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From: catherine yronwode <cat@luckymojo.com>
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Subject: Re: Hermetic QBL (Supported) (was Parpola Discovered! ....)
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Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 02:55:42 GMT
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Gnome d Plume wrote:
> 
> mefistof13@aol.comnospam (Mephistopheles) wrote:
> 
> >Gnome d Plume wrote:
> >
> >> As we have pointed out before, the rabbinical kabbalah is not
> >> "magical" and it was considered heretical to use it for such 
> >> purposes.
> >
> > That is actually rather debatable. ;-) I have met rebbies selling 
> > spells, cabalistic talismans, etc., mostly Sephardim, I might add.
> 
> You are right on (as usual). The magick is in Sephardic
> kabbalah. 

Which is just as Rabbinic as Ashkenazy kabbalah. 

Note for non-Jews: Sephardic Jews are those who, upon leaving their
homeland after the Roman destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, lived
in North Africa, Spain and Portuagal. They were expelled from Spain and
Portugal in 1496 in an act of "ethnic cleansing." Some then settled in
North Africa and Egypt and others moved up into other parts of Europe
where they joined up with the Ashlkenazy Jews. Ashkenazy Jews are those
who, upon leaving their homeland after the Roman destruction of the
Temple in Jerusalem, migrated through Greece, Turkey, the Balkans,
Russia, and Poland or, alternatively, through Greece, Italy, Austria,
Germany, France, the Low Countries, and England. The Pyrenees Mountains
marks the division between Sephardic and Askenazy Jews in Westerbn
Erope. One major distinction between the Sephardic jews and Ashkenazy
Jews is that the latter never adopted pidgin or creolized German as a
common daily language, while the latter did. This pidin or creolized
German language spoken by the Ashkenazy Jews is called Yiddish (from the
German word Judishe or Jewish). 

However, Gnome's contention that only Sephardic rabbinical kabbalaists
utilized magic and that Ashkenazy rabbinical kabbalaists did not use
magic is not true. ALL Jews used magic through the Middle Ages at least
-- and many still do, of course. See the lengthy bibliography i posted
("Magic & Kabbalah") -- where you will find many intruguing articles
listed. Here's one that sounds quite promising (and note the publication
in which it appeared): 

   Wolfson, Eliot R., 'Magic from Late Antiquity to the Middle
   Ages', The Review of Rabbinic Judaism, 4 (2001), pp. 78-120.

In short, the practical (magical) kabbalah is a strong aspect of Jewish
tradition. 

cat yronwode