Reason Number Eight: Freemasonry uses the Kabbala as a basis of its teaching

Most western magical systems trace their lineage to the Kabbala.  These writings of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance spread across Europe from Spain.  They continue to influence countless esoteric traditions today.  Freemasonry, like other occult traditions, has been deeply influenced by its concepts.  In the Scottish Rite, the Kabbalists are termed "our Masters."

“It is an emblem of the Deity, familiar to our Masters, the Kabbalists.”  (Liturgies of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry, Charleston, 1944, p. 92)

The word Kabbala can be translated, “receiving”.  It is the receiving of hidden, or esoteric, wisdom.  The Kabbala is a vast collection of writings by Hebrew rabbis working during the 13th century in Europe.  Kabbala, for these medieval writers, was a way of looking at the Hebrew Bible, as well as the mystical world that surrounded them.  In general, the Kabbala is search for esoteric wisdom, a search for mystical ecstatic experience, and a search to control spiritual powers through magic.

While Luther was advocating a return to the literal text of Scripture, the Kabbalists were searching for hidden meanings within it.  For them, the literal meaning was merely a coating, and its real meaning lay concealed within it.  In the Torah, prophets, and writings one could uncover the true nature of the spiritual world only by peeling away the cover, the actual letters and words.  They additionally taught that ten emanations flowed from God, each surrounding a magical divine name.  Furthermore, the Kabbalists were searching for spiritual experience in the form of mystical ecstasy.  It is loosely based upon letter and number combinations, through the teachings of Abraham Abulafia (1240-1290).  (Gershom Sholem, Kabbala, p. 53)

By immersing oneself in various combinations of numbers and letters, the Kabbalist sought to empty his mind.  Writings from the period describe intense ecstatic experiences, with sometimes dangerous results.  The ability to enter mystical experience was restricted from the majority of people, who were thought not capable of understanding.  Its initiates were indeed a very close circle and sworn to secrecy.  Joe Wallman, in his book The Kabbala states that initiates would fall into trances and begin to communicate what that they heard through channeling the dead.

The mystical quest of the Kabbalists was a search to control spirits and to harness a vast array of supernatural entities to aid in life.  It taught initiates to harness the world and the spirits within through magic diagrams, incantations, and various combinations of letters and numbers.  Freemasonry's use of sacred geometry, or drawn symbols, can easily find its origin in the Kabbala.

The unifying concept given to the world of magic from the Kabbala was the theory that things manipulated below impact the world above.  Sequentially, once things are set in motion above, they will reverberate back to those who live below.

Without question, the impact of the Kabbala on Europe and the Middle East was immense.  Behind the Protestant Revolution, the introduction of the Kabbala to Europe was probably the second most important spiritual movement of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.  In my opinion, it has been grossly underestimated in its importance by theologians and seminaries alike.

The working of magic in the Kabbala is called practical Kabbala.  It is differentiated from speculative Kabbala, which relates to philosophical concepts.  There exists today more historical material related to practical Kabbala than speculative.  The key to practical Kabbala is the manipulation of the supernatural through magic names, letter combinations, and numbers. 

From its inception, the concept of “black” Kabbala was always considered a problem.  Although the speculative Kabbalists opposed it, a proliferation of writings with magical prescriptions entered the discipline. (Scholem, Kabbala, p. 184)  Black Kabbala was the use of magic to harm other people.

The Kabbala was not limited to Jewish circles but quickly skipped into Gentile circles through the Platonic Academy endowed by the Medicis in Florence.  (The Kabbala, p. 197)  Giovanni Pico from Florence was the foremost exponent of Gentile Kabbala.  Gentile Europeans believed that the discovery of these writings would enable them to delve deeper into their own religion and world.  It was the Medicis of Florence that helped spread the study of the Kabbala through Catholic circles.  Mirandola and Pico were advancing the notion that nothing can prove the divinity of Jesus Christ as magic and the Kabbala.  (Gershom Scholem, Kabbala, The Penguin Group, p. 197) 

Pico lays out the danger of mysticism related to the Kabbala. In 1486, he states:

“Mastery of the Kabbala can give a person unimagined magical skill, though a dabbler who uses the Kabbala carelessly can be tormented by demons.”  (Magic in the Middle Ages, 1990)

Franciscans and Jesuits together sought to learn from the occult Kabbala.  Pope Sixtus IV requested a Latin translation of the Kabbala.  (Blau, The Christian Cabala, Kennikat Press, Port Washington, NY: 1944, p. 13) 

In his work, Kabbala, Gershom Scholem states that from the beginning, the development of Kabbala was along typical gnostic lines.  It included instruction on cosmotology, angelogy, and magic.  (Scholem, Kabbala, Meridian, 1978)

It can safely be said that western esoterism is, in reality, an outgrowth of the Kabbala.  At its central core came the definition of magic, which has influenced almost all groups following in its footsteps.  In short, the foundational belief is that the two worlds (invisible and visible) are vitally interconnected, and that manipulation of one leads to impact on the other. 

Freemasonry claims a close association to the Kabbala. 

“It has many allusions, with which a knowledge of our Kabbala will make you acquainted.”  (Book of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry, McCleanachan, 1885, p. 65)

(Image & Text #1) 

Freemasonry not only considers the Kabbalists their Masters, but the work is personalized: it is "our Kabbala."

The 1944 monitor chides M asons who have little idea of the true nature of the symbols that adorn their Lodges.  They can be understood only through the aid of the Kabbala. 

“Moreover, at the present day, a great number of those that think themselves Freemasons know nothing meaning of the ceremonies, and have lost the key of the mysteries.  They do not even comprehend their symbolical charts, nor understand the hieroglyphically signs which the walls and ceiling of their Lodges are ornamented.  These charts and signs are the pages of the Absolute and Universal Science.  We may read them with the aid of the Kabalistic keys; and nothing in them is concealed, for the initiate who possessed the clavicules of Solomon.”  (Liturgies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Charleston, 1944, p. 105) 

And again: “In the center of this Blazing Star Freemason’s place the letter G.  It signifies GNOSIS and GENERATION, the two sacred words of the Kabbala; and also the GRAND ARCHITECT; for the pentagram, whichever way we view it, presents the letter A.”  (Liturgies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Charleston, 1944, p. 106)  

In the preface to the Knight of the Sun degree we read:

“Such is the argument of this the last philosophical degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; its doctrine is derived from the Kabbala, and it is the same as that of the Hermetic philosophers who wrote on Alchemy.”  (Book of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry, McCleanachan, 1885, p. 400)

In summarizing Kabbalism, I have found the following belief systems in its writings:

God is unknowable  (deism)
God and creation are not distinct  (pantheism)
Reincarnation allows for three attempts at salvation  (reincarnation)
The soul leaves the body at night  (astral-projection)
Stars and planets affect things on earth  (astrology)
One can recollect from past lives  (hypnotism)
One can contact the dead  (spiritism)
The supernatural realm can be manipulated  (magic)
One can make good things or bad things happen  (white and black magic)
The text of the Bible is a cloak; it has hidden meaning for adepts  (gnosticism)
There are multiple lesser gods  (paganism)

The most magical text of the Kabbala is the Key of Solomon.  (Book of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry, McCleanachan, 1885, p. 346)  The Key of Solomon is considered the most occult work within the Kabbala, and generally concerns itself with manifesting spirits through sacred geometry.

The Scottish Rite introduces its members to this esoteric work. Although God's Word clearly commands us to avoid divination and occult systems, Christians who remain in the Lodge continue to come under its teachings.