Mysticism vs Gnosticism

I think I made up a word.

But let's make something clear, Judaism is not a gnostic religion, no hell, no satan in the way most people recognize the word. There is no Good God vs Evil God. There is no eternal spiritual war between heaven and hell. Which means 9/10 times I can't really identify with a lot of the books on mysticism and human interactions with the supernatural.


Recently I saw the Rite starring Anthony Hopkins. A very cool movie about the Catholic rite of exorcism. Exorcism has been an interesting subject to me for as long as I've been interested in mysticism. It's very difficult to seperate my new age, whole foods, very logical brain from disbelief. But I also can't dismiss a few things I've seen and most of all my feelings and instincts.

If there is no Arch-Enemy of God, then exorcism must be completely bunk. Well not necessarily. Kabbalah and various other texts allow for demons and evil spirits. Theories range from the offspring of angels come to earth (the giants who brought us weapons and war) to Gods from other religions, or they could simply be story telling aspects brought in to peek interest. Not to mention outside influence from other cultures seeping into our own beliefs. So how about what I believe?

All power comes from God, and we ourselves are created in God's image. Rabbi Dennis suggested that what that actually means is that we are imbued with a piece of God, that we have the same capability towards creating and changing the world around us. Either through creativity or through the power and "words" of god.

I can get more into the "power" of creation later. But lets assume for a moment that this is correct. All humans have the power to create, to manifest reality and effect the world around them. God is good, not all people are. With that basic fact we have a portal through which negative energy, and negative creations can enter our space.

Wow that sounded way annoyingly new age-y.

There are plenty of rules on how and where magic is acceptable in Judaism, but it boils down to a very simple idea. Witches and Magicians who are outside Judaism, who don't practice the right way, do not acknowledge God's soveriegn power, and thus take from that power and claim that it is theirs alone. Judaic mystics have various ways and methods but it boils down to bowing down before God, accepting that all power that you affect does not come from you, but from Adonai.

How much of this do I believe? That is a very interesting question, and one I can't easily answer yet.