Treatise

A horizontal decorative border at the top of the page consists of repeating circular and floral ornamental motifs.

BOOK TWO.

In which the

NATURE OF KABBALAH,

AND ITS FOUNDATION

ARE DISCLOSED.

---

Reuchlin, Book 1

Decorative drop cap 'C' featuring elaborate foliage and scrollwork patterns.Kabbalah original: "Cabala"; derived from the Hebrew root QBL, meaning "to receive." (to draw its definition from the nature of the word itself) is the reception of the mystery of God and nature by the ear from another. Or put another way: Kabbalah is the symbolic reception of divine revelation, handed down for the life-giving contemplation of God and of the separated forms original: "formarum separatarum," a philosophical term referring to spiritual beings or intelligences that exist independently of physical matter, such as angels.. Those who obtain this by heavenly inspiration are rightly called by the name Kabbalists. And although this Hebrew name seems not to have been known except in the time of Christians, it is nevertheless most certain that this art is quite ancient. There are some, however, who wish for it to have taken its origin only from the times of Moses; although, if the matter is considered with a slightly more accurate gaze, we perceive that it was propagated even from the age of Adam. To him first, such a great secret was revealed by the Creator himself, which afterwards, in the succession of time, was handed down as if from father to son—not indeed to just anyone of greater age, but to those, whether older or younger, whom God wished to admit, as the sacred writings testify. From here, therefore, God was seen to offer greater grace to Abel than to Cain; whence the offering of the former was pleasing to Him, but that of the latter was rejected. This also happened by divine will to Jacob, while Esau was excluded.

Wisdom of Solomon 10, 11

The subject of this mystical science was that "Mystical Wisdom" so celebrated from the times of Adam down to the age of the Apostles. The Wise Man Refers to the author of the Book of Wisdom, traditionally attributed to Solomon. seems to confirm this through the following successive account:

Wisdom guarded Adam and gave him the power to contain all things. From her Cain perished; she healed the earth submerged in water and guided the Righteous Noah. She preserved and guarded the righteous Abraham. She delivered Lot as he fled from the fire descending upon the Five Cities The Pentapolis, including Sodom and Gomorrah.. She led Jacob, a fugitive from his brother’s wrath, along right paths, showed him the kingdom of God, and gave him the knowledge of the saints. She did not desert the righteous Joseph but delivered him from sinners. She freed the Israelites from Egyptian servitude. She entered into the soul of Moses, by which he stood against terrifying kings with portents and signs. She led the Israelites on a wonderful way and was to them a cover by day and the light of the stars by night. She transported them through the Red Sea. She directed the works of the wanderers by the hands of a holy prophet, and they stood against their enemies. To them, water was given from the rock, etc.

Finally, the Apostles themselves recognize this very thing to be their own "hidden mystery" which had its beginning from the very start of the world. 1 Corinthians 2 We speak, says the Apostle, of a mystical wisdom in a mystery, as it were hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory and revealed to us through the Spirit. Moreover, Solomon declares the reason why God does not walk with those who are least endowed with a gift of this kind: Wisdom, he says, establishes the friends of God and the prophets; for God loves no one except him who dwells with wisdom.

And it was from this that the offering of Abel was acceptable to God, while that of Cain was rejected; so too was Jacob beloved by God, while He held his elder brother Esau in hatred. For this reason, from the time he received the mystical Blessing from his father Isaac—and not before—God appeared to him with His angels, first in dreams and then later face to face. From that time on, according to the covenant made with his fathers Abraham and Isaac, He remained with the house of the Israel-