Theos-Talk Archives (March 1995 Message tl00164)

Reply to Jerry S.

No apologies needed or expected!

I was at one time very familiar with the [published] GD material,
and have since seen some of the unpublished bits and pieces -
nothing exciting, plus a little correspondence between Regardie
and a local colleague.  Even had the original 4 vol.  set of
Regardie's "Golden Dawn" once.

My interpretation of Klippoth and Abyss is my own, based upon
experience.  Having said that, I have to go on and say that the
Abyss is a subjective inner area which has no objective reality -
unless you want to describe the grave as such! Only having seen
my Part One, which addresses only the Kabbalah which most people
are likely to come across when meeting it for the first time, you
will appreciate that I have tried to talk in a manner suitable
for those who may have read [say] some Dion Fortune and similar
material.

Mathers' "Kabbalah Unveiled" (intro thereto) is almost a direct
`steal' from the 'Hasidic position described in their _Tanya_ (In
an appendix).  Maybe that's where he got it - who can say, this
long after? Some of the more recent OTO stuff, or that claiming
to be, is now on a CD-ROM called 2000 Greater and Lesser
Mysteries issued in the UK by PDSL [shareware].  I am
unimpressed.

So, although I discuss the Abyss and Klippoth in Part One, then
unless you want to consider a further "lower" world below Assiah
relating to the animal realm [and maybe two more below again for
Veg and mineral] then Klippoth means `shells' and only shells.
Whoever made a harlot association can only have done so because
they wanted one.  Kabbalah is based upon Hebrew and Israelite
traditions, which would regard such associations as nonsense, as
I do.  Some while back I had a kind of Kabbalist "Apostolic
Succession" list from Warren Kenton (Halevi) in which he placed
the Rabban Gamaliel firmly in the picture circa 32 c.e.  [common
era - modern scholarship for e.v.  :-)].  This is the same guy at
whose feet the apostle Paul sat, as he tells us himself.  Take it
from there, and there is a lot of Kabbalah hints in 1
Corinthians.  _This_ thread really runs in and through and around
and in and out of so many places!

Insofar as I said that Israelite `Creation' theory ends with the
lowest world (Assiah) then my remarks above concerning animal,
veg and mineral worlds would have to be included in it, as they
are _material_ worlds, as is Assiah.

To understand what I have to say it is necessary to go to two
Kabbalist sources, both from the Hebrew tradition, and originally
Hebrew documents:

1.  Sepher Yetzirah; 2.  32 Paths of Wisdom.

Join 'em up upon their own definition that there are "ten
Sephiroth and not nine, ten and not eleven," and you should
eventually arrive more or less at the same position as I have.
In fact I recently published [privately] a paper showing how
these two connect.  As a by-product, it contains illustrations of
the system as they seem to have been applied - very accurately -
in all of the medieval abbey and cathedral churches so far looked
at in Britain, as also in the Temple at Luxor, Egypt.

If you have access to Halevi's work where you are, you will find
a similar approach to mine, best expressed in his "Way of
Kabbalah." More recent work of his seems to be purely commercial,
and serious Brit Kabbalists will have none of it - including his
first teacher, who is a very old friend of mine.  (Inflates ego
for the benefit of the net with a bit of no-name dropping).

The research I have done over many years breaks `new' ground in
the area of Kabbalist studies, and for this reason has to be
self-published.  Samuel Weiser could have had it in 1977, but
turned it down, as did other publishers.  The reason is simple
enough - it isn't "sensational" enough, does not involve any kind
of "Magi[c]k" or dressing up in weird gear to play "Knock, knock,
who's there? There is an alarm!" It contradicts some of the GD
system in places, showing where they were actually WRONG.  This
does not make for a good press if your market wants "The Occult,"
and "Secret Mysteries Revealed."

Maybe I could try marketing it as "Do it Yourself Kabbalah - no
rituals required, just a lot of time and effort, plus a desire to
be honest with yourself, while being sure to get it wrong much of
the time." Reckon it would sell .  .  .  ?

Kabbalah is the inheritance we have received from Israelite
_Theosophy_, which is why I include it under the same head - as
did HPB.

Blah, etc.

Love, peace, hard work :-)

Alan.