Kabbalist

The term "Kabbalist" derives from the Hebrew word "Kabbalah" (קַבָּלָה), meaning "reception" or "tradition." It signifies an oral or received tradition, emphasizing knowledge passed down through generations within Jewish mystical circles. The practice and study date back to medieval times, solidifying by the 12th century.

His full name is Rabbi Azariel ben Manahem. He flourished at Valladolid, Spain, in the twelfth century, and was famous as a philosopher and Kabbalist. He is the author of a work on the Ten Sephiroth. ULU^SAKV 109 F. r . — The sixth letter of the English alpluilx't. for wiiieh there is no equivalent in Hebrew. It is the donbh* Fj of the ^Eolians which becamtthe Digamma for some mysterious reasons. It corresponds to the Greek phi. As a Latin numeral it denotes 40. witii a dash over the letter (F) 400,000. Faces (Kabbalisiic), or, as in Hebrew, Fartzuphccm. The word usualh- refers to Arechh Anpecn or Long Face, and Zcir-Aiiprn, or Short Face, and Rcsha Hivrah the "White Head" or Face. The Kabbala states that from the moment of their appearance (the hour of differentiation of matter) all the material for future forms was contained in the three Heads which are one, and called Attcckuh Kadosha, (Holy Ancients and the Faces). It is when the Faces look toward each other, that the "Holy Ancients" in three Heads, or Attcckah Kadosha, are called Areek Appayem, i.e., "Long Faces". (See Zohar iii.. 292a.) This refers to the three Higher Principles, cosmic and human.

The figure of the Kabbalist, as presented by Blavatsky, evokes a lineage of seekers who engage with the universe not as a static collection of facts but as a living, symbolic text. The term itself, rooted in the Hebrew word for "reception," speaks to a tradition passed down, a sacred inheritance of gnosis. This is not knowledge acquired through empirical observation alone, but through a divinatory process, a deciphering of the divine script woven into the fabric of existence.

The Kabbalistic cosmos, with its intricate web of Sephirot—divine emanations or attributes—offers a profound map of reality, a scaffolding upon which the divine is understood to manifest. As Gershom Scholem, the preeminent scholar of Kabbalah, illuminated, these emanations are not mere abstract concepts but dynamic forces, channels through which the Infinite, the Ein Sof, pours into the finite world. The Kabbalist's task, therefore, is to understand these channels, to trace the divine flow and, in doing so, to find their own place within this cosmic order.

This pursuit is inherently transformative. It is akin to the alchemist's work, not with base metals, but with the very essence of consciousness, seeking to transmute the mundane into the sacred. The "Faces" mentioned in Blavatsky's definition—the "Long Face" (Arik Anpin) and the "Short Face" (Z'ir Anpin)—represent different modes of divine manifestation, the vast and the intimate, the transcendent and the immanent. To contemplate these is to engage in a profound meditation on the nature of God and the human soul, which is seen as a microcosm reflecting the macrocosm.

The Kabbalist, in this light, is a cartographer of the divine, a mystic who uses symbolic language and contemplative practices to chart the hidden geography of the soul and the universe. Their work is a testament to the enduring human impulse to find meaning in the ineffable, to grasp the divine through the intricate dance of creation. It suggests that the deepest truths are not always found in the obvious, but in the subtle patterns and hidden connections that lie just beyond the veil of ordinary perception.