CABBALAH

CABBALAH

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and there were some among them which wouldcorrupt their way upon the earth” (Sohar,

\ 96 6). Being an emanation of the ten Se-phiroth, and in the likeness of this ArchetypalMan, the soul has ten potencies, which aredivided into a trinity of triads, (i.) The Spirit(nJDfc?0), which is the highest degree of being,and which both corresponds to and is operatedupon by the Crown, representing the highesttriad in the Sephiroth, called the IntellectualWorld, (ii.) The Soul (ITH), the seat of moralqualities, which both corresponds to and is oper-ated upon by Beauty, representing the secondtriad in the Sephiroth, called the Moral World;and (iii.) The Cruder Spirit (E^EDJ), which, im-mediately connected with the body, is the directcause of its lower functions and the animal life,and which both corresponds to and is operatedupon by Foundation, representing the third triadin the Sephiroth, called the Material World.

“ Each soul, prior to its entering into this world,consists of male and female, united into onebeing. When it descends on this earth the twoparts separate and animate two different bodies.At the time of marriage the Holy One, blessedbe he, who knows all souls and spirits, unitesthem again as they were before, and they againconstitute one body and one soul, forming, as itwere, the right and the left of one individual..... The union, however, is influenced by thedeeds of the man, and by the ways in which hewalks. If the man is pure, and his conduct ispleasing in the sight of God, he is united withthat female part of his soul which was his com-ponent part prior to his birth ” (Sohar, i. 916).

6. The Destiny of Man and the Universe .—It is an absolute condition of the soul, whichunderlies its very nature, to return to the In-finite Source from which it emanated, after de-veloping on earth the perfections, the germswhereof are implanted in it. If the soul, afterassuming a human body and its first sojourn onearth, fails to acquire that experience for whichit descends from heaven and becomes contami-nated by sin, it must reinhabit a body againand again till it is able to ascend in a purifiedstate. This transmigration, however, is re-stricted to three times. If two souls, on theirthird residence in human bodies, are still tooweak to acquire the necessary experience, theyare united and sent into one body, in order thatby their combined efforts they may be able tolearn that which they were too feeble to effectseparately. The world, too, being an expansionof the Deity’s own substance, must ultimatelyshare that blessedness which it enjoyed in itsfirst evolution, and which is indicated in theletter B (2 = i"D“Q), i.e. blessing, wherewiththe history of the creation begins. Even Satanhimself, the archangel of wickedness, “the Veno-mous Beast,” “ Samael,” will be restored to hisangelic nature, inasmuch as he too, like allother beings, proceeded from the same InfiniteSource of all things. He will then drop thefirst part of his name (DD), which signifiesvenom, and retain the second El (^N), which isthe appellation of all the angels. This universalrestoration will take place at the advent ofMessiah. And though the soul of Messiah, likeall other souls, has its pre-existence in the worldof the Sephiroth, it cannot he born, and hencetlie Saviour ca '.not make his appearance till all

human souls have passed through their periodof probation on earth, since it is to be the lastborn at the end of days. Then the great Jubileoyear will commence when the whole pleroma ofsouls (niDKOH 'IVIN), cleansed and purified,shall return to the bosom of the Infinite Source.Then hell shall disappear. There shall be nomore punishment, nor temptation, nor sin. Lifewill be an everlasting feast; a Sabbath withoutend. Then all souls will be united with theHighest Soul, and supplement each other in theHoly of Holies of the Seven Halls ( Sohar 7 i. 45,168 a ; ii. 97 a).

III. The Cabbalistic View of the OldTestament, and its Relation to Chris-tianity. —The view which the Cabbalah takesof the Hebrew Scriptures, and the mode of in-terpretation to which it resorts in order toobtain these doctrines, are best exhibited in thewords of the Sohar, which, as has already beenremarked, is the Cabbalistic Bible. “ Woe be tothe son of man who says that the Torah (=■ Pen-tateuch) contains common sayings and ordinarynarratives. If this were the case we might inthe present day compose a code of doctrines fromprofane writings which would excite greaterrespect. If the Law contains ordinary matter,then there are nobler sentiments in profanecodes. Let us go and make a selection fromthem and we shall be able to compile a farsuperior code. No. Every word of the Law has

a sublime sense and a heavenly mystery.

As the spiritual angels had to put on earthlygarments when they descended to this earth,aDd as they could neither have remained nor beunderstood on the earth without putting on sucha garment, so it is with the Law. When itdescended on earth the Law had to put on anearthly garment, to be understood by us, andthe narratives are its garment. . . . Those whohave understanding do not look at the garmentbut at the body beneath (i.e. the moral), whilstthe wisest, the servants of the Heavenly King,those who dwell on Mount Sinai, look at nothingbut the soul,” i.e. the secret doctrine (Sohar yiii. 152 a). To obtain from the obvious andsimple words of the Bible the mysteries of theCabbalah, definite hermeneutical rules are em-ployed, the most important of which are as fol-lows :—(1) Every letter of a word is reduced toits numerical value, and the word is explainedby another of the same quantity. This rule iscalled Gematria. (2) Every letter of a word istaken as the initial or abbreviation of a word.This is called Notaricon. (3) The initial andfinal letters of several words are respectivelyformed into separate words. (4) Two wordsoccurring in the same verse are joined togetherand made into one word. (5) The words ofthose verses which are regarded as containing apeculiar recondite meaning are ranged in squaresin such a manner as to be read either verticallyor boustrophedonally, beginning at the right orleft hand. (6) The words of several verses areplaced over each other, and the letters whichstand under each other are formed into newwords. (7) The letters of words are changedby way of anagram and new words are obtained.The commutation is effected according to fixedrules. Thus the alphabet is bent exactly in themiddle, and one half is put over the other, andby changing alternately the first letter, or tha