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16-659: While some scholars consider the Five Seals to be literary symbolism rather than an actual religious ritual, Birger A. Pearson believes that the Five Seals refer to an actual ritual in which the initiate was ritually immersed in water five times. Pearson also finds many parallels between the Sethian ritual of the Five Seals and the Mandaean baptismal ritual of masbuta . Tractates in the Nag Hammadi library that mention

32-859: A Bachelor of Divinity in Biblical Studies and Theology from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley , CA; an M.A. in Greek from the University of California, Berkeley; and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins from Harvard University in Cambridge , Massachusetts . Pearson was elected a Member of the Catholic Biblical Association in 1978. Pearson was one of the original translators of

48-527: A mystical "philosophy" of Gnosis esoteric knowledge. Instead, the tradition of Meditative Kabbalah has similarity of aim, if not form, with usual traditions of general mysticism; to unite the individual intuitively with God. The tradition of theurgic Practical Kabbalah in Judaism, censored and restricted by mainstream Jewish Kabbalists, has similarities with non-Jewish Hermetic Qabalah magical Western Esotericism . However, as understood by Jewish Kabbalists, it

64-511: A term for their own doctrine in order to express the belief that they were not innovating, but were merely revealing the ancient hidden esoteric tradition of the Torah . This issue has been crystalized until today by alternative views on the origin of the Zohar , the main text of Kabbalah, attributed to the circle of its central protagonist Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in the 2nd century CE, for opening up

80-674: Is an American scholar and professor studying early Christianity and Gnosticism . He currently holds the positions of Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Professor and Interim Director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley . He has a B.A. in Classical languages from Upsala College in East Orange , New Jersey ;

96-711: Is divided into three general streams: the Theosophical/Speculative Kabbalah (seeking to understand and describe the divine realm), the Meditative/Ecstatic Kabbalah (seeking to achieve a mystical union with God), and the Practical Kabbalah (seeking to theurgically alter the divine realms and the World). These three different, but inter-relating, methods or aims of mystical involvement are also found throughout

112-487: Is the most well known, but it is not the only typological form, nor was it the first form which emerged. Among the previous forms were Merkabah mysticism (c. 100 BCE – 1000 CE), and Ashkenazi Hasidim (early 13th century) around the time of the emergence of Kabbalah. Kabbalah means "received tradition", a term which was previously used in other Judaic contexts, but the Medieval Kabbalists adopted it as

128-815: The Living Water . In contrast, Marsanes mentions Thirteen Seals rather Five Seals. At the end of the Apocryphon of John , the Five Seals are described as protecting against death. I raised and sealed the person in luminous water with Five Seals, that death might not prevail over the person from that moment on. This quote has a parallel in Saying 19 of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas , attributed to Jesus. For there are five trees in paradise for you; they do not change, summer or winter, and their leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death. In

144-577: The Nag Hammadi library , and was also involved with the 2007 translation by Marvin Meyer . In his writings, he explores the origins of Gnosticism and Christianity. Unlike many scholars, who see Gnosticism as a Christian heresy, Pearson believes that it emerged from Jewish mystics disaffected with the Jerusalem religious authorities, who were influenced by Platonism and mystery religion . His book, Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and Literature , examines

160-607: The Renaissance onwards: theological Christian Cabala (c. 15th  – 18th century) which adapted Judaic Kabbalistic doctrine to Christian belief, and its diverging occultist offshoot Hermetic Qabalah (c. 19th century – today) which became a main element in esoteric and magical societies and teachings. As separate traditions of development outside Judaism, drawing from, syncretically adapting, and different in nature and aims from Judaic mysticism, they are not listed on this page. The Kabbalistic form of Jewish mysticism itself

176-760: The Trimorphic Protennoia , the Five Seals are described in the following manner: In more detail later in the same text: In Zostrianos , the protagonist Zostrianos is baptized five times in the name of Autogenes , the divine Self-Generated One. The number five was also an important symbolic number in Manichaeism , with heavenly beings, concepts, and others often grouped in sets of five. Buckley (2010) notes similarities with Mandaean baptism ( masbuta ). Birger A. Pearson Birger A. Pearson (born 1934 in California , United States)

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192-541: The Five Seals include: The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit , Trimorphic Protennoia , Zostrianos , and Apocalypse of Adam also mention Micheus, Michar, and Mnesinous as three heavenly guardian spirits presiding over the rite of baptism performed in the wellspring of Living Water , while Yesseus Mazareus Yessedekeus (i.e., Jesus of Nazareth the Righteous [ ho dikaios ]) is equated with

208-710: The basis for modern Jewish Kabbalah. After Luria, two new mystical forms popularised Kabbalah in Judaism: antinomian - heretical Sabbatean movements (1666 – 18th century), and Hasidic Judaism (1734 – today). In contemporary Judaism, the only main forms of Jewish mysticism which are practiced are esoteric Lurianic Kabbalah and its later commentaries, the variety of schools of Hasidic Judaism , and Neo-Hasidism (incorporating Neo-Kabbalah) in non- Orthodox Jewish denominations . Two non-Jewish syncretic traditions also popularized Judaic Kabbalah through their incorporation as part of general Western esoteric culture from

224-561: The other pre-Kabbalistic and post-Kabbalistic stages in Jewish mystical development, as three general typologies. As in Kabbalah, the same text can contain aspects of all three approaches, though the three streams often distill into three separate literatures under the influence of particular exponents or eras. Within Kabbalah, the theosophical tradition is distinguished from many forms of mysticism in other religions by its doctrinal form as

240-924: The primary texts for Gnostic beliefs, including Christian Gnosticism, Hermetic Gnosticism , Mandaeanism , and Manicheanism . In 2002 Pearson received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Theology at Uppsala University , Sweden . In 2013, Practicing gnosis: ritual, magic, theurgy and liturgy in Nag Hammadi, Manichaean and other ancient literature was published in honor of Pearson. Jewish mysticism Academic study of Jewish mysticism , especially since Gershom Scholem 's Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941), draws distinctions between different forms of mysticism which were practiced in different eras of Jewish history . Of these, Kabbalah , which emerged in 12th-century southwestern Europe,

256-961: The study of Jewish Mysticism. Traditional Kabbalists regard it as originating in Tannaic times, redacting the Oral Torah , so do not make a sharp distinction between Kabbalah and early Rabbinic Jewish mysticism. Academic scholars regard it as a synthesis from the Middle Ages , when it appeared between the 13th-15th centuries, but assimilating and incorporating into itself earlier forms of Jewish mysticism, possible continuations of ancient esoteric traditions, as well as medieval philosophical elements. The theosophical aspect of Kabbalah itself developed through two historical forms: " Medieval/Classic/Zoharic Kabbalah " (c.1175 – 1492  – 1570 ), and Lurianic Kabbalah (1569  – today) which assimilated Medieval Kabbalah into its wider system and became

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