Studies in Ecstatic Kabbalah

By Moshe Idel

Subjects: Jewish Studies, Jewish Mysticism, Kabbalah, Jewish Religious Studies, Religion
Series: SUNY series in Judaica: Hermeneutics, Mysticism, and Religion
Paperback : 9780887066054, 192 pages, July 1988
Hardcover : 9780887066047, 192 pages, July 1988

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Table of contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

1. Abraham Abulafia and Unio Mystica

2. Was Abraham Abulafia Influenced by the Cathars?

3. Abraham Abulafia on the Jewish Messiah and Jesus

4. The Influence of Sefer 'Or HaSekhel on R. Moses Narboni and R. Abraham Shalom

5. Mundus Imaginalis and Likkutei HaRan

6. Ecstatic Kabbalah and The Land of Israel

7. Hitbodedut as Concentration in Ecstatic Kabbalah

References

Subject Index

Author Index

Index of Works Cited

Description

This book presents important topics regarding the more mystical trend of Kabbalah—the ecstatic Kabbalah. It includes the mystical union, the world of imagination, and concentration as a spiritual technique. The emphasis in the text is on the interaction between the "original" Spanish stage of Kabbalah and Muslim mysticism in the East, mainly in the Galilee. The influence of the Kabbalistic-Sufic synthesis on the later developments of Jewish mysticism is traced, thereby providing a more precise understanding of the history of Kabbalah as an interplay between the theosophical and ecstatic mystical experiences.