Theos-Talk Archives (March 1995 Message tl00140)

Alan, I just read your Kabbalah, Part I, and overall I think
its quite good.  I would like to start the ball rolling on a
discussion of Kabbalah (John said to just start right in) in
two related areas, the Klippoth and the Abyss.

1. Klippoth.

I have one question about your equation of Assiah = Klippoth
where you say "The last of the four Worlds is called Assiah,
the material world, also called Klippoth, or shells."  Do
you have a source for this?  The reason  ask is that the
O.T.O. and G.D. both describe Klippoth in a different and
more sinister vein.  The following quote is an example:

       "Qliphoth (Heb.): The plural form of '
       qlipha,' meaning 'an harlot' or 'strange
       woman'; terms which signify 'otherness.'
       The shadowy world of shells or reflections.
       Each 'sephira' of the Tree of Life has its
       corresponding 'qlipha.' which is the
       reflection of the energy which it represents,
       and these averse power-zones - or 'qlipoth' -
       form the Tree of Death."  (Kenneth Grant,
       NIGHTSIDE OF EDEN, in Glossary, pp 275-276.
       I have put Grant's italics in single quotes
       to keep this in ASCII)

Grant pictures the Qlippoth or Klippoth as being beneath the
physical plane, rather like the Avichi (the so-called "8th
Sphere") of theosophy.  Is this one of the areas of
difference that you mentioned you had with magic schools?  I
bring this up because Grant has built up an elaborate thesis
on the foundation of the Klippoth being sub-physical - i.e.,
his Tunnels of Set.  According to Grant, the doorway into
the Klippoth lies in Daath.  I have talked with people who
tell me that they have actually visited these tunnels.

2. Dqath.

You write, "...the link which arises between the Supernal
Sephiroth on the Tree of Life and those below them.  This
link is called Daath, Knowledge, sometimes considered for
convenience as another, "invisible" Sephira..."
I agree with you that Daath is not a Sephera per se.  In
fact, it has no connecting path on the Tree. However, it
does separate, so to speak, the upper three Sephiroth from
the lower seven, in that it is always said to be located in
the Abyss, and some would go so far as to equate Daath with
the Abyss itself.

You write that Daath is "the point of knowledge via which
hidden teachings are received" and I agree with you.  But
are you saying that it does *not* exist as a special region
of "inner space?"  The whole idea of Daath only makes sense
to me as a kind of Ring-Pass-Not for the human mind, and as
you say, as a link between the formless spiritual planes and
the formed material planes.  But I have no problem seeing it
as a subtle region which can actually be visited, and one
that must sooner or later be "crossed" or spanned.  In fact,
this idea is clearly spelled out in Enochian Magic, where
the Abyss is the 10th Aethyr, ZAX, an actual subtle region
that can be (and has been) visited, has denizens, and so on.

The idea of the Abyss containing "tunnels" to lower cosmic
planes seems a possibility, although your text suggests that
it is only associated with upward movement.  Have you ever
come across anything that repudiates or substantiates
Grant's hypothesis?

I am looking forward to Part 2.

             Jerry S.