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Cabbala (or Kabbalah) is a school of mystical thought that attempts to explain the nature of the universe, including the relationship between God and the physical world (as well as the meaning of concepts like scripture, truth, the soul, and heaven). While Cabbala is traditionally associated with Judaism, during Cavendish’s life, there were also significant Christian and philosophical Cabbalistic traditions. In The Blazing World, the Empress tries to develop her own Cabbala (or interpretive theory of the universe) in collaboration with the immaterial spirits, but she ends up inventing a “celestial world” of fantasy instead.
Cabbala Quotes in The Blazing World
The The Blazing World quotes below are all either spoken by Cabbala or refer to Cabbala. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 1
Quotes
She asked further, which of these two Cabbalas was most approved, the natural, or theological? The theological, answered they, is mystical, and belongs only to faith; but the natural belongs to reason. Then she asked them, whether divine faith was made out of reason? No, answered they, for faith proceeds only from a divine saving grace, which is a peculiar gift of God. How comes it then, replied she, that men, even those that are of several opinions, have faith more or less? A natural belief, answered they, is not a divine faith. But, proceeded the Empress, how are you sure that God cannot be known? The several opinions you mortals have of God, answered they, are sufficient witnesses thereof.
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She asked again, whether they were none of those spirits that frighted Adam out of the Paradise, at least caused him not to return thither again? They answered they were not. Then she desired to be informed, whither Adam fled when he was driven out of the Paradise? Out of this world, said they, you are now Empress of, into the world you came from.
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If your Majesty were resolved to make a Cabbala, I would advise you, rather to make a poetical or romancical Cabbala, wherein you can use metaphors, allegories, similitudes, etc. and interpret them as you please.
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Cabbala Term Timeline in The Blazing World
The timeline below shows where the term Cabbala appears in The Blazing World. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World
...The spirits tell the Empress about her homeland, friends, and acquaintances. She asks them about Cabbalist philosophy, and they tell her about how the writer Ben Jonson mocked the Cabbalists in...
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The Empress continues asking the spirits about the Cabbala. She asks how many parts it has—usually two, respond the spirits. She asks what kind...
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The Empress next asks whether God is made of Ideas or Cabbala. The spirits respond that God can’t be made of anything, because he’s God, and he’s...
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...is now for the world where she originally came from. The Empress concludes that the Cabbalists are wrong to think of Paradise as a purely immaterial world, when it’s clearly “a...
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...to know if the universe was truly made in six days. The spirits reject the Cabbalists’ fanciful speculations about the deeper meanings of numbers, like the idea that six represents marriage...
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...natural to seek knowledge. The Empress declares that she wants to make her own Jews’ Cabbala, and then the spirits suddenly disappear. This frightens the Empress, who briefly falls into a...
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...opposite point on the planet from the Empress, and are happy to help with her Cabbala.
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...proposes that the Empress consult “some famous Jew,” like Moses, to help with her “Jews’ Cabbala,” but the Empress says that she trusts the spirits. However, the Duchess insists that the...
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The Empress agrees with the Duchess and decides to write a “philosophical Cabbala,” but the Duchess tells her that the Cabbala must go beyond what can be known...
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Instead, the Duchess proposes that the Empress “make a poetical or romancical Cabbala, wherein you can use metaphors, allegories, similitudes, etc. and interpret them as you please.” The...
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