hi there. i hope this isn't too annoying of a question haha. i have an acquaintance who doesn't believe that ceremonial magic has appropriated Kabbalah and thinks the Kabbalah found throughout ceremonial magic is an entirely separate tradition/version from the one for Jewish people. this was part of a debate in an occult server, but since i am not Jewish, i didn't feel as though i was informed enough to counter this and stepped out of the discussion. my question is: is that true? (1/2)
If you are practicing some form of ceremonial magic (ex: i wanted to learn about planetary magic, but im not sure if thats culturally appropriative), do you think its a different tradition at this point? or can be practiced like one? I don't want to learn about planetary magic if it has appropriated aspects in it, and what that person said in the debate doesn't sit right with me, so I thought it would be best to ask someone Jewish (since we both arent) who has knowledge of the history. (2/2)
hi! where does your friend think all the Hebrew & “Kabbalah” in ceremonial magic came from? at what point does something taken from one culture by another culture actively oppressing & committing genocide against its living people become “a different tradition”? is it fine after several hundred years of “syncretism” (and ghettos, and pogroms, and the Shoah) even when it rests on a foundation of blood libel? does it matter that Jews, who originated Kabbalah as an inextricable part of our religious & cultural history, are still presently experiencing the same violent combination of antisemitism & fetishization that lead to the appropriation of our mystic tradition in the first place?
some questions to think about as you read our cultural appropriation tag & at least the first chapter of Joshua Trachtenberg’s Jewish Magic & Superstition (free online). for more in-depth history on who actually authored the original texts of ceremonial magic (and why), check out Grimoires: A History of Magic Books by Owen Davies, as well as Trachtenberg’s other major work on medieval & modern antisemitism, The Devil and the Jews.
thanks for being open to learning! - Ezra
