common Intoxicants
The Mysteries of Death

https://hdagaz.wordpress.com/

User avatar
corvidus
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 438
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 10:09 pm

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by corvidus »

Haelos wrote:The spelling doesn't matter..
They are cultural language nuances, not specific denominations of branches. There is only One Kabbalah (this is just my preferred spelling, and means nothing when said next to Qabbalah, etc.)
I agree. There is only one Qabalah ;)
Free yourself from the seduction of words.

User avatar
Maya The Generator
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 382
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 9:26 am

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by Maya The Generator »

Hello [yay]
Illusion is the first of the pleasures.
The bomb of entropic chaos.
If some assholes levels a twelve gauge your way, you drain him, skin him and bash in his skull. Self-preservation is vital part of humanity after all. My favorite part, in fact
My mind is telling me NOOO but my BODY, MY BODY is telling me YEAS

DavenuBerg
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2015 6:43 pm

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by DavenuBerg »

Thank you everybody! I will try to answer all questions as best I can, although I have more questions than answers at the moment. I have only really read very general things, like articles by Kabbalist practitioners and scholars. Yes, there is only one Kabbalah, no matter how you spell it in English [gz] its spelling in Hebrew is one and the same, other languages adapt it as best they can to their own phonetic rules. The forum nick is a combination of a few things, one of them being my name and the other is a little twist that includes a bit of the name of the person who'd introduced me to the subject and to who I am grateful for it.

Being a religiously undecided (and leaning towards atheism) Jew myself, I never had much interest in Judaism other than a cultural and philosophical phenomenon, but over time my interest grew and after a certain event I decided to study the subject more closely, starting from Kabbalah. I don't know if it makes sense to anyone, but that's how it is :)

Thanks for the link, corvidus, this is a list I already perused. The thing is it's hard to know where to start (some texts are hard to grasp for a beginner and some are not very insightful). Don't worry about it though, I see this forum is full of useful information and I will just start from browsing through it and will ask questions if I am stuck with something.

Thanks again everybody!

User avatar
Haelos
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 849
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 11:36 am

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by Haelos »

If you want to learn about theoretical Kabbalah, this video series should be one of the only things you need.
Theory is the most important mart of Practice, so it's good to know and understand the things he tries to portray.
Understanding and practicing Kabbalah will push you off the path of Atheism, but don't let yourself be sucked into the dogma (especially in the latter videos of the series).

Learning the practical side can be done from many-an-author.

And of course, you can never rule out the traditional Jewish texts, Sefer Raziel and Yetzira, Zohar and Torah, among so many others. These are all very metaphoric and important to the over-all understanding of the system. I could devote a lot more time to trying to understand them.
.
.
.
"God is an imprecise name for the only thing in the universe that actually exists."
.
Tell me what you know about darkness, and I will tell you about the light.
.
.
Selected Contributions;
Planetary Associations of Common Intoxicants
The Mysteries of Death

https://hdagaz.wordpress.com/

User avatar
corvidus
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 438
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 10:09 pm

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by corvidus »

It can be difficult, yes. You should look into climbing through the 32 paths. It is the traditional approach I believe.

And for reading the texts, it will take many many re-reads before you start to understand them. I've read the Sephdr Yetzirah probably 100 times and it still elludes me.

Which part of the kabbalah interests you the most right now?
Free yourself from the seduction of words.

DavenuBerg
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2015 6:43 pm

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by DavenuBerg »

Thanks again for the replies! I cannot say any specific part of Kabbalah interests me specifically. As you said, some texts need to be read and re-read many times over before you comprehend them. Again, I am reading a lot of articles on the subject (when time allows) and haven't tackled any Kabbalistic texts yet. I know full well this will require some preparation, as it is no bedtime reading.

Thanks for the video, Haleos. I am watching it now and it is definitely very curious! I am already a questioning atheist, and looking for something I can understand. I know the Torah (read it in Hebrew, as I know the language) but it didn't go through then. Recently I had an encounter with a practical Kabbalah practitioner, saw what Kabblalah can do and have had to admit that I was very likely missing something here.

Thanks for the warm welcome, I will stick to reading and following articles and discussions and see what I can glean from them. With any luck, I will be able to approach a Kabbalistic text soon.

DavenuBerg
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2015 6:43 pm

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by DavenuBerg »

Haleos, I am viewing this video series and it is very interesting. It is not too heavy, so I am taking my time internalizing this. One thing I am not sure I understand however, is that he refers to amulets and practical Kabbalah as something that is not a part of Kabbalah. I was sure they were two aspects of the same school of knowledge. In fact, what brought me to get interested in Kabbalah in the first place is the help I got from a Practical Kabbalah scholar and practitioner (Gersh Nubirg). That was what got me curious about the field to begin with, and made me set aside my skepticism with regards to religion and Kabbalah. Do you know anything about this?

User avatar
Haelos
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 849
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 11:36 am

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by Haelos »

DavenuBerg wrote:Haleos, I am viewing this video series and it is very interesting. It is not too heavy, so I am taking my time internalizing this. One thing I am not sure I understand however, is that he refers to amulets and practical Kabbalah as something that is not a part of Kabbalah. I was sure they were two aspects of the same school of knowledge. In fact, what brought me to get interested in Kabbalah in the first place is the help I got from a Practical Kabbalah scholar and practitioner (Gersh Nubirg). That was what got me curious about the field to begin with, and made me set aside my skepticism with regards to religion and Kabbalah. Do you know anything about this?
This video series is more from the Jewish perspective of things, and if I understand properly. they've always been more about servitude to God rather than serving to fellow man. They generally look down on those who call Kabbalah "mysticism," and frown on the practice of using it for earthy gains, such as with talismans, and the like.
This by no means should dissuade you from the practice. As I said, this is a series on the theory, with little practical benefit (even though he claims it is all practical.) This is only one story of such a larger system. Find some other speakers on the subject if it continues to peak your interest.
.
.
.
"God is an imprecise name for the only thing in the universe that actually exists."
.
Tell me what you know about darkness, and I will tell you about the light.
.
.
Selected Contributions;
Planetary Associations of Common Intoxicants
The Mysteries of Death

https://hdagaz.wordpress.com/

User avatar
insomni4c
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 98
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 6:25 pm

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by insomni4c »

Welcome to the forum!

Kind of stealing this thread a little here lol, but I have to point something out.
The spelling doesn't matter..
They are cultural language nuances, not specific denominations of branches. There is only One Kabbalah (this is just my preferred spelling, and means nothing when said next to Qabbalah, etc.)
I would argue that the spelling does indeed matter. It lets people know what form you are referring to. Jewish Kabbalah, Christian Cabalah, and Hermetic Qabalah are all similar in structure, but very different at the same time.

The paths on the tree of life are arranged slightly differently in the Hermetic Qabalah:

Image

Than in say, Jewish Kabbalah:

Image

Jewish Kabbalah is generally more applicable as a moral system, or as a way to study more in depth Judaism in particular. It's very looked down upon to use it for magic within it's cultural context, and it's also considered to be a closed practice. As in it is a bit disrespectful for gentiles to practice the Kabbalah. It's a strictly Jewish form of mysticism. Not saying that I don't think you can study it if you want, but that's the general perspective.

Christian Cabalah on the other hand was created by Kabbalists that had converted to Christianity and wanted to apply their practice to their new religion. It's of the same character as Jewish Kabbalah, but focused on specifically Christian mysteries.

Hermetic Qabalah was created as a syncretic system in the vein of hermeticism (which by it's very nature is syncretic), combining the ideas from both Jewish and Christian (K)Cab(b)alah, with correspondences from many other religions and mystic traditions. It's engineered for the hermeticist or the magician, and - while purely theoretical Qabalah is a thing - is focused a lot more on practical use and ceremonial magic, which would have been a big no no in either of the two other forms. Even though it is different from some of the other forms, an understanding of the other two can definitely be of use to the student of Qabalah, given it's syncretic nature.

DavenuBerg
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2015 6:43 pm

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by DavenuBerg »

Thank you, Insomni4c! This is interesting, though I still feel that while the branches do differ in meaning, the use of K, Q and C in the word are more than a bit arbitrary :)

Still, it is good to know there are differences in the teachings!

Haleos, this is pretty much as I thought. I can also add that the core teaching and practices of Judaism do contain elements that are pretty much the same as Kabbalistic talismans - the tefillin and the mezuzzah. The tefillin is worn in a daily ritual on the head and forearm, and the mezuzzah is placed on the door frame, creating a ward of sorts against negative energy and evil. They are effectively the same thing as cameos or talismans - objects that have sacred texts and symbols scribed into them (either physically or on inserted scrolls. This process is described here: http://gershnubirg.com/how-amulets-work/process/ ).

This contradiction is what confounded me in the video, but well, sometimes it's just hard to understand the fine lines, and there are always different schools of Kabbalah and Judaism that hold to different beliefs on certain topics. I'll ask Gersh if he can help me understand this, if he has time. By the way, he is the person who'd helped me gain new faith and got me looking for answers in this field. It became pretty obvious to me that procuring his (or similar) assistance was one way, but I can also try to help myself through education and training.

User avatar
insomni4c
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 98
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 6:25 pm

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by insomni4c »

Thank you, Insomni4c! This is interesting, though I still feel that while the branches do differ in meaning, the use of K, Q and C in the word are more than a bit arbitrary :)

Still, it is good to know there are differences in the teachings!
No problem haha. The differences between the different branches were a source of confusion for me when I first started studying the Qabalah, so I thought it would be good information. I usually mind my spelling, just because I think it makes it easier for other's to tell what context I am coming from. It's probably not that big of a deal, just tends to make things easier haha.

User avatar
Nahemah
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 5077
Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2009 9:49 pm
Location: Sunny Glasgow by the Clutha's side

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by Nahemah »

Hello and welcome to the forum. [cool]
"He lived his words, spoke his own actions and his story and the story of the world ran parallel."

Sartre speaking of Che Guevara.

User avatar
Vovi
Forum Member
Forum Member
Posts: 50
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:02 pm

Re: New Kabbalah Student

Post by Vovi »

QBL- "To receive". We do or we do not. All things written are not true QBL so spelling is as irrelevant as words are. [wink]

Post Reply

Return to “Introductions”