Kabbalah/Tree of Life system... and Tarot

ZenMusic

>>study the Sephiroth and forget Tarot

the study of Kabbalah will be very rewarding/deepening for Tarot insight (so will mythology, psychology, ancient religions, metaphysics, astrology etc.), but it's vast and difficult (heavy with allegory)

my recommendation is to study Kabbalah without any reference to Tarot at all, until you are well grounded in Kabbalah .. (as much as you decide to pursue it)

if you need (haven't found your way in yet), I can give a list of recommendations
 

Gazel

ZenMusic said:
>>study the Sephiroth and forget Tarot

the study of Kabbalah will be very rewarding/deepening for Tarot insight (so will mythology, psychology, ancient religions, metaphysics, astrology etc.), but it's vast and difficult (heavy with allegory)

my recommendation is to study Kabbalah without any reference to Tarot at all, until you are well grounded in Kabbalah .. (as much as you decide to pursue it)

if you need (haven't found your way in yet), I can give a list of recommendations

Dear ZenMusic

Willing as I always am to learn, I would really appreciate your list of recommendations. But as I tried to explain in my previous post, I very much think that Tarot *is* my way into the Kabbalah.

I think the part "as much as you like to pursue it" is hard, because can there a point to stop, having one first started? That goes for both Kabbalah and Tarot ;o)

Yours truly,

K. Gazel.
 

jmd

I personally disagree with the view that "I guess that I, beeing the noviciest of novices, must start with a system, somewhat familiar to me".

In fact, I consider the exact opposite is beneficial, in that 'starting with a system' often comes to mean not 'developing an understanding of Kabalah', but rather and instead begin to inter very specific seeds from authors whose main understanding deviates somewhat (I am probably being generous) from that which they seek to explain - or even root plants already formed, whether or not they are virulant parasitic ones that may deceptively mimic the tradition.

At the very least, a good introductory (that also goes far beyond being an 'introduction') book such as R. Laibl Wolf's Practical Kabbalah, of R. Moshe Idel's or Aryeh Kaplan's other works (such as the former's Kabbalah: New Perspectives and the latter's Meditation and Kabbalah) - I personally would, of course, begin and very much focus on the main Kabbalistic 'source-books' (the Sefer Yetzirah, Bahir, and Zohar).
 

Gazel

jmd said:
I personally disagree with the view that "I guess that I, beeing the noviciest of novices, must start with a system, somewhat familiar to me".]).

Uhh, I suspected I would be challenged on that one in here! And I am glad therefore! Thanx for your remarks, jmd.

jmd said:
At the very least, a good introductory (that also goes far beyond being an 'introduction') book such as R. Laibl Wolf's Practical Kabbalah, of R. Moshe Idel's or Aryeh Kaplan's other works (such as the former's Kabbalah: New Perspectives and the latter's Meditation and Kabbalah) - I personally would, of course, begin and very much focus on the main Kabbalistic 'source-books' (the Sefer Yetzirah, Bahir, and Zohar).

Thank you so much for the references. Taking a point of departure on the not tarot resources on Kabbalah, and since I am open to suggestions after all, I will order the Laibl Wolf book from Amazon, and I've ordered the Sepher Yetzirah (Kaplan edition) from the Royal Danish Library.

So I will see where it goes from there.

Yours truly,
K. Gazel

PS: By the way jmd, I've tried to follow some of the interesting links in the Studying Kabalah thread at the top of this forum, but much of the links goes nowhere. If thats on purpose or if they are just obsolete, shouldent they be deleted?

Another Question, I think I read a remark from you that one should not use ressources from The Kabbalah Centre - why is that?. Forgive me, if I confused you stating that remark with another member.
 

kwaw

Gazel said:
Another Question, I think I read a remark from you that one should not use ressources from The Kabbalah Centre - why is that?. Forgive me, if I confused you stating that remark with another member.

I often use their online Zohar, especially if there is a reference I want to quote without having to manually type the whole thing in.

I would also recommend:

Kabbalah: A very short introduction by Joseph Dan

The Essence of Kabbalah by Brian Lancaster

On the kabbalah and its symbolism and
On the mystical shape of the godhead both by Scholem, G.


Kwaw
 

jmd

I cannot recall writing that last comment you attribute to me, and a quick search results in these two threads:I may indeed have at some stage been a little more 'negative' towards the Kabbalah Center, as I find their manner of marketing rather annoying, and actually puts me off looking too deeply at their materials.

Given that there is already such a wealth available without recourse to the Kabbalah Center, and though I do not recall having said that in the past, I would place them quite low on my list of preferences (but still higher than GD-oriented 'schools') - other than their version of the Zohar!

[As to the links in what was started as a table-of-contents quite some time back, I began the post when there appeared to be an impulse of enthusiasm, and prepared the title of expected threads that, unfortunately, have not as yet developed, and hence is indeed out of date, and I should take the time to alter my post once the thread is unlocked, which I shall request.]
 

Gazel

Thanx

kwaw said:
I often use their online Zohar, especially if there is a reference I want to quote without having to manually type the whole thing in.

I would also recommend:

Kabbalah: A very short introduction by Joseph Dan

The Essence of Kabbalah by Brian Lancaster

On the kabbalah and its symbolism and
On the mystical shape of the godhead both by Scholem, G.


Kwaw

Thank you very much Kwaw, I think it's time to start a reading list for my self, to keep order in all the suggested references. I will rememeber to use the Zohar link on the Kabalah cntre, should I ever be in need of quoting it.

Yours truly, Gazel.
 

Gazel

jmd said:
I cannot recall writing that last comment you attribute to me, .]

Okay, as I wrote, forgive me for wrongly attributing that remark to you.

I am not as such interested in the Kabbalah Centre, just a bit curious. I once tried to read a book by Yehuda (?) Berg, whom I think is one of the persons behind it (correct me, if I am wrong) - but I never really connected to it. As far as I remember it was about the power of the Kaballah, and what it can do for you ... or something like that. But since I put it down quite quickly, I am not trustworthy as to what it really was about in terms of the kabbalah.

jmd said:
[As to the links in what was started as a table-of-contents quite some time back, I began the post when there appeared to be an impulse of enthusiasm, and prepared the title of expected threads that, unfortunately, have not as yet developed, and hence is indeed out of date, and I should take the time to alter my post once the thread is unlocked, which I shall request.]

Okay ;o)

yours truly

Gazel
 

Hythlodaeus

I've been doing a lot of experimenting with the "Continental"/Levi attributions that Christine Payne-Towler discusses at length. One of my biggest difficulties has been analyzing the correspondence between the image on the Tarot card and its planetary/zodiacal attribution. For instance, according to the "Continental" system, the 17th Trump - The Star corresponds with the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Peh/Mercury. Similarly, the Hierophant gives Heh/Aries.
In her Tarot of the Holy Light, which I still highly recommend, Payne-Towler uses these attributions but, as with several works I've read, spends very little time discussing the relationship between the Trumps and their astrological attributions.
There are many areas of the "Continental" system that intrigue me, but I'd personally like to see more in-depth discussions of the correspondences.