A proto-Sinaitic mine inscription from Mount Sinai reads ’ld‘lm understood to be vocalized as ’il dū ‘ôlmi, 'Ēl Eternal' or 'God Eternal'. The Egyptian god Ptah is given the title dū gitti 'Lord of Gath' in a prism from Lachish which has on its opposite face the name of Amenhotep II (c. 1435–1420 BCE) The title dū gitti is also found in Serābitṭ text 353. Cross (1973, p. 19) points out that Ptah is often called the lord (or one) of eternity and thinks it ...

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El god, El god - Linguistic forms and meanings, El god - Ēl in the Tanakh, El god - Ēl in Christian theology, El god - Ēl among the Amorites, El god - Ēl in Ugarit and among the Canaanites, El god - Ēl in the greater Levant, El god - Ēl according to Sanchuniathon, El god - Ēl and Poseidon, El god - Ēl in Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician, Aramaic, and Hittite texts

Read more here: » El god: Encyclopedia II - El god - Ēl in Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician, Aramaic, and Hittite texts

Adonis | Anat | Asherah | Astarte | Ba'al | Berith | Dagon | El | Elyon | Elohim | Hadad | Moloch | Mot | Salem | Shaddai | Yaw Adonai | El | Elohim | Elyon | Shaddai | Shekinah | YHWH Adad | Amurru | An/Anu | Anshar | Asshur | Abzu/Apsu | Enki/Ea | Enlil | Ereshkigal | Inanna/Ishtar | Kingu | Kishar | Lahmu & Lahamu | Marduk | Mummu | Nabu | Nammu | Nanna/Sin | Nergal | Ninhursag/Damkina | Ninlil | Tiamat | Utu/Shamash Ēl is a northwest Semitic word and name translated into English as either 'god' or 'God' or left untra ...

Including:

• El god - Linguistic forms and meanings
• El god - Ēl in the Tanakh
• El god - Ēl in Christian theology
• El god - Ēl among the Amorites
• El god - Ēl in Ugarit and among the Canaanites
• El god - Ēl in the greater Levant
• El god - Ēl according to Sanchuniathon
• El god - Ēl and Poseidon
• El god - Ēl in Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic and Hittite texts

Read more here: » El god: Encyclopedia - El god

Cognate forms are found throughout the Semitic languages with the exception of the ancient Ge'ez language of Ethiopia. Forms include Ugaritic ’il, pl. ’lm; Phoenician ’l pl. ’lm, Hebrew ’ēl, pl. ’⁏lîm; Aramaic ’l, Arabic Al; Akkadian ilu, pl. ilāti. The original meaning may have been 'strength, power'. In northwest Semitic usage ’l was both a generic word of any 'god' and the special name or title of a particular god who was distinguished from o ...

See also:

El god, El god - Linguistic forms and meanings, El god - Ēl in the Tanakh, El god - Ēl in Christian theology, El god - Ēl among the Amorites, El god - Ēl in Ugarit and among the Canaanites, El god - Ēl in the greater Levant, El god - Ēl according to Sanchuniathon, El god - Ēl and Poseidon, El god - Ēl in Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic and Hittite texts

Read more here: » El god: Encyclopedia II - El god - Linguistic forms and meanings

El 'el (Hebrew) Sometimes Al. Strong, mighty; as an abstract noun -- strength, might -- applied to divinities, heroes, or cosmic spirits. By the later Jewish and Christian monotheists rendered as God.

Used in connection with Jehovah as well as with non-Jewish gods. Its plural form is 'elim, whereas the Hebrew plural 'elohim is, strictly speaking, the plural of a cognate Chaldee and Hebrew word 'eloah. This last word has a feminine termination, whereas the plural has the masculine termination, thus imbodying in curious fashion both masculine and feminine attributes when used in the plural form. In translations from the Bible, 'elohim is usually translated into English as God, whereas Jehovah is usually rendered into English as Lord.

See also ALHIM

(See also: El 'el , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Quis ut Deus (Latin) One like god; used in connection with the angelic power called by ancient medieval Hebrew and Christian mystics Michael [from Hebrew mi who + cha like + 'el God or a divinity]

.

(See also: Quis ut Deus , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Qelippoth (Hebrew) Shells, rinds, the outer covering or body of any entity. Because beings in the lowest world of the Qabbalah are considered shells infilled with a certain proportion of degenerate spiritual powers and functions, these beings are often called demons.

In the Qabbalah, the lowest of the four worlds, `olam `asiyyah, is therefore likewise called `olam qelippoth, in that all the beings pertaining to this sphere need the use of a vehicle, termed a rind or shell, which though subject to formation, birth, change, and dissolution as a form, is not so as to its essential life-atoms -- except as these life-atoms themselves undergo rebirth and change, but not dissolution as do the shells.

Just as in the superior `olams there are the analogic divisions into the ten Sephiroth, likewise in this lowest sphere there are ten degrees, each growing denser and darker in its descent farther from the Sephirothic ray. The first two degrees of this descending scale are considered as absence of visible form -- termed in Genesis Tohu Bohu. The third degree is termed the abode of darkness (the darkness which covered the face of the earth of Genesis). Then follow, in descent, the seven infernal halls Sheba` Heichaloth, or hells in which are distributed the various princes of darkness and entities undergoing purgation -- the prince of the whole region being Sama'el (the angel of "venom" or death).

"note what we read in the Zohar (ii. 43a): 'For the service of the Angelic World, the Holy . . . made Samael and his legions, i.e., the world of action, who are as it were the clouds to be used (by the higher or upper Spirits, our Egos) to ride upon in their descent to the earth, and serve, as it were, for their horses.' This, in conjunction with the fact that Q'lippoth contains the matter of which stars, planets, and even men are made, shows that Samael with his legions is simply chaotic, turbulent matter, which is used in its finer state by spirits to robe themselves in. For speaking of the 'vesture' or form (rupa) of the incarnating Egos, it is said in the Occult Catechism that they, the Manasaputras or Sons of Wisdom, use for the consolidation of their forms, in order to descend into lower spheres, the dregs of Swabhavat, or that plastic matter which is throughout Space, in other words, primordial ilus. And these dregs are what the Egyptians have called Typhon and modern Europeans Satan, Samael, etc., etc. Deus est Demon inversus -- the Demon is the lining of God" (TG 269).

Thus Qelippoth has a dual meaning: first and less customary, the unorganized matter of space out of which spiritual beings build their bodies in order to manifest on this physical plane; second and more customary, is the physical bodies themselves as thus built, containing the vital and other characteristics of living beings. The word corresponds to the rupa-worlds -- the imbodied beings of this world or sphere.

(See also: Qelippoth , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Raphael repha'el (Hebrew) [from rapha' to knit together, compose by joining, repair and mend, cure, heal + 'el divinity]

The builder of God, the composer of God; one of the four (later seven) angels stationed about the throne of God; also called Suriel or Suryal. In the vision of Ezekiel, the seer describes the four faces beheld: that of the face of the man is made equivalent to Raphael in the Ophite scheme.

Originally the dragon was one of the four sacred animals, but it was altered to the face of a man (SD 1:127). In the Book of Enoch (ch 20) Raphael is considered as the angel of the spirits of men, and is commissioned to "heal [rebuild or re-compose] the Earth which the angels have defiled."

(See also: Raphael, repha'el , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Nirmanakaya (Sanskrit). Something entirely different in esoteric philosophy from the popular meaning attached to it, and from the fancies of the Orientalists.

Some call the Nirmanakaya body "Nirvana with remains" (Schlagintweit, etc.) on the supposition, probably, that it is a kind of Nirvanic condition during which consciousness and form are retained. Others say that it is one of the Trikaya (three bodies), with the "power of assuming any form of appearance in order to propagate Buddhism" (Eitel’s idea); again, that "it is the incarnate avatara of a deity" (ibid.), and so on.

Occultism, on the other hand, says:that Nirmanakaya, although meaning literally a transformed "body", is a state. The form is that of the adept or yogi who enters, or chooses, that post mortem condition in preference to the Dharmakaya or absolute Nirvanic state. He does this because the latter kaya separates him for ever from the world of form, conferring upon him a state of selfish bliss, in which no other living being can participate, the adept being thus precluded from the possibility of helping humanity, or even devas.

As a Nirmanakaya, however, the man leaves behind him only his physical body, and retains every other "principle" save the Kamic - for he has crushed this out for ever from his nature, during life, and it can never resurrect in his post mortem state. Thus, instead of going into selfish bliss, he chooses a life of self-sacrifice, an existence which ends only with the life-cycle, in order to be enabled to help mankind in an invisible yet most effective manner. (See The Voice of the Silence, third treatise, "The Seven Portals".) Thus a Nirmanakaya is not, as popularly believed, the body "in which a Buddha or a Bodhisattva appears on earth", but verily one, who whether a Chutuktu or a Khubilkhan, an adept or a yogi during life, has since become a member of that invisible Host which ever protects and watches over Humanity within Karmic limits.

 Mistaken often for a "Spirit", a Deva, God himself, &c., a Nirmanakaya is ever a protecting, compassionate, verily a guardian angel, to him who becomes worthy of his help. Whatever objection may be brought forward against this doctrine; however much it is denied, because, forsooth, it has never been hitherto made public in Europe and therefore since it is unknown to Orientalists, it must needs be "a myth of modern invention" - no one will be bold enough to say that this idea of helping suffering mankind at the price of one’s own almost interminable self-sacrifice, is not one of the grandest and noblest that was ever evolved from human brain.

(See also: Nirmanakaya , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Israel Yisra'el (Hebrew) (from yashar upright, straight, righteous + 'el a divinity)

The national designation of the Jews, principally applied in Jewish history to the northern kingdom as distinct from Judah; later it referred to the Jews as a religious community united under the national god Jehovah. The name was assigned to Jacob (Genesis 32:28), who was regarded as the parent of the twelve tribes.

The original significance of Israel is, in the singular, an upright, righteous man, who strives for union with his inner god; hence an initiate. The Jews applied this term in reverential yearning to themselves, with a special application to the noblest Hebrews among them; but the term abstractly is as applicable to the righteous ones or initiates of any country.

(See also: Israel, Yisra'el , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Bel (Chald.). The oldest and mightiest god of Babylonia, one of the earliest trinities, - Anu (q.v.) ; Bel, "Lord of the World", father of the gods, Creator, and "Lord of the City of Nipur’; and Hea, maker of fate, Lord of the Deep, God of Wisdom and esoteric Knowledge, and "Lord of the city of Eridu".

The wife of Bel, or his female aspect (Sakti), was Belat, or Beltis, "the mother of the great gods", and the "Lady of the city of Nipur".

The original Bel was also called Enu, Elu and Kaptu (see Chaldean account of Genesis, by G. Smith). His eldest son was the Moon God Sin (whose names were also Ur, Agu and Itu), who was the presiding deity of the city of Ur, called in his honour by one of his names. Now Ur was the place of nativity of Abram (see "Astrology").

In the early Babylonian religion the Moon was, like Soma in India, a male, and the Sun a female deity. And this led almost every nation to great fratricidal wars between the lunar and the solar worshippers - e.g., the contests between the Lunar and the Solar Dynasties, the Chandra and Suryavansa in ancient Aryavarta. Thus we find the same on a smaller scale between the Semitic tribes. Abram and his father Terah are shown migrating from Ur and carrying their lunar god (or its scion) with them ; for Jehovah Elohim or El - another form of Elu - has ever been connected with the moon.

It is the Jewish lunar chronology which has led the European "civilized" nations into the greatest blunders and mistakes. Merodach, the son of Hea, became the later Bel and was worshipped at Babylon. His other title, Belas, has a number of symbolical meanings.

(See also: Bel , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Elu (Chaldean) A Chaldean god, variant of 'El (deity, divinity), frequently used by the Hebrews as equivalent to God. The original Semitic meaning embraces the idea of surpassing might, immense power, and unlimited strength.

(See also: Elu , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Trikaya (Sanskrit) Lit., three bodies, or forms. This is a most abstruse teaching which, however, once understood, explains the mystery of every triad or trinity, and is a true key to every three-fold metaphysical symbol. In its most simple and comprehensive form it is found in the human Entity in its triple division into spirit, soul, and body, and in the universe, regarded pantheistically, as a unity composed of a Deific, purely spiritual Principle, Supernal Beings - its direct rays  -  and Humanity.

The origin of this is found in the teachings of the pre historic Wisdom Religion, or Esoteric Philosophy. The grand Pantheistic ideal, of the unknown and unknowable Essence being transformed first into subjective, and then into objective matter, is at the root of all these triads and triplets.

Thus we find in philosophical Northern Buddhism

(1)  Adi-Buddha (or Primordial Universal Wisdom) ;

(2)  the Dhyani-Buddhas (or Bodhisattvas);

(3)  the Manushi (Human) Buddhas.

In European conceptions we find the same: God, Angels and Humanity symbolized theologically by the God-Man. The Brahmanical Trimurti and also the three-fold body of Shiva, in Shaivism, have both been conceived on the same basis, if not altogether running on the lines of Esoteric teachings. Hence, no wonder if one finds this conception of the triple body - or the vestures of Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya and Dharmakaya, the grandest of the doctrines of Esoteric Philosophy -  accepted in a more or less disfigured form by every religious sect, and explained quite incorrectly by the Orientalists.

Thus, in its general application, the three-fold body symbolizes Buddha’s statue, his teachings and his stupas ; in the priestly conceptions it applies to the Buddhist profession of faith called the Triratna, which is the formula of taking "refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha". Popular fancy makes Buddha ubiquitous, placing him thereby on a par with an anthropomorphic god, and lowering him to the level of a tribal deity; and, as a result, it falls into flat contradictions, as in Tibet and China.

Thus the exoteric doctrine seems to teach that while in his Nirma kaya body (which passed through 100,000 kotis of transformations on earth), he, Buddha, is at the same time a Lochana (a heavenly Dhyani-Bodhisattva), in his Sambhogakaya "robe of absolute completeness", and in Dhyana, or a state which must cut him off from the world and all its connections; and finally and lastly he is, besides being a Nirmanakaya and a Sambhogakaya, also a Dharmakaya "of absolute purity", a Vairotchana or Dhyani-Buddha in full Nirvana! (See Eitel’s Sanskrit-Chinese Dictionary.)

This is the jumble of contradictions, impossible to reconcile, which is given out by missionaries and certain Orientalists as the philosophical dogmas of Northern Buddhism. If not an intentional confusion of a philosophy dreaded by the upholders of a religion based on inextricable contradictions and guarded "mysteries", then it is the product of ignorance. As the Trailokya, the Trikaya, and the Triratna are the three aspects of the same conceptions, and have to be, so to say, blended in one, the subject is further explained under each of these terms. (See also in this relation the term " Trisharana".)

(See also: Trikaya , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

A Dictionary of Spiritual Terms. From Acupuncture to Zoroaster.

Please note that all words in grey, like "yoga", "enlightenment" or "kundalini" are hyperlinked to archives further explaining the term. At the corresponding archive you will also find articles related to the term.

Gabriel (Hebrew) (from geber might, power + 'el divinity, god)

Power or might of God, my power of divinity; in the New Testament represented as one of the archangels who stand in the presence of God, sent to announce to Mary the birth of Jesus (Luke 1:19, 26-31). Among the Nazarenes, Aebel Zivo was also called Gabriel Legatus (Gabriel the Messenger).

With the later Jews Gabriel was regarded as one of the seven archangels; likewise in Christian theology he belongs to the hierarchy of archangels and perhaps to the first, which are equivalent to the virgin angels or kumaras (SD 2:246). The angel Gabriel watches over Iran or Persia, according to popular view; and in Ezekiel's vision of the cherubim or the four sacred animals, the face of the eagle corresponded to Gabriel. In ancient astrology, he was the ruler of the moon and the sign Taurus.

With the Gnostics the term spirit or Christos was known as the messenger of life, also called Gabriel, which Irenaeus states took the place of the Logos born of the cosmic Mother or Holy Spirit, while the Holy Spirit was considered one with the aeon, cosmic life. Gabriel is also one with the higher ego or inner divinity.

(See also: Gabriel , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Elon or Elion (Phoenician) A name of the sun, recognized as one of the highest active deities or cosmic energies by the Phoenicians; rendered in Greek as 'Elioun. The Hebrew form of this word is found in the Bible in the phrase 'El `elyon, "the God or Divinity on high."

(See also: Elon, Elion , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Phoenicians The ancient people who occupied the strip of seaboard on the west of Palestine, with Tyre and Sidon as principal towns; noted among other things for their great development in trade, commerce, and navigation. The Phoenicians themselves, and the their neighbors the Israelites, called their land Canaan (Khena`an). According to Herodotus (2:44) Tyre was founded about 2300 years before his time, or 2756 BC.

The ancient deities of Phoenicia and their religion, as with other ancient peoples, was connected spiritually and physically with the great powers and processes of universal nature; indeed so far did this go that each river, spring, headland, etc., was under the influence of a deity; yet undoubtedly beyond and above all these hierarchical divisions there was always the ineffable, unthinkable, eternal, intelligence-life.

As time went on certain deities became more prominent in theological thought and speculation, acquiring celestial attributes as well as earthly ones, such as Ba`al, Astarte (made equivalent to Isis by Plutarch), and the Tyrian Melqarth (associated with Herakles). Originally each masculine deity had the title Ba`al ("lord," equivalent to Babylonian Bel), and the feminine deities had the title of 'Amma (mother), just as the ancient Hebrews spoke of their 'em or 'ammah (fountain, beginning, womb, mother).

The gods were called 'elomim or 'elim, from the original Shemetic root 'el. The god of the moon was Sin, the deity of the flame or lightning was Resh Reshuf and Eshmun was the god of vital force or healing (worshiped especially at Sidon) -- clearly 'Eshmun is from the Shemitic verbal root 'esh (fire, cosmic fire or vitality) -- cosmic vital electricity or fohat. Blavatsky states that the Phoenicians also propitiated the kabeiroi, deities of Samothrace.

(See also: Phoenicians , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Samael sama'el (Hebrew) In the Hebreo-Chaldean Qabbalah, the Prince of Darkness, the Angel of Death or Poison, who rules the seven habitations called Sheba`

Ha-yechaloth, zones of our globe, yet these seven habitations or infernal regions are the lower seven of the ten degrees which make the dwelling places of the beings inhabiting the fourth or lowest world of the Qabbalah, of which Samael is supposed to be the hierarch or prince. This fourth or lowest world of Qelippoth (shells) is divided into ten degrees forming the lowest hierarchy of the Qabbalistic system corresponding to the ten Sephiroth. These ten stages of the world of shells are again subdivided into three higher or relatively immaterial, and seven lower, material, or infernal ranges; and of these seven Samael is supposed to be the hierarch or ruler.

The Talmud states, however, that "the evil Spirit, Satan, and Sama'el the Angel of Death, are the same" (Rabba Batra, 16a); and Samael is also there made equivalent to the Biblical serpent of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He is also termed the chief of the Dragons of Evil, and is popularly made responsible for the hot scorching wind of the desert -- the simoom. In conjunction with Lilith he is represented as the Evil Beast (hiwyai' bisha').

Thus Samael, "the dark aspect of the Logos -- occupies only the rind of that tree, and has the knowledge of EVIL alone" (SD 2:216n), i.e., the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In Explaining the Hebrew terms as applied to the theosophical sevenfold classification of the human principles, Blavatsky makes Samael equivalent to kama, the seat of desire and emotional energy (SD 2:378). Yet there is another aspect to Samael: "In the 'Chaldean Book of Numbers' Samael is the concealed (occult) Wisdom, and Michael the higher terrestrial Wisdom, both emanating from the same source but diverging after their issue from the mundane soul, which on Earth is Mahat (intellectual understanding), or Manas (the seat of Intellect). They diverge, because one (Michael) is influenced by Meschamah, while the other (Samael) remains uninfluenced. This tenet was perverted by the dogmatic spirit of the Church; which, loathing independent Spirit, uninfluenced by the external form (hence by dogma), forthwith made of Samael-Satan (the most wise and spiritual spirit of all) -- the adversary of its anthropomorphic God and sensual physical man, the DEVIL!" (SD 2:378).

Precisely as all other cosmic forces or energies, then, Samael is dual, possessing in its higher aspects divine attributes, and in its lower aspects material or infernal attributes. Similarly, kama not only in nature but in man is in itself an abstract and impersonal natural principle, with its divine side as well as its material side, and therefore is per se neither good nor bad in the human sense, but becomes either when used or misused by the human mind.

See also SHEMAL

(See also: Samael , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Sacred Heart. In Egypt, of Horus; in Babylon, of the god Bel; and the lacerated heart of Bacchusin Greece and elsewhere. Its symbol was the persea. The pear-like shape of its fruit, and of its kernel especially, resembles the heart in form. It is sometimes seen on the head of Isis, the mother of Horus, the fruit being cut open and the heart-like kernel exposed to full view. The Roman Catholics have since adopted the worship of the "sacred heart" of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary.

(See also: Sacred Heart , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Rabbis (Hebrew, Jewish). Originally teachers of the Secret Mysteries, the Qabbalah; later, every Levite of the priestly caste became a teacher and a Rabbin. (See the series of Kabbalistic Rabbis by w.w.w.)

1 Rabbi Abulafia of Saragossa born in 1240, formed a school of Kabbalah named after him; his chief works were The Seven Paths of the Law and The Epistle to Rabbi Solomon.

2 Rabbi Akiba. Author of a famous Kabbalistic work, the "Alphabet of R.A.", which treats every letter as a symbol of an idea and an emblem of some sentiment; the Book of Enoch was originally a portion of this work, which appeared at the close of the eighth century. It was not purely a Kabbalistic treatise.

3 Rabbi Azariel ben Menachem (A.D. 1160). The author of the Commentary on the Ten

Sephiroth, which is the oldest purely Kabbalistic work extant, setting aside the Sepher Yetzirah, which although older, is not concerned with the Kabbalistic Sephiroth. He was the pupil of Isaac the Blind, who is the reputed father of the European Kabbalah, and he was the teacher of the equally famous R. Moses Nachmanides.

4 Rabbi Moses Botarel (1480). Author of a famous commentary on the Sepher Yetzirah; he taught that by ascetic life and the use of invocations, a man’s dreams might be made prophetic.

5 Rabbi Chajim Vital (1600) ( The great exponent of the Kabbalah as taught R. Isaac Loria: author of one of the most famous works, Otz Chiim, or Tree of Life; from this Knorr von Rosenroth has taken the Book on the Rashith ha Gilgalim, revolutions of souls, or scheme of reincarnations.

6 Rabbi Ibn Gebirol. A famous Hebrew Rabbi, author of the hymn Kether Malchuth, or Royal Diadem, which appeared about 1050; it is a beautiful poem, embodying the cosmic doctrines of Aristotle, and it even now forms part of the Jewish special service for the evening preceding the great annual Day of Atonement (See Ginsburg and Sachs on the Religious Poetry of the Spanish Jews). This author is also known as Avicebron.

7 Rabbi Gikatilla. A distinguished Kabbalist who flourished about 1300: he wrote the famous books, The Garden of Nuts, The Gate to the Vowel Points, The mystery of the shining Metal, and The Gates of Righteousness. He laid especial stress on the use of Gematria, Notaricon and Temura.

8 Rabbi Isaac the Blind of Posquiero. The first who publicly taught in Europe, about A.D. 1200, the Theosophic doctrines of the Kabbalah.

9 Rabbi Loria (also written Luria, and also named Ari from his initials). Founded a school of the Kabbalah circa 1560. He did not write any works, but his disciples treasured up his teachings, and R. Chajim Vital published them.

10 Rabbi Moses Cordovero (A.D.1550). The author of several Kabbalistic works of a wide reputation, viz., A Sweet Light, The Book of Retirement, and The Garden of Pomegranates; this latter can be read in Latin in Knorr von Rosenroth’s Kabbalah Denudata, entitled Tractatus de Animo, ex libro Pardes Rimmonim. Cordovero is notable for an adherence to the strictly metaphysical part, ignoring the wonder-working branch which Rabbi Sabbatai Zevi practised, and almost perished in the pursuit of.

11 Rabbi Moses de Leon (circa 1290 A,D.). The editor and first publisher of the Zohar, or "Splendour", the most famous of all the Kabbalistic volumes, and almost the only one of which any large part has been translated into English. This Zohar is asserted to be in the main the production of the still more famous Rabbi Simon ben Jochai, who lived in the reign of the Emperor Titus.

12 Rabbi Moses Maimonides (died 1304). A famous Hebrew Rabbi and author, who condemned the use of charms and amulets, and objected to the Kabbalistic use of the divine names.

13 Rabbi Sabbatai Zevi (born 1641). A very famous Kabbalist, who passing beyond the dogma became of great reputation as a thaumaturgist, working wonders by the divine names. Later in life he claimed Messiahship and fell into the hands of the Sultan Mohammed IV. of Turkey, and would have been murdered, but saved his life by adopting the Mohammedan religion. (See Jost on Judaism and its Sects.)

14 Rabbi Simon ben Jochai (circa A.D. 70-80). It is round this name that cluster the mystery and poetry of the origin of the Kabbalah as a gift of the deity to mankind.

Tradition has it that the Kabbalah was a divine theosophy first taught by God to a company of angels, and that some glimpses of its perfection were conferred upon Adam; that the wisdom passed from him unto Noah; thence to Abraham, from whom the Egyptians of his era learned a portion of the doctrine. Moses derived a partial initiation from the land of his birth, and this was perfected by direct communications with the deity. From Moses it passed to the seventy elders of the Jewish nation, and from them the theosophic scheme was handed from generation to generation; David and Solomon especially became masters of this concealed doctrine. No attempt, the legends tell us, was made to commit the sacred knowledge to writing until the time of the destruction of the second Temple by Titus, when Rabbi Simon ben Jochai, escaping from the besieged Jerusalem, concealed himself in a cave, where he remained for twelve years. Here he, a Kabbalist already, was further instructed by the prophet Elias. Here Simon taught his disciples, and his chief pupils, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Abba, committed to writing those teachings which in later ages became known as the Zohar, and were certainly published afresh in Spain by Rabbi Moses de Leon, about 1280. A fierce contest has raged for centuries between the learned Rabbis of Europe around the origin of the legend, and it seems quite hopeless to expect ever to arrive at an accurate decision as to what portion of the Zohar, if any, is as old as Simon ben Jochai. (See "Zohar".)

(See also: Rabbis , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Azael `aza'el or `azza'el (Hebrew) One of the higher angels mentioned in the Qabbalah; the Zohar (iii, 208a) relates that he and the angel Uzza scoffed at God (the elohim) for creating a humanity that sinned, and consequently were thrown to earth and changed into men.

See also UZZA. (SD 2:491)

(See also: Azael , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)