1.
Engraving
–
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it. Wood engraving is a form of printing and is not covered in this article. Engraving was an important method of producing images on paper in artistic printmaking, in mapmaking. Other terms often used for printed engravings are copper engraving, copper-plate engraving or line engraving, hand engraving is a term sometimes used for engraving objects other than printing plates, to inscribe or decorate jewellery, firearms, trophies, knives and other fine metal goods. Traditional engravings in printmaking are also engraved, using just the same techniques to make the lines in the plate. Each graver is different and has its own use, engravers use a hardened steel tool called a burin, or graver, to cut the design into the surface, most traditionally a copper plate. Modern professional engravers can engrave with a resolution of up to 40 lines per mm in high grade work creating game scenes, dies used in mass production of molded parts are sometimes hand engraved to add special touches or certain information such as part numbers. In addition to engraving, there are engraving machines that require less human finesse and are not directly controlled by hand. They are usually used for lettering, using a pantographic system, there are versions for the insides of rings and also the outsides of larger pieces. Such machines are used for inscriptions on rings, lockets. Gravers come in a variety of shapes and sizes that yield different line types, the burin produces a unique and recognizable quality of line that is characterized by its steady, deliberate appearance and clean edges. The angle tint tool has a curved tip that is commonly used in printmaking. Florentine liners are flat-bottomed tools with multiple lines incised into them, ring gravers are made with particular shapes that are used by jewelry engravers in order to cut inscriptions inside rings. Flat gravers are used for work on letters, as well as wriggle cuts on most musical instrument engraving work, remove background. Knife gravers are for line engraving and very deep cuts, round gravers, and flat gravers with a radius, are commonly used on silver to create bright cuts, as well as other hard-to-cut metals such as nickel and steel. Square or V-point gravers are typically square or elongated diamond-shaped and used for cutting straight lines, V-point can be anywhere from 60 to 130 degrees, depending on purpose and effect. These gravers have very small cutting points, other tools such as mezzotint rockers, roulets and burnishers are used for texturing effects. Burnishing tools can also be used for stone setting techniques
Engraving
–
St. Jerome in His Study (1514), an engraving by Northern Renaissance master
Albrecht Dürer
Engraving
–
Artist and engraver
Chaim Goldberg at work
Engraving
–
An assortment of hand engraving tools
Engraving
–
At an engravers workshop: Miniature engraving on a
Louis George watch movement: Smallest engraving of the royal
Prussian eagle on a watch movement. It takes about 100 passes to create the figure.
2.
Archangel
–
An archangel /ˌɑːrkˈeɪndʒəl/ is an angel of high rank. The word archangel itself is associated with the Abrahamic religions. The word archangel is derived from the Greek ἀρχάγγελος, Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism, Islam and by most Christians. Protestants recognize Gabriel as an angel but consider Michael to be the only archangel, raphael—mentioned in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit—is also recognized in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael are venerated in the Roman Catholic Church with a feast on September 29, the named archangels in Islam are Gabriel, Michael, Israfil and Azrael. Jewish literature, such as the Book of Enoch, mentions Metatron as an archangel, called the highest of the angels, some branches of the faiths mentioned have identified a group of seven Archangels, but the actual angels vary, depending on the source. Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael are always mentioned, the other archangels vary, but most commonly include Uriel, in Zoroastrianism, sacred texts allude to the six great Amesha Spenta of Ahura Mazda. An increasing number of experts in anthropology, theology and philosophy, the Amesha Spentas of Zoroastrianism are likened to archangels. They individually inhabit immortal bodies that operate in the world to protect, guide, and inspire humanity. The Avesta explains the origin and nature of archangels or Amesha Spentas, to maintain equilibrium, Ahura Mazda engaged in the first act of creation, distinguishing his Holy Spirit Spenta Mainyu, the Archangel of righteousness. Ahura Mazda also distinguished from himself six more Amesha Spentas, who, along with Spenta Mainyu, then he oversaw the development of sixteen lands, each imbued with a unique cultural catalyst calculated to encourage the formation of distinct human populations. The Amesha Spentas were charged with protecting these holy lands and through their emanation, the Amesha Spentas as attributes of God are, Spenta Mainyu, lit. Immortality The Hebrew Bible uses the ter. מלאכי אלוהים, The Hebrew word for angel is malach, מלאכי י י, בני אלוהים and הקדושים to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angelic messengers. Other terms are used in texts, such as העליונים. References to angels are uncommon in Jewish literature except in works such as the Book of Daniel, though they are mentioned briefly in the stories of Jacob. Daniel is the first biblical figure to refer to individual angels by name and it is therefore widely speculated that Jewish interest in angels developed during the Babylonian captivity. According to Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish of Tiberias, specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon, there are no explicit references to archangels in the canonical texts of the Hebrew Bible. In post-Biblical Judaism, certain angels came to take on a particular significance, though these archangels were believed to have rank amongst the heavenly host, no systematic hierarchy ever developed
Archangel
–
The Annunciation by
Paolo de Matteis
Archangel
–
Jacob wrestling with the Angel by
Gustave Doré 1885
Archangel
–
Guido Reni 's Archangel Michael Trampling Satan, 1636.
Archangel
–
Gabriel, Michael and Raphael, depicted in
stained glass in
St Ailbe's Church, a Catholic church in Ireland
3.
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew street sign, above in
Hebrew alphabet, below in
Latin transliteration. Aluf Batslut veAluf Shum (he) ("The Onion Champion and the Garlic Champion") is a
play by
Hayim Nahman Bialik.
Hebrew language
–
Portion of the
Temple Scroll, one of the longest of the
Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at
Qumran
Hebrew language
–
The
Shebna Inscription, from the tomb of a royal steward found in
Siloam, dates to the 7th century BCE.
Hebrew language
–
Hebrew script used in writing a Torah scroll. Note ornamental "crowns" on tops of certain letters.
4.
Seven Archangels
–
While this book today is non-canonical in most Christian churches, it was explicitly quoted in the New Testament and by many of the early Church Fathers. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church to this day regards it to be canonical, in the late 5th to early 6th century, Pseudo-Dionysius gives them as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Camael, Jophiel and Zadkiel. The earliest Christian mention is by Pope Saint Gregory I who lists them as Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Simiel, Oriphiel and Raguel. A later reference to seven archangels would appear in an 8th or 9th century talisman attributed to Auriolus and he issues a prayer to all you patriarchs Michael, Gabriel, Cecitiel, Oriel, Raphael, Ananiel, Marmoniel. The Catholic Church recognizes four archangels, the three mentioned in its canon of Scripture, Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, and Phanuel, some strands of the Eastern Orthodox Church, exemplified in the Orthodox Slavonic Bible, recognize as authoritative also 2 Esdras, which mentions Uriel. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine tradition, venerate seven archangels, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Phanuel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel, Barachiel, and the eighth, Jerahmeel. In the Coptic Orthodox tradition the seven archangels are named as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Suriel, Sedakiel, Sarathiel, other names derived from pseudepigrapha and recognized by Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches are Selaphiel, Jegudiel, and Raguel. Seven angels or archangels are given as related to the seven days of the week, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Raguel or Jegudiel, and Barachiel. According to Rudolf Steiner, four important archangels also display periodic spiritual activity over the seasons, Spring is Raphael, Summer is Uriel, Autumn is Michael, following this line of reasoning, Aries represents Spring, Cancer represents Summer, Libra represents Autumn, and Capricorn represents Winter. Therefore, by association, Raphael is Mars, Uriel is Moon, Michael is Venus, the seven archangels figure in some systems of ritual magic, each archangel bearing a specific seal
Seven Archangels
–
"Synaxis of the Archangel Michael" ("Собор Архистратига Михаила"). An
Eastern Orthodox Church icon of the "Seven
Archangels ". From left to right:
Jegudiel,
Gabriel,
Selaphiel,
Michael,
Uriel,
Raphael,
Barachiel. Beneath the
mandorla of Christ
Emmanuel are representations of
Cherubim (in blue) and
Seraphim (in red).
5.
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
–
The author pseudonymously identifies himself in the corpus as Dionysios, portraying himself as the figure of Dionysius the Areopagite, the Athenian convert of Paul of Tarsus mentioned in Acts 17,34. This false attribution to the earliest decades of Christianity resulted in the work being given authority in subsequent theological writing in both East and West. Its influence decreased in the West with the 15th century demonstration of its later dating, in attempts to identify a date after which the corpus must have been composed, a number of features have been identified in Dionysius writing, though the latter two are subject to scholarly debate. In the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy Dionysius twice seems to allude to the recitation of the Creed in the course of the liturgy. It is often asserted that Peter the Fuller first mandated the inclusion of the Nicene Creed in the liturgy in 476, thus providing an earliest date for the composition of the Corpus. It is often suggested that because Dionysius seems to eschew divisive Christological language, he was writing after the Henoticon of Zeno was in effect. Also, given that the Henoticon was rescinded in 518, if Dionysius was writing after this date and it is possible that pseudo-Dionysius was himself a member of this group, though debate continues over whether his writings do in fact reveal a monophysite understanding of Christ. The author pseudonymously identifies himself in the corpus as Dionysios, portraying himself as the figure of Dionysius the Areopagite, various legends existed in the early surrounding the figure of Dionysius, who became emblematic of the spread of the gospel to the Greek world. It is therefore not surprising that that author of works would have chosen to adopt the name of this otherwise briefly mentioned figure. }}The authorship of the Dionysian Corpus was initially disputed, Severus and his party affirmed its apostolic dating. During the 19th century modernist Catholics too came generally to accept that the author must have lived after the time of Proclus, both showed that Dionysius had used, in his treatise on evil in Chapter 4 of The Divine Names, the De malorum subsistentia of Proclus. Corrigan and Harrington find Pseudo-Dionysius to be most probably a pupil of Proclus, perhaps of Syrian origin, who knew enough of Platonism and the Christian tradition to transform them both. Since Proclus died in 485, and since the first clear citation of Dionysius works is by Severus of Antioch between 518 and 528, then we can place Dionysius authorship between 485 and 518-28. Ronald Hathaway provides a table listing most of the identifications of Dionysius. A more recent identification is with Damascius, the last scholarch of the School of Athens, there is therefore no current scholarly consensus on the question of Pseudo-Dionysius identification. There was no concept of property in the ancient world. The Stanford Encyclopedia claims It must also be recognized that forgery is a modern notion, like Plotinus and the Cappadocian Fathers before him, Dionysius does not claim to be an innovator, but rather a communicator of a tradition. His works are mystical, and show strong Neoplatonic influence, for example he uses Plotinus well-known analogy of a sculptor cutting away that which does not enhance the desired image, and shows familiarity with Proclus. He also shows influence from Clement of Alexandria, the Cappadocian Fathers, Origen of Alexandria, Parmenides, according to pseudo-Dionysius, God is better characterized and approached by negations than by affirmations
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
6.
Adam and Eve
–
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman and the ancestors of all humans. It provides the basis for the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. It also provides much of the basis for the doctrines of the fall of man and original sin that are important beliefs in Christianity. In the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, chapters one through five, in the first, Adam and Eve are not mentioned. Instead, God created humankind in Gods image and instructed them to multiply, in the second narrative, God fashions Adam from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden. Adam is told that he can till the ground and eat freely of all the trees in the garden, except for a tree of the knowledge of good, subsequently, Eve is created from one of Adams ribs to be Adams companion. They are innocent and unashamed about their nakedness, however, a serpent deceives Eve into eating fruit from the forbidden tree, and she gives some of the fruit to Adam. These acts give them additional knowledge, but it gives them the ability to conjure negative and destructive concepts such as shame, God later curses the serpent and the ground. God prophetically tells the woman and the man what will be the consequences of their sin of disobeying God, then he banishes them from the Garden of Eden. The story underwent extensive elaboration in later Abrahamic traditions, and it has been analyzed by modern biblical scholars. The story of Adam and Eve is often depicted in art, the story of the fall of Adam is often understood to be an allegory. There is no evidence that Adam and Eve ever literally existed. In the Book of Genesis, the Genesis creation narrative tells of the creation of the first humans, humankind, in Genesis 1, scholars recognize two separate accounts of the creation in the Old Testament. In the Priestly narrative, God creates the world in six days, culminating in the creation of humanity, here, in the Priestly narrative, the emphasis is on the entirety of the universe and its creation. Here, in the Jahwist narrative, the emphasis is on the Earth within the universe, and humankinds residence on the Earth. Contrast, for example, the order of terms in Genesis 1,1 where it says that God made the heavens and the Earth with Genesis 2,4 where it says God made the Earth and the heavens. In the Jahwist version of the story, God places the man in a garden in Eden where he is permitted to till the land and tend the garden and animals, Genesis 2, 8–15. But none of the animals are found to be a companion for the man, so God causes the man to sleep
Adam and Eve
–
Adam and Eve a painting by
Peter Paul Rubens.
Adam and Eve
–
The Creation of Adam depicted in the
Sistine Chapel by
Michelangelo
Adam and Eve
–
William Blake 's color printing of God Judging Adam (1795). This print is currently held by the
Tate Collection. In the Biblical story, God's judgement is expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve
–
The fall of Adam and Eve as depicted in the
Sistine Chapel by
Michelangelo
7.
Paradise
–
Paradise is the term for a place of timeless harmony. Paradise is a place of contentment, a land of luxury, Paradise is often described as a higher place, the holiest place, in contrast to this world, or underworlds such as Hell. In eschatological contexts, paradise is imagined as an abode of the virtuous dead, in Christian and Islamic understanding, Heaven is a paradisaical relief. In old Egyptian beliefs, the otherworld is Aaru, the reed-fields of ideal hunting and fishing grounds where the dead lived after judgment, for the Celts, it was the Fortunate Isle of Mag Mell. For the classical Greeks, the Elysian fields was a land of plenty where the heroic. The Vedic Indians held that the body was destroyed by fire. In the Zoroastrian Avesta, the Best Existence and the House of Song are places of the righteous dead, on the other hand, in cosmological contexts paradise describes the world before it was tainted by evil. The concept is a theme in art and literature, particularly of the pre-Enlightenment era, the word paradise entered English from the French paradis, inherited from the Latin paradisus, from Greek parádeisos, from an Old Iranian *paridayda- walled enclosure. By the 6th/5th century BCE, the Old Iranian word had been adopted as Assyrian pardesu domain and it subsequently came to indicate the expansive walled gardens of the First Persian Empire. The term eventually appeared in Greek as parádeisos park for animals in the Anabasis of the early 4th century BCE Athenian Xenophon, aramaic pardaysa similarly reflects royal park. Hebrew פרדס appears thrice in the Tanakh, in the Song of Solomon 4,13, Ecclesiastes 2,5, in those contexts it could be interpreted as an orchard or a fruit garden. In the Septuagint, Greek παράδεισος parádeisos was used to translate both Hebrew pardes and Hebrew gan, garden, it is from this usage that the use of paradise to refer to the Garden of Eden derives. The same usage appears in Arabic and in the Quran as firdaws فردوس. The words etymology is derived from a PIE root *dheigʷ to stick. It is reflected in Avestan as pairi-daêza-, the literal meaning of this Eastern Old Iranian language word is walled, from pairi- around and -diz to make, form, build. The word is not attested in other Old Iranian languages, the idea of a walled enclosure was not preserved in most Iranian usage, and generally came to refer to a plantation or other cultivated area, not necessarily walled. For example, the Old Iranian word survives as Pardis in New Persian as well as its derivative pālīz, later in Second Temple era Judaism paradise came to be associated with the Garden of Eden and prophesies of restoration of Eden, and transferred to heaven. The Septuagint uses the word around 30 times, both of Eden, and of Eden restored, in the Apocalypse of Moses, Adam and Eve are expelled from paradise after having been tricked by the serpent
Paradise
–
Paradise by
Jan Bruegel
Paradise
–
Nicolas Poussin, Four seasons of paradise, 1660–64
Paradise
–
Mead Bradock, Paradise According to Three Different Hypotheses, 1747
8.
Life of Adam and Eve
–
The Life of Adam and Eve, also known, in its Greek version, as the Apocalypse of Moses, is a Jewish pseudepigraphical group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths and it provides more detail about the Fall of Man, including Eves version of the story. Satan explains that he rebelled when God commanded him to bow down to Adam, after Adam dies, he and all his descendants are promised a resurrection. These texts are named as Primary Adam Literature to distinguish them from subsequent related texts. They differ greatly in length and wording, but for the most part are derived from a source that has not survived. Each version contains some material, as well as variations and omissions. While the surviving versions were composed from the early 3rd to the 5th century, there is wide agreement that the original was composed in a Semitic language in the 1st century AD/CE. The main theological issue in these texts is that of the consequences of the Fall of Man, of which sickness and death are mentioned. While the idea of resurrection of the dead is present, there is no idea of Messianism, the Life of Adam and Eve is also important in the study of the early Seth traditions. Interesting parallels can be found with some New Testament passages, such as the mention of the Tree of Life in Revelation 22,2, the Apocalypse of Moses is the usual name for the Greek version of the Life of Adam and Eve. This title was given to it by Tischendorf, its first editor, in the text, Moses is referred to only in the first sentence as the prophet to whom the story was revealed. The Greek Apocalypse of Moses is usually considered to predate the Latin Life of Adam, Tischendorf used four manuscripts for his edition, A, the heavily Christian-interpolated B, manuscript C, and manuscript D, which has probably the best text. During the 20th century many other manuscripts have been found, of which E1 and E2, after being banished from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve go to the East and live there for eighteen years and two months. Eve gives birth to Cain and Abel, Eve dreams that Cain drinks the blood of Abel, but that it then came out of his mouth. Michael promises to Adam a new son, and Seth is born in place of Abel, Adam begets 30 other sons and 30 daughters. As Adam falls sick and is in pain, all his sons and daughters come to him, Seth and Eve travel to the doors of the Garden to beg for some oil of the tree of mercy. On the way Seth is attacked and bitten by a wild beast, on their return, Adam says to Eve, What hast thou done. Thou hast brought us great wrath which is death
Life of Adam and Eve
–
The Expulsion Of Adam and Eve from Eden picture of Mála biblia z-kejpami (sl) (Small Bible with pictures) of
Péter Kollár (1897).
9.
Kabbalah
–
Kabbalah is an esoteric method, discipline, and school of thought that originated in Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist in Judaism is called a Mekubbal, Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal, and mysterious Ein Sof and the mortal and finite universe. While it is used by some denominations, it is not a religious denomination in itself. It forms the foundations of religious interpretation. Kabbalah seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence and it also presents methods to aid understanding of the concepts and thereby attain spiritual realisation. Kabbalah originally developed within the realm of Jewish tradition, and kabbalists often use classical Jewish sources to explain, traditional practitioners believe its earliest origins pre-date world religions, forming the primordial blueprint for Creations philosophies, religions, sciences, arts, and political systems. Safed Rabbi Isaac Luria is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah and it was popularised in the form of Hasidic Judaism from the 18th century onwards. According to the Zohar, a text for kabbalistic thought. These four levels are called pardes from their initial letters, peshat, the direct interpretations of meaning. Derash, midrashic meanings, often with imaginative comparisons with similar words or verses, sod, the inner, esoteric meanings, expressed in kabbalah. Kabbalah is considered by its followers as a part of the study of Torah – the study of Torah being an inherent duty of observant Jews. A third tradition, related but more shunned, involves the magical aims of Practical Kabbalah and they can be readily distinguished by their basic intent with respect to God, The Theosophical tradition of Theoretical Kabbalah seeks to understand and describe the divine realm. Consequently, it formed a minor tradition shunned from Kabbalah. According to traditional belief, early kabbalistic knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, According to this view, early kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BC, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel. Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time to hide the knowledge and make it secret and it is hard to clarify with any degree of certainty the exact concepts within kabbalah. There are several different schools of thought with different outlooks, however. From the Renaissance onwards Jewish Kabbalah texts entered non-Jewish culture, where they were studied and translated by Christian Hebraists, syncretic traditions of Christian Kabbalah and Hermetic Qabalah developed independently of Jewish Kabbalah, reading the Jewish texts as universal ancient wisdom. Both adapted the Jewish concepts freely from their Judaic understanding, to merge with other theologies, religious traditions, with the decline of Christian Cabala in the Age of Reason, Hermetic Qabalah continued as a central underground tradition in Western esotericism
Kabbalah
–
Latin translation of
Gikatilla's Shaarei Ora
Kabbalah
–
Jewish mysticism
Kabbalah
–
Grave of
Rabbi Akiva in
Tiberias. He features in Hekhalot mystical literature, and as one of the four who entered the
Pardes
10.
Zohar
–
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on mysticism, mythical cosmogony. Its scriptural exegesis can be considered a form of the Rabbinic literature known as Midrash. The Zohar is mostly written in what has been described as a cryptic, Aramaic, the day-to-day language of Israel in the Second Temple period, was the original language of large sections of the biblical books of Daniel and Ezra, and is the main language of the Talmud. The Zohar first appeared in Spain in the 13th century, and was published by a Jewish writer named Moses de León and this accords with the traditional claim by adherents that Kabbalah is the concealed part of the Oral Torah. In the Bible the word Zohar appears in the vision of Ezekiel 8,2 and is translated as meaning radiance or light. It appears again in Daniel 12,3, The wise ones will shine like the radiance of the firmament and she confessed that her husband himself was the author of the work. The story indicates that shortly after its appearance the work was believed by some to have been written by Moses de Leon. Over time, the view in the Jewish community came to be one of acceptance of Moses de Leons claims. Rav Kaplan concludes saying this was the series of events. The Zohar spread among the Jews with remarkable swiftness, scarcely fifty years had passed since its appearance in Spain before it was quoted by many Kabbalists, including the Italian mystical writer Menahem Recanati and by Todros Abulafia. Certain Jewish communities, however, such as the Dor Daim, Andalusian, the Zohar instead declared Man to be the lord of the creation, whose immortality is solely dependent upon his morality. Conversely, Elijah Delmedigo, in his Bechinat ha-Dat endeavored to show that the Zohar could not be attributed to Shimon bar Yochai and they found it unsurprising that bar Yochai should have foretold future happenings or made references to historical events of the post-Talmudic period. However R Soloman Luria admits in responsa 98 that the zohar cant override a minhag, in the Ashkenazi community of Eastern Europe, religious authorities including the Vilna Gaon and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi believed in the authenticity of the Zohar. Especially controversial were the views of the Dor Daim on the Zohar, as presented in Milhamoth Hashem, instead, they intermarried, sat together in batei midrash, and continued to sit with Rabbi Qafeḥ in beth din. Most of Orthodox Judaism holds that the teachings of Kabbalah were transmitted from teacher to teacher, in a long and continuous chain, the greatest acceptance of this sequence of events is held within Haredi Judaism, especially Chasidic groups. R Yechiel Michel Epstein, and R Yisrael Meir Kagan both believed in the authenticity of the Zohar, Rabbis Eliyahu Dessler and Gedaliah Nadel maintained that it is acceptable to believe that the Zohar was not written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and that it had a late authorship. Some claim the tradition that Rabbi Shimon wrote that the concealment of the Zohar would last for exactly 1200 years from the time of destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem
Zohar
–
Representation of the
Five Worlds with the 10
Sephirot in each, as successively smaller concentric circles, derived from the light of the Kav after the
Tzimtzum
11.
Torah
–
The Torah is the central reference of Judaism. It has a range of meanings and it can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty-four books of the Tanakh, and it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries. In rabbinic literature the word Torah denotes both the five books and the Oral Torah, the Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash. According to the Midrash, the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, traditionally, the words of the Torah are written on a scroll by a scribe in Hebrew. A Torah portion is read publicly at least once every three days in the presence of a congregation, reading the Torah publicly is one of the bases for Jewish communal life. The word Torah in Hebrew is derived from the root ירה, the meaning of the word is therefore teaching, doctrine, or instruction, the commonly accepted law gives a wrong impression. Other translational contexts in the English language include custom, theory, guidance, the earliest name for the first part of the Bible seems to have been The Torah of Moses. This title, however, is neither in the Torah itself. It appears in Joshua and Kings, but it cannot be said to refer there to the entire corpus, in contrast, there is every likelihood that its use in the post-Exilic works was intended to be comprehensive. Other early titles were The Book of Moses and The Book of the Torah, Christian scholars usually refer to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible as the Pentateuch, a term first used in the Hellenistic Judaism of Alexandria, meaning five books, or as the Law. The Torah starts from the beginning of Gods creating the world, through the beginnings of the people of Israel, their descent into Egypt, and it ends with the death of Moses, just before the people of Israel cross to the promised land of Canaan. Interspersed in the narrative are the teachings given explicitly or implicitly embedded in the narrative. This is followed by the story of the three patriarchs, Joseph and the four matriarchs, God gives to the patriarchs a promise of the land of Canaan, but at the end of Genesis the sons of Jacob end up leaving Canaan for Egypt due to a regional famine. They had heard there was a grain storage and distribution facility in Egypt. Exodus begins the story of Gods revelation to his people of Israel through Moses, Moses receives the Torah from God, and teaches His laws and Covenant to the people of Israel. It also talks about the first violation of the covenant when the Golden Calf was constructed, Exodus includes the instructions on building the Tabernacle and concludes with its actual construction. Leviticus begins with instructions to the Israelites on how to use the Tabernacle, leviticus 26 provides a detailed list of rewards for following Gods commandments and a detailed list of punishments for not following them. Numbers tells how Israel consolidated itself as a community at Sinai, set out from Sinai to move towards Canaan, even Moses sins and is told he would not live to enter the land
Torah
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Sefer Torah at old
Glockengasse Synagogue (reconstruction),
Cologne
Torah
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Silver Torah Case,
Ottoman Empire Museum of Jewish Art and History
Torah
–
Reading of the Torah
Torah
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Tanakh (Judaism)
12.
Shabbat
–
Shabbat observance entails refraining from work activities, often with great rigor, and engaging in restful activities to honor the day. Judaisms traditional position is that unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution, variations upon Shabbat are widespread in Judaism and, with adaptations, throughout the Abrahamic and many other religions. According to halakha, Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night, Shabbat is ushered in by lighting candles and reciting a blessing. Traditionally, three meals are eaten, in the evening, in the early afternoon, and late in the afternoon. The evening meal begins with a blessing called kiddush and another blessing recited over two loaves of challah. Shabbat is closed the evening with a havdalah blessing. Shabbat is a day when Jews exercise their freedom from the regular labors of everyday life. It offers an opportunity to contemplate the spiritual aspects of life, the word Shabbat derives from the Hebrew verb shavat. Although frequently translated as rest, another translation of these words is ceasing. The related modern Hebrew word shevita, has the implication of active rather than passive abstinence from work. The notion of active cessation from labor is also regarded as consistent with an omnipotent Gods activity on the seventh day of Creation according to Genesis. Sabbath is given status as a holy day at the very beginning of the Torah in Genesis 2. It is first commanded after the Exodus from Egypt, in Exodus 16,26 and in Exodus 20, Sabbath is commanded and commended many more times in the Torah and Tanakh, double the normal number of animal sacrifices are to be offered on the day. Sabbath is also described by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, the longstanding traditional Jewish position is that unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution. The Mosaic tradition quotes an origin from the Bible of special creation, though some suggest a later, naturalistic origin. Seventh-day Shabbat did not originate with the Egyptians, to whom it was unknown, the first non-Biblical reference to Sabbath is in an ostracon found in excavations at Mesad Hashavyahu, which is dated 630 BCE. The prohibitions on these days, spaced seven days apart, include abstaining from chariot riding, on these days officials were prohibited from various activities and common men were forbidden to make a wish, and at least the 28th was known as a rest-day. The difficulties of this theory include reconciling the differences between a week and a lunar week, and explaining the absence of texts naming the lunar week as Sabbath in any language
Shabbat
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Shabbat candles
Shabbat
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A silver matchbox holder for Shabbat from the
Republic of Macedonia
Shabbat
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A challah cover with
Hebrew inscription
Shabbat
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Reciting blessing over Shabbat candles
13.
Ham (son of Noah)
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Ham, according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis, was a son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan. Hams descendants are interpreted by Moses, Flavius Josephus and others as having populated Africa, the Bible refers to Egypt as the land of Ham in Psalms.78,51,105,23,27,106,22,1 Chronicles 4,40. Since the 17th century a number of suggestions have been made that relate the name Ham to a Hebrew word for burnt, black or hot, to an Egyptian word for servant, or the Egyptian word Kmt for Egypt. Genesis 5,32 indicates that Noah became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth from the age of 500 years old, an incident involving Ham is related in Genesis 9, 20-27. 20And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard,21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father,25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem,27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. —Authorized King James Version Ham was blessed in Genesis 9,1 – Noah did not curse him directly, the Talmud deduces two possible explanations, one attributed to Rab and one to Rabbi Samuel, for what Ham did to Noah to warrant the curse. According to Rab, Ham castrated Noah on the basis that, since Noah cursed Ham by his fourth son Canaan, emasculating him thus deprived Noah of the possibility of a fourth son. In Genesis 34,2 it reads, And when Shechem the son of Hamor saw her, he took her and lay with her, according to this argument, similar abuse must have happened each time that the Bible uses the same language. The Talmud concludes that, in fact, both indignities were perpetrated, although the story can be taken literally, in more recent times, some scholars have suggested that Ham may have had intercourse with his fathers wife. Under this interpretation, Canaan is cursed as the product of Hams illicit union, the chronological scheme of the Book of Jubilees has Ham born in the year 1209 A. M. — two years after Shem, three before Japheth, and 99 before the flood. It gives the name of his wife who survived the flood as Naeltamauk. After his youngest son Canaan was cursed in 1321 A. M. he left Mount Ararat and built a city named for his wife on the south side of the mountain. In 1569 A. M. he received a division of the earth along with his two brothers for his inheritance, everything west of the Nile River, and to the south of Gadir. Dwell not in the dwelling of Shem, for to Shem and to his sons did it come by their lot. Cursed art thou, and cursed shalt thou be beyond all the sons of Noah, by the curse by which we bound ourselves by an oath in the presence of the holy judge, and in the presence of Noah our father. But he did not hearken unto them, and dwelt in the land of Lebanon from Hamath to the entering of Egypt, he, and for this reason that land is named Canaan
Ham (son of Noah)
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Ham (Cham)
Ham (son of Noah)
–
Ivan Ksenofontov. The damnation of Ham
14.
Japheth
–
In medieval and early modern European tradition he was considered to be the progenitor of European and, later, East Asian peoples. Japheth first appears in the Book of Genesis as a one of the three sons of Noah, saved through the Ark, following the Flood he features in the story of Noahs drunkenness. ”. Scholars increasingly see this as a product of the Achaemenid Empire, almost none of the persons, places and stories in the first eleven chapters of Genesis are ever mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. This has led scholars to suppose that the History is a composition, attached to Genesis to serve as an introduction to that book. Japheth is a transliteration of the Greek Iapetos, the ancestor of the Hellenic peoples, however, Genesis 10,14 identifies their ancestor as Ham rather than Japheth. For those who take the genealogies of Genesis to be historically accurate, the link between Japheth and the Europeans stems from Genesis 10,5, which states, By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands. Prince Hal notes of such people. they will be kin to us, in the Bible, Japheth is ascribed seven sons, Gomer, Magog, Tiras, Javan, Meshech, Tubal, and Madai. Josephus subsequently detailed the nations supposed to have descended from the seven sons of Japheth, the Book of Jasher, published by Talmudic rabbis in the 17th century, provides some new names for Japheths grandchildren not found in the Bible, and provided a much more detailed genealogy. In the seventh century, Isidore of Seville published his noted history, scholars in almost every European nation continued to repeat and develop Saint Isidores assertion of descent from Noah through Japheth into the nineteenth century. In Scotland, histories tracing the Scottish people to Japheth were published as late as George Chalmers well-received Caledonia, the term Japhetic was also applied by William Jones and other early linguists to what became known as the Indo-European language group. In a different sense, it was used by the Soviet linguist Nikolai Marr in his Japhetic theory. Japheth is not mentioned by name in the Quran but is referred to indirectly in the narrative of Noah, Muslim exegesis, however, names all of Noahs sons, and these include Japheth. In identifying Japheths descendants, Muslim exegesis more-or-less agrees with the Biblical traditions and he is usually regarded as the ancestor of the Gog and Magog tribes, and, at times, of the Turks, Khazars, and Slavs. Some traditions narrated that 36 languages of the world could be traced back to Japheth
Japheth
–
"Japheth third son of Noah", as depicted in Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (c. 1553)
15.
Shem
–
Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. Genesis 10,21 refers to ages of Shem and his brother Japheth. The verse is translated in the KJV as Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. However, the New American Standard Bible gives, Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born. Genesis 11,10 records that Shem was 100 years old at the birth of Arphaxad, two years after the flood, and that he lived for another 500 years after this, making his age at death 600 years. The children of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram, Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrews and Arabs, was one of the descendants of Arphaxad. Islamic literature describes Shem as one of the sons of Noah. Some sources even identify Shem as a prophet in his own right, in one Muslim legend, Shem was one of the people whom God made Jesus resurrect as a sign to the Children of Israel. According to some Jewish traditions, Shem is believed to have been Melchizedek, King of Salem whom Abraham is recorded to have met after the battle of the four kings. Shem is mentioned in Genesis 5,32,6,10,7,13,9,18,23, 26-27,10,11,10, some have reconstructed more complete genealogies based on this information as follows, Shem. Also Sem Literal meanings are named or renown, the sons of Shem were, Elam eternity - Asshur a step or strong - Arphaxad - Chaldeans, Hebrews Ziezi - son of Shem and a grandson of Noah. His name is mentioned in the excerpt Ziezi ex quo vulgares meaning Ziezi, of whom the Bulgars, according to Luke 3,36 Jesus is a descendant of Shem. Early Islamic historians like Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham always included Shems name in the genealogy of Muhammad, the following family tree contains information from the Hebrew Bible, without data from any other sources. According to Luke 3, a figure named Cainan is the son of Arpachshad. Finnegans Wake Wives aboard the Ark Herbermann, Charles, ed. Sem
Shem
–
Shem, son of Noah
Shem
–
Shem,
Ham and
Japheth by
James Tissot 1904.
Shem
–
Geographic identifications of
Flavius Josephus, c. 100 AD;
Japheth 's sons shown in red,
Ham 's sons in blue, Shem's sons in green.
16.
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
–
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim was a German polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, theologian and an occult writer. Agrippa was born in Nettesheim, near Cologne on 14 September 1486 to a family of middle nobility, many members of his family had been in the service of the House of Habsburg. Agrippa studied in University of Cologne from 1499 to 1502, when he received the degree of magister artium, the University of Cologne was one of the centers of Thomism, and the faculty of arts was split between the dominant Thomists and the Albertists. It is likely that Agrippas interest in the occult came from this Albertist influence, Agrippa himself named Albert’s Speculum as one of his first occult study texts. He later studied in Paris, where he took part in a secret society involved in the occult. In 1508 Agrippa traveled to Spain to work as a mercenary and he continued his travels by way of Valencia, the Baleares, Sardinia, Naples, Avignon, and Lyon. He served as a captain in the army of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Agrippas academic career began in 1509, receiving the patronage Margaret of Austria, governor of Franche-Comté, and Antoine de Vergy, archbishop of Besançon and chancellor of the University of Dôle. He was given the opportunity to lecture a course at the University on Hebrew scholar Johann Reuchlins De verbo mirifico, at Dôle, Agrippa wrote De nobilitate et praecellentia foeminae sexus, a work that tried to prove the superiority of women using cabalistic ideas. The book was intended to impress Margaret. Agrippa’s lectures received attention, and he was given a doctorate in theology because of them and he was, however, denounced by the Franciscan prior Jean Catilinet as a Judaizing heretic, and was forced to leave Dôle in 1510. In the winter of 1509-1510 Agrippa returned to Germany and studied with Humanist Johannes Trithemius at Würzburg, on 8 April 1510 he dedicated the then unpublished first draft of De occulta philosophia to Trithemius, who recommend Agrippa to keep his occult studies secret. Proceeding to the Netherlands he took service again with Maximilian, in the reply he argued that his Christian faith was not incompatible with his appreciation for Jewish thought, writing I am a Christian, but I do not dislike Jewish Rabbis. Agrippa then returned to Cologne and gave disputations at the faculty of theology. Agrippa followed Maximilian to Italy in 1511, and as a theologian attended the council of Pisa. In 1515 he lectured at the University of Pavia on the Pimander of Hermes Trismegistus, in 1518 the efforts of one or other of his patrons secured for Agrippa the position of town advocate and orator, or syndic, at Metz. Here, as at Dôle, his opinions brought him into collision with the monks. The consequence of this was that in 1520 he resigned his office and returned to Cologne and he then practiced for a short time as a physician at Geneva and Freiburg, but in 1524 went to Lyons on being appointed physician to Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis I. By publishing his works he brought himself into antagonism with the Inquisition and he then went to France, where he was arrested by order of Francis I for some disparaging words about the queen-mother, but he was soon released, and on 18 February 1535 died at Grenoble
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
–
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
17.
Chokhmah (Kabbalah)
–
Chokhmah is the uppermost of the sephirot of the right line in the kabbalistic Tree of Life. It is to the right of Keter, with Binah across from it. Under it are the sephirot of Chesed and Netzach and it commonly has four paths going to Keter, Binah, Tifereth, and Chesed. In Jewish mysticism, it denotes the first intermediate step between Keter and the rest of the sephirot, forwarding and channeling Ein Sof through the rest of the sephirot, Chokhmah is associated with the color grey. According to the Bahir, The second is wisdom, as is written, Y-H-W-H acquired me at the beginning of His way, and there is no beginning but wisdom. Chokhmah, the second of the ten sefirot, is the first power of conscious intellect within Creation, according to the book of Job, Wisdom comes from nothingness. This point is infinitely small, and yet encompasses the whole of being, but it remains incomprehensible until it is given shape. The name of God associated with Chokhmah is Yah, Chokhmah appears in the configuration of the sefirot at the top of the right axis, and corresponds in the tzelem Elokim to the right eye, or right hemisphere of the brain. In its fully articulated form, Chokhmah possesses two partzufim, the higher of these is referred to as Abba Ilaah, whereas the lower is referred to as Yisrael Saba and these two partzufim are referred to jointly as Abba. Chokhmah is associated in the soul with the power of intuitive insight, the wisdom of Chokhmah also implies the ability to look deeply at some aspect of reality and abstract its conceptual essence till one succeeds in uncovering its underlying axiomatic truth. These seeds of truth can then be conveyed to the power of Binah for the sake of intellectual analysis. Chokhmah is the force in the creative process, Creativity, as it is said. The first word of the Torah in Genesis, Breishit means In the beginning, is translated as With Chokhmah, Chokhmah is also called Fear, because it has no measure of boundary, and therefore the mind does not have the power to grasp it. The book of Job states Behold the fear of God is wisdom, in the array of sefirot in three columns, Chokmah is situated at the top of the right column, and corresponds to the right hemisphere of the brain. There are several aspects of Chokhmah, The word Chokhmah itself may be broken into two words -- koach and ma, thus, Chokhmah means the potential of what is, or, the potential to be. This aspect of Chokhmah describes the state of Chokhmah in relation to the sefira of Keter, as Chokhmah emanates from Keter, the first dawning of the Infinite Light, it appears in an obscure and undefined state that is a virtual non-being. Thus the verse states, and Chokhmah emerges from nothingness, the light of the Ein Sof becomes unified in the world of Atzilut through clothing itself first in the sefira of Chokhmah. In its fully articulated form, Chokhmah possesses two partzufim, the higher of these is referred to as Abba, whereas the lower is referred to as Yisrael Sabba Israel ancient, in the soul, Chokhmah is associated with the power of intuitive insight
Chokhmah (Kabbalah)
18.
Key of Solomon
–
The Key of Solomon is a grimoire incorrectly attributed to King Solomon. It probably dates back to the 14th- or 15th-century Italian Renaissance and it presents a typical example of Renaissance magic. Many such grimoires attributed to King Solomon were written during the Renaissance, ultimately being influenced by works of Jewish kabbalists. These, in turn, incorporated aspects of the Greco-Roman magic of Late Antiquity, several versions of the Key of Solomon exist, in various translations, with minor to significant differences. The archetype was probably a Latin or Italian text dating to the 14th or 15th century, most surviving manuscripts date from the late 16th, 17th or 18th centuries. There is also an early Greek manuscript dating to the 15th century that is associated with the text. An important Italian manuscript is Bodleian Library Michael MS276, an early Latin text survives in printed form, dated to ca. There is a number of later Latin manuscripts, one of the oldest existing manuscripts is a text in English translation, entitled The Clavicle of Solomon, revealed by Ptolomy the Grecian and dated to 1572. There are a number of French manuscripts, all dated to the 18th century, a Hebrew text survives in two versions, one kept at the British Library, on a parchment manuscript, separated in BL Oriental MSS6360 and 14759. The BL manuscript was dated to the 16th century by its first editor Greenup, the discovery of a second Hebrew text in the library of Samuel H. Gollancz was published by his son Hermann Gollancz in 1903, who also published a facsimile edition in 1914. Gollancz manuscript had been copied in Amsterdam, in Sephardic cursive script, the Hebrew text is not considered the original. It is rather a late Jewish adaptation of a Latin or Italian Clavicula text, the BL manuscript is probably the archetype of the Hebrew translation, and Gollancz manuscript a copy of the BL one. An edition of the Latin manuscripts of the British Library was published by S. L. MacGregor Mathers in 1889. L. W. de Laurence in 1914 published The Greater Key of Solomon, directly based on Mathers edition, the Key of Solomon is divided into two books. It describes not the appearance or work of any spirit but only the necessary drawings to prepare each experiment or, in modern language. Unlike later grimoires such as the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum or the Lemegeton, as in most medieval grimoires, all magical operations are ostensibly performed through the power of God, to whom all the invocations are addressed. Before any of these operations are performed, the operator must confess his sins and purge himself of evil, all substances needed for the magic drawings and amulets are detailed, as well as the means to purify and prepare them. Many of the symbols incorporate the Transitus Fluvii occult alphabet, according to the mythical history of the document, as recorded in its introduction, Solomon wrote the book for his son Rehoboam, and commanded him to hide the book in his sepulchre upon his death
Key of Solomon
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a group of pentacles from the Hebrew manuscript (BL Oriental 14759, fol. 35a)
Key of Solomon
–
One of the
pentacles found in the Key of Solomon manuscripts. This one is identified as "The Great Pentacle" and appears in Bodleian Library Michael MS. 276, a 17th-century Italian manuscript. An equivalent figure also appears in a Latin version, Bodleian Library, Aubrey MS. 24, dated to 1674. The figure is a variant of the
Sigillum Aemeth published by
Athanasius Kircher in
Oedipus Aegyptiacus (Rome, 1652–4, pp. 479–81).
19.
Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses
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The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses is an 18th- or 19th-century magical text allegedly written by Moses, and passed down as hidden books of the Christian Old Testament. A grimoire, a text of magical incantations and seals, it purports to instruct the reader in the used to create the miracles portrayed in the Bible. The work was printed with annexes of reputed Talmudic magic names, words and incantation and it shows diagrams of Seals, magical drawings accompanied by incantations intended to perform various tasks, from controlling weather or people to contacting the dead or Christian religious figures. It influenced European Occult Spiritualism as well as religion in the American South, the Caribbean. No first version of work has been established, but early versions began to appear as inexpensive pamphlets in German in the 18th century. The work came to prominence when published as volume 6 of Das Kloster in 1849 in Stuttgart by antiquarian Johann Scheible. Historian Owen Davies traces copies of the work from the 18th century in Germany, after circulating there, the work was popularized in the United States first in the communities of the Pennsylvania Dutch. The growth of inexpensive paperback publication in the 19th century, like those of Chicago occult publisher L. W. de Laurence and its prominence as a source of popular rural Pennsylvanian and Appalachian folk magic spells has been recorded as late as the mid-20th century. There it became one of the works of the Rastafari movement of the early 20th century as well as influencing the earlier Jamaican Pocomania, Kumina. It was also influential in Christian occult movements in Anglophone West Africa, in early 20th century British West Africa and Liberia, The Sixth and Seventh Books was adopted widely. It served as a source for Christian Magic, both by West African spiritualist Christian cults and assimilated Africans. In colonial Gold Coast and Nigeria, it was seen as a form of magic that might be used by educated Africans seeking access to Britain or its power. The Nigerian press in the 1920s regularly featured advertisements for copies of The Sixth and Seventh Books, West African religious movements which blended Christianity and traditional magic were also influenced by the work. Josiah Olunowo Ositelus seals and mystical written incantations, used in the Nigerian Church of the Lord were likely derived from The Sixth and Seventh Books, versions of this work circulated throughout Scandinavia and Central Europe. In Sweden and Finland these books are compiled and published under the titles Den Svarta Bibeln and Musta Raamattu, respectively, in Christian circles, the text appealed to the same authority as did Biblical apocrypha, Biblical texts outside the current Biblical canon. Although these are allegedly Kabbalistic in nature, there is little or no influence of Kabbala within the pages. Most texts are reputed to be Hebrew, passed to the editors through European Talmudic scholars or Christian Medieval ecclesiastics who were privy to secret Biblical texts, no complete manuscripts older than Scheibles 1849 printing are extant, and the claimed origin must be regarded pseudepigraphic and spurious. It is rather of a school of European Medieval and Enlightenment grimoires, such as The Key of Solomon, The Red Dragon, Petit Albert and others
Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses
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Title page of the 1880 New York edition.
20.
Saturn
–
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with a radius about nine times that of Earth. Although it has only one-eighth the average density of Earth, with its larger volume Saturn is just over 95 times more massive, Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture, its astronomical symbol represents the gods sickle. Saturns interior is composed of a core of iron–nickel and rock. This core is surrounded by a layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium. Saturn has a yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. Saturns magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth of Jupiters, the outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h, higher than on Jupiter, sixty-two moons are known to orbit Saturn, of which fifty-three are officially named. This does not include the hundreds of moonlets comprising the rings, Saturn is a gas giant because it is predominantly composed of hydrogen and helium. It lacks a definite surface, though it may have a solid core, Saturns rotation causes it to have the shape of an oblate spheroid, that is, it is flattened at the poles and bulges at its equator. Its equatorial and polar radii differ by almost 10%,60,268 km versus 54,364 km, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, the other giant planets in the Solar System, are also oblate but to a lesser extent. Saturn is the planet of the Solar System that is less dense than water—about 30% less. Although Saturns core is considerably denser than water, the specific density of the planet is 0.69 g/cm3 due to the atmosphere. Jupiter has 318 times the Earths mass, while Saturn is 95 times the mass of the Earth, together, Jupiter and Saturn hold 92% of the total planetary mass in the Solar System. On 8 January 2015, NASA reported determining the center of the planet Saturn, the temperature, pressure, and density inside Saturn all rise steadily toward the core, which causes hydrogen to transition into a metal in the deeper layers. Standard planetary models suggest that the interior of Saturn is similar to that of Jupiter, having a rocky core surrounded by hydrogen. This core is similar in composition to the Earth, but more dense, in 2004, they estimated that the core must be 9–22 times the mass of the Earth, which corresponds to a diameter of about 25,000 km. This is surrounded by a liquid metallic hydrogen layer, followed by a liquid layer of helium-saturated molecular hydrogen that gradually transitions to a gas with increasing altitude
Saturn
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Saturn in natural color, photographed by
Cassini in 2004
Saturn
Saturn
–
Composite image roughly comparing the sizes of Saturn and Earth
Saturn
–
Auroral lights at Saturn’s north pole.
21.
Paracelsus
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Paracelsus, born Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, was a Swiss German philosopher, physician, botanist, astrologer, and general occultist. He is credited as the founder of toxicology and he is also a famous revolutionary for utilizing observations of nature, rather than referring to ancient texts, something of radical defiance during his time. He is credited for giving zinc its name, calling it zincum, modern psychology often also credits him for being the first to note that some diseases are rooted in psychological conditions. Paracelsus most important legacy is likely his critique of the methods in medicine, science. Much of his work does not withstand modern scientific thought. Paracelsus was born and raised in the village of Einsiedeln in Switzerland and his father, Wilhelm Bombast von Hohenheim, was a Swabian chemist and physician. His mother was Swiss and probably a bondswoman of the abbey of Einsiedeln in Switzerland where he was born, in 1502 the family moved to Villach, Carinthia where Paracelsus father worked as a physician, attending to the medical needs of the pilgrims and inhabitants of the cloister. Paracelsus was educated by his father in botany, medicine, mineralogy, mining and he also received a profound humanistic and theological education from local clerics and the convent school of St. Pauls Abbey in the Lavanttal. He specifically accounts for being tutored by Johannes Trithemius, abbot of Sponheim, at the age of 16 he started studying medicine at the University of Basel, later moving to Vienna. He gained his degree from the University of Ferrara in 1515 or 1516. He was employed as a surgeon in the Venetian service in 1522. His wanderings as an itinerant physician and sometime journeyman miner took him through Germany, France, Spain, Hungary, Paracelsus was well known as a difficult man. He gained a reputation for being arrogant and soon garnered the anger of other physicians in Europe, some even claim he was a habitual drinker. He was prone to outbursts of abusive language, abhorred untested theory. He held the chair of medicine at the University of Basel and he angered his colleagues by lecturing in German instead of Latin in order to make medical knowledge more accessible to the common people. He is credited as the first to do so and he was the first to publicly condemn the medical authority of Avicenna and Galen and threw their writings into a bonfire on St. Johns Day in 1527. In 1526 he bought the rights of citizenship in Strasbourg to establish his own practice, but soon after he was called to Basel to the sickbed of Johann Froben or Frobenius, a successful printer and publisher. Based on historical accounts, Paracelsus cured Frobenius and he was a contemporary of Copernicus, Leonardo da Vinci and Martin Luther
Paracelsus
–
Copy of a lost portrait by
Quentin Matsys
Paracelsus
–
Monument to Paracelsus in
Beratzhausen,
Bavaria
Paracelsus
–
Memorial in
Einsiedeln, Switzerland
Paracelsus
–
Aurora thesaurusque philosophorum, 1577
22.
Zodiac
–
The zodiac is an area of the sky centered upon the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The paths of the Moon and visible planets also remain close to the ecliptic, within the belt of the zodiac, in western astrology and astronomy, the zodiac is divided into twelve signs, each sign occupying 30° of celestial longitude. Because the signs are regular, they do not correspond exactly to the boundaries of the twelve constellations after which they are named, the English word zodiac derives from zōdiacus, the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek zōidiakòs kýklos, meaning circle of little animals. Zōidion is the diminutive of zōion, the name reflects the prominence of animals among the twelve signs. The construction of the zodiac is described in Ptolemys vast 2nd century AD work, the term zodiac may also refer to the region of the celestial sphere encompassing the paths of the planets corresponding to the band of about eight arc degrees above and below the ecliptic. The zodiac of a planet is the band that contains the path of that particular body, e. g. the zodiac of the Moon is the band of five degrees above. By extension, the zodiac of the comets may refer to the band encompassing most short-period comets, the division of the ecliptic into the zodiacal signs originates in Babylonian astronomy during the first half of the 1st millennium BC. The zodiac draws on stars in earlier Babylonian star catalogues, such as the MUL. APIN catalogue, around the end of the 5th century BC, Babylonian astronomers divided the ecliptic into twelve equal signs, by analogy to twelve schematic months of thirty days each. Each sign contained thirty degrees of longitude, thus creating the first known celestial coordinate system. Because the division was made into equal arcs, 30° each, in Babylonian astronomical diaries, a planet position was generally given with respect to a zodiacal sign alone, less often in specific degrees within a sign. When the degrees of longitude were given, they were expressed with reference to the 30° of the zodiacal sign, in astronomical ephemerides, the positions of significant astronomical phenomena were computed in sexagesimal fractions of a degree. For daily ephemerides, the positions of a planet were not as important as the astrologically significant dates when the planet crossed from one zodiacal sign to the next. The Babylonian star catalogs entered Greek astronomy in the 4th century BC, Babylonia or Chaldea in the Hellenistic world came to be so identified with astrology that Chaldean wisdom became among Greeks and Romans the synonym of divination through the planets and stars. Hellenistic astrology derived in part from Babylonian and Egyptian astrology, horoscopic astrology first appeared in Ptolemaic Egypt. The Dendera zodiac, a dating to ca.50 BC, is the first known depiction of the classical zodiac of twelve signs. The earliest extant Greek text using the Babylonian division of the zodiac into 12 signs of 30 equal degrees each is the Anaphoricus of Hypsicles of Alexandria. Particularly important in the development of Western horoscopic astrology was the astrologer and astronomer Ptolemy, whose work Tetrabiblos laid the basis of the Western astrological tradition. Under the Greeks, and Ptolemy in particular, the planets, Houses, Ptolemy lived in the 2nd century AD, three centuries after the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes by Hipparchus around 130 BC
Zodiac
–
The Earth in its orbit around the
Sun causes the Sun to appear on the celestial sphere moving over the
ecliptic (red), which is tilted with respect to the equator (blue-white).
Zodiac
–
Wheel of the zodiac: This 6th century mosaic pavement in a synagogue incorporates Greek-Byzantine elements,
Beit Alpha,
Israel.
Zodiac
–
The 1st century BC
Dendera zodiac (19th-century engraving)
Zodiac
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Angers Cathedral South Rose Window of Christ (centre) with elders (bottom half) and Zodiac (top half). Mediaeval stained glass by Andre Robin after the fire of 1451
23.
Sephirot
–
The term is alternatively transliterated into English as Sefirot/Sefiroth, singular Sephirah/Sefirah etc. Alternative configurations of the sephirot are given by different schools in the development of Kabbalah. The tradition of enumerating 10 is stated in the Sefer Yetzirah, Ten sephirot of nothingness, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven. As altogether 11 sephirot are listed across the different schemes, two are seen as unconscious and conscious manifestations of the principle, conserving the ten categories. In Kabbalah the functional structure of the sephirot in channeling Divine creative life force, the first sephirah describes the Divine Will above intellect. The next sephirot describe conscious Divine Intellect, and the latter sephirot describe the primary and secondary conscious Divine Emotions, two sephirot are feminine, as the female principle in Kabbalah describes a vessel that receives the outward male light, then inwardly nurtures and gives birth to lower sephirot. Corresponding to this is the Female Divine Presence, Kabbalah sees the human soul as mirroring the Divine, and more widely, all creations as reflections of their life source in the sephirot. Therefore, the sephirot also describe the life of man. This relationship between the soul of man and the Divine, gives Kabbalah one of its two central metaphors in describing Divinity, alongside the other Ohr metaphor, however, Kabbalah repeatedly stresses the need to avoid all corporeal interpretation. Through this, the sephirot are related to the structure of the body and are reformed into Partsufim, underlying the structural purpose of each sephirah is a hidden motivational force which is understood best by comparison with a corresponding psychological state in human spiritual experience. The term sefirah thus has complex connotations within Kabbalah, the Sephirot are considered revelations of the Creators Will, and they should not be understood as ten different gods but as ten different ways the one God reveals his Will through the Emanations. While in Cordoveran Kabbalah, Keter is listed as the first Sephirah, the Sephirot are emanated from the Divine Will, because Kabbalah sees different levels within Keter, reflecting Gods inner Will and outer Will. The innermost, hidden levels of Keter, also in some contexts called The head/beginning that is not known, are united above the Sephirot with the Ein Sof and it is not God who changes but the ability to perceive God that changes. This difference between the MaOhr and the Ohr He emanates is stressed in Kabbalah, so as to avoid notions of any plurality in the Godhead. In its early 12th-century dissemination, Kabbalah received criticism from some Rabbis, the multiplicity of revealed emanations only applies from the perspective of the Creation, and not from the perspective of the infinite Divine essence. The ten Sephirot are a step-by-step process illuminating the Divine plan as it unfolds itself in Creation and they are fully found in the Medieval Kabbalah texts, such as the central work in Kabbalah, the Zohar. The Hebrew etymology of their names in Kabbalah is understood to refer to the aspects of meaning of each Sephirah. Kabbalah expounds on the terms of the Sephirot and this difference of opinion reflects earlier Medieval debate on whether Keter can be identified with the Ohr Ein Sof itself, or as the first revealed Sephirah
Sephirot
–
The Yosher -Upright configuration of the 10 Sephirot, arranged into 3 columns
Sephirot
Sephirot
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Kabbalah relates the Sephirot and Indwelling Shechinah Presence to Male-Female Divine principles, represented in the union of Jewish marriage Below. In Medieval Kabbalah the task of man is Yichud-"Union" of Male and Female Divinity on High [
citation needed]. In Lurianic Kabbalah man redeems exiled Sparks of Holiness of the Shechinah from material Kelipot
Sephirot
–
Ten Sephirot on the east wall of the Cordoba Synagogue, Spain
24.
Binah (Kabbalah)
–
Binah, is the second intellectual sephira on the kabbalistic Tree of Life. It sits on the level below Keter, across from Chokmah and it is usually given four paths, to Keter, Chockmah, Gevurah, and Tiphereth In an anthropomorphic visualization it may be related to the left eye, left hemisphere of the brain or the heart. Binah is associated with the color black, according to the Bahir, The third, quarry of the Torah, treasury of wisdom, quarry of Gods spirit, hewn out by the spirit of God. This teaches that God hewed out all the letters of the Torah, engraving them with the Spirit, Binah is intuitive understanding, or contemplation. It is likened to a palace of mirrors reflects the pure point of light of Chokhmah, wisdom. In this sense, it is the quarry, which is carved out by the light of wisdom and it is the womb, which gives shape to the Spirit of God. On a psychological level, Binah is processed wisdom, also known as deductive reasoning and it is davar mitoch davar—understanding one idea from another idea. While Chockmah is intellect that does not emanate from the rational process, Binah is associated with the feminine. The Bahir states, “For you shall call Understanding a Mother. ”Classical Jewish texts state Binah yeterah natun lnashim, in its fully articulated form, Binah possesses two partzufim. The higher of these is referred to as Imma Ilaah, whereas the lower is referred to as tevunah and these two partzufim are referred to jointly as Imma. In the medieval text the Tomer Devorah, Rabbi Moses Cordovero elucidated the ethical qualities associated with each Sefira, the attribute associated with Binah is complete repentance, for just as Binah sweetens all severities and neutralizes their bitterness, one should repent and rectify all flaws. In Western occultism, Binah is seen to take the raw force of Chokhmah, for example, in a car, you have the fuel and an engine. While Chokmah is the fuel, pure energy, Binah is the engine, either one without the other is useless. In its role as the ultimate Object, as opposed to Chokmah as the Subject and it is feminine, because it literally gives birth to the whole of creation, providing the supernal womb, with Chokmah providing the raw energy. Binah is related to the Yoni, the womb, the Priestess card in the occult tarot, aleister Crowleys Liber 777 associates it with Isis, Cybele, Demeter, Rhea, Woman, The Virgin Mary, Juno, Hecate, The threes of the Tarot, etc. For its negative opposite on the Tree of Death, it has the demonic order Sathariel, in the correlation of Binah with Shakti and Chokmah with Shiva, Shakti is the animating life force whereas Shiva is dead, a corpse, without her energy. The Kabbalah Handbook, A Concise Encyclopedia of Terms and Concepts in Jewish Mysticism ISBN 978-1585425600 Basics in Kabbalah, The Ten Sefirot, Binah Lessons in Tanya Kabbalah 101, Binah
Binah (Kabbalah)
25.
Athanasius Kircher
–
Athanasius Kircher, S. J. was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works, most notably in the fields of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fellow Jesuit Roger Boscovich and to Leonardo da Vinci for his enormous range of interests and he taught for more than forty years at the Roman College, where he set up a wunderkammer. A resurgence of interest in Kircher has occurred within the community in recent decades. Kircher claimed to have deciphered the writing of the ancient Egyptian language. He did, however, correctly establish the link between the ancient Egyptian and the Coptic languages, and some regard him as the founder of Egyptology. Kirchers work in geology included studies of volcanoes and fossils, Kircher also displayed a keen interest in technology and mechanical inventions, inventions attributed to him include a magnetic clock, various automatons and the first megaphone. The invention of the lantern is often misattributed to Kircher. A scientific star in his day, towards the end of his life he was eclipsed by the rationalism of René Descartes, in the late 20th century, however, the aesthetic qualities of his work again began to be appreciated. One modern scholar, Alan Cutler, described Kircher as a giant among seventeenth-century scholars, another scholar, Edward W. Schmidt, referred to Kircher as the last Renaissance man. Kircher was born on 2 May in either 1601 or 1602 in Geisa, Buchonia, near Fulda, currently Hesse, from his birthplace he took the epithets Bucho, Buchonius and Fuldensis which he sometimes added to his name. He attended the Jesuit College in Fulda from 1614 to 1618, the youngest of nine children, Kircher studied volcanoes owing to his passion for rocks and eruptions. He was taught Hebrew by a rabbi in addition to his studies at school and he studied philosophy and theology at Paderborn, but fled to Cologne in 1622 to escape advancing Protestant forces. On the journey, he escaped death after falling through the ice crossing the frozen Rhine — one of several occasions on which his life was endangered. Later, traveling to Heiligenstadt, he was caught and nearly hanged by a party of Protestant soldiers, from 1622 to 1624 Kircher was sent to begin his regency period in Koblenz as a teacher. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1628 and became professor of ethics and mathematics at the University of Würzburg, beginning in 1628, he also began to show an interest in Egyptian hieroglyphs. In 1631, while still at Würzburg, Kircher allegedly had a vision of a bright light. This was the year that Kircher published his first book, in 1633 he was called to Vienna by the emperor to succeed Kepler as Mathematician to the Habsburg court. On the intervention of Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, the order was rescinded and he was sent instead to Rome to continue with his scholarly work, on the way, his ship was blown off course and he arrived in Rome before he knew of the changed decision
Athanasius Kircher
–
Portrait of Kircher at age 53 from Mundus Subterraneus (1664)
Athanasius Kircher
–
The
Coptic alphabet, from Prodromus coptus sive aegyptiacus.
Athanasius Kircher
–
Map of China, China Illustrata.
Athanasius Kircher
–
Kircher's model of the
Earth 's internal fires, from Mundus Subterraneus.
26.
Cherub
–
A cherub is one of the unearthly beings who directly attend to God according to Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, angelic status is not attributed to cherubim in the Old Testament, only in later sources like De Coelesti Hierarchia are they identified as a hierarchical rank of angels. Different sources give conflicting information as to the appearance of cherubim. An early, traditional Jewish notion supposes that cherubim had youthful, in the Book of Ezekiel and Christian icons, the cherub is depicted as having a number of wing pairs, and four faces, that of a lion, an ox, a human, and an eagle. In Christian tradition, cherubim have become associated with the putto, one of these is the Babylonian lamassu, a protective spirit with a sphinx-like form, possessing the wings of an eagle, the body of a lion, and the head of a king. This was adopted largely in Phoenicia and he thus concludes that cherubim had an intercessory role. This conclusion, based on sources, is still drawn upon in relatively recent commentaries and articles. Friedrich Delitzch connected the Hebrew word cherubim with the Assyrian terms kirubu and karabu, karppe states that the name Cherubim is Babylonian, and that it does not mean powerful, but, however, propitious. However, while the shedu were popular in Mesopotamia, archaeological remains from the Levant suggest that they were rare in the immediate vicinity of the Israelites. In particular, in a reminiscent of Ezekiels dream, the Megiddo Ivories depict an unknown king being carried on his throne by hybrid winged-creatures. The cherubim are the most frequently occurring heavenly creature in the Hebrew Bible, despite these many references, the role of the cherubim is never explicitly elucidated. Other than in the book of Ezekiel, the Bible describes cherubim with one face, one pair of wings, in Exodus 25, 18-22, Yahweh tells Moses to make multiple images of cherubim at specific points around the Ark of the Covenant. In Isaiah 37,16, Hezekiah prays, addressing Yahweh as enthroned above the cherubim, Cherubim feature at some length in the Book of Ezekiel. While they first appear in one, in which they are transporting the throne of Yahweh by the river Chebar. In Ezekiel 1, 5-11 they are described as having the likeness of a man, and having four faces, that of a man, a lion, and ox, and an eagle. The four faces represent the four domains of Gods rule, the man represents humanity, the lion, wild animals, the ox, domestic animals, and the eagle, birds. These faces peer out from the center of an array of four wings, under their wings are human hands, their legs are described as straight, and their feet like those of a calf, and shone like polished brass. Between the creatures glowing coals that moved between them could be seen, their fire went up and down, and lightning burst forth from it, the cherubs also moved like flashes of lightning
Cherub
–
A cherub, according to traditional Christian
iconography.
Cherub
Cherub
–
A pair of
shedu, protecting a doorway (the body of the creatures extending into the distance)
Cherub
–
James Jacques Joseph Tissot - The Ark Passes Over the Jordan
27.
Shemhamphorasch
–
The Shem HaMephorash is an originally Tannaitic term describing a hidden name of God in Kabbalah, and in some more mainstream Jewish discourses. It is composed of either 4,12,22,42, or 72 letters, maimonides thought the Shem ha-Mephorash was used only for the four letter Tetragrammaton. A 12-letter variant appears in the Talmud, though it was unknown in later Kabbalah, a 22-letter variant is first written down in Sefer Raziel HaMalakh, without interpretation, as אנקתם פסתמ פספסים דיונסים. Its origins are unknown, with no connection to Hebrew or Aramaic being found, there are Geonic precedents for the name, indicating that the name is older than Sefer Raziel. A 42-letter variant was described by Hai Gaon as אבגיתץ קרעשטן נגדיכש בטרצתג חקבטנע יגלפזק שקוצית and he wrote Although the consonants of this name are well known, its proper vocalization is not rendered by tradition. Some pronounce its first part Abgitaẓ, and others Abigtaẓ, and the last part is sometimes read Shakvaẓit, and sometimes Shekuẓit and this variation in pronunciation was understood by Joshua Trachtenberg to indicate that this version is quite ancient, the vowels in Hebrew being easily lost over time. It is, by means, derived from the first 42 letters of the Hebrew Bible. Like the 22-letter name, it is found in Sefer Raziel, the 72-fold name is highly important to Sefer Raziel, and a key component to the magical practices in The Lesser Key of Solomon. It is derived from Exodus 14, 19-21, read boustrophedonically to produce 72 names of three letters and this method was explained by Rashi. The 72-fold name is mentioned by Roger Bacon, who complained about a book titled Liber semamphoras, the angels of the Shemhamphorash factored heavily into the cosmology of Johann Reuchlin influencing Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and Athanasius Kircher. Thomas Rudd featured the 72 angels in his magic, as a force against the evil spirits of the Ars Goetia or in isolation. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippas Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book 3, part II and this was later copied by Francis Barrett in his book The Magus, in Chapter 21. Jim Cornwells The Names of God, from The Alpha and the Omega, symbols and Symbolism discusses the use of the word Shemhamforash in the rituals of the Church of Satan. Aaron Leitchs Shem ha Mephoresh, The Divine Name of Extension discusses the role the Shemhamephoresh played in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Shemhamphorasch
–
The Seventy-Two Names of God, a Christian diagram; the
IHS is a monogram for "Jesus" (in the
Oedipus Aegyptiacus).
28.
John Milton
–
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of flux and political upheaval. Miltons poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, Samuel Johnson praised Paradise Lost as a poem which. The phases of Miltons life parallel the major historical and political divisions in Stuart Britain, the Restoration of 1660 deprived Milton, now completely blind, of his public platform, but this period saw him complete most of his major works of poetry. Miltons views developed from his extensive reading, as well as travel and experience. By the time of his death in 1674, Milton was impoverished and on the margins of English intellectual life, yet famous throughout Europe, John Milton was born in Bread Street, London on 9 December 1608, the son of composer John Milton and his wife Sarah Jeffrey. The senior John Milton moved to London around 1583 after being disinherited by his devout Catholic father Richard Milton for embracing Protestantism, in London, the senior John Milton married Sarah Jeffrey and found lasting financial success as a scrivener. He lived in and worked from a house on Bread Street, the elder Milton was noted for his skill as a musical composer, and this talent left his son with a lifelong appreciation for music and friendships with musicians such as Henry Lawes. Miltons fathers prosperity provided his eldest son with a tutor, Thomas Young. Research suggests that Youngs influence served as the introduction to religious radicalism. After Youngs tutorship, Milton attended St Pauls School in London, there he began the study of Latin and Greek, and the classical languages left an imprint on his poetry in English. Miltons first datable compositions are two psalms done at age 15 at Long Bennington, one contemporary source is the Brief Lives of John Aubrey, an uneven compilation including first-hand reports. In the work, Aubrey quotes Christopher, Miltons younger brother, When he was young, he studied hard and sat up very late. In 1625, Milton began attending Christs College, Cambridge and he graduated with a B. A. in 1629, and ranked fourth of 24 honours graduates that year in the University of Cambridge. Preparing to become an Anglican priest, Milton stayed on to obtain his Master of Arts degree on 3 July 1632, Milton was probably rusticated for quarrelling in his first year with his tutor, Bishop William Chappell. He was certainly at home in the Lent Term 1626, there he wrote his Elegia Prima, a first Latin elegy, to Charles Diodati, based on remarks of John Aubrey, Chappell whipt Milton. This story is now disputed, though certainly Milton disliked Chappell, historian Christopher Hill cautiously notes that Milton was apparently rusticated, and that the differences between Chappell and Milton may have been either religious or personal. It is also possible that, like Isaac Newton four decades later, Milton was sent home because of the plague, in 1626, Miltons tutor was Nathaniel Tovey
John Milton
–
Portrait of Milton
John Milton
–
Blue plaque in Bread Street, London, where Milton was born
John Milton
–
John Milton at age 10 by
Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen
John Milton
–
Commemorative blue plaque 'John Milton lived here 1632-1638' at Berkyn Manor Farm,
Horton, Berkshire
29.
Paradise Lost
–
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books with minor revisions throughout and it is considered by critics to be Miltons major work, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time. The poem concerns the Biblical story of the Fall of Man, Miltons purpose, stated in Book I, is to justify the ways of God to men. In his introduction to the Penguin edition of Paradise Lost, the Milton scholar John Leonard notes, John Aubrey tells us that the poem was begun in about 1658 and finished in about 1663. But parts were almost certainly written earlier, and its roots lie in Miltons earliest youth, Leonard speculates that the English Civil War interrupted Miltons earliest attempts to start his epic that would encompass all space and time. Leonard also notes that Milton did not at first plan to write a biblical epic, however, in the 1672 edition, Paradise Lost contained twelve books. Having gone totally blind in 1652, Milton wrote Paradise Lost entirely through dictation with the help of amanuenses, the poem is separated into twelve books or sections, the lengths of which vary greatly. The Arguments at the head of each book were added in subsequent imprints of the first edition, originally published in ten books, a fully Revised and Augmented edition reorganized into twelve books was issued in 1674, and this is the edition generally used today. The poem follows the tradition of starting in medias res. Miltons story has two narrative arcs, one about Satan and the other following Adam and Eve and it begins after Satan and the other rebel angels have been defeated and banished to Hell, or, as it is also called in the poem, Tartarus. In Pandæmonium, Satan employs his rhetorical skill to organise his followers, he is aided by Mammon, belial and Moloch are also present. At the end of the debate, Satan volunteers to poison the newly created Earth and Gods new and most favoured creation and he braves the dangers of the Abyss alone in a manner reminiscent of Odysseus or Aeneas. After an arduous traversal of the Chaos outside Hell, he enters Gods new material World, at several points in the poem, an Angelic War over Heaven is recounted from different perspectives. Satans rebellion follows the convention of large-scale warfare. The battles between the angels and Satans forces take place over three days. At the final battle, the Son of God single-handedly defeats the legion of angelic rebels. Following this purge, God creates the World, culminating in his creation of Adam and Eve
Paradise Lost
–
Title page of the first edition (1667)
Paradise Lost
–
John Martin,
Satan Presiding at the Infernal Council, c.1823-7
Paradise Lost
–
Gustave Doré, Depiction of Satan, the central character of
John Milton 's Paradise Lost c. 1866
Paradise Lost
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William Blake, The Temptation and Fall of Eve, 1808 (illustration of Milton's Paradise Lost)
