A Guide to Kabbalistic Astrology

Literally the wisdom of the constellations. It is the Kabbalistic study of cosmic influence as a projection of a higher spiritual reality, distinct from pagan or purely predictive astrology.

A constellation, a zodiac sign, or a person's destiny. The word traces linguistically to the Akkadian mazzaltu, the station or position of a star. Mystics also read it through the Hebrew root nozel, to flow, picturing a mazal as a channel through which divine abundance pours down.

Divine abundance or influx, the spiritual flow that descends through the Sefirot and the celestial gateways into the world.

The ten primary emanations or channels through which the Infinite (Ein Sof) acts within creation. They form the structural map beneath Kabbalistic cosmology.

The Book of Formation, the foundational text of Kabbalistic cosmology. It describes creation through the twenty-two Hebrew letters, grouped as Three Mothers, Seven Doubles, and Twelve Elementals, and survives in several recensions.

The letters Aleph, Mem, and Shin, set against the elements air, water, and fire. They form the primary triad of Sefer Yetzirah.

The letters Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Kaf, Peh, Resh, and Tav, linked to the seven classical planets, the seven days, and the seven openings of the head, namely the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and the mouth.

The twelve simple letters, linked to the twelve zodiac signs, the twelve Hebrew months, and twelve faculties and organs of the body.

The central work of classical Kabbalah. It presents the stars as administrators within a chain of spiritual cause rather than as independent powers.

The breaking of the vessels, the Lurianic account of a primordial rupture that scattered sparks of divine light and set the stage for cosmic repair.

Rectification or repair, the mending of what was broken in creation and in the soul. In Lurianic astrology it is the specific correction a soul comes into the world to make. Each of the twelve months and signs carries its own work of Tikkun.

Explore the 12 Tikkunim →

The cycling or reincarnation of the soul. A birth chart is read as a map of what a soul still needs to repair in this lifetime.

Contraction, the self limiting of divine light to make room for creation. By analogy it names the inner discipline of restraining self interest.

Cleaving, or attachment to God, a contemplative ideal that stands at the center of Hasidic practice.

Israel is not bound by a constellation, a Talmudic principle (Shabbat 156a) holding that devotion can rise above astrological determinism. It is recorded as one side of a debate.

The indwelling Divine Presence, tied to immanence and, in many modern readings, to the sacred presence within the natural world.

The Desire to Receive. In Ashlagian Kabbalah it is the root of ego and the force that astrology is said to chart. Turning it into the Desire to Bestow is the goal of spiritual work.

The New Moon that begins each Hebrew month, understood in many traditions as a moment of openness to that month's particular spiritual energy.

Structured meditative intentions, especially the intricate permutations of divine names used in Rashash school prayer.

The animal soul, the reactive and instinctual side of a person, often tied to the raw tendencies a chart describes and that spiritual work refines.

An axis or celestial pole named in Sefer Yetzirah, alongside the Cycle and the Heart, as one of the great organizing principles of universe, year, and soul.

A distinct manuscript version of a text. The Short, Long, Saadia, and Gra recensions of Sefer Yetzirah differ in how they match letters to planets and organs.

The idea that the human being is a small world that mirrors the large world of the cosmos. Writers from Shabbetai Donnolo to the Zohar use it to link the organs and faculties of the body to the planets and signs above.

The Orchard of Pomegranates, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero's systematic summary of Kabbalah, which organized earlier teaching on the Sefirot and the descent of divine light into one framework just before the time of Isaac Luria.

A practice of passing the eyes over the Aramaic letters of the Zohar as a way of connecting to its energy, even without translating every word.

A length of red wool worn on the wrist, understood as a guard against the evil eye (ayin hara) and a reminder of the intention to give.

A set of seventy-two three-letter combinations drawn from verses in the Book of Exodus, used in some Kabbalistic practice as focal points for meditation.