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. The spheres are arranged in three columns. This represents the female side of man and contains three
sephira: The right column is called the Pillar of Mercy. This represents the male side of man and also contains
three sephira: The middle pillar is called the Pillar of Equilibrium. THE SPHERES Sphere 1: Sphere 2: Sphere 3: Sphere 4: Sphere 5: Sphere 6: Sphere 7: Sphere 8: Sphere 9: Sphere10: Sphere11: The Four Worlds: Atziluth: Briah: Yetzirah: Assiah:
FROM: http://www.halexandria.org/dward001.htm
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DREAM - 10-4-05 - I was in a room with two children -a boy and a girl -
probably around 7 or 8 years old. I had a notebook and we were going to list
the tasks they planned to accomplish. They told me what they planned and I
wrote them down in order - #1, #2, etc.
I wrote down #3 and the girl said, "I don't want to be #3, I want to be
#5"
I said, "They have to go in order and not skip numbers."
Then my husband (or a companion) who was sitting behind my right shoulder,
said #10 is HOD, 11 is GEH, and when he said the words, a symbol appeared on
the page in the appropriate line.
I asked, "What language is that? I don't know what those words
mean."
He said, "Qabalistic Magic!"
I argued, "You are not going to be teaching these kids magical words. You
know that if you speak certain words, you draw certain beings to you that know
you understand what they are saying. I've had experiences where beings
have come to me and spoken to me for hours because they know I know what they
are saying. I'm not going to have these kids experience that with
strange beings because they know Qabalistic magic words."
end of dream
Comments? http://www.isisbooks.com/hod.asp
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10-31-05 - VISION - I was given a thick manila envelope with a lot of words on it and I could read except the word HOD. I think that's the third time I've dreamed that word. Right before that I was dreaming about cleaning a huge room with a broom. It was so dirty, I put down some water to hold down the dust. In one place the dust turned to purple/blue ink and it was running the wrong way because the floor was slanted in the wrong direction and the cats were in the way, playing right where I wanted to sweep. I then put down newspapers on the floor and pick up the dampness from the water I had spread to catch the dust. Some mothers and their daughters came in then and I ran to pick up the newspapers and a mother said, "Don't pick up the newspapers, they are perfect for us to sit on and they all sat on the newspapers and brought in wedding gifts for the bride and groom. I went out into the back hall feeling very guilty for doing such a bad job of cleaning. Someone said to me, "You shouldn't judge yourself so harshly. The best man to judge the job you are doing is the man who had the job before you." I looked up and a young, tall man in a beige colored robe stood there before me. |
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The Sepher Yetzirah tells us that the universe was
Created when Divinity arranged the 22 Hebrew letters in a particular
order. Indeed, we are told in a Jewish folk-tale of the letters
themselves, each begging Yahweh to be the one that the Creation would
happen through (the winner was, of course, Beth [B]....hence the first
word of Genesis "Berashith"). We can see what all of this
means when we look at the Hebrew Alphabet through a mystic's eyes. Each
of the 22 letters is assigned to an elemental or astrological component
of the universe. The energies of the 12 signs of the zodiac, the 7
planets, and the 3 elements (remember that Earth is not a literal
element) all compose the very fabric of existance. Further, each letter
is also attributed to a Tarot Trump, and all of the deep mystical ideals
contained therein. Genesis I contains ten instances of "Elohim
Said..."; these are the ten Sephiroth of the Tree of Life. However,
these ten vessels of Divine Power would be useless without the 22 paths,
each with a Letter attributed to it, that connect them and allow the
Energy to flow. The paths, by the way, is exactly what the Sepher
Yetzirah is refering to when it speaks of the arrangement of the
Letters. So, what does this mean for you and I? It means that those 22
Letters govern every aspect of our lives. If we could somehow divine how
the Letters are arranged for us at any given time, then we could learn
much about our lives and how to live them. We could ensure ourselves
that we are traveling with the flow of Divine Energy, and not fighting
the current. This, as you probably have heard, is the one cause of all
pain in life. Pain vanishess once you learn to "go with the
flow", and the true Adept has learned how to navigate along that
flow. You have certainly heard of one system that uses this idea:
Astrology. All but three of the Hebrew letters are assigned to Zodiacal
or Planetary forces. A great knowledge of Astrology is not necessary to
use the system presented here, but you will need to know the basic
correspondences between the letter and the Astrological Force it
represents. However, it should be known that the more you understand
Astrology, the better you will be able to use what I am going to be
teaching you in this booklet. Likewise the Tarot is another way of
divining the arrangement of the Letters. The Golden Dawn Tarot Deck
features the Hebrew Letters printed on each card for easy reference. You
will need to know the basic correspondences of the Tarot to the Hebrew
Letters to use this system. These attributions will be listed in the
Appendix of this booklet. This system will allow you to receive direct
Divine messages pertaining to the afore mentioned Flow. It will show you
how the 22 letters are arranged in accordance with any object, idea, or
situation, and then allow you to begin navigating that Flow.
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Have you ever wondered why so many Angelic Names end in "el" (Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, etc)? It is because of what the word "El" means. First, it is a Hebrew word for "Divinity" (or God). Therefore, Gabriel is the "Strength of Divinity" (Gebur + El = Gabriel). This name does not imply that Gabriel is separate from Divinity Itself. Instead, He actually embodies the Strength of Divinity. Further, there is also another reason. It involves exactly what the letters E and L mean. E (or A, it is the Hebrew Aleph) relates Power, as well as Benevolence. L (the Hebrew Lamed) means an extension, as well as a Guide. Therefore, El is appended to Angelic Names because Angels themselves are an extension of Divine Power. Excerpted from: http://ladyoftheearth.com/divination/angelic.txt
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The word Qabbalah finds its root in the Hebrew word Qibel meaning 'to receive by oral tradition'. Qabbalah refers to an oral tradition of esoteric or secret knowledge concerning 'essentially' the mysteries of Nature, and more overtly, the hidden teachings concerning the Hebrew Torah. The Torah is, of course, the first five books of what Christians call the Old Testament, and the oldest surviving of the Judaic liturgical texts. The Kabala is an ancient Hebrew mystical system of thought. It is a symbolic representation of the path the Divine followed in the creation of the universe, including man. It is, by definition, humanity's process of returning to divinity along the same path. Kabbala, also spelled KABALA, KABBALAH, CABALA, CABBALA, OR CABBALAH, is an esoteric Jewish mysticism as it appeared in the 12th and following centuries. Kabbala has always been essentially an oral tradition in that initiation into its doctrines and practices is conducted by a personal guide to avoid the dangers inherent in mystical experiences. Esoteric Kabbala is also "tradition" inasmuch as it lays claim to secret knowledge of the unwritten Torah (divine revelation) that was communicated by God to Moses and Adam. Though observance of the Law of Moses remained the basic tenet of Judaism, Kabbala provided a means of approaching God directly. It thus gave Judaism a religious dimension whose mystical approaches to God were viewed by some as dangerously pantheistic and heretical. The earliest roots of Kabbala are traced to Merkava mysticism. It began to flourish in Palestine in the 1st century AD and had as its main concern ecstatic and mystical contemplation of the divine throne, or "chariot" (merkava), seen in a vision by Ezekiel, the prophet (Ezekiel 1). The earliest known Jewish text on magic and cosmology, Sefer Yetzira ("Book of Creation"), appeared sometime between the 3rd and the 6th century. It explained creation as a process involving the 10 divine numbers (sefirot; see sefira) of God the Creator and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Taken together, they were said to constitute the "32 paths of secret wisdom." A major text of early Kabbala was the 12th-century Sefer ha-bahir ("Book of Brightness"), whose influence on the development of Jewish esoteric mysticism and on Judaism in general was profound and lasting. The Bahir not only interpreted the sefirot as instrumental in creating and sustaining the universe but also introduced into Judaism such notions as the transmigration of souls (gilgul) and strengthened the foundations of Kabbala by providing it with an extensive mystical symbolism. FROM: http://www.crystalinks.com/kabala.html
Modern science stems from the energy in this level, as it is the solar level of consciousness that tries to quantify the universe and everything around it. Hod is a good place to meet with the Archangel Michael. Michael is a being to call upon when you need protection or are in some kind of danger. As such Hod is a place to go for protection from the things that are unseen and things that are beyond your own ability to defend against. The energy of this sphere is well suited for acquiring knowledge and wisdom of any scientific or of a concrete physical-like nature. But more so, this sphere is the place to go to find or touch God within these physical constructs. The Beney Eloheem's primary responsibility is the transmission of knowledge to unite man with God. So here, for example, you not only acquire knowledge but also about how that knowledge touches the universe. Because the energy of Hod is skewed toward the application of knowledge through divine means, Hod is a great place to uncover deception and to find the truth of things. The light of God here is powerful enough to illuminate all falsehoods. Visit here when you feel someone is being untruthful and you want to discover the true nature of these things. Then use this knowledge to help you but not as a weapon to be used against another. The pitfall here in Hod is the use of truth and of knowledge as a weapon against others or in some kind of game to gain superiority over another. You do not always have to be correct. And the real truth is that the more knowledge you acquire the more humble you must become. So if you find yourself falling into the trap of using knowledge against others, visit the sphere of Yesod where knowledge is secondary to the powerful unknown forces that shape existence through mysterious ways. If used correctly Hod can be a great place to acquire the energy of discovery. Knowledge will seek out knowledge and open more and more doorways for you, if you just give it the time. This action will also keep you safe and protected from the often double-edge nature of knowledge that is acquired by force or too quickly. FROM: http://www.wisdomsdoor.com/tol/hod.shtml RAPHAEL: The Divine Physician. Raphael is also the Archangel of Air. He is lord of the Beney Elohim. One of the Seven.Archangels. Who are the Beney Elohim? The Old Testament references to "sons of God." This
phrase is translated from the Hebrew beney 'elohim [ בני אלהים ],
beney ha'elohim [ בני האלהים ],
and beney 'elim [ בני אלים ]: GENESIS 6:1 When men began to increase on earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the divine beings [beney ha'elohim] saw how beautiful the daughters of men were and took wives from among those that pleased them. 3 The Lord said, "My breath shall not abide in man forever, since he too is flesh; let the days allowed him be one hundred and twenty years." 4 It was then, and later too, that the Nephilim appeared on earth when the divine beings [beney ha'elohim] cohabited with the daughters of men, who bore them offspring. They were the heroes of old, the men of renown. (Tanakh, the new Jewish Publication Society translation according to the traditional Hebrew text) DEUTERONOMY 32:8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God [beney 'elohim]. (RSV) JOB 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God [beney ha'elohim] came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them. (NKJV) JOB 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God [beney ha'elohim] came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. (NKJV) JOB 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God [beney 'elohim] shouted for joy? (NKJV) PSALM 29:1 O give the Lord you sons of God [beney 'elim], give the Lord glory and power; 2 give the Lord the glory of his name. Adore the Lord in his holy court. (The Psalms: A New Translation) PSALM 89:5 The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord; the assembly of your holy ones proclaims your truth. 6 For who in the skies can compare with the Lord or who is like the Lord among the sons of God [beney 'elim]? (The Psalms: A New Translation)As you can see, each reference above is to angels. There are no instances in the Old Testament where the phrase "sons of God" refers to men. Let's see what E.W. Bullinger has to say about these "sons of God" in Appendix 23 to The Companion Bible: "The Sons of God" in Gen. 6.2, 4.Now let's look at Genesis 6:9, which discusses Noah's genealogy. This Scripture is further proof that fallen angels had interbred with humans. GENESIS 6:9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect [tamim] in his generations. Noah walked with God. (NKJV)In Genesis 6:9, the Hebrew word tamim, here translated "perfect," means "physically without blemish." As the first sentence makes clear, it's referring to the genealogy of Noah; it does not refer to moral perfection. Below is what Appendix 26 of The Companion Bible has to say about this word as used in verse 9 of Genesis 6: The Heb. word tamim means without blemish, and is the technical word for bodily and physical perfection, and, not moral. Hence it is used of animals of sacrificial purity . It is rendered without blemish in Ex. 12.5; 29.1; Lev. 1.3, 10; 3.1, 6; 4.3, 23, 28, 32; 5.12, 18; 6.6; 9.2, 3; 14.10; 22.19; 23.12, 18; Num. 6.14; 28.19, 31; 29.2, 8, 13, 20, 23, 29, 32, 36; Ezek. 43.22, 23, 25; 45.18, 23; 46.4, 6, 13. Now let's examine what Jude said about the fallen
angels in the New Testament: JUDE 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (KJV) Because of the punctuation of verse 7, this Scripture appears to
say that Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as the cities around them, gave
themselves over to sexual immorality. However, the underlying Greek text
does not support this interpretation. Kenneth Wuest writes of verse 7: This verse begins with hos, an adverb of comparison having meanings of "in the same manner as, after the fashion of, as, just as." Here it introduces a comparison showing a likeness between the angels of verse 6 and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha of this verse. But the likeness between them lies deeper than the fact that both were guilty of committing sin. It extends to the fact that both were guilty of the same identical sin. The punctuation of the A.V. [KJV] is misleading, as an examination of Greek text discloses. The underlying Greek text indicates that the fallen
angels left their own domain and indulged in sexual immorality, going
after "strange," or "other" flesh. The KJV
obscures this fact, probably because the view that the fallen angels
were "the sons of God" spoken of in Genesis 6:2, 4 was not
accepted when it was translated in 1611. However, some translations do
more clearly show the meaning of this passage. The New English
Bible better presents what Jude was saying: JUDE 6 Remember too the angels, how some of them were not content to keep the dominion given to them but abandoned their proper home; and God has reserved them for judgement on the great Day, bound beneath the darkness in everlasting chains. 7 Remember Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring towns; like the angels, they committed fornication and followed unnatural lusts; and they paid the penalty in eternal fire, an example for all to see. (NEB) It's clear that Jude wrote of the fornication of the angels as a fact. In verse 7 of his epistle, he compares the sexual wickedness in Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities to the sin of the angels. The nature of the angels' fall is also clearly stated
in Jude 6, where it is said that they left their own "abode"
(Gr. oiketerion). This word occurs in the New Testament
only here and in II Corinthians 5:2, where it is used of the spiritual
body of a resurrected saint. II CORINTHIANS 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation [oiketerion] which is from heaven, (NKJV) There is a great deal revealed in the Bible about angels. Angels could and did assume human form and even eat men's food (Gen. 18-19). Although the Bible doesn't tell us how, Jude 6 shows that some angels left their proper abode (their spiritual bodies) and took on fleshly bodies so as to marry and produce offspring by the daughters of men. Although the angels committed sexual sins and
corrupted the human lineage to some extent, they did something else that
threatened to foil God's plan for humanity. Let's go back to 1 Enoch to
see what these fallen angels did that affected the human race
enormously: 1 ENOCH 8:1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all 2 colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they 3 were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semjaza taught enchantments, and root- cuttings, Armaros the resolving of enchantments, Baraqijal (taught) astrology, Kokabel the constellations, Ezeqeel the knowledge of the clouds, Araqiel the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the course of the moon. And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven . . . (From The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, translated by R.H. Charles) As the text above shows, the angels brought with them knowledge which humanity did not have beforehand. This information led to a rapid advance in the knowledge base of the antediluvian society, including the invention of advanced methods of waging warfare. In the NKJV translation of Genesis 6:4, the nephilim are called "mighty men who were of old, men of renown;" however, the NRSV translates that same phrase as "heroes that were of old, warriors of renown." Genesis 6:11 shows that the earth was filled with
violence; this is very likely the direct result of the nephilim,
who apparently were mighty warriors. If the ancient legends are indeed
based in fact, as they appear to be, these angelic offspring were
superhuman in size and great in strength. There is also an indication
from the ancient text known as the Book of Jasher that
this corruption of bloodlines extended to the animals also. JASHER 4:18 And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals. 19 And the Lord said, I will blot out man that I created from the face of the earth, yea from man to the birds of the air, together with cattle and beasts that are in the field . . .(From The Book of Jasher, published by J.H. Parry & Company, 1887) The Book of Jasher is mentioned twice in
the Bible (Jos. 10:13; II Sam. 1:18). While it's evident the copy of
this book that has survived to our time has been corrupted to some
extent, the Scriptures seem to confirm the information contained in this
section of Jasher: GENESIS 6:7 So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." (NKJV) It appears likely that the objectives of the Flood were the destruction of the polluted human and animal bloodlines and the eradication of the forbidden knowledge that humanity had learned from the fallen host. There is one other New Testament passage which hints
at the sin of the angels before the flood. It is an enigmatic scripture
found in Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church. I CORINTHIANS 11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man. 9 Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. 10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. (NKJV) In I Corinthians 11, Paul states the position of women in relation to men and says that the symbol of authority on a woman's head is needed "because of the angels." Without an understanding of what took place anciently between the fallen host and women, this verse is cryptic at best. There is opposition to the view that the fallen angels
are the "sons of God" referred to in Genesis 6. Some cite
Matthew 22:29-30 and Mark 12:24-25 as objections, saying that these
Scriptures clearly teach that angels do not marry. MATTHEW 22:29 Jesus answered and said to them [the Sadducees], "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven." (NKJV)First, these verses do not state whether angels can marry or procreate. Here Christ was referring only to the way things will be after the first resurrection of the dead. Additionally, the angels in heaven who did not sin are the example cited, not the angels confined to Tartarus because they sinned by marrying humans and producing offspring. To get a better perspective of what Christ was saying, let's look at the parallel account of this conversation in Luke's Gospel. LUKE 20:34 And Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection." (NKJV) Christ's primary purpose in his answer was to affirm the reality of the resurrection to these questioning Sadducees, who did not believe that there would be a resurrection. As you can clearly see from Luke's account of this confrontation, Christ is making two points about the age to come: (1) Resurrected humans will not marry, and (2) resurrected humans will be given eternal life, which the holy angels now have. Interpreting these Scriptures to mean that angels have never been able to marry or procreate reads more into them than was intended by Jesus. Some also object by saying that Genesis 6:4 shows that there were nephilim on the earth before "the sons of God" came in to "the daughters of men" and also afterward; therefore, these giants cannot be the offspring of this union. Does the phrase "in those days, and also afterward" mean that the nephilim were present before the the sons of God cohabited with the daughters of men? "In those days" plainly means the time after the "sons of God" had come down to earth; the fact that they had taken wives is disclosed in Genesis 6:2. In time sequence, chapter six of Genesis should follow chapter four; the fifth chapter is an inset into the story flow. "Afterward" specifies after the flood, when we see another instance of giants appearing, this time in the land of Canaan which the Israelites were to inherit (Num. 13:33). Satan once again tried to thwart God's plan by using these savage hybrids to occupy the land of Canaan and keep Abraham's offspring out. Obviously none of the nephilim survived the Flood. These giants are often mentioned in the early books of the Old Testament until the last of them were finally killed off. The word nephilim only appears twice in the Old Testament (Gen 6:4; Num. 13:33), but these giants are also referred to as gibbor (Gen 6:4; Num. 13:33; Job 16:14) and rephaim when they reappear in a more limited fashion after the flood (Gen. 14:5; 15:20; Deu. 2:11, 20; 3:11, 13; Jos. 12:4; 13:12; 15:8; 17:15; 18:16; II Sam. 5:18, 22; 21:16, 18, 20, 22; 23:13; I Chr. 11:15; 14:9; 20:4, 6, 8; Isa. 17:5; 26:14). They were known by the proper names of Rephaim, Emim, Anakim, and Zamzummim. CONCLUSIONAs shown above, the evidence that "the sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6 are fallen angels is substantial. By their sexual immorality, these angels produced offspring which were strong and violent. The concept of a race of giants which resulted from the union of gods and humans is virtually universal in the world's early civilizations. The original intent of the angels may have only been
to satisfy their forbidden lust. Yet the knowledge they brought with
them and taught mankind caused society to develop at a more rapid
technological pace than God had intended. This societal development was
not positive, and it gave rise to a very violent society, one in which
the nephilim apparently played a large role. God was
forced to restrain in the Abyss the wicked angels that produced the nephilim,
and cleanse the earth of them and the violence they brought with the
great Flood.
Bryan T. Huie FROM: http://users.aristotle.net/~bhuie/gen6sons.htm Bene Elohim - Also bene Elim, a group of angels who belong to the order or choir of thrones. Meaning "sons of God," the bene Elohim are considered a part or division of the thrones, receiving the duty of forever singing the ineffable praise of God. As the sons of God, they are sometimes counted as the beings mentioned in the Book of Genesis (6:2) who save the daughters of men "and took to wife such of them as they chose." The result of this union were the giants, the anakim, "the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown." The bene Elohim are also thought to be the angels called the ischim. "...The geologist Christian O'Brien argued that
these [ancient Hebrew and Sumerian] texts describe a race of beings
called Shining Ones - his translation of the Hebrew word Elohim. These
beings created modern humans from earlier human forms by genetic
manipulation. Some of these beings, called Watchers, mated
with humans, and this was considered a crime by the Shining Ones. One of
the Watchers was named Shemjaza, and Yahweh was one of the Shining Ones.
O'Brien argued that the Shining Ones were superior but mortal beings of
unknown origin."
Also see: http://www.mystae.com/restricted/streams/scripts/elohim.html The "Council of the Gods" in Ancient Literature and the Book of Abraham by Kerry A. Shirts Chapters 3 and 4 of the Book of Abraham contain an account of the "Council of the Gods", including their discussion of the creation, the premortal existence, and the war in heaven. While this theme is neither fully developed nor coherent in the Bible or any other literature available in Joseph Smith's day, "since Cumorah" a great deal of scholarship has once again unearthed the ancient concept of the Council of the Gods. And as it turns out, Joseph Smith's Book of Abraham gives quite a fair accounting of the information scholars only began to find fully half a century after its publication. In this essay we will examine some of the information the scholars have uncovered about this important pre-mortal event. R.H. Charles shows that the "Bereshith rabba" teaches "God takes counsel with the souls of the righteous before he creates the earth."1 According to the "Sefer Haparshiyot," and the "Midrash Kee Tov," Adam, Noah, Abraham, Enoch and Moses were among the righteous in attendance. These souls in the Council of the Gods were said to be "with God before the creation of the world,"2 and they "were consulted with and did consult God on many vital matters, and especially on the matter of Creation."3 The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch distinguishes between righteous and common souls: "The storehouses in which the fore-ordained number of souls is kept shall be opened, and the souls shall go forth, and the many souls shall appear all at once, as a host with one mind. And the first shall rejoice, and the last shall not be sad."4 Further, the "Midrash Tanhuma Pekude" tells of some spirits who "kept their first estate" and therefore they were "added upon", that is, they entered into another world which "is more beautiful than this."5 Julian Morgenstern has discussed the "Council of the gods" at great length using Old Testament scriptures in light of recent discoveries. Other scholars also elaborated on this theme so that now we have a rather complete description of the Council in Heaven. Morgenstern begins by demonstrating that the Hebrew "elohim" cannot mean judges or foreign rulers because the context of the entire Psalm 82 requires the word "gods" to mean "divine beings."6 These are "...divine beings of a certain class who were actually condemned by Yawheh to die, or at least to become mortal, like human beings."7 It is interesting in light of this that the "Council of the gods" has a judicial function. The technical term "to stand" (i.e. participate as a member), in the court is used both in Accadian - "uzuzzu" and in Hebrew - "ha'omedim" in Zechariah 3:3, which compares well with "'omed" in 1 Kings 22:19.8 The "Puhrum" - "assembly" of the gods was open to goddesses also. In the Gilgamesh Epic, "Ishtar reproaches herself for having advocated the flood in the assembly of the gods. We read that "In their (i.e. the gods) assembly her word is highly esteemed, is surpassing; she sits among them counting as much (with them) as Anum, their king. She is wise in intelligence, profundity, and knowledge."9 Professor Van Der Woude has noted the idea that the "Sons of Light" are saved from the "Sons of Darkness" in this "Council" and specifically, the heavenly host helps Melchisedek "fight against Belial and his angels." This is the famous war in heaven theme, also found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.10 This "council" is understood by Morgenstern to be the assembly of El, that is, those who helped El against his father, were the elohim. The "'adat El" was originally the "Council of El", though later it was also acknowledged as the "Council of Yahweh" which indicates "the mythological background of the expression and its North-Semitic origin..."11. The idea of a council of divine beings, even the very "Sons of God" - (bene Elohim) was an uncomfortable one for the ancient Jews after the Babylonian captivity. It reflects a polytheism which was later shunned, and even stamped out with changes in the scripture to erase any lingering traces, though these were not all successfully destroyed. Morganstern shows how the post-exilic Jews tried to downplay the fact that "Elohim" is a plural form by contending weakly that Psalms 29:1 and 89:7, where we read of the "Bene elim" are actually "an artificial double plural formation of a singular 'ben 'el.' Morgenstern asserts that this reconstruction was perpetrated by the post-exilic Jews "to reduce as much as possible the extreme polytheism of the original 'bene 'el.' 'Bar elohim' of Dan. 3:25 would then be a late singular formation from an Aramaic plural, 'bere elohim,' equivilant to the Hebrew 'bene elohim.'"12 This has recently been confirmed in a striking way via Textual Criticism. Emanuel Tov has noted that the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:8) "referred to an assembly of the gods (cf. Ps. 82:1; 1 Kings 22:19), in which 'the Most High, 'Elyon,' fixed the boundaries of peoples according to the number of the sons of the God El." He goes on to admit "...the scribe of an early text... did not feel at ease with this possibly polytheistic picture and replaced "Bene El," (sons of El), with "Bene Yisrael", "The sons of Israel," thus giving the text a different direction by the change of one word... A similar change may be reflected in all textual witnesses of Ps. 96:7: 'Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength,' when compared with the presumably original (polytheistic) text of Ps. 29:1, 'Ascribe to the Lord, O divine beings, (Bene Elohim), ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.' Psalm 29, which also in other details reflects situations and phrases known from Ugaritic texts, does, in this detail, provide a polytheistic picture of the assembly of gods."13 P. Kyle McCarter, Jr., shows the rendering of "sons of God" in Deut. 32:8 has the support of the Septuagint [the Greek Old Testament also rendered LXX] and other versions. "The original can be taken to mean that Yahweh was one of the sons of God to whom Elyon parceled out peoples. The alteration of "h'lhym" (or perhaps 'l or 'lym) to "ysr'l" suppressed this interpretation."14 The LXX reads: "When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God."15 Ronald S. Hendel simply said, "...somewhere along the line in the transmission of the standard rabbinic Bible someone felt the need to clean up the text by literally rewriting it and substituting "sons of Israel" for the original "Sons of God" in Deuteronomy 32:8." These "Sons of God" are "indeed divine beings."16 Gerhard Von Rad notes that "Creation is part of the aetiology of Israel!" And he further notes that "Another rooting of Israel in the plans of Jahweh for the world is to be seen in Deut. 32:8: 'When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the 'Elohim beings'; but Jahweh's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage."17 William F. Albright believed that this verse should be read in conjunction with Job 38:7 - "When the morning stars rejoiced together And all the sons of God shouted with joy." Why? "Because there are many passages in the Old Testament where the stars serve as a simile for 'multitude'; specific references to 'counting' the stars are found at Genesis 15:5 [dealing with Abraham] and Psalms 147:4." Hence the idea here being that "according to the stars," meaning "God created and assigned abodes to a multitude of different nations, but of them all he chose Israel as his special charge."18 We'll return to this thought when we deal with the Book of Mormon. For now it is interesting that Mitchell Dahood says Psalm 147:4 means "To each star Yahweh gives a number and a name...He who brings forth their host by number, he calls them all by name."19 The ancient idea of the "Council of the gods" meets us in the Sumerian and Akkadian religions, as well. Psalm 29 "...is a Yahwistic adaptation of an older Canaanite hymn to the storm-god Ball..."20 Since the early 1900's we have known that "The Sumerians and Akkadians pictured their gods as human in form, governed by human emotions, and living in the same type of world as did men. In almost every particular the world of the gods is therefore a projection of terrestrial conditions...Thus in the domain of the gods we have a reflection of older forms, of the terrestrial Mesoptamian state as it was in pre-historic times. The assembly which we find in the world of the gods rested on a broad democratic basis..."21 Professor Cross agrees that in Israelite poetry, the language we have cited as indicative of the assembly of gods "is generally applied to the host of secondary supernatural beings who surround Yahweh, and prostrate themselves before him."22 We are fairly sure that "the early poets of Israel were heavily influenced by the poetic imagery and modes of expression of the peoples with whom they came in contact."23 The assembly of gods were rather frequently assembled at the "Ubshuukkinna," that is, a large court, where they met friends and relatives who had come from afar to participate in the assembly as important business was to be transacted, usually beginning with an embrace as a welcome into the company of the gods.24 The leadership of the gods was usually headed by the head god of the gods, who began the discussion which was "largely in the hands of the so-called 'ilu rabiutum', the 'great gods,' or better yet, the 'senior gods.'"25 This is strikingly similar to Joseph Smith's translation of Genesis 1:1 - "The head one of the Gods, brought forth the Gods."26 Joseph Smith's translation of the Hebrew word "Bereshiyth" according to the Hebrew Dictionary in Strong's Concordance means "the first, in place, time, order or rank - beginning, chief, first (fruits, part, time), principal thing."27 Joseph Smith's translation would come from "re' shiyth / bara' / 'elohiym / 'eth / hashamayim / v'eth / ha'arts," meaning - "The Head one of the Gods organized the heaven and the earth."28 Gesenius' Lexicon notes that the "beth" "refers to a multitude, in the midst of...among in." The lexicon shows that it can mean "among" as in "among the nations" (2 Ki. 18:5) It can also mean "before, in the presence of..."29 When the discussion began, we are told, "the intrinsic merit of a proposal" was given due process and consideration, with "wise council" and a "testifying of intelligence." The gods were constantly "asking one another," all manner of things in the discussions eventually with the result that "issues were clarified and the gods had opportunity to voice their opinions for or against, at times espousing proposals they later bitterly regretted."30 This is precisely what we find in the Book of Abraham Chapter 3. "These two facts exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they...I am more intelligent than they all." The Gods then make proposals, "We will go down for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell... Whom shall I send? And one answered...Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first. And the second was angry and kept not his first estate..." (Abr. 3:19, 24, 27, 28, etc.,). As we have seen "the function of this divine assembly were in part those of a court of law," and "the assembly is the authority which grants kingship."31 It is the same picture we find in the Book of Abraham, Ch. 3! Once the head god is chosen to carry out a particular function (Abr. 3:27!) that god is clothed in a garment and having been armed, then carries out the battle against the gods who disagreed with him (Abr. 3:28!) Thus, in the war in heaven the righteous hosts "fight against Belial and his angels."32 We know this is the case because at Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-7 we find Yahweh assembled with his heavenly host, designated as the "Bene Elohim", literally "the sons of God", and "One among their number, although one obviously discharging a particular and constant function, is hasatan."33 Namely, "the adversary" or "the accuser" taking on a "role of fixed hostility to mankind."34 Morgenstern notes that the important thing in this picture, is not so much Satan as Yahweh, "the graphic picture of Yahweh, seated upon his throne, surrounded by His heavenly host, the 'bene elohim,' divine beings of rank inferior to Yahweh Himself, his personal attendants and ministers of his Will and purpose, gathered together as the ''adat 'el' to pronounce judgment."35 I cannot find a better description of the Book of Abraham picture, but Morgenstern is using a composite picture of Old Testament and Ugaritic, Sumerian, and Akkadian lore to come up with this scenario! "The picture here is identical with that in Isaiah 6:; 1 Ki. 22:19-23 and Zecheriah 3," which "unhesitatingly designates Yahweh's heavenly attendants as 'elohim', 'gods' obviously identical with 'bene ha'elohim' of Job 1:6 and 2:1." The tie in with Mormonism is more obvious when we see Satan was cast out of heaven, along with his followers, "but only some, and these impliedly only a small group, of the great hosts of angels. The rest, it says explicitly, restrained themselves."36 Mormons recognize that only 1/3 of the hosts of heaven rebelled. Satan's sin? "Give me thy glory!" Or as Morgenstern puts it, "And one from out the order of angels, having turned away with the order that was under him, conceived an impossible thought, to place his throne higher than the clouds above the earth, that he might become equal in rank to my power." And make no mistake about it, Satan was one of the "Sarim", that is the leaders, the head prince of his group.37 More to the point, we now know who the "we" are in Genesis 1:26, who were involved with the creation! "This would seem to be a brief fragment of the creation tradition basic to Genesis 1, in its oldest, pre-literary form, as it must have been current in Israel for some time prior to the composition of Pg about 400 B.C. According to this tradition Yahweh took counsel with his Heavenly host with regard to the creation [Cf. BofAbr. "we will go down for there is space there..."!] of man."38 Interestingly, in today's Torah commentary we read from the editor that the statement in Genesis 1:26, "Let us make man..." "is spoken to an angelic court"!39 Astonishingly, we find that Yahweh assigns mortality to the "bene elohim"! The word "temutun" means "ye shall become mortal."40 And it is to the "bene elohim" that Yahweh is telling this to, since "...it means that they must forfeit completely their original, divine nature, and with it undoubtedly whatever divine powers and prerogatives they possessed, and take on the nature of human beings and in particular become subject to death, become mortal."41 This is precisely what the Book of Abraham teaches, but nowhere have I found anything similar in print in Joseph Smith's day other than in the Book of Abraham. This concept was completely foreign in Smith's day, and still is a supreme heresy to much of Christendom even today! "It has a definite polytheistic basis, at least in its assumption that some divine being other than God Himself might claim supreme dominion."42 That no one is going to make up a story like that can be clearly seen from the fact that no one in Joseph Smith's day or for hundreds of years before ever did make up such a story and claim it was scripture! Now it is a confirmed view thanks to recent discoveries and decades and decades of scholarship and work. Joseph Smith put it all together in succinct and coherent form almost overnight. And not only is nothing missing in this account, but no extra or demonstrably incorrect details are added. Endnotes 1. R.H. Charles, "The Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament," Oxford, 2 vols., reprint, 1979, p. 444, note 5. 2. Rabbi Nissim Wernick, "A Critical Analysis of the Book of Abraham in the Light of Extra-Canonical Jewish Writings," Ph.d Dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1968, p. 22. 3. Wernick, "Ibid.," p. 24., 4. Wernick, "Ibid.," p. 26f., 5. Wernick, "Ibid.," p. 22. 6. Julian Morgenstern, "The Mythological Background of Psalm 82," in "Hebrew Union College Annual," Vol XIV, 1939, pp. 29-34.-7. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," p. 34. 8. Frank M. Cross, Jr., "The Council of Yahweh in Second Isaiah," "Journal of Near Eastern Studies," (hereafter JNES), 1952, p. 274, note 3. Cf. Robert Eisenman, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians," Element Books, 1996, "Glossary of Hebrew Terms," p. 424, who maintains that this term, "'omdim", "'amod", etc. means, among other things, "a direct relationship with 'the Standing One' in Jewish/Christian/Elkasite/Ebionite ideology directly related too to the idea of 'the Primal Adam' in these traditions." 9. Thorkild Jacobsen, "Primitive Democracy in Ancient Mesoptamia," in "JNES" July 1943, p. 163, note 22. 10. A.S. Van Der Woude,"Melchisedek als Himmlische Erlosergestalt in den neugefundenen Eschatalogischen Midraschim aus Qumran Hohle XI," in "Oudtestamentische Studien," Deel XIV, E.J. Brill, 1965, p. 365. 11. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," p. 39 note 22. 12. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," p. 39, note 22. 13. Emanuel Tov, "Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Fortress Press, 1992, p. 269. He notes that H.D. Hummel says Ps. 29:1 refers to "the sons of El" sitting in the assembly of gods because the original text referred to El together with an enclitic mem. (p. 365). 14. P. Kyle McCarter, Jr., "Textual Criticism: Recovering the Text of the Hebrew Bible," Fortress Press, 1986, p. 59. 15. Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton, "The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English," Hendrickson Publishing, 5th printing, 1995, p. 276. 16. Ronald S. Hendel, "When the Sons of God Cavorted With the Daughters of Men," in Herschel Shanks, Ed., "Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls," Random House, 1992, p. 170, 172. Cf. Edwin C. Kingsbury, "The Prophets and the Council of Yahweh," in "Journal of Biblical Literature," Vol. LXXXIII, 1964, "Completely explicit records of the prophetic experience with the council of Yahweh do not exist, nor are they to be expected. A parallel to this omission of explicitness is to be seen in the entrhonement psalms where there are also allusions to the idea of the heavenly council. Such a parallel between these psalms and the prophetic material hints at the date of these psalms. The reason for the omissions is clear; the contemporary readers understood the allusions clearly, but later generations of readers and editors either misunderstood the allusions or removed them." (p. 279). This is precisely what the Book of Mormon teaches, that "many plain and precious parts were *removed* from the record of the lamb." Nephi knew whereof he spoke! 17. Gerhard von Rad, "Theologie des Alten Testaments," trans. by D.M.G. Stalker, 2 vols, Harper & Row, 1962, vol. 1, p. 138, note 5. According to this idea, the various gods (Elohim beings) each got an allottment from heaven! Cf. William F. Albright, "From the Stone Age to Christianity," Doubleday, 2nd ed., 1957, T.J. Meek interpreted this to mean "He assigned the realm of the nations to the various deities!" (p. 269). 18. Albright, "Ibid.," pp. 296f. 19. Mitchell Dahood, "Psalms III," 3 vols., Doubleday, 1970, p. 345. 20. Mitchell Dahood, "Psalms I," 3 vols., Doubleday, 1966, vol. 1, p. 175, note xxix. 21. Jacobsen, "Ibid.," p. 167. 22. Frank M. Cross & David Noel Freedman, "The Blessing of Moses," in Journal of Biblical Literature (Hereafter JBL), Vol. 67, 1948, p. 201. 23. Cross & Freedman, "Ibid.," p. 202. 24. Jacobsen, "Ibid.," p. 167. 25. Jacobsen, "Ibid.," p. 168. 26. Andrew F. Ehat & Lyndon W. Cook, Eds., "The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph," BYU Religious Studies Center, 1980, p.341. 27. Ehat & Cook, "Ibid.," p. 397, note 69. 28. Ehat & Cook, "Ibid.," p. 397, note 70. 29. "Gesenius' Hebrew And Chaldee Lexicon," Baker Book House, 1979, p. 97. Cf. Brown, Briggs, Driver, "A Hebrew and English Lexicon," Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1951, pp. 88f. 30. Jacobsen, "Ibid.," p. 168. 31. Jacobsen, "Ibid.," p. 169. 32. Van Der Woude, "Ibid.," p. 365. On the god being clothed with a garment, Jacobsen, "Ibid.," p. 170. 33. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," pp. 41f. Notice here that Satan is indeed one of the "sons of God"! Cf. p. 42! 34. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," p. 42. 35. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," p. 43. 36. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," p. 93. 37. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," p. 99. 38. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," p. 58, note 46. 39. W. Gunther Plaut, "The Torah: A Modern Commentary," Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981, p. 19. 40. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," p. 73. 41. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," p. 73. 42. Morgenstern, "Ibid.," p. 105. FROM: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/2671/Kerry7.html QABALISTIC MAGIC
Qabalah can provide the basis of magic activities with the aim of transforming the life of the individual by creating synergy between everyday life, e.g. the human body, and universal creative forces as identified by the Qabalah. This is also an act of healing as the total sum of cosmic powers correspond to human wholeness, and therefore develops our true capability which is genetically enabled at birth but must be utilized by will. "The art of the magician lies therefore in aligning himself with cosmic force in order that the operation he desires to perform may come about as a part of the working of cosmic activities. If he be truly purified and dedicated, this will be the case with all his desires; and if he be not truly purified and dedicated he is no adept, and his word is not a word of power" (Dion Fortune;118) All kinds of healing and magic works in the same way: The healer-magician enters a state of meditative excitement, calls upon cosmic powers for protection and help, and visualizes or simulates the desired results while "seeing" and trusting that it happens. In qabalistic magic the involved powers are clothed in the symbolism of western culture and religion, but the process is universal. The results of healing magic can never be forecasted: Even though any ritual is carrried out with the intention of a desired result, the only certain effect is the clearing of channels between spirit, soul, personality and body. What the ego-personality desires - or even the soul - may be different from the will of spirit. Earthly suffering may sustain if it is the condition is a conscious choice of the soul or of spirit, even though, of course, the ego disagrees. Healing can lead to good health, more money and better sex, but not necessarily so. You never know what energy will do when it has its way. The term 'spiritual technology' is meant to signify this intuition. FROM: http://hjem.get2net.dk/333/qabalah/magic.html According to the Golden Dawn - at the HOD level, one would study this: Practicus Level, 3=8, Hod
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The
Tree of Life Crop Circle Formation ARCHANGELS Landing
on the Planet Mercury Sacred
Numbers to Resuscitate the Dead - Lazarus and Awakening FUTURE
PLANETARY ALIGNMENT The
American Tragedy: A Symbolic Event, Part One CORNPLANTER
- US NATIVE AMERICAN POLICY 11:11
- POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE? THE
VAULT OF HEAVEN - THE 28TH PATH The
4th World - and the 5th World of the Aztecs TWO
SUNS Chakra
System Crop Circle Formation Sacred
Numbers to Resuscitate the Dead - Lazarus and Awakening the ...
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