On the Highest Good, etc.

...by its thought, which was not granted even to the devil to grasp or understand—as it is revealed and known to God alone—yet through the mediation of His Wisdom, it was nonetheless granted to man to discern it. Finally, the last clause of that verse indicates that he King Solomon, the biblical figure traditionally credited with supreme wisdom and the authorship of several books of the Bible. possessed knowledge not only of the hidden condition of Angels, Demons, and souls, but also of the counsels and secrets of God Himself, as one to whom both the hidden things and the things manifest and revealed were made known through the mediation of wisdom. Indeed, Solomon elsewhere seems to confirm this, saying: Wisdom 9 Who shall search out the things that are in the heavens, and who shall know the counsel of God, unless God has given wisdom, and sent his Holy Spirit from the highest places? original: "Quæ in cælis sunt quis inuestigabit & consilium Dei quis nouerit nisi Deus dederit sapientiam..." — A quote from the Book of Wisdom 9:16-17. Finally, just as Jacob was taught by Isaac, and Isaac by Abraham, so Solomon was instructed by David in the acquisition of this mystical wisdom: which Solomon himself clearly and most exactly described as a certain pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty God and the brightness of eternal light, etc.

This, then, is the sole and unique subject of all true Magic as well as true Cabala: namely Wisdom, the Word, Christ, and the name of Jesus alone; nor is there any other Wisdom 7:22 name in heaven or on earth in which we may be saved except this one name of Jesus, in which all things are comprised, for Christ Jesus is all in all.

But now let us come to the spurious branch of Cabala, which seems to be nothing more than a fiction or a false image invented by human minds for their own pleasure. For although this may contain some mystery beneath it, devised by its inventor, nevertheless, because of the vanity and superstitious condition of this Jewish science, it causes a man to wander further from the laws of truth than it draws him out or frees him from the darkness in which he is immersed. Indeed, those who have been seriously occupied with this branch of Cabala have perceived that it is nothing other than a mere rhapsody of superstition, and a certain kind of Theurgy Theurgy: rituals intended to invoke the presence or action of divine beings or spirits; here used in a critical sense as "mere" magic.. And although some of the Jewish Kabbalists boast that this spurious art is derived from God for the perfection of human life, the salvation of men, the worship of God, and the truth of knowledge, it nonetheless appears in itself to be a very uncertain art, established upon no firm foundations. Thus, such inventions seem to tend more toward the concealment and, as it were, the removal of true mystery (as has been said) than toward its detection or toward the benefit of men. For example, the first species of this is called Gematria A system where words are given numerical values based on their letters, used to find hidden connections between different words., insofar as it is imagined to be a kind of numerical measurement of earthly characters in relation to one another; it is also frequently called Arithmetic, as it consists in the calculation of numbers. Furthermore, in its Geometric arrangement, a transposition of syllables is made according to the intention of the practitioner. Similarly, its second species is called Notariaca Also known as Notarikon; a method of forming new words or meanings using the first or last letters of other words, similar to an acronym.: it works through the significance of a word by a single letter alone without the joining of syllables. Finally, the last species consists in various exchanges of letters—namely, by using one letter in place of another according to the hidden intention of the author. From this comes that well-worn axiom of the Kabbalists: that it is the Kabbalist's duty to "read one thing and understand another," so that even a truly wise man can scarcely, if at all, reach the intention of the inventor or the one revolving the text.

But if the true Practitioner could comprehend the various nature and properties of the formal, luminous, or essential letters, according to their figure and image in their various appearances in Hyle Hyle: a Greek term for primordial, unformed matter., then he himself would understand (and that beyond further doubt) which letters are truly holy—the characters of the Divine Word itself or of holy Wisdom—through the mediation of which all things were made different in appearance during creation. Once these are well understood, being of one identity in essence, it will not be difficult to know why Wisdom is an emanation of divine light; why she is more excellent than the sun and all the stars compared in light; why all things were cut out from a single spiritual rock; why Christ Jesus is said to be all in all; and infinite other questions arising from these fiery and truly holy letters.

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