Kabbalah
Kabbalah (Hebrew קַבָּלָה, qabbālāh, "reception", "what has been received") is the esoteric mystical tradition of Judaism, systematized in Spain and Provence between the 12th and 13th centuries. The foundational text is the Zohar (Book of Splendor), attributed to Moses de León (13th century).
The Tree of Life
The central diagram of Kabbalah is the Tree of Life (Etz Chaim): a diagram of ten divine emanations — the Sefirot — interconnected by 22 paths. The Sefirot are, from top to base:
- Keter — Crown, the primordial source.
- Chokhmah — Wisdom.
- Binah — Understanding.
- Chesed — Mercy.
- Gevurah — Severity.
- Tiferet — Beauty.
- Netzach — Victory.
- Hod — Splendor.
- Yesod — Foundation.
- Malkhut — Kingdom.
The 22 paths correspond to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet — and, in Renaissance Christian Kabbalah, to the 22 major arcana of the tarot.
Jewish vs. occultist Kabbalah
It is important to distinguish:
- Jewish Kabbalah — living religious tradition, studied in yeshivot and by rabbis. No relation to tarot. Practiced in Hebrew/Aramaic.
- Christian Kabbalah — 15th-century Christian appropriation (Pico della Mirandola).
- Occultist Kabbalah — 19th-century development (Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn) that linked the Tree of Life to tarot, astrology, and ceremonial magic.