On The Three Types of the Kabbalah: Sephirotic, Ecstatic and Lurianic
Since last time I wrote about the Christian Kabbalah, I thought I’d briefly talk about the Jewish Kabbalah as well, with the caveat that I’m not an expert in this. My conclusions here come from reading mainly books and articles by the best scholars in Kabbalah – Gershom Scholem and Moshe Idel. Based on my reading, I would generally divide the Kabbalah into three main categories: Sephirotic, Ecstatic and Lurianic. I will explain each of them in some detail below. The Sephirotic, or Zoharic Kabbalah is that which is best known to modernity. It has been described as ‘theosophical-theurgical’ in the sense that it involves a complex cosmology and metaphysics,

The Foundation of Christian Kabbalah: The 900 Theses of Pico della Mirandola
At the foundation of Christian Kabbalah stands one man: Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, the original enfant terrible of the European Renaissance. At the tender age of 23, in 1486, Pico wrote and sent to the Pope 900 Theses of theology and philosophy which he proposed to debate with anyone that wished to do so. To these he attached an introductory Oration on the Dignity of Man, which has become a classical statement of the Renaissance worldview. It is regrettable that today he is mostly remembered for this statement of human dignity rather than his other groundbreaking work. Unfortunately for Pico, church officials were not in a mood for a debate with the young and dashing

Cornelius Agrippa: the Renaissance Magician and Faustian Hero
Today I want to talk about Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535), the most famous (or infamous) Renaissance magician. He is the author of one of the well-known compendium of Renaissance esotericism, On the Occult Philosophy (or De Occulta Philosophia), which is still admired by people interested in magic today. Agrippa was a German wanderer, much like his contemporary, Paracelsus. He traveled almost all his life between Germany, France and Italy, and switched professions just as easily as he switched countries. He was a theologian, a lawyer, a physician and a hired soldier. He claimed to have acquired both a law and medicine degree In the meantime, he wrote revo

Paracelsus, the Man and His Natural Philosophy (II)
Not many people liked Paracelsus during his lifetime, and even after his death his somewhat shady reputation followed him into the modern era. He was not a shy Copernicus who only published his discoveries after his death, or a reluctant Galileo who admitted his faults in front of the Inquisition. It was only too lucky for him that the Inquisition was not in full force then. As it was, he lived his life as a perpetual gypsy, until he found his untimely and somewhat mysterious death in Salzburg, now Austria. Nowadays, when chemistry, biology or medicine look back at him, they find themselves at odds on how to integrate this pivotal figure in their textbooks. It is clear that Parace

Paracelsus, the Man and His Natural Philosophy (I)
There is hardly a more controversional figure in the history of ideas than Paracelsus, by his real name Theophrastus Bombast of Hohenheim (1493-1541). He was many things to many people: a hero to some, a quack to other, a devil’s doctor, a German nationalist or a drunkard. Perhaps he was all these things, because, by comparison to most other historical figures, he was impossible to frame. In fact, Paracelsus created a world of his own and a mythology that has never ceased to fascinate since his premature death at 47. Inevitably, any scholarly analysis of Paracelsus is bound to reduce something from his larger-than-life self. Scholars simply do not have the tools to tackle his co