A key Kabbalah magical diagram from a college course on the subject offered by a leading Israeli university
A bas-relief of Lilith, Adam's legendary vampire first wife from Jewish folklore, in the British Museum: the original bad girl
This entry, from the content-rich Resource Guide of my supernatural short story, "It's Your Funeral," introduces the mystical world of the Kabbalah, the ancient medieval Jewish bible of magic and sorcery, devoted to exploring God’s relationship to man.
The Kaballah's mystical Tree of Life
"It's Your Funeral" is about a certain famed Hollywood superstar who is alleged to secretly practice Santería—to further her career. The Kabbalah plays a surprising role in her story.
You can order it as an ebook here on Amazon for only $.99.
Authentic Kabbalah texts online: Scroll down a little bit on the Internet Sacred Text Archive’s Judaism webpage linked here, and you’ll see the “Kabbalah” section that offers a full selection of the genuine texts of the Kabbalah. The Kabbalah is the philosophy of Jewish mysticism that evolved in medieval Europe as a parallel reading of the Torah, and it centers on the mystical relationship between God and Man. Not to be confused with Madonna’s phony, trendy Hollywood sex cult manqué replete with red string wristbands—all for a low, low price!
The Golem: This 1920 German Expressionist film milestone, directed by Paul Wegener, retells the medieval Jewish legend of a rabbi who fashions a towering man of clay and then, with Kabbalah magic, brings him to miraculous life to protect the Jewish ghetto from persecution. Considered by many to be an antecedent of Frankenstein.
The Dybbuk: This 1937 Polish fantasy film (in Yiddish) is the definitive film version of the most widely produced play (by S. Ansky) in the history of the Jewish theatre, a musical featuring magnificent singing. Making the film doubly haunting is the fact that it captures a world lost forever to us now—Poland’s vibrant pre-Holocaust Jewish community, a universe that went up in smoke. Speaking of being haunted by terrifying ghosts…
Lilith's Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural: Howard Schwartz’s 1991 retelling of Jewish supernatural folklore, published by the little-known Oxford University Press, introduces us to an amazing (and surprisingly sexy) new world, showcasing the richness of traditional Jewish magical storytelling. Sorcerers, ghosts, demons, spirits, and dybbuks all illustrate the diverse strands of Jewish tradition through the ages.
You may have heard of a dybbuk—but what about an ibbur? An ibbur plays a pivotal role in my tale. Read "It's Your Funeral" and find out what it is!
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