Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Volume I. September 1887-February 1888.Various
Religion
Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Volume I. September 1887-February 1888.
Various
Theosophy -- Periodicals
Mr. Mathers justly insists on the literal rendering of the Hebrew
title by the spelling Qabalah, which is no doubt correct, but lays
him open to a charge of pedantry, which perhaps does not much affect
him, since it would only come from superficial and possibly scoffing
critics. The use of the letter Q without its usual English companion
the u is sanctioned and advised, in this connection, by the learned
Max Müller and other Orientalists of repute. To avoid the printing
of Hebrew letters, the publisher has adopted a scheme of printing
Hebrew words in English capital letters (in addition to the mode of
pronunciation), after a method given by the author in tabular form.
To the Hebrew scholar this gives an idea of barbarism, which is
painful to the eye and sadly mars the volume, whilst it only saves
the student the task of learning an alphabet of 22 letters. I differ
from the author in representing the Hebrew Teth by T, while
depicting the Tau by TH., the reverse would have been a closer
imitation of the sounds. The Introduction includes a learned
excursus upon the idea of “Negative Existence,” in which
considerable light is thrown on that difficult subject; skilful
definitions are added concerning the AIN, the AIN SOPH, and AIN SOPH
AUR, answering in English to Negativity, The Limitless, and
Limitless Light, the first essences of Deity. Several pages are
devoted to a clear description of the Ten Sephiroth, the Numerical
Conceptions of Godhead, and their explanatory titles; the Four
Worlds of Emanation, and the component elements of a Human Soul; the
Mysteries of the Hexagram as a type of Macroprosopus, the Most Holy
Ancient One, or God the Father—and the succeeding mystery of
Microprosopus, the Lesser Countenance, typified in the Pentagram and
corresponding to the Christian Personality of the “Son of God,” are
all explained at length. The series of references to the IHVH the
Tetragrammaton, the Concealed Name of unknown pronunciation, form a
valuable dissertation. The book is supplied with nine well executed
diagrams, explanatory of the Sephiroth, the sacred names, essences
of the soul, and a very perfect and complete scheme of the Sephiroth
in the four worlds of emanation associated with the Vision of
Ezekiel. Mr. Mathers desires to call special attention to the
differentiation of the Deity in the Emanations, into the female type
in addition to masculine characteristics: note the idealism of the
Superior HE, Binah, the Mother, and the Inferior HE, Malkuth, the
Bride of Microprosopus, the Kingdom of God (the Son of God and his
Bride the Church), note that Genesis i. 26, says “let _Us_ make man
in our image,” “male and female created he them;” the “_us_” is
“Elohim,” a noun in the plural.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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