The plural term Elohim

[Guest Truthseeker]

 

1700 BCE - Minoan Star

 

Perhaps the first appearance of two interlaced triangles (the exact image of what we recognize as the Star of David) is in several stone seals found in Festos palace in Crete by an Italian archaeologist of Jewish origin, Doro Levy. At the latest, they are from 1700 B.C.E, the date at which the palace was destroyed and a full seven hundred years before King David was even born. These seals are now exhibited in the Herakelion Museum in Crete.

 

http://star-of-david.blogspot.com/2010/08/hexagrams-at-herakleion-museum-crete.html

[Guest Just Fun]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQKDyZljVMI

 

An interesting twist. Ancient Aliens from the Future entering the mind of an immortal medium.

[Guest Umpalo]

If this is true it looks like Jews and Muslims need to be embracing each other.

 

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Shokel/050310_MysticMingling.html

 

A paradigmatic example of conventional mysticism is the Islamic movement known as Sufism. Sufism arose as a protest against institutional orthodoxy, objecting not only to excesses of worldliness among the mainstream leadership, but also to their focus on religious laws and rituals, which it regarded as distractions from the supreme human vocation, the quest for communion with the divine.

Many Sufi teachers were pleased to disseminate their teachings among disciples outside the Muslim community. And in turn, many Jews were drawn to the philosophy, which (they felt) did not necessarily put them in conflict with their Jewish heritage.

 

Take, for example, the case of Basir, a Jewish bell-maker in fourteenth-century Cairo. Basir became so impressed with the Sufi brotherhood led by the charismatic Yusuf al-Jami al-Kurani that he abandoned his family, and was on the verge of selling his property in order to take up permanent residence in al-Kurani's secluded monastery.

 

Distraught by this prospect, Basir's wife appealed to the leader of Egypt's Jewish community, the Nagid David. She urged the Nagid to rescue her spouse from the clutches of the cult, to deprogram him, and to remind him of his duties to his wife, three children, and Judaism. Although her letter (preserved in the Cairo Genizah) relates sympathetically to Basir's quest for spiritual fulfillment, she is apprehensive that his Sufi life-style might eventually lead him to forsake his ancestral religion.

 

David the Nagid himself was heir to Rabbi Moses Maimonides; but of greater interest to our current discussion is another of David's ancestors, Moses' son Abraham (1186-1237), who was arguably the most eminent exponent of the medieval Jewish-Sufi synthesis. Rabbi Abraham Maimonides' treatise Kifayat ul-'Abidin [the compendium for those who serve God] advocated an ideal of sublime piety based on a discipline of mystical communion.

 

Abraham recommended that Jews adopt some Sufi practices, such as solitary contemplation and mantra-like repetitions of the divine names. To those who charged him with the promotion of un-Jewish ideas, he countered that it was the Sufis who had taken their inspiration from the authentic practices of the ancient Hebrew prophets. In all this, Abraham was solidly convinced that he was being faithfully consistent with his father's philosophy.

 

The central text of the Kabbalah, the Zohar, contains at least one reference to Sufi practice. It tells, with some measure of admiration, about the people of the east, the inhabitants of the mountains of light, who worship the pre-dawn light that shines before the appearance of the sun. They refer to this light as Allah of the shining pearls.

 

This expression is taken from the mystical terminology of the Sufis, where the white pearl [al-durra-l-baida] refers to the highest emanation of divine intelligence through which power is channeled into our world: In the beginning God created from his own precious soul a white pearl. Although the Zohar accuses those easterners of directing their adoration to the light and not to the God who created it, it also acknowledges that it is based on an ancient tradition of authentic wisdom.

 

Possibly the most imposing example of the integration of Kabbalah and Jewish orthodoxy was Rabbi Joseph Karo, the learned compiler of the Shulhan Arukh, the sixteenth century code of religious law that is still regarded as the quintessential embodiment of rabbinic Judaism. Though Rabbi Karo was a devotee of the Kabbalah, he rarely allowed his Kabbalistic beliefs to influence his halakhic codification.

[Guest esotericquest]

This was the time when the Zohar, the seminal kabbalistic work, was compiled by Moses de Leon. It was also the period of Ibn ‘Arabi, the Sheik Al-Akbar, the greatest of Sufi teachers, while further north in Majorca the Christian philosopher, Ramon Llull, developed a form of wisdom that drew from the deepest esoteric teachings of all three cultures.

 

The beauty and spiritual philosophy of this largely forgotten age, a time when the magical city of Cordoba contained a library of scores of thousands of books while the largest collection elsewhere in

Europe had no more than 400. The Islamic culture that conquered Spain went on to translate the works of the ancient Greek philosophers and was familiar with the secrets of alchemy. In this vibrant world, Kabbalists intermingled with Sufis, and streams of wisdom flowed into Spain from both the far East and the North.

 

Discover a profound cross-pollination between Sufism, mystical Judaism and esoteric Christianity, in which we can find the growing tip of a truly future oriented ecumenical spirituality.

 

Strange as it may seem, some of the most important mystical symbols used by St. John of the Cross and St. Theresa of Avila are of Islamic origin. Miguel Asín Palacios, Spain’s foremost Arabist, began researched the parallels between these Spanish mystics and their Sufi predecessors until his death

in 1944. He was able to trace St. John’s dark night of the soul to the Shadilite school of mysticism, as well as St. Theresa’s seven concentric castles to an anonymous 16th-century treatise called the Nawadir.

 

According to Islamic tradition, the root of all things is speech and words. Thus, letters are the principles of existence and knowledge. Letters in Hebrew and Arabic correspond to numbers. In respect to divine revelation in particular, numbers and letters are interpreted in terms of their qualitative meaning as symbols of spiritual realities. In the realm of spiritual geometry, numbers are proportions and the symbolic foundation for all relationships.

[Guest OT]

This topic has become a sort of tome/treatise on the hexagram (which it probably should be renamed to) ranging from speculation about it's first usage by human beings thousands of years ago, all the way to "Ancient Aliens from the Future entering the mind of an immortal medium.," through Aleister Crowley, magicians and modern day Israeli military uniforms. I will look for something more concise on which to comment/give my opinion on, for once a wise man said: "it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." For right this moment, I will reserve interpretation so as not to be the fool.

[Guest Debbie Watson]

The question: is there a female aspect of God mentioned anywhere in the bible, or is there a female consort to God mentioned in the bible?

 

We know in the Torah (Old Testament), there is mention of God forbidding the tribe of Israel to worship a female God represented by a star. When Solomon placed that symbol of this woman in the temple, God punished his offspring by forbidding inheritance to the throne, and the temple would be destroyed.

 

The symbol is not given detail, but archeological evidence reveals a six pointed star represented in temples throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Europe until the time of Constantine: it again surfaces in areas controlled by the Ottoman Empire. We see it used by Muslims in Egypt and Spain.

 

When the Ottomans were defeated in Western Europe we see only glimmers of the hexagram star later in Kabbalah mystics and in Free Masonry.

 

Currently, the star has surfaced again as the symbol of Zionist movement and now as the state symbol of Israel. It is difficult to understand why a nation of Jewish people would elevate this mythical star and refer it to the House of David. Now that Israel’s national bird is also forbidden by the Torah leads a person to believe their intentions are not to follow the Torah: If not, then what is their true purpose?

 

-DSW

[JT Allen]

This is a tough one. Even the myriad authors at Wikipedia are having a VERY a hard time pinning down when (and how) the hexagram became a symbol of Judaism. True, the hexagram (aka Star of David, etc. etc. et. al.) was around during the time of Constantine [The hexagram does appear occasionally in Jewish contexts since antiquity, apparently as a decorative motif. For example, in Israel, there is a stone bearing a hexagram from the arch of a 3rd–4th century synagogue in the Galilee, (i.e., the time of Constantine's reign as Emperor of Rome)] but there is not much mention of HOW it became the symbol of a religion and nation. Will investigate further and am awaiting answers from trusted sources. Stay tuned.

[Guest Sufism]

Basically Sufism is love of God its not faith , by faith i am Muslim, and also being a Muslim I respect every religion and in my thought all religions are university of love and we must accept the worth from the begin to end .

[Guest wiki]

Nehunya ben HaKanah (Hebrew: נחוניה בן הקנה) was a tanna of the 1st and 2nd centuries. It appears from Bava Batra 10b that Neḥunya was a contemporary, but not a pupil, of Johanan ben Zakai. He was the teacher of Ishmael ben Elisha. Neḥunya was rich and had a large retinue of servants; but he was distinguished for his meekness and forgiving nature, to which he attributed his attainment of great age (Megillah 28a); two short prayers composed by him exhibit the same qualities (Berakhot iv. 2; Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot iv. 2).

 

According to the statement of Rabbi Yochanan (Shevu'ot 26a), Neḥunya interpreted the entire Torah by the hermeneutic rule known as the "general and particular" ("kelal u-feraṭ"), which rule has also been adopted by his pupil Rabbi Ishmael as the eight of his 13 hermeneutic rules. Neḥunya is frequently mentioned in the Talmud; in Hullin 129b he is referred to as the antagonist of Eliezer and Joshua in regard to a halakhah (comp., however, Eduyot vi. 2). He said that the Pharaoh of the Exodus was rescued from the Red Sea, that he repented, that he afterward reigned in Nineveh, and that it was he who in the time of Jonah exhorted the inhabitants of Nineveh to repentance (Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer xliii.). Neḥunya is known also for his ethical saying: "Whoso receives upon him the yoke of the Torah, from him is removed the yoke of royalty and that of worldly care; and whoso throws off the yoke of the Torah, upon him is laid the yoke of royalty and that of worldly care" (Pirkei Avot iii. 6; Avot of Rabbi Natan recension B, xxxii. [ed. Solomon Schechter, p. 68]).

 

As Ishmael b. Elisha, Neḥunya's disciple, is regarded by the kabbalists as their chief representative, Neḥunya is considered to have been Ishmael's teacher in mysticism also. He is generally supposed to have been the author of the daily prayer beginning אנא בכח, the initials of which form the forty-two-lettered name of God. He is also supposed by some to have been the author of the Bahir and of the Sefer ha-Peli'ah.

[Guest wiki]

The folk etymology places the origin (Greek: hermeneutike) with Hermes, the mythological Greek deity whose role is that of messenger of the Gods. Besides being mediator between the gods themselves, and between the gods and humanity, he leads souls to the underworld upon death. He is also considered the inventor of language and speech, an interpreter, a liar, a thief and a trickster. These multiple roles make Hermes an ideal representative figure for hermeneutics. As Socrates notes, words have the power to reveal or conceal, thus promoting the message in an ambiguous way. The Greek view of language as consisting of signs that could lead to truth or falsehood is the very essence of Hermes, who is said to relish the uneasiness of the recipients.

 

Early use of the word hermeneutics places it within the boundaries of the sacred. The divine message can only be understood on its own terms, received with implicit uncertainty regarding its truth or falsehood. This ambiguity of message is an irrationality, a sort of madness inflicted upon the receiver. Only one who possesses a rational method of interpretation—an early hermeneutic—could divine the truth or falsehood (thus the sanity) of a statement.

 

The traditional etymology of hermeneutics is derived from the Greek word ἑρμηνεύω (hermeneuō, 'translate' or 'interpret'), and is of uncertain origin. It was introduced into philosophy mainly through the title of Aristotle's work Περὶ Ἑρμηνείας (Peri Hermeneias, 'On Interpretation', more commonly referred by its Latin title De Interpretatione). It is one of the earliest (c.360 BC) extant philosophical works in the Western tradition to deal with the relationship between language and logic in a comprehensive, explicit, and formal way.

[Guest TruthSeeker]

Is it possible that Hermes is another name for Idris? Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, wrote in one of his tablets:

 

The first person who devoted himself to philosophy was Idris. Thus was he named. Some called him also Hermes. In every tongue he hath a special name. He it is who hath set forth in every branch of philosophy thorough and convincing statements. After him Balínús derived his knowledge and sciences from the Hermetic Tablets and most of the philosophers who followed him made their philosophical and scientific discoveries from his words and statements...

 

Someone should research whether Idris is the Arabization of a Grekization of Hidhr.

 

According to some scholars, Idris is the Arabicized version of Greek Andreus, a character in the Alexander romance. The [n] disappears in Arabic and the original Greek name becomes Idris, the same way it has turned to Idri in Maltese which is derived from Arabic. This is significant, because many passages of the Koran have striking similarities to the (fictional) Alexander romance. That also includes the legend of Al-Khir ("The Green One") which is almost certainly copied from the Alexander romance, as well as ū l-Qarnain ("He with the Two Horns") which is a Quranic surname given to Emperor Heraclius, inspired by the description of Alexander the Great in the Alexander romance.

[Guest Collector]

The hexagram (Greek: ξάγραμμα, hexagramma) was a large silver coin of the Byzantine Empire issued primarily during the 7th century AD. The hexagram coin was named after its weight of six grammata (6.84 grams)

 

Grierson (1999), p. 13

 

Heraclius, AR Hexagram, 615-638, Constantinople

dd NN hERACLI?S Et hERA CONSt

Heraclius on left and Heraclius Constantine on right, seated facing on double-throne, each holding globus cruciger in right hand, small cross between

 

dE?S AdI?tA ROmANIS

Cross-potent on globe above three steps

 

22mm, 6.65g

SB 795

 

courtesy of beastcoins.com. Nov. 2010

[Guest wiki]

Dhul-Qarnayn (Arabic: ذو القرنين ḏū al-qarnayn), literally "He of the Two Horns" or "He of the two centuries" is a figure mentioned in the Qur'an, the sacred scripture of Islam, where he is described as a great and righteous ruler who built a long wall that keeps Gog and Magog from attacking the people who he met on his journey to the east (i.e., the rising of the sun). According to a classical interpretation, the name is due to his having reached the two 'Horns' of the Sun, east and west, where it rises and where it sets" during his journey.

 

The identification of Dhul-Qarnayn in historical context is not clear, and therefore this subject has generated various theories. In modern scholarship the character is usually identified as Alexander the Great, who is ascribed similar adventures in the Alexander romance. The same opinion is held in traditional Islamic scholarship. In other modern scholarship the character is usually identified as Cyrus the Great. Some modern scholars also identify the character as Byzantine emperor Heraclius, who was celebrated by his contemporaries as a "second Alexander" and whose Persian campaign had inspired the Alexander romance.

[Guest Greenman]

 

Khidr literally means 'The Green One', representing freshness of spirit and eternal liveliness, green symbolizing the freshness of knowledge “drawn out of the living sources of life.” Whatever the source for this green may he, it has come to symbolize the benign presence of the divine wisdom as imparted by the Divine Himself to Khidr and to Prophet Muhammad.

 

Qur'ânic commentators say that al-Khidr ('The Green Man' of pre-Islamic lore) is one of the prophets; others refer to him simply as an angel who functions as a guide to those who seek God. And there are yet others who argue for his being a perfect wali meaning the one whom God has taken as a friend.

 

Khidr is associated with the Water of Life. Since he drank the water of immortality he is described as the one who has found the source of life, 'the Eternal Youth.' He is the mysterious guide and immortal saint in popular Islamic lore and the hidden initiator of those who walk the mystical path.

In the Muslim tradition Khidr is alive and well and continues to guide the perplexed and those who invoke his name.

[Guest August]

I wonder if that is where the fountain of youth legend came from.

[Guest Guest]

 

Al-Khadir (right) and companion Zul-Qarnain (al-Sikandar) marvel at the sight of a salted fish that comes back to life when touched by the Water of Life. "When Alexander sought he did not find what Khizr found unsought" (Sikandar Nâma LXIX.75).

 

http://khidr.org/gaffar.htm

 

The Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks of its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted across the world for thousands of years, appearing in writings by Herodotus, the Alexander romance, and the stories of Prester John. Stories of a similar waters were also evidently prominent among the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean during the Age of Exploration, who spoke of the restorative powers of the water in the mythical land of Bimini. The legend became particularly prominent in the 16th century, when it became attached to the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, first Governor of Puerto Rico. According to an apocryphal story that features a combination of New World and Eurasian elements, Ponce de León was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to what is now Florida in 1513. Since then, the fountain has been frequently associated with Florida.

 

Herodotus mentions a fountain containing a very special kind of water located in the land of the Ethiopians, which gives the Ethiopians their exceptional longevity. A story of the "Water of Life" appears in the Eastern versions of the Alexander romance, which describes Alexander the Great and his servant crossing the Land of Darkness to find the restorative spring. The servant in that story is in turn derived from Middle Eastern legends of Al-Khidr, a sage who appears also in the Qur'an. Arabic and Aljamiado versions of the Alexander Romance were very popular in Spain during and after the period of Moorish rule, and would have been known to the explorers who journeyed to America. These earlier accounts clearly inspired the popular medieval fantasy The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, which also mentions the Fountain of Youth as located at the foot of a mountain outside Polombe (modern Kollam) in India.[3] Due to the influence of these tales, the Fountain of Youth legend remained popular through the European Age of Exploration.

 

There are countless indirect sources for the tale as well. Eternal youth is a gift frequently sought in myth and legend, and stories of things such as the philosopher's stone, universal panaceas, and the elixir of life are common throughout Eurasia and elsewhere. An additional hint may have been taken from the account of the Pool of Bethesda in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus heals a man at the pool in Jerusalem.

[Guest Ziki]

Remind urself of the story of Musa (alayhis salaam) and Khidr in suratul Kahf... Allah knows best

[Guest TruthSeeker]

Contemporary Hermeticist, Stuart Nettleton, in his book "The Alchemy Key" states:

 

 

"The importance of the colour green is that it is the colour of the heart and the sign of the life of the heart. It is the colour of resurrection, the celestial pole and the highest light of the Mystery. It is the colour of Mohammed. It is associated with the Great Mother Goddess in her Egyptian aspect as Isis, the Lady of Nature."

[Guest Ekul]

Astaroth is a very ancient Goddess. She has been with humanity, as have Satan and Beelzebub, since the beginning. Astaroth is Beelzebub's granddaughter. Her parents are Ningal and Nanna. She has always been very popular, much loved and revered in locales where she was worshipped. Because she has been with us since the beginning, she has been known by several different names as she has been the Chief Goddess in many different areas and cultures. She has been known as a Goddess of fertility, love and war.

 

[Guest wiki]

Origins of Judaic mysticism

 

According to the traditional understanding, Kabbalah dates from Eden. It came down from a remote past as a revelation to elect Tzadikim (righteous people), and, for the most part, was preserved only by a privileged few. Talmudic Judaism records its view of the proper protocol for teaching this wisdom, as well as many of its concepts, in the Talmud, Tractate Hagigah, Ch.2.

 

Contemporary scholarship suggests that various schools of Jewish esotericism arose at different periods of Jewish history, each reflecting not only prior forms of mysticism, but also the intellectual and cultural milieu of that historical period. Answers to questions of transmission, lineage, influence, and innovation vary greatly and cannot be easily summarized.

 

Origins of terms

 

Originally, Kabbalistic knowledge was believed to be an integral part of the Judaism's oral law (see also Aggadah), given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai around 13th century BCE, though there is a view that Kabbalah began with Adam.

 

When the Israelites arrived at their destination and settled in Canaan, for a few centuries the esoteric knowledge was referred to by its aspect practice—meditation Hitbonenut (Hebrew: התבוננות‎), Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's Hitbodedut (Hebrew: התבודדות‎), translated as "being alone" or "isolating oneself", or by a different term describing the actual, desired goal of the practice—prophecy ("NeVu'a" Hebrew: נבואה‎).

 

During the 5th century BCE, when the works of the Tanakh were edited and canonized and the secret knowledge encrypted within the various writings and scrolls ("Megilot"), the knowledge was referred to as Ma'aseh Merkavah (Hebrew: מעשה מרכבה‎) and Ma'aseh B'reshit (Hebrew: מעשה בראשית‎), respectively "the act of the Chariot" and "the act of Creation". Merkavah mysticism alluded to the encrypted knowledge within the book of the prophet Ezekiel describing his vision of the "Divine Chariot". B'reshit mysticism referred to the first chapter of Genesis (Hebrew: בראשית‎) in the Torah that is believed to contain secrets of the creation of the universe and forces of nature. These terms are also mentioned in the second chapter of the Talmudic tractate Haggigah.

 

Mystic elements of the Torah

 

According to adherents of Kabbalah, its origin begins with secrets that God revealed to Adam. According to a rabbinic midrash God created the universe through the Ten Sefirot. When read by later generations of Kabbalists, the Torah's description of the creation in the Book of Genesis reveals mysteries about the godhead itself, the true nature of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life, as well as the interaction of these supernal entities with the Serpent which leads to disaster when they eat the forbidden fruit, as recorded in Genesis 2.

 

The Bible provides ample additional material for mythic and mystical speculation. The prophet Ezekiel's visions in particular attracted much mystical speculation, as did Isaiah's Temple vision—Isaiah, Ch.6. Jacob's vision of the ladder to heaven provided another example of esoteric experience. Moses' encounters with the Burning bush and God on Mount Sinai are evidence of mystical events in the Tanakh that form the origin of Jewish mystical beliefs.

 

The 72 letter name of God which is used in Jewish mysticism for meditation purposes is derived from the Hebrew verbal utterance Moses spoke in the presence of an angel, while the Sea of Reeds parted, allowing the Hebrews to escape their approaching attackers. The miracle of the Exodus, which led to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments and the Jewish Orthodox view of the acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai, preceded the creation of the first Jewish nation approximately three hundred years before King Saul.

 

Mystical doctrines in the Talmudic era

 

In early rabbinic Judaism (the early centuries of the first millennium CE), the terms Ma'aseh Bereshit ("Works of Creation") and Ma'aseh Merkabah ("Works of the Divine Throne/Chariot") clearly indicate the Midrashic nature of these speculations; they are really based upon Genesis 1 and Book of Ezekiel 1:4–28; while the names Sitrei Torah (Hidden aspects of the Torah) (Talmud Hag. 13a) and Razei Torah (Torah secrets) (Ab. vi. 1) indicate their character as secret lore. An additional term also expanded Jewish esoteric knowledge, namely Chochmah Nistara (Hidden wisdom).

 

Talmudic doctrine forbade the public teaching of esoteric doctrines and warned of their dangers. In the Mishnah (Hagigah 2:1), rabbis were warned to teach the mystical creation doctrines only to one student at a time. To highlight the danger, in one Jewish aggadic ("legendary") anecdote, four prominent rabbis of the Mishnaic period (1st century CE) are said to have visited the Orchard (that is, Paradise, pardes, Hebrew: פרדס lit., orchard):

 

Four men entered pardes—Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher (Elisha ben Abuyah), and Akiba. Ben Azzai looked and died; Ben Zoma looked and went mad; Acher destroyed the plants; Akiba entered in peace and departed in peace.

 

Kabbalah/Kabala (Hebrew: קַבָּלָה‎ lit. "receiving"; often contemporary transliteration with a 'K' distinguishes from other, derivative traditions outside Judaism)[citation needed] is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence (Southern France) and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine. It was popularized in the form of Hassidic Judaism in the 18th century.

 

According to the Zohar (Hebrew :זֹהַר ‎‎), a foundational text for kabbalistic thought, Torah study can proceed along four levels of interpretation (exegesis).These four levels are called Pardes because their initial letters spell "PaRDeS" ("Orchard"):

 

Peshat (lit. "simple"): the direct interpretations of meaning.

Remez (lit. "hint"): the allegoric meanings (through allusion).

Derash (from Heb. darash: "inquire" or "seek"): midrashic (Rabbinic) meanings, often with imaginative comparisons with similar words or verses.

Sod (lit. "secret" or "mystery"): the inner, esoteric (metaphysical) meanings, expressed in kabbalah.

 

The Pardes system is often regarded as mystically linked to the word pardes (Hebrew פָּרְדֵּס), meaning orchard. "Pardes" is etymologically related to the English word "paradise", and the Quranic Firdaus (Arabic فِردَوس) among various other forms, in that they all share a common origin in an Old Iranian root, attested in the Avestan language as pairi.daêza-. . It occurs only three times in the Tanakh, namely, in Song of Songs 4:13, Ecclesiastes 2:5, and Nehemiah 2:8. In the first of these passages it means "garden"; in the second and third, "park." In the apocalypses and in the Talmud the word is used of the Garden of Eden and its heavenly prototype. From this usage, comes Christianity's denotation of Paradise as the abode of the blessed.

 

Kabbalah is considered, by its followers, as a necessary part of the study of Torah – the study of Torah (the "Teachings" of God, in the Tanach and Rabbinic literature) being an inherent duty of observant Jews. Kabbalah teaches doctrines that are accepted by some Jews as the true meaning of Judaism while other Jews have rejected these doctrines as heretical and antithetical to Judaism. After the Medieval Kabbalah, and especially after its 16th century development and synthesis, Kabbalah replaced "Hakira" (Jewish philosophy) as the mainstream traditional Jewish theology, both in scholarly circles and in the popular imagination. With the arrival of modernity, through the influence of Haskalah, this has changed among non-Orthodox Jewish denominations, though its 20th century academic study and cross-denominational spiritual applications (especially through Neo-Hasidism) has reawakened a following beyond Orthodoxy.

[Guest August]

This is what I found in Wikipedia about paradise.

 

In Ancient Egyptian Mythology , the fields of Aaru ( Egyptian :

Meaning Iarw "Reeds") (Alternatives: Yaaru, Iaru, Aalu) or the Egyptian Reed fields, are the

Heavenly Paradise , where Osiris Ruled after he became part of the Egyptian Pantheon and displaced Anubis in the Ogdoad Tradition. It has been Described as the ka (a part of the soul ) of the Nile Delta .

 

Souls who only

Weighed Exactly the same as the feather of the Goddess Ma'at Were allowed to start a long and Perilous journey to Aaru, where they exist in Would Pleasure for all Eternity. The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul resided in the heart. Those whose heart did not match the weight of the feather of Ma'at due to their sins were excluded. Were they said to Suffer a second death when Devoured by another being, Ammit , while Still in Duat for Judgment.

 

The souls who did qualify had to undergo a long journey and face many perils before reaching Aaru. Once they arrived, they had to enter through a series of gates. The exact number of gates varies according to sources, some say 15, some 21. However they are Uniformly Described as being Guarded by evil

demons Armed with Knives.

 

Placed Aaru was usually in the east, where the

Sun Rises, and is Described as Eternal Reed fields, very much like Earthly Those of the Nile delta : an Ideal Hunting and Fishing ground, and Hence, Deceased Those who, after Judgment, Were allowed to Reside there, Were Often called the Eternally living. More Precisely, Aaru was Envisaged as a series of Islands , covered in "fields of Rushes" (Sekhet Aaru), Aaru being the Egyptian word for Rushes . The part where Osiris later dwelt was sometimes known as the "field of offerings", Sekhet Hetepet in Egyptian.

[Guest axis4peace3]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsB0gL12k0o

 

The first mention of the star was in Amos 5:26 regarding the trek from Egypt to Canaan. Then in 922 B.C., when Solomon married the daughter of Pharoah and went into magic and witchcraft and built an altar to Ashtoroth and Moloch. The book traces the six pointed star from Egypt to Solomon, to Arab Magic and Witchcraft, to Druid use(references are documented). The book traces the star through Freemasonry usage to Mayer Amschel Bauer, who, in the 17th century, changed his name to depict the red six-pointed star (or shield) which he had hung on his door in Germany, and thus began the family of "Red Shield" or Rothschild. The research carried on through this family, to their court of arms, to Cabala, to Astrology, to Hitler and his putting a yellow six-pointed star on all Jews during the holocaust, to the Zionist symbol, and finally to the flag of the State of Israel and beyond.

[Guest axis4peace3]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Q2-BzN-MA

 

The Hex - Star of David - Six Pointed Star - SYMBOL STAR OF YOUR GOD.

[Guest David Cherubim]

The Order of the Thelemic Golden Dawn.

 

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

 

The Hexagram represents the formula and accomplishment of the Great Work in both the material and spiritual worlds. It is composed of the symbols for Fire and Water. It is synonymous with the symbol of the Rose and Cross, the Ankh (Crux Ansata), the Sun and Moon Conjoined, and the Cross and Circle. It represents the union of the two opposites in Nature, male and female, light and darkness, activity and passivity, and all other opposites that constitute creation.

 

The Hexagram is a geometrical symbol of the Sun. The Sun is an external symbol of the One Reality or the One Self that is manifest in all things. One of the most significant of all realizations for the Adept is that s/he is the Sun made manifest in the flesh, an incarnation of the Lord of the Solar System. The Hexagram is the Sign of such an Adept.

 

From one point of view, the upright triangle of the Hexagram represents the Holy Guardian Angel, our inner Self, and the inverted triangle represents WoMan, our human self. These two triangles united represent what is called in Magick "the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel." The Holy Guardian Angel is the "star" of every man and every woman, that is, their inner celestial nature as opposed to their purely human self. To unite one's human consciousness with that Angel is to awaken the Solar Consciousness and to realize oneself in the Sun of Light and Life.

 

From another point of view the upright triangle represents WoMan ascending into Godhead through the power of Aspiration, and the inverted triangle represents God descending into WoMan through the power of Inspiration. These two triangles interlaced indicate the completion of the Great Work; they represent a perfect balance of the human and divine Will, a complete synthesis and harmony of all that is terrestrial and celestial.

 

The Hexagram is also a geometrical symbol of Lapis Philosophorum, the Stone of the Philosophers, which is the product of Sol and Luna and/or Fire and Water. It is therefore a symbol of what is termed in Magick, "the Mystery of Mysteries" and "the Secret of Secrets." It is said that by the application of this Great Secret the Alchemist can transmute all base metals into the perfect material gold of the Sun, which is the first and final product of the mineral kingdom. Gold is the perfect metal of all metals, the most exalted form of the mineral kingdom. It is a material symbol of a spiritual reality that is also symbolized in Heaven by the Great Sun of Light. All other metals are said to be imperfections of gold, and they are striving in Nature to become the perfect gold. Thus the Hexagram represents that which brings Nature to perfection.

 

In the Hexagram are not only contained the mysteries of Fire and Water, but also of Air and Earth. Notice that when you combine the symbols for Fire and Water to produce the grand symbol of the Hexagram, you also make the symbols for Air and Earth, which are the same as the symbols for Fire and Water but with a cross bar or line in each triangle which is formed in the Hexagram.

 

Each line of the Hexagram or Hexalpha indicates the number 111, since a single line of the Hexagram contains three equal parts, each of which may be represented by the number 1, so that the number 111 can symbolize every line. There are six lines in all, so that 111 x 6 = 666, the Most Holy Number of the Sun. Each angle of the Hexagram is 60 degrees. 60 is the number of the Hebrew letter Samekh, which is the letter of the Holy Guardian Angel. Six angles of 60 degrees each equal 360 degrees, and 360 is the number of the Hebrew letter Shin spelled in full. Shin is the letter of the Spirit of the Sun and it is esoterically composed of three Hebrew Vavs. Vav is the sixth letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, so that three Vavs indicate the number 666. 666 is the number of Sorath (SVRTh), the Spirit of the Sun. It is also the number of Shemesh Yahweh (ShMSh IHVH), the Sun of Tetragrammaton.

[Guest wiki]

In May 2009 Thelema was recognised by Her Majesty's Court Service in the United Kingdom as a religion, as it has both a "Holy Book" (The Book of the Law) and deity (primarily for the purposes of the oath, Nuit) as required in law. John Mitchell of Seaford, East Sussex was on Jury Service at Lewes Crown Court and after providing information to Mr Justice Richard Brown, the Senior Recorder for East Sussex – mainly Liber AL and the article "Your Duty to Mankind" was able to have Thelema recognised as a valid religion. In the article "Your Duty to Mankind" it states that:

Crime being a direct spiritual violation of the Law of Thelema, it should not be tolerated in the community. Those who possess the instinct should be segregated in a settlement to build up a state of their own, so to learn the necessity of themselves imposing and maintaining rules of justice. All artificial crimes should be abolished. When fantastic restrictions disappear, the greater freedom of the individual will itself teach him to avoid acts, which really restrict natural rights. Thus real crime will diminish automatically.

Mitchell was able to prove that Thelema was a religion and created an oath which could be used instead of the affirmation: "I swear upon Nuit and by my own True Will, that I will faithfully try the defendant and give a true verdict according to the evidence"

 

The swearing of the oath was first used after the sitting Judge, Mr Justice Tain ruled it was acceptable; after some confusion due to the regular court ushers being on holiday, word had not got to the judge before the case started causing a delay in proceedings while the legal technicalities were sorted out. Luckily, the stand-in court officer had a copy of the letter from Mr Justice Brown, saying Mitchell could use the oath and swear on Liber AL. Mr Justice Tain ruled that if this is the case, HMCS should be notified so this sort of thing does not happen again to avoid any further embarrassment for Thelemites who are called up to jury service.