The Kabbalistic Teaching Painting of Princess Antonia of Württemberg in Bad Teinach

The modern term "Kabbalah" is from the Medieval Latin word cabala which, in turn, is from the Hebrew word qabbālâ. This term, in Hebrew, means a received doctrine or tradition and derives from the word qibbēl - to receive. There are approximately two dozen variant spellings of "Kabbalah" the most common of which include kabbalah, kabala, kabalah, qabalah, qabala, cabala, cabbala, kaballah, kabbala, kaballah, and qabbalah. This sort of multiplicity is frequently seen with Hebrew words borrowed into English because there exist several different systems of transliterating the Hebrew alphabet into Roman letters. The fact that the Hebrew alphabet does not as a rule indicate short vowels or the doubling of consonants compounds the difficulties. Spelling "Kabbalah" with either one or two b's are equally correct, insofar as the single b accurately reproduces the spelling of the Hebrew, while the double b represents the fact that it was once pronounced with a double b. At this website, the spelling "Kabbalah" will be used throughout.

The underlying philosophy of the Jewish Kabbalah is essentially Neoplatonic in origin. Neoplatonists believe that the phenomenal world and the human soul were produced by a process of emanation from the highest level of Reality - the First Hypostasis - otherwise known as "The One'". This belief system includes practical techniques designed to enable an individual soul to retrace the path of emanation in reverse, literally an ascent, or return back to the original condition of being. Emanation is an ancient way of explaining how our physical world, which contains a chaotic diversity of entities, can have an underlying order and a connection with a single, unified source of all being.

The most important proponents of the concept of emanation as a theory to explain the nature of existence is the ancient Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 B.C.) and his successors, most notably Plotinus (205-270 A.D.), Porphyry (235-305 A.D.), Iamblichus (245-325 A.D.), and Proclus (410-485 A.D.). Emanation bridges the distance between "The One" (or "The Good") and the diversity of existence found in the material world by postulating intermediate levels of being. There are many different elaborations of this idea; perhaps the most detailed and complete expositions of the Platonic view is described in The Elements of Theology by Proclus. It should also be noted that this Neoplatonic idea system was closely mirrored in the philosophy of the 17th century Dutch philosopher, Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677). Spinoza, a descendant of Portuguese Jews, is believed by many scholars to have been strongly influenced by Kabbalism. Spinoza's philosophy was extremely influential on many later European philosophers.

Such mystical beliefs and practices were fairly commonplace among the Gnostics in the Roman Empire of Late Antiquity and this form of mysticism had adherents, not only among Jews, but among Christians and Pagans as well. In Europe, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, believers in such a system greatly diminished in numbers and went underground, but they did not entirely die out. During the Renaissance, this belief system was revived and played a temporary but important (although sometimes underground) role in European culture until the mid-17th century, when the system began to be overshadowed by the rise of secular Materialism. In later centuries, down to the present day, this belief system has continued to enjoy a small group of adherents who are now, in North America and Europe, classified as members of the so-called "New Age" community.

It should be clearly understood that most elements of the Neoplatonic belief system have been and are now rejected as being heretical by the mainstream, orthodox groups in Judaism, Christianity (both Roman Catholic and Protestant), and Islam. However, certain mystical groups in all three of these religions, e.g., Kabbalists among the Jews, Rosicrucians among the Christians and Sufis among the Moslems, embrace most if not all of the Neoplatonic beliefs espoused by the great philosophers of Late Antiquity, i.e., Plotinus, Iamblichus and Proclus.  

Although Jewish emanational mysticism may be dated back to Late Antiquity, the actual practice of the Kabbalah is much more recent. The most important Jewish scholar of the Kabbalah, Gershom Scholem (1897-1982), has concluded that the Kabbalah originated in Medieval Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. The earliest identifiable centers of this practice were in the Provence region of southern France, and northern Spain. These regions enjoyed a high culture at that time, and were much stimulated by contact with the Arab world, both through Moorish (southern) Spain, and also because the Crusades had caused large numbers of Europeans to visit Palestine. For Scholem, Kabbalism is based upon a book entitled the Zohar, a pseudo-epigraphic commentary on the Hebrew Torah. Modern scholars believe that the Zohar was written by the Spanish Kabbalist, Moses of Leon (ca. 1250-1305), in the late 13th century. The essence of the Jewish Kabbalah is comprehension of the divine, both intellectually and experientially, and as such it presupposes a personal God. The situation in Jewish Kabbalah is clear: the God of Kabbalah is the God of Judaism, and as such Kabbalah, although unorthodox, is intended to be an extension and elaboration of Judaism.

As previously mentioned, several key concepts in Kabbalah owe a great deal to Gnosticism and Neoplatonism. The outlines of Gnostic and Platonic influences can be discerned and have been documented by scholars. Kabbalah is strongly emanationist. Emanationism in Kabbalah is expressed primarily through two metaphors: "Four Worlds" and "Ten Sephiroth." The Kabbalistic Four Worlds are shown in the following diagram and compared to the equivalent Neoplatonic structure:

The Sephiroth is a grouping of 10 "enumerations" or emanations through which God (referred to as "Ein Sof" - The Infinite) reveals himself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms. The doctrine of the Sephiroth is the essence of the Kabbalah and distinguishes it from other forms of Jewish mysticism. The ten stage Sephiroth (in the singular each stage is called a Sephirah) is quite similar to the Pythagorean/Platonic concept of the "Holy Tetraktys." The Holy Tetraktys explains the creative process in terms of the first ten numbers; this concept has first been attributed to Pythagoras (569-475 B.C.). According to the philosopher Iamblichus, Pythagoras spent 22 years studying in Egypt and subsequently spent 12 years in Babylon whereby he acquired most of the esoteric knowledge of both those societies.   By Roman times, the Pythagorean tradition ran in parallel with the teachings of Plato, and often overlapped, so that it is sometimes hard to distinguish between Platonism and Pythagoreanism. Many prominent Platonists, such as Iamblichus, regarded themselves as inheritors of the Pythagorean wisdom tradition, and believed that Plato derived many of his teachings from Pythagorean sources. I will first briefly explain the Tetraktys concept and then compare it to the Sephiroth tradition.

The number 10, depicted in Pythagorean fashion, is a triangular configuration of 10 pebbles (see above) that was given the impressive name "Holy Tetraktys." This method of displaying the number 10 as the sum of the numbers 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 presents the Pythagorean idea that the number 10 contained within itself the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. Each of these numbers represented a fundamental idea concerning the Pythagorean Cosmos, i.e., the natural world (represented by the number 4) and three levels of higher, unchangeable reality called "hypostases."

In Greek, the word "hypostasis" (υπόσταση) means underlying state or underlying substance. In other words, beyond the sensory world of visible matter and detectable energy (the phenomenal world) are three higher, uniquely defined, levels of existence (the Hypostases); each subsequent Hypostasis is more sublime than the level which precedes it. The three levels are:

First Hypostasis (represented by the number "1") = named "The Idea of the Good" by Plato and referred to as "The One" (Hen) by Plotinus;

Second Hypostasis (represented by the number "2") = The Nous (Intellect); and

Third Hypostasis (represented by the number "3") = The World Soul.

Each of these levels is produced from its higher level by a process called emanation. The three Hypostases are both ultimate ontological realities and explanatory principles. All Neoplatonists believed that these three Hypostases were recognized, not only by Plato, but by the entire subsequent Platonic tradition. Below the level of the World Soul is the phenomenal world as perceived by the human senses (= Nature = number "4"); unlike the three higher hypostases, this material world is in a constant state of flux or change.

Christian Kabbalah

Christian Kabbalah reached the final phase of development during the 17th and 18th centuries, when it incorporated alchemical symbolism and Rosicrucian philosophy. Those who believe, as I do, that Freemasonry is rooted in both Rosicrucian and Hermetic belief systems, will also see the influence of the Kabbalah as well.

The German scholars who inspired the design of the "Lehrtafel of Princess Antonia" were almost certainly Freemasons and Rosicrucians who were familiar with the philosophy of the Christian Kabbalah. As shown in the above photograph, a Kabbalistic "Tree of Life" diagram is hidden within the center panel of the triptych. The German scholar and theologian, Otto Betz (1917-2005) has performed a brilliant analysis of the Kabbalistic elements contained within the Lehrtafel in his book entitled: Licht vom unerschaffnen Lichte. Die kabbalistische Lehrtafel der Prinzessin Antonia. People who are deeply interested in the Christian Kabbalah should refer to his book; unfortunately, it has never been translated into English. My elementary discussion of some of the Kabbalistic and other esoteric aspects of the Lehrtafel is given in the following paragraphs.

The overall design of the Lehrtafel displays a contrasting yet complementary, twofold structure. This twofold structure is presented on many different levels of understanding, but only a single theme is contained within each level. That theme concerns the positioning of Moses vis-à-vis Christ. Let me mention just a few examples:

1) The left panel of the triptych depicts a scene from the New Testament concerning the nighttime flight to Egypt by the Holy Family; the right panel of the triptych depicts a scene from the Old Testament where Pharaoh's daughter and her entourage find the baby Moses in the bulrushes alongside the Nile in Egypt. Two different babies, one in each picture - baby Jesus and baby Moses - but the story concerning each child takes place in Egypt. The triptych is subtly pointing out that both Moses and Jesus were in Egypt as children.

2) The "heart" of the center panel of the Triptych, depicts the inner sanctum of a great temple (similar to the Temple of Solomon) in which two crucifixions are shown. This is another juxtaposition of the Moses and Christ themes. The standard crucifixion of Christ scene is set alongside a scene involving a crucified serpent, derived from the story of Moses and the Brazen Serpent (see Numbers, Chapter 21, Verses 4-9). The basic message conveyed by these two crucifixions is quite clear. Just as an Israelite who had been bitten by a viper could be purified from the effect of the venom simply by gazing upon a brazen serpent nailed to a pole, so could a sinner who was poisoned by his own sins have them purified or washed away by the blood of Christ who had been nailed to a cross.

3) The Jewish Kabbalah is Jewish mysticism; the traditional story concerning its origin is that the Kabbalah is the esoteric, oral teaching of Moses, while the Torah is his written, exoteric teaching. Conversely, most Christian mystics believe that their belief system is based upon the secret, oral teaching of Jesus, while the Gospels contain his written, exoteric teaching.

4) The simple porportion may be used to show the equivalence between Moses and Jesus and between Jews and Christians. The esoteric Kabbalah compared to exoteric Judaism is equivalent to esoteric Rosicrucianism compared to exoteric Protestant Christianity.

5) The Egyptian theme running through much of the Lehrtafel iconography is there to provide a cryptic allusion to the Rosicrucian and Masonic belief that the secret, oral teachings of the ancient Egyptian temple schools were the source not only of the teachings of Moses but that of Christ as well! There is little scriptural evidence to support this position, but I am able to make the following comments.

Re Moses:  Exodus Chapter 11, verse 3 states: "And moreover, the Man Moses was exceedingly important in the land of Egypt." Also, Acts Chapter 7, verse 22 states: "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds."

Re Jesus:  There is no scriptural comment concerning the time that Jesus and his family spent in Egypt. However, certain, mostly oral, alchemical and Gnostic traditions assert that Jesus, as a young man, studied for a time in Alexandria, which then had a large Jewish community. Indeed, historians have stated that, in that era, more Jews lived in Egypt than in Palestine! Jesus is supposed to have been initiated into the mysteries of the Serapis religion and also into certain other secret societies. There was and still is a Coptic and Gnostic tradition that Jesus had not only been in Alexandria, but that he and his family had initially settled in the city of Leontopolis, at which a Jewish colony was located; this colony flourished from about 170 B.C until it was destroyed by order of the Emperor Vespasian in 73 A.D. Leontopolis was near the city of Heliopolis which had been one of the greatest centers of learning among the native Egyptians.

Otto Betz (see above) believed that the Lehrtafel is intended to show that the pathway to human salvation, in both the Christian and Jewish understanding, is concerned with the connections between nature and history, love and suffering, kingship and service, et al. The Tree of Life, with its ten Sephiroth, helps explain this belief. It is arranged as a stylized tree or as a pattern of a human figure. The following table compares the ten Sephiroth of the Jewish Kabbalah with the corresponding Christian Sephiroth depicted in the Lehrtafel:
 

Other than the ninth Sephirah, all of the principles of the Christian "Tree of Life" differ from the Jewish version. The ninth Sephirah, called Foundation in English, also can mean a vehicle or device through which action may be taken; in the Lehrtafel, this Sephirah has been given a likeness of Princess Antonia herself. I interpret this to mean that she is expected to perform a major role in the promulgation of the mystical, emanationist philosophy symbolized in the painting. A major difference between Jewish and Christian Trees of Life is that the first three Sephiroth pertain to the Trinity in the Christian version. I find that one of the most interesting characteristics of the Lehrtafel Tree is that the images representing seven of the Sephiroth are women; the only exceptions are Kether (God the Father), Chokhmah (God the Son) and Malkuth (which is a depiction of Christ as a man holding the Cross).