Kabbalah

The precise origins of Kabbalah are lost to history, though rabbinical lore claims that it either began with Adam or was passed to Moses on Mt. Sinai as an oral tradition by God when he gave the Hebrew people the Ten Commandments. How long it remained in the domain of Hebrew scholars is unknown - eventually, though, Hebrew and gentile scholars shared their deep philosophical concepts, and the symbolism of Kabbalah (if not it's true practice) entered the Western occult tradition. It has served over the years as a sort of master glyph, allowing symbol sets to be divided among the spheres that make up the Tree of Life in order to derive strong sympathetic interconnections between aspects of that symbol set. It is imbedded quite firmly in the consciousness of Western occultism at this point.

Prerequisites

Language (Hebrew), Occult 2 plus two other Tradition Skills 2, Specialty: Religion in Academics or Specialty: Kabbalah in Occult

Tradition Skills

• Academics: Most Kabbalists are avid scholars, able to quite prodigious amounts of rabbinical lore, theological concepts and holy scripture from memory. Kabbalistic rotes involving Academics usually take the form of mental recitations of theological concepts, pairing them in new ways as mnemonics for the magics invoked. Jewish meditation through the intonation or contemplation of Hebrew letters falls within this Skill as well.
• Crafts: Practice of kabbalism, while not quite as hands-on as many magical practices, still involves a number of different skills, most notably beautiful calligraphy and illumination, as well as the shaping of clay in homage to man's genesis - particularly in the creation of the Golem.
• Expression: The recitation of scripture is an important aspect of Kabbalistic practice. The universe began with the Word, and spoken words still play a powerful role in this tradition of magic.
• Investigation: The solving of ciphers, particularly in the form of gematria - rendering words into numbers and then comparing them to other words with similar sums - is involved in many Kabbalistic Rotes.
• Occult: Kabbalistic understanding of how the pure light of Ain Soph emanates down the Tree of Life in the Lightning Path, and how the soul of the dedicated may walk the Serpent Path back up the Tree form the core of Kabbalistic occultism.

Praxis

• Meditation & Prophecy: Also known as "going within" or "being alone with oneself," the process of meditation generally involves the sublimated intonation or chanting of specific Hebrew letters, awakening the consciousness and finding the links between aspects of the world (the cause of prophecy).
• Gematria: Rendering the letters of words into numbers and then finding other words with similar sums, the practice of Gematria can reveal a variety of secrets in the world. Wielded by an Awakened will, the practice of gematria can do more than simply prove relationships; it can forge them, by "proving" two concepts are related by gematria and altering one to alter the other.
• Tree of Life: In original rabbinical Kabbalah, the Tree of Life served a variety of purposes: to demonstrate the path by which God's light manifested in the world (called the Lightning Path, as it zig-zags down the length of the tree like a lightning bolt), and to demonstrate the process of climbing up out of animalistic needs and urges to embrace divine being (called the Serpent Path, which reverses the Lightning Path). More occult-oriented Kabbalism takes this one step further, finding in the sephria a variety of correspondences used in sympathetic principles - using the color and number of a sphere, and invoking the angel of that sphere can assist in the invocation of that sephira. Traditional Kabbalism is more about the quest up the Tree of Life, climbing from one sephira to the next, becoming closer to God in the process. Occult Kabbalism utilizes this imagery in a variety of ways. Awakened Kabbalists have found an interesting facet to the typical embodiment of power - rather than the normal process of pulling power down the Watchtower, many Awakened Kabbalists envision their Watchtower as the Tree of Life, pulling power down the Lightning Path and allowing it to "ground out" in the sephira appropriate to their spell.

Correspondences

• Scripture: The Holy Torah and similar scriptures are understood to be potent items of magic within kabbalism, particularly when practicing gematria.
• Tree of Life & the Sephira: The sephira are the ten points on the Tree of Life, which serve as the points of manifestation for the ineffable power of God on its way down the Tree from Kether, each stop allowing God to manifest in a new and different way, each less numinous than the last. Each of the sephira has an Arcanum, a Virtue, a Vice, an Archangel, a Color, a Number and a group of concepts associated with it that are brought to use in the creation of Tradition Rotes and the like.
  • Malkut: Matter Arcanum; Virtue - Prudence; Vice - Greed; Archangel - Sandalphon; Color - Brown; Number - 10; Concept - Discipline, materialism, stagnancy.
  • Yesod: Death Arcanum; Virtue - Fortitude; Vice - Sloth; Archangel - Gabriel; Color - Purple; Number - 9; Concepts - Perception, reception of ideas, security, the moon.
  • Hod: Life Arcanum; Virtue - Hope; Vice - Envy; Archangel - Raphael; Color - Orange; Number - 8; Concepts - Glory of life, air element, names and languge, order and hierarchy, Mercury.
  • Netzach: Spirit Arcanum; Virtue - Charity; Vice - Lust; Archangel - Haniel; Color - Green; Number - 7; Concepts - Primal urges, water element, Venus.
  • Tipheret: Space Arcanum; Virtue - Faith; Vice - Pride; Archangel - Michael; Color - Yellow; Number - 6; Concepts - Balance of all things, interconnections between things in their proper places, unbrokenness and wholeness, "heart knowledge" that comes of experience, fire element, the Sun.
  • Gevurah: Mind Arcanum; Virtue - Justice; Vice - Wrath; Archangel - Kamael; Color - Red; Number - 5; Concepts - Power, might, justice, destruction of the unworthy, protection of the worthy, revenge, cruelty, oppression.
  • Chesed: Time Arcanum; Virtue - Fortitude; Vice - Gluttony; Archangel - Zadkiel; Color - Blue; Number - 4; Concepts - Creativity, authority, majesty, Jupiter, symbols of power and authority, moments of inspiration or enlightenment.
  • Binah: Fate Arcanum; Virtue - Temperance; Vice - Sloth; Archangel - Cassiel; Color - Black; Number - 3; Concepts - Mother of all form and shape, sacred feminine and fecundity, Saturn.
  • Chokhmah: Forces Arcanum; Virtue - Faith; Vice - Wrath; Archangel - Raziel; Color - Silver; Number - 2; Concepts - Divine masculine principle, progenitors of the universe, stars of the Zodiac.
  • Kether: Prime Arcanum; Virtue - none; Vice - none; Archangel - Metatron; Color - White; Number - 1; Concepts - Divinity, Ascension, the Prime Mover, Wisdom, the Big Bang, unity.

Higher Mysteries

• Harmonious Magic (•••): When casting a spell that uses the correspondences or fulfills the nature of that Arcanum's sephira, the mage may reduce any Paradox incurred by one. This applies to any spontaneous magic or Tradition Rotes for Kabbalah.
• Invocation of the Sephira (••••): The power of the sephira infuses the mage's workings with the corresponding Arcana. When the mage casts a spontaneous spell or Tradition Rote of Kabbalah upon himself, if the spell is from an Arcanum that reflects his own Virtue or Vice, he gains a +1 die to the spellcasting roll. Likewise, if he knows the Virtue or Vice of a target (generally garnered through Empathy rolls or Mind spells), he may gain the same bonus when casting on another.
• The Virtue of Man (•••••): When casting a spell that fulfills the caster's Virtue, not only does he regain all his Willpower, but he also gains a point of Mana as the highest Supernal Realms reward the use of their powers towards the purity of the soul's highest nature. When casting a spell that fulfills the caster's Vice, not only does he regain a point of Willpower, but he also reduces the Paradox dice of the spell by one, as the Abyss rewards giving in to the basest urges of the soul. This applies to any spontaneous magic or Tradition Rotes for Kabbalah.

Typical Kabbalah Rotes

The following are some of the most commonly taught Kabbalah rotes.

From Moon to the Earth (Death ••)

• Spell: Decay
• Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Death
• Factor Bonuses: Vibrating “Yesod – Malkut” while pointing at object for one turn before +1
• Tradition Rote: Either target or mage must be wearing something both purple and brown in hue

Gematria in Malkut (Matter •)

• Spell: Detect Substance
• Dice Pool: Intelligence + Investigation + Matter
• Factor Bonuses: Scripture to hand +1, speaking the name of the substance in Hebrew +1
• Tradition Rote: Must actually perform the Gematria using scripture and Hebrew name, requiring 5 successes on an extended Intelligence + Investigation roll, with each roll taking one minute, before casting spell.

Seeking Gematria (Matter •)

• Spell: Find the Hidden Hoard
• Dice Pool: Intelligence + Investigation + Matter
• Factor Bonuses: Scripture to hand +1
• Tradition Rote: Must actually perform the Gematria using scripture and Hebrew name, requiring 5 successes on an extended Intelligence + Investigation roll, with each roll taking one minute, before casting spell.

Shield of Sandalphon (Matter ••)

• Spell: Unseen Aegis
• Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult + Matter
• Factor Bonuses: Writing sigil of Sandalphon on self +1, Medallion or phylactery bearing sigil of Sandalphon +2
• Tradition Rote: This rote must be performed as an Extended ritual.

Betrayal in Malkuth (Matter •••)

• Spell: Backbite
• Dice Pool: Presence + Occult + Matter
• Factor Bonuses: Hebrew Incantation +1
• Tradition Rote: Must speak Hebrew

Maharal's Wisdom (Matter •••• + Fate ••)

• Spell: The Golem
• Dice Pool: Intelligence + Crafts + Matter
• Factor Bonuses: Altar draped in brown cloth +1, two black candles +1
• Tradition Rote: To perform this rite as a Tradition rite, the golem's body must be made of clay, and the scripture of the Torah is read over the form first. Then, the magician must use High Speech. At the end of the ritual, the word Emet is carved into the golem's forehead, and set with the Conditional Duration Factor that will end the spell should the first letter of the phrase be destroyed.

Malkuth Which Is Kether (Matter •••••)

• Spell: Forge Thaumium
• Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Matter
• Factor Bonuses: Spell is performed with materials in an overlapping Tree of Life diagram, where the Kether of the lower tree is the Malkuth of the higher one +1
• Tradition Rote: Ritual must be performed on a Sunday, on the day when God created the universe.

The Serpent's Path (Mind •••• + Any Arcanum •••)

• Spell: Climbing the Tree
• Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult + Mind
• Factor Bonuses: Wearing a purple robe +1
• Tradition Rote: The magician must perform this ritual after a number of days of cleansing equal to the number of the sephirot sought. It is performed during the planetary hour appropriate to the destination sphere, or high noon for Kether.

Seeing in Creation (Space ••)

• Spell: Scrying
• Dice Pool: Intelligence + Crafts + Space
• Factor Bonuses: Molding clay as scrying focus +1
• Tradition Rote: Must be performed as Extended ritual.

Righteous Prayer (Time •)

• Spell: Perfect Timing
• Dice Pool: Wits + Expression + Time
• Factor Bonuses: Speaking Hebrew prayer for one turn previous +1
• Tradition Rote: Bearing a phylactery while performing prayer

Truth-Finding Gematria (Time •••)

• Spell: Divination
• Dice Pool: Intelligence + Investigation + Time
• Factor Bonuses: Scripture to hand +1
• Tradition Rote: Must actually perform the Gematria using scripture and Hebrew name, requiring 5 successes on an extended Intelligence + Investigation roll, with each roll taking one minute, before casting spell.