The Kabbalah Course
Course Outline
1. Introduction and Overview
- Objectives of the course
- What is the Kabbalah?
- Key concepts – the sefiroth, the four worlds, the names of God, the human soul and its journey
- Kabbalah, Judaism and Hebrew – relationship with religious belief, no need to learn Hebrew!
- Reflections, resources, and principal authorities
- Assignment
2. The Early Kabbalah
- Origins of the Kabbalah – esotericism in antiquity, rabbinic schools in Palestine, the Hillel dynasty, the gaonic period in Baghdad
- The Kabbalah in southern Europe – the golden age of Kabbalah, the classical texts: Sefer Yetzirah, Bahir, and Zohar
- The sefiroth – biblical precedents, emerging meaning and significance
- The divine names – the unutterable name of God, divine names assigned to the sefiroth
- Reflections, resources, and assignment
3. Mystical and Ecstatic Kabbalah
- Jewish mysticism – early forms, Merkabah mysticism, the "palaces," the "throne world"
- The mystical Kabbalah – the Kabbalah of language, magical ritual, the Holy Guardian Angel
- Techniques – gematria, notarikon, temurah, the 72 names of God and other examples
- The ecstatic Kabbalah – Abraham Abulafia, ecstatic meditation, states of ecstasy
- Reflections, resources, and assignment
4. The Theoretical Kabbalah
- Cultural context – exodus from Provence and Spain, the Safed community and its scholars
- The divine emanations – the Ain Sof, the sefiroth, the Tree of Life, the four worlds--all in more detail
- Creation, fall and redemption – "contraction," shattering and repair of the vessels, the partzufim, the divine son and daughter
- The Shekinah – origins of the Shekinah, the indwelling glory of God, the Divine Feminine, the Shekinah’s exile and rescue, the cosmic wedding
- Humanity – the soul, reincarnation, cosmic implications of human behavior, participation in the redemptive process
- Reflections, resources, and assignment
5. Hermeticism and the Christian Kabbalah
- Early development of Hermeticism – the classical texts, Hermetic teachings, celestial magic, alchemy
- Confluence of Hermeticism, Kabbalah and Christianity – early and medieval Christianity, the Florentine Renaissance
- Emergence of the Christian Kabbalah, golden age of Hermeticism, response from institutional Christianity
- Major concepts of the Christian Kabbalah – a new world religion, the nature of God, Christ and the Eucharist, dualism, good and evil
- Reflections, resources, and assignment
6. The Modern Kabbalah
- Modern esotericism – confluence of western traditions, cross-fertilization East and West
- The modern Judaic Kabbalah, Aryeh Kaplan, Leonora Leet
- The modern Hermetic Kabbalah – Rosicrucian and Masonic roots, French occultism, the Golden Dawn
- The Golden Dawn tradition – mission and important members, symbols and correspondences, the middle pillar exercise and its application to healing
- Kabbalah and the Tarot – origins and structure of the Tarot, correspondences with the Kabbalah
- Kabbalah and Theosophy – Helena Blavatsky, Alice Bailey, Grace Knoche, Geoffrey Hodson, and others
- Reflections, resources, and assignment
7. Review and Synthesis
- What is the Kabbalah? – the question revisited
- The mystical/ecstatic Kabbalah – meditation, higher states of consciousness, spiritual work, ethics and responsibilities of the ecstatic path
- The theoretical Kabbalah – divine emanation, the creation story and its meaning for us, duality and the problem of evil, the sefiroth and the seven rays
- Trinities in the Kabbalah – the supernal triangle as trinity, other trinities and their significance
- The soul – Kabbalistic concepts of the soul, the maggid, Holy Guardian Angel, and Solar Angel
- Final reflections, resources, and assignment
Appendices
- Appendix 1: Hebrew alphabet
- Appendix 2: Glossary of Hebrew/Aramaic terms
- Appendix 3: Hebrew alphabet in large type
- Comprehensive bibliography