Mysteria Misc. Maxima is a weekly feature which brings together links on religion and esotericism from around the internet.

• Kosher? There’s an app for that. (HuffPo)
• The pope’s decision to add 22 cardinals to the Vatican’s roster suggests he may be curtailing his role as God’s chief instrument. (NPR)
• Speaking of, the pontiff wants to meet Fidel Castro during his March visit to Cuba. So, uh, good luck with that. (Reuters)
• Mormons gain new recruits from baptizing the dead. In related news, Fidel Castro is now Mormon. (Religion News Service)
• Biblical criticism can be a labyrinthine maze, here’s a diagram using cutlery to make understanding the perennial best-seller easier. (St. Eutycus via Exploring our Matrix)
• Magic? In my Christianity? It’s more likely than you think. (History of the Ancient World)
• A Muslim modelling agency represents models who don’t want to walk the catwalk half-naked. (Guardian)
• Stonehenge has some strange acoustical phenomena, spontaneously combusts drummers. (Live Science)
• Add this to your eight-fold path: Compassionate one-night stands. (Shambhala Sunspace)
• Carol Christ eulogizes Merlin Stone, the woman who gave a whole new meaning to the book of Genesis. (Feminism and Religion)
• Sex-negativity, religion and rape. (Sex Positive Thelema)
• The Phoenix Rising Academy offers distance courses on Western esotericism. Why not check it out? (Phoenix Rising)
• Photographer Alessio Delfino takes on the tarot and the shots are extremely gorgeous. Also, totally NSFW. (Alessio Delfino via Chainsaws and Jelly)
• Why do different magical systems depict Ezekiel’s cherubs, uh, differently? (Diary of a Persecuted Occultist)
• Is finding your HGA fundamentally an induced traumatic experience? (Head for the Red)
• Finally, forget diversifying your portfolio, successful business mavens rely on astrologers to boost their bottom lines. And yes, this article is in Forbes magazine. (Forbes)

Photo by suttonhoo.

Mysteria Misc. Maxima is a weekly feature which brings together links on religion and esotericism from around the internet.

• Before the Dead Sea Scrolls became a thing, some scholars thought they were a hoax. (Salainen Evankelista)
• Did Jesus have more than 12 disciples? (Storied Theology)
• A shortage of priests has some Catholic church leaders suggesting that the laity lead services. (Reuters)
• Does this class, which encourages students to live like monks, blur the distinction between the academic study of religion and experiencing religion? (Letter from Hardscrabble Creek)
• Damn, Scientology, you’ve had a rough week. (Religion Dispatches)
• Also having a rough week is Anusara Yoga founder John Friend, who’s accused of illegal financial dealings and drug trafficking as well as being the leader of a sexy-times Wiccan coven. (Yoga Dork)
• Jason Pitzl-Waters has the Wiccan perspective on the Anusara yoga scandal. (The Wild Hunt)
• What happens when journalists embed themselves in paganism? (The Wild Hunt)
• Love this: Caroline Tully interviews pagan scholar Ronald Hutton. (Necropolis Now)
• It’s said one should never discuss sex, politics or religion, but here’s some tips for pagans who must talk about the latter.  (The Informed Pagan)
• Using shamanic dance to commune with the divine. (Scarlet Imprint)
• Not quite sure what to say to your favourite deity? This list of adorations is a good place to start. (The House of Vines via @demonwriter)
• What is the meaning of the chalice in pagan ritual? (Standing at the Centre)
• Conjuring demons requires the help of an unlikely ally. Namely, God. (Jeffrey S. Kupperman)
• Finally, actor Nicolas Cage has been rumored to be a vampire, but an alchemist? No matter how cool Cage gets, you still can’t pay me to watch Captain Corelli’s mandolin! (Death and Taxes via @t3dy)

Photo by kudumomo.

Mysteria Misc. Maxima is a weekly feature which brings together links on religion and esotericism from around the internet.

• A Rabbi who claimed to be the “Jewish Indiana Jones” admits the Torahs he passed off as lost artifacts were fakes. (MSNBC)
• There’s a culture clash in Brooklyn underway as hipster Jews move into neighborhoods that are more Manischewitz than PBR. (Religion Dispatches)
• Copyright may be a big topic with the advent of the internet, but back in the day, ancient Jews were putting their own stamp on things, specifically, kosher bread. (Live Science)
• Suffering from a lack of motivation to meditate? Here’s some tips to get onto the Zafu. (Tricycle)
• The Archbishop of York says  no to same-sex marriage. (The Guardian)
• Maybe he should read this: Interpreting Genesis in a sex-positive way. (History of the Ancient World)
• Speaking of the Bible’s first book, what does God look like anyway? (Storied Theology)
• Forget karate, the best self-defense is a homily. Well, at least it is for this woman, who fended off a knife-wielding psycho by reading bible verses. (ABC)
• While some folks drift away from their birth religion, one man in France is petitioning the Catholic Church to nullify his baptism. (NPR)
• Scientology was slapped by the French government for its expensive methods, but will still be allowed to operate despite efforts to shut down the religion. (Reuters)
• Alin Suciu was kind enough to scan in some coptic Papyri from the 1800′s. (Alin Suciu)
• Those of you without a hot date for Valentine’s can celebrate Lupercalia instead. (History of the Ancient World)
• Does the modern heterogeneous approach to “spirituality” have occult roots? (Moot)
• A new online journal: The Journal of Contemporary Heathen Thought. (Heathen Journal)
• And another one: The Society for the Promotion of Rational Esotericism. (SPRE via @teapollonius)
• The importance of language when doing magick. (The Magickal Universe)
• The Ruby Tablet is putting up a bunch of formerly unpublished Golden Dawn documents. (Nick Farrell)
• The ghost of Gerald Gardner is having quite the year: There’s yet another documentary in the works on the founder of modern witchcraft. (The Wild Hunt)
• Finally, forget asceticism, you can now find enlightenment at the strip club, where the dancers presumably give new meaning to the phrase “the Jewel in the Lotus.” (The Worst Horse)

Photo by Michael Holden.

I mentioned recently that about doing some research into the Kabbalah, specifically its medieval origins. But what about its evil connections?

Evil? What’s so evil about Jewish mysticism? (Ok, you readers are smart, so don’t answer that or you’ll spoil the joke.) Apparently, mysticism wasn’t just a topic of debate amongst medieval Jews, but according to this, um, unauthorized commentary in a book on The Zohar, the Kabbalah continues to provoke strong emotions.

I give you: Exhibit A, found in a quiet corner of the York University library:

Wow! What a strong reaction! Admittedly, I found this commentary kind of amusing. For one, this is a book which is probably read very rarely. Second, this lonely tome managed to push one patron so over the edge that they felt the need to vandalize it. What’s the point of that? When people are looking for ways to sin, they usually don’t consult esoteric Midrash, right?

Like, hello, the internet.

Mysteria Misc. Maxima is a weekly feature which brings together links on religion and esotericism from around the internet.

• The Haj is one of the five pillars of Islam, but is exclusive to Muslims. However, one museum exhibit hopes to show non-Muslims what goes on in Mecca.  (Reuters)
• Young evangelicals are crazy about Christ, but not so smitten with organized religion. (Religion Dispatches)
• One of the few inscriptions about King Nebuchadnezzar II references a tower he dedicated to the Sumerian god Marduk. (Live Science)
• The Gospel of Judas wasn’t actually written by Judas, but some say it wasn’t written by 2nd century Gnostics either. (Apocryphicity)
• Forget Paris in the Spring time, Italy in Winter is where it’s at. Especially with the Ancient Stars in Byzantium Conference taking place in Pisa this week. Oh, you can’t go? The good news is it’s being streamed. (Rogue Classicism)
• Speaking of conferences, the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition will hold theirs in Milwaukee later this year. Why not send them a presentation submission? (JWMT)
• It’s never too late for Imbolc. (American Folkloric Witchcraft)
• The esoteric meaning behind the myth of Osiris and Isis. And presumably Set. And Horus. (History of the Ancient World)
• Proving that everything is cyclical, magicians in the 2nd century CE were too busy throwing fetuses at their targets to bother with outdated practices like poppets. (History of the Ancient World)
• Want to work some magic that doesn’t involve procuring fresh placenta? Try summoning up a new wardrobe. (Strategic Sorcery)
• The Scarlet Woman is a pretty powerful figure in Thelema, but does she have any relevance to men? (Standing at the Centre)
• There’s a movie being made about everyone’s favourite magician. Oh, I don’t have to tell you who. (LAShTAL)
• Finally, if you’re tired of dodging old high school acquaintances on Facebook, why not try a different social network, like this one populated by Greek gods. (Montreal Gazette)

Photo by Christine™.

I don’t think it’s too big of a generalization to say that Judaism mostly conceives as divinity as male in nature. The liturgical language alone suggests that God is a male deity, rather than a female goddess. Of course, the exception to this statement is the concept of the Shekinah, a divine personification of divinity which is often referred to as a complement to the masculine God. But how much agency does the Shekinah have, especially with regards to Jewish mysticism? Turns out, not much. While doing some research on the origins of Kabbalism, I was surprised to learn that the Shekinah is far from being Yahweh’s female contemporary, rather she is subordinated to the male conception of power.

I want to share with you here some observations made by Elliot Wolfson in his paper “Hebraic and Hellenic Conceptions of Wisdom in Sefer ha-Bahir.” The Bahir is one of the foundational texts of the medieval Kabbalistic movement, and Wolfson’s observations make clear that it is male generative power that runs the sefirotic board.

“The heart of God, associated in other bahiric passages with the feminine, is related specifically to the thirty-two paths of wisdom mentioned at the beginning of Sefer Yesirah. What is most significant to note in this text is the intricate use of gender symbols to convey the process of emanation of the feminine potency from the masculine… It is likely, moreover, that the paths contained within the feminine potency are related to the phallus. Ontologically, the being of the female is constituted by the phallic energies derived from the male; indeed, the female comprises within herself the thirty-two paths of the masculine wisdom.” (160)

On the one hand, the above idea is similar to other ideas of creation—that male and female energy combine in a generative force. Ignoring the heteronormative nature of this conception for the moment, let’s go back and look at the “female” role in this. Whereas in some varieties of Hinduism, the masculine Shiva derives his power form the Shakti, in the Kabbalah, the situation is reversed. Any creative power ascribed to the feminine is done so through the male. Wisdom is inherently “phallic” in nature, and not of the feminine.

“The image of mother at first blush would seem to signify that in some sense the male comes from or is sustained by the female. Upon closer examination, however, it becomes clear that even the image of the mother does not challenge the ontic dependency of the female on the male…Clearly, the intent here is not to imply that Israel is the mother of God, but only that God can love Israel even as a son loves his mother. ” (161)

If you’ve read the paper, you’ll know that I’m leaving out a whole bunch of stuff that is basically an elaboration on the whole “Kether in in Malkuth as Malkuth is in Kether” thing. But the point is that the feminine imagery is not symbolic of divine power, but rather is considered a receptive container for divine masculine power. In other words, its existences is solely to serve the male god (who seems a bit narcissistic about things, but ok.), and nothing more. Let’s read on…

“By an obvious play on the words dalet and dal, the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet comes to symbolize the divine gradation that is impoverished. In this context, the impoverished gradation is not distinguished in terms of gender from the other potencies that are depicted parabolically as kings. However, in subsequent Kabbalistic literature, in some cases based on this very passage, the impoverished one, symbolized by the dalet, is associated more explicitly with the feminine Shekhinah. The state of poverty is linked essentially to the character of femininity, for the female is portrayed in Kabbalistic literature as that which has nothing of her own but only what she receives from the beneficent male…The ontic condition of the feminine is that she is a weakened or inferior male.” (165)

To further reinforce this view of the feminine being subordinated to the masculine, we now go back to one of the creation stories in Genesis. Similarly, the Kabbalistic view is that woman is as an adjunct to the male:

“As we have seen, the lower Shekhinah, the light that emanates from the first light or wisdom, the upper Shekhinah, is often described in feminine images. Here, however, the lower Shekhinah is treated parabolically as one of the seven sons of the king. The ontic containment of the feminine in the masculine is reinforced in the continuation of this passage. The seven sons are related to the “seven holy forms,” which are the seven limbs that make up the divine image with which Adam was created. The limbs are delineated as follows: two thighs, two hands, the phallus, and the head. The seventh is found in the woman who was constructed from the side (or rib) of the man.” (166)

It is interesting to note that woman is part of the divine Adam in this conception, and not a full being in her own right. In fact, in this view, not only does she lack a penis, but also limbs, further suggesting male dependency. On the other hand: Yay! women are considered a holy form! However, it’s one that is made from the masculine and dependent on such for its existence.

This reading of the Bahir suggests that, despite the presence of female imagery in the Kabbalah, the feminine lacks any creative agency. The creative power of the Shekinah is not her own, but rather is instigated by a masculine being. Any power she has, derives from an outside masculine source.  Any divinity of the feminine is strictly contained within the referential of the masculine. In other words, the Shekinah, despite her exaltation, lacks any meaningful agency.

Source:
Wolfson, Elliot. 1998. “Hebraic and Hellenic Conceptions of Wisdom in Sefer ha-Bahir.” Poetics Today 19.1: 147-176.

Creation of Eve by Michelangelo via Wikimedia Commons.

Mysteria Misc. Maxima is a weekly feature which brings together links on religion and esotericism from around the internet.

• While it’s a slam-dunk that the devout prefer religious political leaders, it turns out they don’t really care which faith said leader adheres to. Atheists still out of luck. (Epiphenom)
• The Vatican has a “profane museum” full of pagan art. They guard it with a red curtain and an 18+ sign. (Religious Dispatches)
• What does a virgin birth say about the divinity of women? (Feminism and Religion)
• Perhaps the above link would go well in Goddess Thealogy, a new  journal for the study of female-centric religion. (Institute for Thealogy & Deasophy via Letter from Hardscrabble Creek)
• The Hellenic Council of America is miffed at a New York exhibit which downplays the denigration of Greek culture at the hands of early Christians. (via The Wild Hunt)
• Are you learning ancient Greek? Here are some rules to keep in mind when declining all those indicative middle-voice participles. (Graeco Muse)
• The paranormal is everywhere in pop-culture…so why aren’t churches responding to non-local experiences? (United Church Observer via @GenMercerLodge)
• The first International Conference on Contemporary Esotericism is accepting paper proposals. It takes place this August in Sweden, at the height of bikini-team season. (Stockholm University via Heterodoxology)
• Lot’s of good stuff coming out of the Standing at the Centre blog. This week: Banishings, bindings, and protection rituals. (Standing at the Centre)
• For your destination wedding at Boleskine: Thelemic wedding vows.
• Finally, the must-have item on every astrologer’s list: chocolates inspired by the planets. I’m willing to bet the lessons of Saturn have never tasted so good. (My Modern Met)

Photo by mnd.ctrl.

When Skepoet of The Loyal Opposition to Modernity blog contacted me regarding an interview, I immediately provided him with the names of real scholars in the field of Western Esotericism to speak with. After all, I’m just an undergraduate student and my knowledge and experience pales in comparison to those who have been actively researching in the field. Nonetheless, Skepoet went ahead and sent me some questions. The results of our conversation were recently posted on his blog.

This interview was an interesting experience for me, as well as a chance to explore religion and esotericism as both an insider and an outsider. Our conversation covered a whole lot of territory and includes how culture shapes our perception of religion, the role of foundation myths in occultism, and the marginalization of esoteric studies within wider academia. Here’s a snippit from the interview:

Skepoet: What do you see as the limitations on critically studying the history of Occultism? 

Sarah Veale : Well, I’m currently in a religious studies program, but I will try to suggest what others in the field of occult research have suggested are some impediments. They seem to be two-fold, and involve both institutional and field-related issues.

Institutionally, it’s only in the past few decades that the occult, and I’m subsuming a whole host of activity such as paganism and western esotericism into this category, has really been accepted as a subject of academic study. Until recently, there was a tendency to confuse subject matter and method, and I think there was an impression that those working in this area were going to be reading tarot cards and summoning demons instead of instead of writing papers and doing research. Ronald Hutton observed that the most frequent question he gets from colleagues isn’t one of magic’s cultural or social import, but rather whether or not spells work! So this suggests exactly where the level of discourse is in wider academia.

I touched on this earlier, but the occult seems to transgress notions of acceptability, many times in a very conscious manner as a strategy in and of itself. This has obvious ramifications when attempting to understand it within the codified world of academics, which has largely excluded it from discourse. For the longest time, magic was seen as a “deviant” form of religion, meaning it’s an aberration of normal practice. And this translates to the institutional level where research into these areas can be seen as aberrant of academic practice! There is actually a movement among some scholars of the antique period to cease using terms like “magic” altogether because they carry such pejorative baggage. The theory is that by even calling something magic, it introduces, in the words of Lyons and Reimer, a “virus” into the discussion which obfuscates objective analysis.

So, if you want to know what I think about religious tolerance in the classroom, the validity of invented traditions, or just want to find out whether or not I’m a Thelemite, then the full interview might be worth a read. You can do that here.

I would like to thank Skepoet for taking the time to get my thoughts on these issues and providing the opportunity to explore these ideas in a broader context.

A couple of months ago, the American Academy of Religion (AAR) held its annual conference. This is like the Oscars of the academic world if you are a religion scholar, and it is a week of non-stop lectures, idea-sharing, and I presume getting totally tanked and running amok in hotel hallways. But since I’ve never gone, don’t take my word on this.

A really important session on Western Esotericism  was organized by Sasha Chaitow and Phoenix Rising Academy called Demons in the Academy. The panel consisted of intellectual heavyweights from the field of Western Esotericism and addressed some of the issues those working in the area face, such as methodological concerns and how to define a discipline that seems to draw from just about everywhere.

Video of the presentations have been posted on the Phoenix Rising website. A big thank you to Sasha Chaitow for organizing this event and posting these lectures for all to enjoy!

Watch presentations from Demons in the Academy here.

Image via Phoenix Rising Academy.

Mysteria Misc. Maxima is a weekly feature which brings together links on religion and esotericism from around the internet.

• Defining Biblical Israel. (HuffPo)
• The carbon load of butter candles has led one company to come up with an electric alternative for Buddhists. (The Worst Horse)
• Was there an ancient Egyptian cattle cult? (History of the Ancient World)
• Mediterranean mystery religions and the Gnostic origins of Christianity. (HuffPo)
• Here’s a mystery that’s been revealed: Secrets of the communion wafer industry! (Killing the Buddha)
• Studies have shown religion’s relationship to good health, but those who are educated and attend church don’t seem to reap the benefits. (Epiphenom)
• Many years ago, William S. Burroughs interviewed Jimmy Page. This was the result. Also, meditation, magic, Aleister Crowley, etc. (Practical Visionary Magic)
• The world’s oldest zodiac wheel was discovered in Croatia. (Live Science via @PhoenixRediviva)
• Laurie Cabot is closing down her Salem Massachusetts store after 42 years. (The Wild Hunt)
• Finally, blog favourite Tim Tebow saw his chances of going to the Superbowl get sacked last weekend. But perhaps the Heisman trophy winner should add “Go Bacchus” to his GB2 slogan after witches in New England called in some favours for Patriots QB Tom Brady.(Yahoo)

Photo by ToNToN CoPT.