Jewish Mysticism: Merkavah
Gershom Scholem argues that the only way to understand Jewish mysticism is within the Jewish context. He describes mysticism as a stage in the development of religion, rather than a separate path of religious expression. The only way to fully understand that stage is by understanding the culture and the traditions surrounding it. He describes mysticism as being purely philosophical and evolutionary, as opposed to the mainstream versions of Judaism which are also philosophical, but the entire basis of the tradition is not solely philosophical. By evolutionary, he means the mystic reaches a post-religion state of consciousness where the gap is healed between God and the world by pre-religious means.
Scholem also describes mystics as being religious anarchists. A Jewish mystic, for example, doesn’t necessarily follow the Jewish tradition in the ways a Jew would be expected to. An example of this would be the invocation of the Sar Torah in the Merkavah tradition. A very important part of Jewish life is the study, and in some cases memorization of the Torah. Torah memorization was especially important to Rabbinic sages. If a disciple of the Merkavah tradition was having trouble with his Torah memorization, he could, after 40 days of prayer and fasting, evoke the Sar Torah, or Prince of Torah, who would descend from the heavens and bestow upon him all the knowledge of the Torah there in an instant. This is not the honorable way to study Torah according to the mainstream Jewish tradition. This is just one of many examples of impatience inherent in mysticism that can be construed as religious anarchy.
Arthur Green had a slightly different take on mysticism and its place within religion. Green described the differences between the two not in terms of practice, but in terms of privilege. According to him, what is mystical about mysticism is the secrecy of it. For example, the Mishnah makes mention of the Merkavah tradition. However, the mention of it is brief and states that it can only be taught to one disciple at a time, and only if that disciple already knows about it. This statement inside the Jewish canon clearly allows for mysticism as an acceptable Jewish pursuit inside the Rabbinic tradition. However, it also shows the secrecy behind mysticism, and can be interpreted as the characteristic that makes mysticism mystical.
Cannon, on the other hand, views the relationship between mysticism and religion very differently. Cannon sees mysticism as one of six distinct paths of being religious. He believes that all six of the ways are equally legitimate paths, and should be respected as such. In his book, Cannon suggests that it is possible to study each path of a religion without having to study every other path concurrently. As opposed to Scholem and Green, Cannon does not see the esoteric nature of mysticism as a symbol, or even what makes it mystical. Cannon interprets it as another part of the path. What makes mysticism mystical to Cannon are the practices involved, such as meditation, asceticism, etc.
As I read the texts, I found that none of these ideas about the relationship between mysticism and religion could adequately describe it. I found that these ideas are most certainly not mutually exclusive. Instead, I found myself thinking that all three ideas are very correct, but also very wrong. It is very important to understand the context of a mystical tradition, as Scholem thought, but I don’t agree that mysticism is a form of religious anarchy or pre-religion. As pre-religion is defined as a polytheistic practice where there was no gap between the people and the gods, I find it impossible to digest that Jewish mysticism is a form of polytheistic closeness. Instead, I agree with Cannon in that mysticism is a valid way of bridging the gap between ultimate reality (in this case God) and the world. However, I disagree with Cannon’s idea that the framework of the six ways of being religious is the only tool one needs to understand religious practice. It is very important to understand the culture and the tradition in which each mystical path was born, otherwise there would be no way of distinguishing between a path of being religious and a religion itself.
The Merkavah tradition is one of the many forms of Jewish mysticism that has developed over the years. It is based on the “Maaseh Merkavah”, a text of unknown origin that details the experiences of mystics who have “ascended to the heavens” to be in the presence of God. The Merkavah tradition was shrouded in secrecy for many years, with only the elite being trained into it. Using Dale Cannon’s definitions of the six paths of being religious, it seems that the title Merkavah Mysticism is a misnomer. The proper way to classify the Merkavah tradition, in accordance with Cannon, is under the path of shamanic mediation.
According to Cannon, the way of shamanic mediation includes entry into altered states of consciousness seeking healing or well being in another, usually dangerous, realm of the divine. This is usually mediated by a shaman through a trance. This activity is the very heart of the Merkavah tradition. The “Maaseh Merkavah” says that the world is made up of seven layers. The top layer is the is the realm of the divine, the goal of the Merkavah traveler. He ascends from the seventh and lowest realm of the material world. The traveler usually engages in some sort of ritual fasting before making the treacherous journey to the seventh realm in order to become more like the heavenly creatures who don’t need to eat. The traveler then enters into a trance, as ascribed to the shamanic path, where his consciousness ascends to the divine.
The journey to the seventh realm, or Hekhaloth, is quite treacherous. The “Maaseh Merkavah ” tells a story of four men who ascended to the seventh Hekhaloth, but only one, Rabbi Akiva, was returned to the material world unharmed. In order to pass through each Hekhalot unscathed, one must bear the proper “seals” on various parts of one’s body, and one must know the proper pronunciation of the name of each heavenly creature. The names, however, are very difficult to pronounce, and indistinguishable on paper. The sense of danger in the ascent to God’s realm fits under the definition of shamanic mediation. Also, the idea that the traveler must posses a kind of secret, safe guarding knowledge leads to the conclusion that he must be specially trained to make the journey, much like a shaman in Cannon’s definition must be trained in the ways of reaching the altered state of consciousness.
Another aspect of Merkavah traveling is that once a specially trained rabbi or sage reaches the seventh Hekhaloth, God is then required to answer any questions asked of him by the traveler. For example, in the “Maaseh Merkavah”, a rabbi ascends safely to the seventh Hekhaloth and asks God what is to become of the people Israel who were, at the time, living under severe oppression. This shows that the purpose of an ascension to God is to find ways to help heal the burdens of the masses or possibly of a few, just as shamanic mediation is usually done for healing purposes.
These ascensions of consciousness further fit the profile of shamanic mediation because they require interpretation to find the meaning of the journey. The Hekhaloths are not self descriptive, but rather are symbolic. The “seals” a traveler must carry with him are also not self descriptive. In fact, the majority of occurrences and dimensions of Merkavah traveling are in need of interpretation. For example, the “Maasah Merkavah” is written in the form of prayers, indistinguishable letters and stories involving a moral. None of these are self explanatory. They require interpretation by wise rabbis and sages to understand the true meanings behind them. For instance, the indistinguishable letters do not explain themselves on paper. One must hear an interpretation of them from a sage in order to fully understand not only the phonetic properties, but the meanings and nature surrounding these letters. However, these words and letters are a very important part of the overall vision which needs interpretation, and therefore must be attributed to the way of shamanic mediation.
Over the years Jewish mysticism has developed in many manifestations. Each type is unique and can be classified in different ways. The Merkavah tradition is often wrongly lumped under the way of mystical quest because of its association with the Jewish mystical tradition. However, when the actual practices of the Merkavah tradition are evaluated on their own, it is clear that the tradition falls under the way of shamanic mediation.
