[Opinion] Is kabbalah universal?

[Morell]

Why the question of whether Kabbalah is universal or not? How exactly do we define the universality of a phenomenon? In any case, in my humble opinion, what we consider Kabbalah today is an adapted form of some older Gnostic or pre-Gnostic doctrine. Sometimes Kabbalah seems to be good old pantheism camouflaged as monotheistic mystical teaching. The Sefer Yetzirah, for example, combines elements of the old star science with the monotheistic idea of Judaism. Hasn’t mainstream Judaism rejected and condemned the Chaldean star science and the worship of stellar gods? In the Sefer Yetzirah we see the reintroduction of that doctrine disguised as the mysticism of letters and numbers.

True knowledge is true power.

This is question that was kind of bugging my mind, especially after reading T. Carlson's book. More because of why some people insist on using it when they don't even have Judeo-Christian worldview and try to find connection between kabbalah and that other worldview. Feels like self-humiliating attempt to me, that requires too much of mental gymnastic to perform.

 

[Johny111]

True knowledge is true power.

This is question that was kind of bugging my mind, especially after reading T. Carlson's book. More because of why some people insist on using it when they don't even have Judeo-Christian worldview and try to find connection between kabbalah and that other worldview. Feels like self-humiliating attempt to me, that requires too much of mental gymnastic to perform.

Speaking of Carlson, in his book - "Qabalah, Qliphoth and Goetic Magic" he emphasizes that a person who wants to practice magic in the way presented in that book does not have to be religious because terms like "God", "Satan", "Heaven", "Hell", essentially refer to universal principles of power. Nevertheless, he created a strange "universal" mixture consisting of: Odin's runosophy, Vamachara tantra, Kenneth Grant's "Typhonian Alchemy" and Qliphothic Kabbalah / Qabalah. I must admit, this is a completely postmodern approach. However, such a syncretic approach is characteristic of the development of modern occultism, starting with the Golden Dawn, the Theosophical Society, as well as the neo-Rosicrucians. Thus, Kabbalah, or at least that form of it known as "Hermetic Kabbalah" or "Christian" Kabbalah, acquired the epithet of universality.

 

[Konsciencia]

You don't have to agree with my perspective but I am sharing it anyway.
I'm from another world so my understanding is that the system itself was even much older and came under the form of energetic technology as a crystal and knowledge was diluted, distorted and appropriated in order to preserve the true meaning and also keep it in the esoteric (hidden side of knowledge) side.
The system was taught in atlantean schools of knowledge and the symbol we know today as Tree of Life was in fact a crystalline structure, a crystal. From here the twisted version of the "Philosopher's Stone".
I use the crystalline grid structure to create the pattern for distillation of sigil construction system promoted by A. Osman Spare

Interesting!!! I think you are on something here.

 

[AbammonTheGreat]

Sometimes Kabbalah seems to be good old pantheism camouflaged as monotheistic mystical teaching.

This has to do with the main practitioners of Jewish Kabbalah being the Hasids. Their founder the Ba'al Shem Tov taught God as panentheistic instead of monotheistic and his influence on orthodox Judaism through the hasidic movement revolutionized their understanding of their faith. It's had a trickle down effect on Judaism influencing every part of it. But the reason a large section of Judaism considers Kabbalists "lost jews" is because of this reformation the Baal Shem Tov's teachings of God's direct involvement and presence in the universe had on its original understanding of him as a monotheistic God. The influence of Neoplatonism on Kabbalah injected the axioms necessary for Judaism to come to this conclusion with enough thought and practice as its the natural philosophical and theological conclusion to a metaphysics based in emanationism.

 

[Voidking]

I think Kaballah or any system whether it is western or eastern, could be and is universal.

The words of power, rituals, patterns, spirits, the map and symbols, can all be accessed through the inner planes with the correct practice.
You don't need to be a jew to use the Kabbalstic model and its practices, however you need to know, understand, and put in practice what you learned, in the correct way, with the right intention, symbols, visiualisation etc.... basically you will access egregores.