Mirach

- the home of the practical kabbalist

The Basics - Part 6

The Spiritual Realm

06.01 Mankind is not able to directly experience God. The power of God's glory is too much for man to bear. Therefore, between God and mankind there is system of stages, which reduce His power to acceptable and bearable levels. This power reduction system is the spiritual realm.

06.02 Between God and man there are hierarchies of beings whose only function is to transmit God's influence to the world and to transmit the world's response to God. These beings have, at various times and places in history, been called angels, archangels, spirits, gods, goddesses, etc.

06.03 In kabbalah this system of hierarchies has been represented by the Tree of Life.

06.04 These spiritual beings are very powerful. They can handle divine powers that would crush mere mortals. However, in one respect mankind is more powerful still. Mankind has free will. Man can do what he likes; spiritual beings have pre-programmed functions.

06.05 All living things fall under the influence of a spiritual being. If it were not for the ever-present "guidance" of these beings life would not exist. Spiritual beings are responsible for the growth of plants, the procession of the seasons, the weather systems, for everything! God is the architect, the spiritual beings are the builders, the physical world is the finished product.

06.06 It is said that each blade of grass has a spiritual being looking over it. The physical expression of these spiritual beings is said to be the stars and the planets. Thus, there is a star in the heavens for every single living entity. This also gives a basis for the science of astrology. It is often thought that traditional Judaism prohibits the practice of astrology. In actual fact predictive astrology is banned but character analysis (natal interpretation) is acceptable.

06.07 Because man has free will and has a divine soul he is able to control these spiritual beings to some extent. This is why much has been written on the names and functions of angels, archangels, etc. To know the name and function of a specific spiritual being confers potential power on the person who knows the information.

06.08 The whole basis of practical magic (kabbalistic or otherwise) rests on a proper understanding of the relationships between God, man and the spiritual realm.