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11/01: The layout and navigation! I hope you find this new version of the site easier to navigate and read. I hope to be resuming my article-writing soon...I have a sizable backlog of material!

Welcome to the Site

A lot of information is to be found about Kabbalah, the tradition of Jewish mysticism. What makes my site different is its emphasis on Kabbalah's application to popular culture, superstition, and folklore. This is known as Kabbalah ma'asit: Practical Kabbalah. In my travels to bookstores, libraries, and the net, I've found few English sources which focus their attention exclusively on these subjects. This site is a compilation of my personal research, and a companion piece to the information already available to the general public.

If you have comments on this site, please contact ghiapet72 at aol.com. (This is anti-SPAM; just replace the " at " with an "@".)

You may be wondering if you need to know or have read about Kabbalah in order to understand this material. No, though it wouldn't hurt. This is because, as Gershom Sholem wrote:

"Historically speaking, a large part of the contents of practical Kabbalah predate those of the speculative Kabbalah and are not dependent on them. In effect, what came to be considered practical Kabbalah constituted an agglomeration of all the magical practices that developed in Judaism from the Talmudic period down through the Middle Ages. The doctrine of the Sefirot hardly ever played a decisive role in these practices..." (Kabbalah, p. 183.)

What Does the Hand Icon Mean?

The site's hand logo is a combination of several concepts. The word on the palm, Da'at, mans "knowledge". The hand itself is reminiscent of a charm or amulet which still exists today called a Hand of God. The Hand is meant to ward off evil. (For more information, see the section on Amulets.) Finally, for me personally, the hand represents creative power. Or hands are what set us appart from all other creatures, enabling us to build and record.

Before you begin, you may wish to browse the following:

Disclaimer
A statement about the information contained on this site.

What is Kabbalah?
A brief general explanation of Kabbalah, with links to other sites.

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