Another dumb question - Kabbalah

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 21 Dec 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Jewel-ry	21 Dec 2003
OK since its the 'dumb question' time of the year :joke: Is it Kabbalah, Quabbalah, Kabala Or does it just depend on which country you live in as to how you spell it? J :)

jmd	21 Dec 2003
Hebrew tranliterations are not consistent. What has emerged over time, is that Hebrew Kabalists tend to spell it 'Kabbalah', Christian Kabalists 'Cabalah', and many working Golden Dawn or other Western Magical paths 'Qabalah'. There are many exceptions to this, however, as shown by the Golden Dawn authors Zalewski (from New Zealand), who tend to use 'Kabbalah', even when referring to strictly Golden Dawn heritage. What appears to have occured over the past 50 years is a slow move towards spelling the word with a 'K'. This, seemingly, because some of the serious Hebrew scholars writing in English (Scholem, Kaplan and Idel, to name three of the more important ones) tend to use that transliteration. In Hebrew, the first letter is 'Qoph/Kof' (<-again note the different ways to write it using the Roman alphabet), and there is but one 'L' (Lamed) - hence the reason why I tend to favour 'Kabalah'. I do think you will find that the 'Q' will continue to fade in usage - perhaps except for those who spell 'Magic' as 'Magick' - as the 'C' has already also slowly faded virtually out of existence. Why, however, the Jewish scholars opted for a 'K' for 'Qof' (as there is another letter 'Kaph', which seems better placed for out 'K'), I just cannot see rhyme or reason for. In one of the areas for subscribers, there are quite a number of threads on the Kabalah which some may be interested in perusing, or adding to. I am not moderator in this area, but I presume this thread will probably eventually be moved there...

Jewel-ry	21 Dec 2003
Thank-you jmd, There is definately some variation in how this is spelt, depending on the book you are reading. I do find this topic interesting, particularly when trying to relate it to tarot cards and their pathways and also the colours of the different sephiroth (sp). However I dont always find the topic understandable!! lol J :)

HudsonGray	21 Dec 2003
You think that's bad, try searching online under all the different spellings & you'll find about 8 more you've never even considered....

jmd	22 Dec 2003
... the weirdest I've seen, but do not recall where, is: QuVLE the 'V' being justified by the fricative form of Beit, and the 'E' by one of the forms of Heh...

Agathe	22 Dec 2003
It depends on the country I believe...Polish--> Kabała. Agathe

The Another dumb question - Kabbalah thread was originally posted on 21 Dec 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.