Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Cabala (Kabbalah) and the RUNES

The Cabala (Kabbalah) and the RUNES

The Cabala pre-dates the Elderfuthark Runes and the Tarot by approximately 100 years. The Cabala is a system of Jewish mysticism that is thought to have originated in Southern France and Spain in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

The term 'Cabala' (often also known as the Kabbalah), was originally used to denote wisdom, inner knowledge or understanding of the hidden mysteries, and it wasn't until much later that the term was used to refer to Jewish mysticism.

The Cabala was intended to be a system of thought that allowed people to unravel the mysteries and unknown concepts concerning 'God' and his on her creations.

Scholars tend to look for its origins in the first century before Christ. The first document is considered to be the forerunner of Cabalism, and the basis of the rest of it is the 'Sepher Yetzirah' (Book of Formation), written by an anonymous author (like both the Elderfuthark Runes and the Tarot) most probably around the third century before the birth of Christ.

The 'Sepher Yetzirah' deals with the creation of the Universe by means of the 'ten sephiram', which are archetypal numbers, one through to ten, and the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet.

There are ten 'sephiram' in the 'modern' Cabala, with the decimal number system that is the foundation of today's economy. There are ten sephiram in the trestleboard that is used by most students of the Cabala. 

An 11th 'ímaginary' sephira, called 'Death', is included in some versions of the Cabala, bringing the total number to eleven (11) – a Master number.

The Tree of Life consists of ten focal points, called sephira. These ten sephira are connected to twenty-two lines, or pathways. These focal points are considered separate stages of 'God', or aspects of life.

The lines connecting the sephira correspond to the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet.

The Tree of Life, while not appearing until the Middle Ages, plays an important part in our philosophical systems of thought, because it helps us to identify where we are in the grand scheme of things.

The Tree of Life diagram is an important pictorial representation, because it illustrates how the Universe was created, and is a map of the cosmos at all levels.


Each sephira in the Trestleboard corresponds with a specific planet, and is therefore closely aligned with the celestial art of Astrology.

The Cabala plays an intricate part in the subconscious understanding of the world.

Joanne Walmsley
Sacred Scribes

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