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One
of my tasks for this year is to learn the Greek Alphabet Oracle, which has very
few resources, unfortunately. One of my
Druid Friends told me that someone else told her to check out The Greek Qabalah: Alphabetic Mysticism and Numerology in the Ancient World
by Kieren Barry. To be honest, I had my
doubts about the title. But I’ve read a lot of books that seemed dubious upon
first impression but I ended up liking a lot upon giving them a chance, so I picked it up.
by Kieren Barry. To be honest, I had my
doubts about the title. But I’ve read a lot of books that seemed dubious upon
first impression but I ended up liking a lot upon giving them a chance, so I picked it up.
“I
love that book, but his historical conclusions are tenuous,” my Bishop warned
me when I asked about the book. He
pointed out that Barry is a linguist (and his skill is made evident throughout
the book) but not a scholar or Classicist so his history can be a bit
problematic. I proceeded with this warning in mind.
First
off, I’ll just say that this book has nothing to do with the Greek Alphabet
Oracle, at least not specifically. That
said, I think it was very useful and I’m glad to have read it, though it was
aggravating and boring at times.
I’m
still not clear as to why Barry called this book The Greek Qabalah, because
that’s not really a thing. I think he’s
using Qabalah as a generic term for a mystery system based off of symbols? But I feel as if this doesn’t do the Greek
alphabet or the real Qabalah justice.
"Alphabetic Mysticism and Numerology in the Ancient World" is much more
descriptive of this book, but I guess that’s a bulky title, despite its
accuracy.
Barry
starts with a little introduction and then a useful chapter that overviews the
history of the Alphabet, including Egyptian hieroglyphs, linear B, cuneiform,
and even proto-Sinaic symbols. This
chapter was fascinating, but brief. It
also helped that my husband is a Classicist, so I kept him on hand throughout
most of the book (I only read it when he was home) so he could answer any
questions I had.
Next,
Barry talks about how letters have been used as numbers, then he dives into the
Pythagoras, the Emerald Tablets, Egyptian steles, and the Greek Magical Papyri. I was vaguely familiar with a
lot of the stuff that Barry talks about.
I’m Neo-Wiccan, and that comes from more traditional Wicca, which comes
from the Masons and the Golden Dawn, which comes from medieval alchemy, which
comes from Jewish Kabbalism, which is related to early Christian Gnosticism,
which comes from late Mediterranean mystery traditions, which comes from
ancient Egypt, so pretty much all of this stuff is connected in one way or
another.
So, through my various studies throughout the years, I’ve come across a lot of these concepts, but never in a way that was so linear and thorough. For example, I’ve read and studied Graeco-Egyptian Magick
by Tony Mierzwicki. This book deals with a lot of this stuff but when I first read Mierzwicki's 's book I thought he was
maybe pulling that stuff out of nowhere (which is how I sometimes feel about a
lot of Pagan stuff) so after reading The Greek Qabalah, I see this isn’t always
true.
So, through my various studies throughout the years, I’ve come across a lot of these concepts, but never in a way that was so linear and thorough. For example, I’ve read and studied Graeco-Egyptian Magick
by Tony Mierzwicki. This book deals with a lot of this stuff but when I first read Mierzwicki's 's book I thought he was
maybe pulling that stuff out of nowhere (which is how I sometimes feel about a
lot of Pagan stuff) so after reading The Greek Qabalah, I see this isn’t always
true.
Barry talks a lot about the sacred vowels and the planets and ancient numerology. He includes chart after
chart of associations that I would originally copy in my journal but then I realized that
he has it all in the back, which is super cool and very useful and I appreciate
it. He then talks about the Gnostics(and I didn’t get offended!), the Romans, Christians, Neoplatonists, and Jews. He overviews how each of these groups of people (or belief systems) used the
Greek Alphabet in regards to mysticism and numerology, which was really cool but eventually got tedious.
I
appreciate this book for the foundation it gave me, but I have yet to see if it
has anything to do with the Greek Alphabet Oracle. I do appreciate the dozens of pages of
charts that Kieren Barry included, though. And I appreciate the depth of his survey of Mediterranean
mysticism, magic, and numerology. This
book isn’t for everyone, but I’d recommend it to a geek who wants to learn more
about some foundational occult lore.
I think the author of this book used the title kind of like click bait on YouTube. Obviously Qabalah has nothing to do with Hellenism or Hellenic philosophy.
ReplyDeleteThe author avoids comparison with the most important books of the Kabbalah, the Zohar, with any Greek literature. The only way to argue that Qabalistic practices, specifically numerology, are Hellenic in origin is to compare the most important literature.
I don't believe that the author has studied Qabalah well enough to approach the subject, I doubt he/she has read more of the Zohar than I have.
Numerology is one aspect of Qabalah but all the author cares to discuss, but it is not possible to present evidence that even this aspect of Kabbalah owes anything to the pagan Hellenes, who were mortal enemies of the Jews, Hanukkah is a celebration of liberation from the Macedonian King of Syria, Antiochus Epiphanies.
Lastly while the Bible was early translated into Greek we know of no Greek literature available to Aramaic or Hebrew speaking Jews, and it was through Arabic that the Jews of the Middle ages studied Aristotle.
Weak premise, weak evidence. I suppose the only reason this book is given a positive comment at all is because the author of the article is a neo pagan, and because the Greeks were pagan.
This book is actually offensive if you are familiar with the literature of Kabbalah which is why I suspect the book is written specifically for people who know nothing about the topic (see the introduction).
This book is total nonsense.
"Next, Barry talks about how letters have been used as numbers,... "
ReplyDeleteNot exactly a discovery, most people were taught Roman numerals in school, so most people already know this.
"... then he dives into the Pythagoras, the Emerald Tablets, Egyptian steles, and the Greek Magical Papyri."
Does he provide a reason for mentioning Pythagoras who left no writing to compare with the Zohar?
Or how impossible-to-date inscriptions in a language unknown to the Jews? Josephus learned Greek, but not Egyptian. Philo wrote in Greek. Manetho had to translate Egyptian history into Greek because only Egyptians spoke Egyptian language.
Does he happen to produce any evidence that this Hermetic literature has anything to do with Qabalah?
He does not. It is a frustrating book, filled with nonsense, ultimately failing to accomplish it's own objective, because Qabalah is not Greek and owes nothing to Hellenism. It is anti-pagan, and Hellenic philosophy is inherently pagan.
"I was vaguely familiar with a lot of the stuff that Barry talks about. I’m Neo-Wiccan, and that comes from more traditional Wicca, which comes from the Masons and the Golden Dawn, which comes from medieval alchemy, which comes from Jewish Kabbalism,..."
You honestly think this is true? Judaism invaded Freemasonry, and it was the Sabbatean-Frankist element, while they were Zoharists, they practiced a reverse form of Judaism," salvation through sin. "
See" To Eliminate the Opiate. "
It will enlighten.
which is related to early Christian Gnosticism, which comes from late Mediterranean mystery traditions, which comes from ancient Egypt, so pretty much all of this stuff is connected in one way or another.
If Barry wanted to discuss Qabalah he should have studied the Zohar. The Emerald Tablet of Hermes is a paragraph or two at the end of an Arabic book attributed to Appolonius of Tyana, but nobody believes this. The original of all modern Hermetic literature is the Harannian Sabians, from Arabic to Latin, no Greek copies are known to exist, only possibly some Coptic fragments.
Regardless this book is unrelated to the Zohar and has nothing to do with Qabalah, it should not even be mentioned.
Christian Gnosticism is a modern academic term. There were very few people who actually called themselves "Gnostic" and the most famous was an Orthodox Christian named Clement of Alexandria.
ReplyDeleteChristian Gnosticism is not a real thing. They believed they were Christians, Gnosis simply means knowledge and a gnostic is a person who knows. Is knowledgeable. Literally "Knower."
While they had "heretical" beliefs they believed they were Christians.
A lot of so called Gnostic literature, isn't Gnostic and for some reason the author of the book thinks that the author of the Pistis Sophia was Valentinus.
This is a blatant lie, in the beginning of the English translation of GRS Mead the opinions of every relevant academic are presented, as the book does not mention the author.
It is deceptive to say that a theoretical attribution is a plain fact. This and many other ridiculous errors make this book the most misleading book regarding the theoretical origins of the Jewish Qabalah that I have ever read.
Some say Zoroastrianism is the origin of the Kabbalah (sans evidence) others say Plotinus, but what Jew could read the language of the Zend Avesta or Plotinus, that was also an early Kabbalist?
Does anyone know of a single instance of a Jew who knew ancient Persian in the Middle Ages?
Does anyone know of a Kabbalist who read Plotinus and wrote about it?
Pseudo-Hermetic literature that might not have been written in Greek to begin with, via the Sabians of Harran?
Maimonides mentioned them, so did al-Biruni, who was familiar with their literature. Maimonides, not so much.
European academics have a queer desire to attribute everything to the so called "Greeks" but ancient sources say the ancient Greeks learned essentially every aspect of their culture and civilization from the Middle East and Africa. There is no shortage of anti-Hellenic literature written by adherents of the religion that ended Hellenism, Christianity. I am not a Christian or a Jew but both religions are morally superior to the Hellenic religion, with it's pedophilic, rapist and incestuous, murderous so called "gods"
ReplyDeleteGiving them an excuse to emulate their "gods."
That any person has an admiration for the Hellenic religion as practiced in antiquity, they must admire pedophilia, pederasty, rape and incenst. Because the Hellenic religion accepted this as normal (despite it being technically illegal, this did little to stop these disgusting men and women.
The culture of the ancient Greeks is not to be admired. Paganism is like de-evolution and I understand the rejection of mainstream religion, although it is usually the anger of the person that causes the hate, if you listen to the people who hate religion you are going to hate it too.
Wicca is for teenage girls, I have never met an adult Wiccan. Usually they grow up and realize that what they are doing is silly, many become Christian again.
Anyone with the internet can learn about Wicca, its founder and how disreputable he was.