The Philosophical
Writings of Solomon
Ben Yehudah Ibn
Gebirol, or Avicebron, Etc.
Isaac Myer
Diagram I, from p. 100 of the book by Isaac
Myer on the writings of Gabirol, also spelled
“Gebirol”
Foreword to the 2016 Online Edition
In 1889, Helena P.
Blavatsky wrote in an article about the book “Qabbalah, the Philosophical Writings of Ibn Gebirol, or
Avicebron, Etc.”:
“Such is the title of an admirably thoughtful, learned,
and very conscientious volume, by Mr. Isaac Myer, LL.B., of Philadelphia,
U.S.A.”
Blavatsky then adds that “this new work is of an
extreme importance to all students of the Kabala and the Hermetic Sciences in
general” and that “its own intrinsic value (…) is very great”. [1]
A few paragraphs later, the founder of the modern
theosophical movement said:
“Especially valuable are the passages given from the
philosophy of R. S. Ben Yehudah Ibn Gebirol, or as he was generally referred
to, Avicebron - which echo unmistakably not only the Zoharic but likewise the
Eastern esoteric teachings. Ibn Gebirol, of Cordova, the first so-called
Arabian philosopher in Europe who flourished in the 11th century, was also one
of the most eminent among the Jewish poets of the Middle Ages. His
philosophical works written in Arabic are plainly shown exonerating Moses de
Leon (13th century), accused of having forged the Zohar attributed to R. Shimon ben-Yochai.”
The name “Gebirol” is also spelled “Gabirol”.
Arab and Jewish philosophies had much in common in the
Middle Ages, and Blavatsky went on:
“As all scholars know, Ibn Gebirol was a Spanish Jew,
mistaken by most writers in the subsequent centuries for an Arabian
philosopher. Regarded as an Aristotelian, many of his works were condemned by
the University of Paris, and his name remains to this day but very little known
outside the circle of learned Kabalists. Mr. Myer has undertaken to vindicate
this mediaeval scholar, poet, and mystic, and has fully succeeded in doing so.
Identifying the lore given out by this forgotten sage with the universal ‘Wisdom
Religion’, our author thus points out that the mystical theosophy and the disciplina arcana of the Hebrew Tannaïm [2] has been found by the latter in the
schools of Babylon.”[3]
Mentioned several times in both volumes of “The Secret
Doctrine”, by H. P. Blavatsky, and in her “Collected Writings” [4], the book “Qabbalah” was first
published in an independent way by its author in Philadelphia, USA, in 1888. It
has 499 pages and includes numerous diagrams and illustrations.
Isaac Myer (1836-1902) was an attorney and author who
practiced Law and wrote both in New York and Philadelphia.[5] An active freemason, he made researches on federalism, on the
history of the United States Constitution and several areas of mystical
knowledge, especially ancient Jewish works as compared to other wisdom traditions.
(Carlos Cardoso Aveline)
NOTES:
[1] “Qabbalah, Etc. - A Review”,
an article by Helena P. Blavatsky in “Collected Writings”, H.P. Blavatsky, TPH,
vol. XI, p. 21.
[2] The Tannaïm were the rabbinic
sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah.
[3] “Qabbalah, Etc. - A Review”, in
“Collected Writings”, H.P. Blavatsky, TPH, vol. XI, p. 28.
[4] See “The Secret Doctrine”, in any
of the original editions (Theosophy Co., TUP or TPH). Volume I: pp. 347, 374
and 619. Volume II: pp. 116, 457, 461fn, 478, 543fn. “Collected Writings”:
Volume XIV, p. 38 and p. 171fn. Volume XIII, pp. 101-102fn. Volume VII, p. 271
(Compiler’s Notes).
[5] “Isaac Myer Papers”, in The New York Public Library, Rare
Books and Manuscripts Division.
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On the role of the esoteric movement in the
ethical awakening of mankind during the 21st century, see the book “The Fire and Light of Theosophical Literature”, by
Carlos Cardoso Aveline.
Published in
2013 by The Aquarian Theosophist,
the volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.
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