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Experiencing the Cabalistic Tree of Life—A Multimedia Presentation (Item #1023)

This is truly an esoteric adventure in music, poetry and prose—an unusual and experiential way of presenting the heart of kabbalistic teaching, utilizing musical selections as both a background and a portrayal of the essence of the Holy Name, the Scriptural Roots of the teaching, the nature and different ramifications of the Sephirothal Tree as the teaching diagram of the Kabbalah,the four kabbalistic worlds, the 10 + 1 sephiroth as centers of consciousness, the significance of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet as force-carrying energy patterns which serve as the building blocks of the Cosmos, the unfoldment of consciousness both in the Holy Name and in the generation of the Tree as a lightning flash, and, finally, the Path of Return up the center column of balance and mildness—from crystallization in space/time in the physical world—to one's inner divinity. The presentation includes readings from the Sepher Yetzirah (Book of Formation) and the 32 Paths or Gates of Wisdom, with other descriptive commentaries.

8-1/2 x 11 inch format, elegantly comb-bound, 65 pp., 53 illustrations: 30 in color; with 72-minute CD–$19.50

The Cabala, more accurately spelled in the English transliteration Kabbalah or Qabbalah, is the mystical doctrine of Judaism. The word means literally “revealed,” so that the Kabbalah as a whole includes all the esoteric teachings—oral and written—which “reveal” the knowledge hidden within or implied by the exoteric Scriptures. All genuine expressions of the Universal Wisdom—and the Kabbalah is preeminently one of these—are uttered by individuals by means of direct intuitive perception, by extraordinary revelation, or more indirectly through inspiration from spiritual and divine sources originating in realms of higher consciousness. Such sources, particularly in ages past, have often been attributed to superhuman beings of life-waves more highly evolved than the present humanity—whether called “gods”, “angels”, “archangels”, “devas”, “ancient astronauts” or extraterrestrials from Sirius or the Pleides.

The Sepher Yetzirah (Book of Formation), the Sepher Ha Zohar (Book of Splendor) and the Bahir (Book of Illumination) are the main classical texts which comprise the formal Jewish Kabbalah. Some Christian Kabbalists consider the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse of St. John) as a Kabbalistic text. The essence of these texts must be considered ageless in historical terms. The oldest of these, the Sepher Yetzirah, has been declared by Kabbalists to have been written by Abraham, but more likely it originated in the 2nd Century A. D. from the pen of Rabbi Akiba. The origins of the other books are likewise indeterminate, the Zohar written possibly (as legend has it) as early as the 2nd Century A. D. by a disciple of Akiba (Simeon ben Jochai) but more likely it was compiled by Moses de Leon in A. D. 1305. The poetic readings in this presentation are taken from the Sepher Yetzirah and from the 32 Paths or Gates of Wisdom—a later addition to the former, as well as from Old Testament writings (Exodus Chapters 25 and 26).

The original teaching diagram, described exoterically in the instructions for building the Tabernacle in the Wilderness (Exodus 25: 31-40), was the seven-branched candelabra or Menorah—which incorporates the whole scheme of the 4 Kabbalistic Worlds, the 10+1 Sephiroth, and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. That the latter (as well as the other ancient alphabets, such as Sanskrit and Arabic, in their original free-flowing forms) are projections of a universal creative energy paradigm which manifests as the force-carrying parti-cles (bosons) of modern physics, is implied in the 22 bowl, knop and flower trinities in the candelabra—which describe the three aspects (active, resistive and reconciling) of the Universal Life-Force—as shown in the diagram on page 7. The Sephirothal Tree of Life—which is the main instrument of this presentation—is a more sophisticated representation of the teaching which appeared later in medieval and early Renaissance times.

Although popular interest in the Kabbalah centers upon profane magic and numerology, the emphasis in this presentation is placed upon the inner magic of spiritual alchemy which leads to true Self-realization or union with one’s inner divinity. The great esoteric teaching embodied in the Kabbalah, though expounded by a particular religious discipline, is of universal origin and applicability, is open to many interpretations, and belongs to the whole world.