Alchemists were often well acquainted with the study of the Kabbalah. Kabbalah refers to the framework for Jewish mysticism in which the world is made manifest from God who is eternal and without limits (Epstein, 1988; Halevi, 1976, 1977). It is a complex, profound system that explains the nature of the universe. Thus, it is logical that alchemists would be interested in what they found were many parallels between the two systems.
For example, in a manner very similar to the alchemical prima materia, the first matter of Kabbalah contains all that there is in the universe which is of God and is manifested as our world. Halevi (1976) writes:
Tradition states that God willed to see God and so God’s Will, symbolized by light, shone nowhere and everywhere. Thus Tradition states that God willed to see God and so God’s Will, symbolized by light, shone nowhere and everywhere. Thus the EN SOF AUR, the Endless Light of Will, was omniscient throughout Absolute All. From God knowing All, God willed the first separation so that God might behold God. This, we are told, was accomplished by a contraction in Absolute All, so as to make a place wherein the mirror of Existence might manifest . . . . The first manifestation at the circumference of the void was named the Prime Crown. It has many other titles, like the Concealer of the Concealed, the White Head and the Crown of Crowns. Most Kabbalists knew it by the God Name of EHYEH or I AM, where the Absolute allowed Existence to be . . . . When God willed the World to come into being, the seed took root and grew downward into the trunk, branch and fruit of a Divine Tree that would act as an intermediary between the World and God. (pp. 8-9)
Thus, the motif of the world being born out of chaos is also seen in Kabbalah. The interconnectedness of matter is described. The operation of separatio is mentioned which allows the parts of God to become self-aware. It is no wonder that the alchemists studied this mysticism as it paralleled their work so well.
