Kabbalah Ma’asit: Magic, Alchemy and Spiritual Sexuality in the Early Lurianic School and Related Occult Traditions

Toward the end of his life, Isaac Luria (1534-1572), one of the most well-known figures in Jewish Mysticism, ascended to the eccentric community in Safed, Israel, and imparted his unique wisdom to a fellowship of roughly forty apprentices. This interaction has spurred what would become the most prominent kabbalistic tradition to date. What makes this trend so exceptional is that it funnels various disparate secret methods which preceded it and reconcile them into a single multi-faceted metaphysical system. However, despite its popularity, little research has been done to examine its approach, impact and relationship with Kabbalah Ma’asit (Practical Kabbalah) and its connection to other currents.

This project aims to remedy this academic oversight by exploring the wide spectrum of the early modern  Lurianic oeuvre spanning from the writings of Luria himself and concluding with the publication of the De Revolutionibus Animarum (On the Revolutions of the Souls) in the Kabbala Denudata (The Kabbalah Unveiled), published in Frankfurt, Germany, by the efforts of Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (1636-1689) and his colleagues in 1684.

The scope of this inquiry covers not only known printed works such as the voluminous Etz Chayim (The Tree of Life), Sefer ha-Gilgulim (The Book of Reincarnations) and Sefer ha-Chizyonot (The Book of Visions) by Chayim Vital (1542-1620), one of Luria’s most prominent and prolific direct followers, but also compositions that received little attention such as the unpublished Kanfei Yonah (Wings of a Dove), by Moshe Yonah, one of the first students to capture the enigmatic teachings, and Sefer ha-Pe’ulot (The Book of Operations) – Vital’s magical-alchemical diary. In addition, emphasis is placed on numerous non-Jewish esoteric sources and many unpublished hand-written manuscripts preserved in libraries and archives around the world.

The analysis encompasses unprecedented considerations concerning the special interest these captivating mavericks exhibited with respect to occult philosophies, their open attitude toward magical practices and the import of alchemical precepts that were interpreted metaphysically and have influenced many Lurianic principles including the famous concept of Tikkun, or rectification.

Concerning praxis, specific sexual applications are also examined against the backdrop of the alchemically inspired framework of metempsychosis including “theurgical” methods, designed to draw holy souls into the adepts’ offspring, as well as non-procreative techniques tailored to aid the practitioners in their spiritual development, purify their soul and rectify the cosmos.

By evaluating the intellectual history of these controversial themes and how they were understood, integrated, and absorbed by other thinkers, including Christian audiences, this exploration provides new understandings of the bidirectional influence between Jewish and gentile occult milieus.