Don Karr Update
Don Karr has kindly provided updated versions of his popular Bibliographic Surveys. You will find them here:http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/Biblios/index.phpHe has also updated the Hekhalot Rabbatai:http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/HekRab/index.php Thank you Don!
Pandemic Update
I have not posted here since the beginning of 2020. All is well, my family and friends are well. I am 69 and well into the vulnerable demographic and so my year to date has been spent in relative isolation. Not wishing to waste the summer I have spent a…
Ilanot
In my life I have gone through phases in my understanding of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. In the beginning I accepted what I read and did not care to understand the provenance of the diagram or the various names and attributes associated with it. When I did begin to…
The SOHO Cabalists
In many esoteric traditions it is important to know one’s “lineage”, and with that, the source of one’s teachings. Great care may be taken to preserve the accuracy of “transmissions” and “empowerments”. I am thinking here specifically of various lineages in Tibetan Buddhism, but in general there is an interest…
Don Karr Update
A quick note to say that Don Karr has kindly provided updates to his bibliographies, at http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/Biblios/index.phpHekhalot Rabbatai, at http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/HekRab/index.phpKnots & Spirals – Pico della Mirandola at http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/KS/index.php I would also like to add that Don’s Notes on the Zohar in English is the most frequently searched item on this…
Early Tree of Life
I was in Ferrara in July of this year. It is a delightful city and a world heritage site. It once possessed a large Jewish community, and it has a modern Jewish museum with some splendid items on display One item was an annotated Tree of Life drawn on vellum…
Literary Diversions
So what have I been up to? For reasons I won’t go into I have become quite absurdly involved with John Milton’s Paradise Lost. This was partly because of a nudge from the Greater Unknown, partly because of the rolling thunder of Milton’s verses, and partly because it is a…
Tempus Fugit
Something like nine months has passed since my last update and I had an enquiry wondering if all was well with me. The answer is yes, things are mostly well.I am fast approaching 69 years old and each summer is more precious than the previous summer. Last winter seemed endless…
C. S. Lewis: The Planets
A few posts back I briefly reviewed The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis. As a world-class scholar of medieval literature he was not only informed about the medieval worldview, he was intensely moved by it. This is a feeling I share. As a lifelong student of Kabbalah and the Hermetic…
A History of the Tarot
In November of 2018 I gave a talk at the Bristol Theosophical Society on the History of the Tarot. I thought I could use the content to make a video, so here it is. I apologise for deficiencies in production – I will attempt to do better next time.