The Kabbalah Unveiled by Christian Knorr von Rosenroth

Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (1636- 1689), was a German Hebraist born at Alt-Raudten, in Silesia. After having completed his studies in the universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig, he traveled through Holland, France, and England. On his return he devoted himself to the study of Oriental languages, especially Hebrew, the rudiments of which he had acquired while abroad.

Later he became a diligent student of the Kabbalah, in which he believed to find proofs of the doctrines of Christianity. In his opinion the Adam Kadmon of the cabalists is Jesus, and the three highest sefirot represent the Trinity. Rosenroth intended to make a Latin translation of the Zohar and the Tiḳḳunim, and he published as preliminary studies the first two volumes of his Kabbala Denudata, sive Doctrina Hebræorum Transcendentalis et Metaphysica Atque Theologia (Sulzbach, 1677-78). They contain a cabalistic nomenclature, the Idra Rabbah and Idra Zuṭa and the Sifra di-Ẓeni'uta, cabalistic essays of Naphtali Herz ben Jacob Elhanan.

A subject of perennial study and the focus of a recent surge of popular interest, Kabbalah is an ancient Jewish doctrine of esoteric knowledge concerning God, creation, and nature. This essential guide was written by one of the most influential figures in modern occultism. And unlike lesser works, it focuses on the actual sacred texts to offer an objective, reliable interpretation.

The Kabbalah Unveiled explores three important books of the Zohar or "Splendor": "The Book of Concealed Mystery," the book of equilibrium or balance, concerning the central point, at which rest succeeds motion; "The Greater Holy Assembly"; and "The Lesser Holy Assembly." Together, these three books examine the gradual development of the creative deity, and of creation itself.

Translated by S. L. MacGregor Mathers, a founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, he presents his exegesis in a clear and scholarly style. Three charts enhance this volume's value as a tool for understanding the Kabbalah and enjoying the benefits of its teachings.

Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918), was a British occultist. He is primarily known as one of the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a ceremonial-magic order of which offshoots still exist today. He became so synonymous with the order that Golden Dawn scholar Israel Regardie would in retrospect observe: "the Golden Dawn was MacGregor Mathers."