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 GIULIO BUSI

HEAVENLY PALACES
IN JUDAISM
A HISTORICAL TRAVEL GUIDE

FPBP
 SUMMARY

1. CITIES OF LIGHT 1

Compresence and omniscience 4

The magical-mystical continuum 11

2. FROM THE HEBREW BIBLE TO THE HEKHALOT 13

The cosmological barrier 18

The divine chariot according to Ezekiel 23

The new Temple 29

Isaiah 30

Daniel 33

Song of Songs 35

Esther 36

Texts and context of the Hekhalot literature 41

Dating, historical background 41

Textual tradition, editions 44

3. HOW TO GET “THERE” 49

Desocialization practices 49

Prayer 57

Hymns, posture, concentration 58

Copyright © 2020 Giulio Busi Forgetting 73

Seals, names, secrets 76

All rights reserved.
Many names, one Name 80

ISBN: 978-88-945374-2-0 The descent to the chariot 82

The chariot of the mystic 88

Adepts, teachers, seers 91

Published by FPBP – Fondazione Palazzo Bondoni Pastorio
Rabbi Ishmael 91

Via Marconi 34
Rabbi Akiva 92

46043 Castiglione delle Stiviere MN (Italy)
www.fondazione-bondonipastorio.eu Rabbi Nehunya ben ha-Kanah 94

 
GIULIO BUSI HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM

The greatness of man 95
1.

Archangels and angels 97

CITIES OF LIGHT
Metatron 97

The heavenly aristocracy: ‘Anafi’el, Sandalfon, Suriya, Yofi’el 100

The holy ḥayyot 103

The Angels of the Face are envious, ephemeral, wise 105

6KHNKLQDK 109
Why a city? And why in heaven? Despite their venerable
age―one thousand, two thousand years old?―the sprightly celes-
4. WHY SEVEN PALACES? A CROSS-CULTURAL RIDDLE 111

tial climbers do not stand still for a moment. They climb, descend,
Jewish and Christian background: The seven heavens 115

tremble, rejoice, cry, learn, forget, learn again. All this frantic tur-
The Ascension of Isaiah 119

moil has a very specific purpose. To get “there,” to reach the Place
Souls, planets, fate 128

of Places, to see. And, having seen, to understand. The literature of
The seven palaces of the Sabians 132

the palaces, or Hekhalot, as they are called in Hebrew, is ancient,
Seven palaces in Malaysia and in the heaven of China 149

mysterious, difficult. It also intimidates the expert reader, accus-
5. MOVING INSIDE THE HEAVENS: WHERE TIME BECOMES SPACE 155
tomed to dealing with the elusive texts of the kabbalah, the secret
Water 155
wisdom of Judaism, which evolved between the 13th and 16th cen-
Walls 159
turies. As complex as the allegories of medieval and early modern
Gates 161
mystics are, these palaces at right angles to cliffs of light remain a
The gates of Shekhinah and Wisdom 161
prohibitive, almost unreachable destination. The literature of the
The throne of Metatron at the gate of the seventh palace 164
Hekhalot precedes the kabbalah. It precedes it not only in time,
Other heavenly gates 167
beginning to appear in the first centuries of the common era, but
Halls 168
also in the mental order and the collective imagination. Whoever
Heavenly warehouses 171
reaches the divine dwellings, and manages to penetrate them,
The Palace of Silence 174
enters into a scholarly aristocracy, prized and coveted. The path is
The Throne of Glory 181

dangerous. The gates of the heavenly buildings are protected by
Measure, beauty and wisdom of God 183

grumpy and maniacal guardians. It is necessary to know how to
Pargod: Engraved synchrony 191

catch them in a good mood, ingratiate yourself, or get around
them by enlisting some high-ranking helper. But it is not only the
INDEX 201

difficult route that repels many, or perhaps almost all. The
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 21
problem, with which the adept clashed in ancient times, and which
110 GIULIO BUSI

normally, in Jewish texts, it is said that the Shekhinah hovers, or 

rests on those who are worthy of it, or in places capable of


welcoming it, in the Great Book of the Palaces it becomes a generous





and welcoming embrace:
Wreathed with splendor, adorned with crowns, praisers of the Mighty with
a happy song, exalt them in the sight of the Lord of the Flame, for you dwell
in the Shekhinah, which dwells in the most adorned, most secret precincts.
He has made your name more splendid than that of His servants, from the
servants of the chariot He has distinguished you. Whoever mentions the
name of one of you [becomes] flaming fire, flame that surrounds you, tongue
that towers, burning coals, coals that burn brightly, as it is said: Holy, holy,
holy! (Is. 6:3) (§ 156).
The spatial function of Shekhinah is reiterated in several places
in the Small Book of the Palaces: “The power of Shekhinah is in the
palms of the hands and in the name ’Zbwgh. Holy, holy, holy!
(ibidem)” (§ 364). And again, in relation to the prayer of rabbi Akiva:
“I pray in front of the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He,
Who stretched out the skies and made firm the earth! (Is. 51:13), and the
Shekhinah of his vigor is in the lofty heights. He is our God and
there is no other” (§ 551).
In a more traditional way, the Shekhinah is described as an
object of contemplation by the mystic:
Rabbi Ishmael said: “Rabbi Nehunya ben ha-Kanah said to me: ‘Whoever
recites this prayer with all his strength is able to contemplate the splendor
of Shekhinah, and the Shekhinah is very dear to him.’” Rabbi Ishmael said:
“Rabbi Akiva said to me: ‘I recited a prayer; I contemplated the Shekhinah and
I saw all that is done before the throne of glory’” (§§ 591-592).







Seven palaces, one after the other, one is more inaccessible
than the previous one. There is no doubt that this is the architec-
tural core of the works with which we are dealing. It is from these
palaces, mysterious, fearful, coveted, that comes the definition of
this literature. Hekhal is a very ancient word, of Sumerian etymol-
ogy, e-gal, then changed into the Akkadian ekallu(m).103 In the He-
brew Bible, hekhal is always used in the singular, except in a hand-
ful of cases. In the plural, hekhalim indicates luxury buildings, often
mentioned with a tone of reproach: All your robes [are fragrant] with
myrrh and aloes and cassia; from ivoried palaces lutes entertain you (Ps
45:9); you can catch the lizard in your hand, yet it is found in royal pal-
aces (Prov. 30:28); for you have taken My gold and My silver, and have
carried off My precious treasures to your palaces (Joel 4:5); And jackals
shall abide in its castles And dragons in the palaces of pleasure (Is. 13:22).
Only once, in all the Bible, does the plural form hekhalot appear:
Israel has ignored his Maker and built palaces104 (hekhalot - Hos. 8:14).
Hekhal can be either a private and opulent abode or the tabernacle
(1 Sam. 1:9
and 3:3), the Temple of Jerusalem (e.g. 2 Kings 24:13), a
part of it (1 Kings 6:5; Ez. 41) or the divine palace in heaven, as it has
already been mentioned (2 Sam. 22:7; Ps 29:9). Never, however, is


103
Cf. The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, vol. 4,
Chicago 1958, pp. 52-61.
104
“Palaces:” the NJPS has “temples.”
112 GIULIO BUSI
the plural linked to the sphere of divinity. This is an important
observation. The palaces of God, in the plural, are unknown to the
Hebrew Bible and, we shall see, also to the rest of the Jewish
tradition, and represent a singular feature of the literature that
takes its name from them.
For the mystics I deal with here, the existence of the seven, glit-
tering mansions, is instead obvious, indispensable, intrinsic. From
a passage in the Small Book of the Palaces we learn some of their
names:
Rabbi Akiva said: “Repeat and grasp the names of the seven princes, guardi-
ans of the seven entrances to the seven palaces—the palace of elevation, the
palace of exaltation, the palace of dominion, the palace of wonders. The
names and their seals. Show him his seal and he will let you enter his palace.
These are the names of the seven princes, guardians of the seven entrances
to the palaces: Rgz’l, the Lord, the prince; Rhybyrwn, the Lord, the prince;
Šqdhwz’yy, the Lord, the prince; Sgnsg’l, the Lord, the prince; ’Šyrwwylyy, the
Lord, the prince; Ṭṭrwsyyy, the Lord, the prince; Šhry’l, the Lord, the prince
(§§ 413-414).
On the one hand, the list is incomplete, as it mentions only four
names. On the other hand, it is clear that the link between guardi-
ans and buildings is very important. Knowing the names of the
guardians and obtaining their seals is a prerequisite for travelling
to the otherworld.
Of course, the stewards are just servants. The palaces under
their custody have only one master:
Rabbi Ishmael said that rabbi Nehunya ben ha-Kanah had confided to him:
Ṭwṭrwsy’y, Lord, God of Israel dwells in seven palaces, one hall within
another. There are eight gatekeepers at the entrance to each palace. Four on
the right of the threshold and four on the left (§ 206).



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 113
“Ṭwṭrwsy’y [...] dwells in seven palaces.” All the space is at his
disposal. The discrepancy between this text and the one men-
tioned above is evident. According to the teaching that rabbi
Ishmael reports in the name of rabbi Nehunya ben ha-Kanah, the
guardians are eight per palace, while rabbi Akiva spoke only of
seven princes, and they already seemed to us sufficiently fear-
some. In another passage, the guardians add up even to sixty-three
(§ 248). Moreover, the more numerous they are, the greater the
fear they instill. It is necessary to know them one by one, to know
how to appease them, to have an idea of the obstacles they can put
in the way. They bear dozens of names, enigmatic and powerful.
The adept has a great deal to do, if he wants to learn everything by
heart, so as not to be mistaken, when he is face to face with these
careful guardians. What is there to see in these sumptuous halls,
so well-guarded?
Rabbi Akiva offers us a glimpse:
In the first palace are four thousand myriad chariots of fire and forty thou-
sand myriads of flames, intermingled. In the second palace there are one
hundred thousand chariots of fire and forty thousand myriads of flames in-
termingled. In the third palace there are two hundred thousand chariots of
fire and forty thousand myriads of flames intermingled. In the fourth palace
there are thousands of thousands myriads of chariots of fire and two thou-
sand myriads of flames, intermingled. In the fifth palace there are four thou-
sand myriads of chariots of fire and two thousand myriads of flames, inter-
mingled. In the sixth palace there are forty thousand myriads of chariots of
fire and two thousand myriads of flames, intermingled. In the seventh pal-
ace stand one hundred thousand myriads of chariots of fire and two thou-
sand myriads of flames intermingled (§ 554).
The chariots appear in the description of the palaces that rabbi
114 GIULIO BUSI
Ishmael gives us in the Third Book of Enoch. His words are more dy-
namic, less repetitive than those of Akiva:
Rabbi Ishmael said: “Metatron, the angel, the Prince of the Face, said to me:
‘In the seven palaces there are four chariots of the Shekhinah, and in front of
each one of them there are four camps of the Shekhinah. Between one camp
and another there is a river of flowing fire, and between river and river there
is a circle of shining clouds. Between each [cloud] there are columns of sul-
fur, between column and column are rotating waves of flame, between wave
and wave are rotating strips of embers, between strip and strip are enclosed
treasures of lightning” (§ 55).
There is no doubt that the palaces offer a strange, unprece-
dented spectacle. Especially in the seventh palace, the highest one,
the angelic guardianship has a glittering appearance, which the
text expresses with an overload of details:
At the entrance to the seventh palace all the brave ones stand with anger,
harshness, rigor, threat, confusion, higher than mountains and more soar-
ing than hills. Their bows are stretched to their faces, and they wield sharp
swords. From the pupils of their eyes they protrude and thunder thunder-
bolts, from their nostril gushes flaming fire and their mouths emit blazing
coals. They are covered with helmets and armor; their arms carry spears and
sabers (§ 213).
If the keepers are armed to the teeth, their mounts are no less
threatening:
They have horses of darkness, horses of obscurity, horses of pitch, horses of
fire, horses of blood, horses of hail, horses of iron, horses of haze. The horses
they mount have before them stalls of fire, full of juniper coals. From the
stalls they swallow burning coals, forty if’ each mouthful. The mouth of a
single horse is three times the size of the stalls of Caesarea (§ 214).



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 115
With such mounts, and no less vigorous riders, the spectacle is
complete.
Jewish and Christian background: The seven heavens
The seventh building is the only one for which an extensive de-
scription is available. It is there that the angelic liturgy is concen-
trated, and all desires of the mystic point to it. There is an unques-
tionable disproportion in the Hekhalot texts between the space
dedicated to the first six palaces and that which occupies the sev-
enth dwelling. It is as if all eyes were focused on this one, on what
happens there and on the possibility of seeing and understanding
its superhuman mystery. The rest of the celestial structure essen-
tially performs a function of contour. In an architectural structure,
which has been adapted to new needs, it sometimes happens that
pre-existing buildings lose their function. They are maintained, of
course, but not used to their full potential. We have the impression
that something similar has also happened to the beautiful city of
light that we are learning to know.
The difficulty of “filling” the first six buildings leaves us with a
sense of wonder. We have the impression that something is miss-
ing, even if we don’t know what. Don’t you think that six immense
buildings are too many to contain “only” camps, rivers of fire and
columns of sulphur? We would expect a more precise and regi-
mented hierarchy among the occupants of each dwelling, a more
articulated gradation of honors. After all, such ambitious palaces
represent a considerable heavenly investment, which we would
like to make clearer.
Is such a shortcoming due to the reticence of the mystics, of
which we have already spoken? Or is it not, perhaps, something
116 GIULIO BUSI
more? Is it the tension between religious orthodoxy and a sym-
bolic structure, that of the heavenly palaces, which has no prece-
dent in the Bible? Seven palaces and only One King: this is the prin-
ciple that rabbi Ishmael puts peremptorily before us. And it is a
principle in accordance with the foundations of Judaism. However,
we cannot ignore the fact that all those rooms, doors, walls, full of
mystery, fearful and seemingly unguarded, disturb us and leave us
puzzled. Our heavenly traveler certainly shares our anxieties. Do
we want to help him, perhaps pondering the pedigree of the
threatening doormen who make his life so difficult? Or is it not
more appropriate to start with architecture, and go in search of
other series of seven buildings, perhaps scrutinizing the skies of
other nations, and other ages? Let’s start with the heavens first,
and let’s stack them one on top of the other. Then, perhaps, we will
also discover other hidden dwellings.
In rabbinical literature there are seven firmaments, for which
names and descriptions are given. The most important passage, in
this respect, appears in the Talmudic tractate Ḥagigah, to which we
have already referred:
Rabbi Yehudah said: “There are two firmaments, as it is said: Mark, the heav-
ens to their uttermost reaches belong to the Lord your God, the earth and all that is
on it! (Deut. 10:14).” Resh Laqish said: “There are seven firmaments, that is:
veil (wilon), firmament (raqia‘), clouds (šeḥaqim), stately house (Masek), dwell-
ing (ma‘on), mansion (makon), clouds (‘aravot). The veil has no function other
than to enter in the morning and leave in the evening, renewing every day
the Work of Creation as it is said: Who spread out the skies like gauze, stretched
them out like a tent to dwell in (Is. 40:22). The firmament is the dwelling place
of the sun and moon and the stars and constellations, as it is said: And God set
them in firmament of the sky (Gen. 1:17). The clouds are where the mills that
grind manna for the righteous are located, as it is said: So He commanded the



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 117
clouds105 (šeḥaqim) above, He opened the doors of heaven and rained manna upon
them for food, giving them heavenly grain (Ps 78:23-24). The stately house is
where Jerusalem is, together with the sanctuary, the altar and Mika’el the
supreme minister who offers You a sacrifice, as it is said: I have now built for
You a stately (masek) House, a place where You may dwell forever (1 Kings 8:13).
From whence is it called height? From what is written: Look down from heaven
and see, from Your holy and glorious height (zevul)! (Is. 63:15). The dwelling place
is where the hosts of the officiating angels sing a song by night, but by day
they are silent in honor of Israel as it is said: By day may the Lord vouchsafe His
faithful care, so that at night a song to Him may be with me (Ps 42:9).106
From the passage it is clear that the division into seven firma-
ments is only one of the patterns handed down by the Jewish tra-
dition. Rabbi Yehudah is leaning towards a simpler division into
two firmaments, while it is up to Resh Laqish to find the biblical
references for the sevenfold cosmic structure.
If we go back in time, and from the Talmud we go further into
the texts written between the end of the first millennium B.C.E.
and the first centuries of our era, it is not difficult to find other
series of seven heavens. This is for example the case of the Testa-
ment of Levi, which is part of the collection called the Testaments of
the Twelve Patriarchs. These Testaments, of Christian origin, never-
theless incorporate extensive Jewish traditions. The Testament of
Levi is believed to be based on an original Jewish composition,
dated to the end of the 2nd century B.C.E. The genesis of these texts
is one of the most debated themes of the Apocryphal philology, but
for our comparative purposes, a glimpse of the ascent to heaven of
Patriarch Levi is enough to find the seven heavens, presented in
an unusual succession. The seventh and highest heaven, the one


105
“Clouds:” the NJPS has: “skies.”
106
bḤagigah 12b.
118 GIULIO BUSI
where “the great glory, which is above all holiness” dwells, is de-
scribed in fourth place, with an interruption of the sequence:
Listen, therefore, concerning the heavens which have been shown to you.
The lowest is dark for this reason: It sees all the injustices of humankind and
contains fire, snow, and ice, ready for the day determined by God’s righteous
judgment. In it are all the spirits of those dispatched by the punishment
meted out to mankind. In the second are the armies arrayed for the day of
judgment to work vengeance on the spirits of error and of Beliar. Above
them are the Holy Ones. In the uppermost heaven of all dwells the Great
Glory in the Holy of Holies superior to all holiness. There with Him are the
archangels, who serve and offer propitiatory sacrifices to the Lord on behalf
of all the sins of ignorance of the righteous ones. They present to the Lord a
pleasing odor, a rational and bloodless oblation. In the heaven below them
are the messengers who carry the responses to the angels of the Lord’s pres-
ence. There with him are thrones and authorities; there praises to God are
offered eternally. So when the Lord looks upon us we all tremble. Even the
heavens and earth and the abysses tremble before the presence of His maj-
esty. But the sons of men, being insensitive to these matters, keep sinning
and provoking the anger of the Most High.107
It is probable that the seven heavens were dealt with here by
reworking a scheme of three celestial levels, which in fact is at-
tested to in the previous chapter of the work.108 Much clearer is the
celestial structure described in Second Book of Enoch, preserved to-
day only in Slavonic. The original composition must have been
Jewish, and was probably completed in the 1st century. Enoch is led
by two angels through the seven heavens, which are outlined in

Himmelfarb, Tours of Hell: An Apocalyptic form in Jewish and Christian Literature, Philadelphia
107
Testament of Levi 3:1-8 (The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, pp. 788-788).
108
A. Y. Collins, Cosmology and Eschatology in Jewish and Christian Apocalypticism, Leiden
2000, p. 28. Other references to the seven heavens appear in the Greek text of the Life of
Adam and Eve (35:2) and in the Apocalypse of Abraham (chap. 19: seven firmaments; The Old
Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, pp. 698-699). Cf. Collins, Cosmology, pp. 32-36. For the
Ascension of Isaiah see the in-depth discussion below.



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 119
their different characteristics. As in the Hekhalot texts, the ascent
culminates in the seventh level:
And the men lifted me up from there, and they carried me up to the seventh
heaven. And I saw a great light, and all the fiery armies of the incorporeal
ones, archangels, angels, and the shining otanim stations. And I was terrified,
and I trembled. And the men picked me up with their [.] And they said to me:
“Be brave, Enoch! Don’t be frightened!” And they showed me from a distance
the Lord, sitting on His throne. And all the heavenly armies assembled, ac-
cording to rank, advancing and doing obeisance to the Lord. And then they
withdrew and went to their places in joy and merriment, in immeasurable
light, but gloriously serving him by night, nor departing by day, standing in
front of the Face of the Lord, carrying out his will—with all the army of cher-
ubim around his throne, never departing, and the six-winged ones covering
his throne, singing in front of the Face of the Lord.109
The Ascension of Isaiah
A case in itself, for the many points of contact with the imagi-
nary and the structure of the mystical journey narrated in the
Hekhalot, is represented by the Ascension of Isaiah, a composite text,
consisting of two parts.110 The first describes Isaiah’s martyrdom
and occupies the first five chapters of the work. The second, in
which the prophet’s ascension to heaven is narrated, extends from


109
2 Enoch 20:1 – 21:1 (The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, p. 135). The ascent through
the heavens begins in Chapter I.
110
Ibidem, vol. 2, pp. pp. 143-176; E. Norelli, L’ascension du prophète Isaïe, Turnhout 1993; M.
136s.; Eadem, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, Oxford 1993, pp. 55, 135;
R. Hall, “Isaiah’s Ascent to see the Beloved: An ancient Jewish Source for the Ascension
of Isaiah,” Journal of biblical literature, 113 (1993), pp. 463-484; Schäfer, The Origins, pp. 93-
99; E. Norelli, “Ancora sulla genesi dell’Ascensione di Isaia: Alcune osservazioni a partire
dal contributo di Jonathan Knight The Ascension of Isaiah: A New Theory of
Composition,” Cristianesimo nella storia 2014, pp. 549-567.
120 GIULIO BUSI
chapters six to eleven, and is usually dated to the beginning of the
2nd century. Isaiah, before a gathering of prophets and dignitaries,
prophesied in the presence of King Hezekiah. Suddenly, he is silent
and falls into ecstasy. His eyes open, he breathes, but his mind
wanders far away, in the domain of the invisible:
And while he was speaking with the Holy Spirit in the hearing of them all, he
became silent, and his mind was taken up from him, and he did not see the
men who were standing before him. His eyes indeed were open, but his mouth
was silent, and the mind in his body was taken up from him. But his breath
was (still) in him, for he was seeing a vision. And the angel who was sent to
show him (the vision) was not of this firmament, nor was he from the angels
of glory of this world, but he came from the seventh heaven. And the people
who were standing by, apart from the circle of prophets, did [not] think that
the holy Isaiah had been taken up. And the vision which he saw was not from
this world, but from the world which is hidden from the flesh.111
The text changes tone here. While his body remains inert,
Isaiah narrates his own experience through the seven heavens. He
is guided by an angel of extraordinary effulgence, who, without re-
vealing his name, turns to him with kindness and leads him by the
hand, carrying him upwards. After seeing, on the firmament,
Samael and her hosts battle Satan’s angels, Isaiah and his guide
reach the first heaven:
And after this he took me up above the firmament; this is the [first] heaven.
There I saw a throne in the middle, and on the right and on the left of it there
were angels. And [the angels on the left] were not like the angels who stood
on the right, but those who stood on the right had more glory, and they all
sang praises with one voice. And the throne was in the middle, and they
praised it, and then after them, by those on the left; but their voice was not

112
111
Ascension of Isaiah 6:10-15 (The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2, p. 165).



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 121
like the voice of those on the right, nor their praise like the praise of those
(on the right). And I asked the angel who led me and said to him: “To whom
is this praise directed?” And he said to me: “To the praise of [the One who
sits in] the seventh heaven, the One who rests in the holy world, and to his
Beloved, from where I was sent to you. To there it is directed.”112
The next stop is the second heaven. Here, Isaiah seeing on the
throne an angel of particular splendor, prostrates himself. It is a
typical test, an obstacle on the path of the divine, similar to those
involving the mystics of the Hekhalot:
And again, he took me up into the second heaven, and the height of that
heaven is like that from heaven to earth and to the firmament. And [I saw there,
as] in the first heaven, angels on the right and on the left, and a throne in the
middle, and the praise of the angels who (were) in the second heaven; and the
one who sat on the throne in the second heaven had more glory than all (the
rest). And there was great glory in the second heaven, and their praise was not
like the praise of those who (were) in the first heaven. And I fell on my face to
worship him, and the angel who led me would not let me, but said to me: “Wor-
ship neither throne, nor angel from the six heavens, from where I was sent to
lead you, before I tell you in the seventh heaven. For above all the heavens and
their angels is placed your throne, and also your robes and your crown which
you are to see.” And I rejoiced very much that those who love the Most High and
his Beloved will at their end go up there through the angel of the Holy Spirit.113
Isaiah is being held by the angel. It is not lawful to prostrate
oneself and worship heavenly beings along the way, however glo-
rious they may appear. All forms of devotion must be reserved for
the seventh heaven. There is a clear desire to counter the polythe-
istic potential of the scheme of ascension, through successive
heavens, each garrisoned by specific divine forces. We will see the


Ibidem, 7:13-17 (ibidem, p. 166).
113
Ibidem, 7:18-23 (ibidem, pp. 166-167).
122 GIULIO BUSI
same concern in our Hekhalot texts. We detect an implicit tension
between this symbolism of the architectural and progressive
structure of the cosmos, which we will see as originally astral, and
the principle of God’s uniqueness advocated by monotheisms. The
author of the Ascension of Isaiah is well aware of this, as are those
who descend into the chariot, and for this reason he inserts the
accident, of an illustrative and warning character, during the visit
to the second heaven.
Finally, after passing through the intermediate degrees, Isaiah
and his guide reach the sixth heaven:
And again, he took me up into the air of the sixth heaven, and I saw a splen-
dor such as I had not seen in the five heavens as I went up; the angels pos-
sessed great glory, and the praise there was holy and wonderful. And I said
to the angel who led me: “What (is) this which I see, my lord?” And he said
to me: “I am not your lord, but your companion.” And again, I asked him,
and I said to him: “Why (are there) not corresponding groups of angels?”
And he said to me: “From the sixth heaven and upwards there are no longer
those on the left, nor is there a throne placed in the middle, but [they are
directed] by the power of the seventh heaven, where the One who is not
named dwells, and his Chosen One, whose name is unknown, and no heaven
can learn his name; for he is alone, (he) whose voice all the heavens and
thrones answer. I, therefore, have been empowered and sent to bring you up
here that you may see this glory, and (that) you may see the Lord of all these
heavens and of these thrones being transformed until he resembles your ap-
pearance and your likeness. But I say to you, Isaiah, that no man who has to
return into a body of that world [has come up, or seen], or understood what
you have seen and what you are to see, for you are destined in the lot of the
Lord, the lot of the tree, to come here, and from there is the power of the
sixth heaven and of the air.” And I proclaimed the greatness of my Lord with
praise, that through his lot I should come here. And he said to me: “Hear
then this also from your companion: [when from the body by the will of God
you have come up here], then you will receive the robe which you will see,
and also other numbered robes placed (there) you will see, and then you will



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 123
be equal to the angels who (are) in the seventh heaven.” And he took me up
into the sixth heaven, and there were none on the left, nor a throne in the
middle, but all (were) of one appearance, and their praise (was) equal. And
(strength) was given to me, and I also sang praises with them, and that angel
also, and our praise was like theirs. And there they all named the primal Fa-
ther and his Beloved, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, all with one voice.114
The corruptible character of the body, the desire to no longer
descend into the earthly realm of darkness, the symbolism of the
garment, which makes it similar to angels―these are all elements
that are not reflected in the writings of the Hekhalot:
And he led me into the air of the seventh heaven, and moreover I heard a
voice saying: “How far is he who dwells among aliens to go up?” And I was
afraid and was trembling. And he said to me when I was trembling: “Behold!
From there another voice which was sent out has come, and it says, ‘The holy
Isaiah is permitted to come up here, for his robe is here.’” And I asked the
angel who (was) with me and said: “Who is the one who prevented me, and
who is this one (who turned to me that I might go up)?” And he said to me,
“The one who prevented you, this is the one [who (is) in charge of] the praise
of the sixth heaven. And the one (who turned to you}, this is your Lord, the
Lord, the Lord Christ, who is to be called in the world Jesus, but you cannot
hear his name until you have come up from this body.” And he took me up
into the seventh heaven, and there I saw a wonderful light, and also count-
less angels. And there I saw all the righteous from the time of Adam onwards.
And there I saw the holy Abel and all the righteous. And there I saw Enoch
and all who (were) with him, stripped of (their) robes of the flesh; and I saw
them in their robes of above, and they were like the angels who stand there
in great glory. But they were not sitting on their thrones, nor were their
crowns of glory on them. And I asked the angel who (was) with me: “How is
it that they have received these robes, but are not on (their) thrones nor in
(their) crowns?” And he said to me: “They do not receive the crowns and
thrones of glory—nevertheless, they do see and know whose (will be) the


114
Ibidem, 8:1-18 (ibid., pp. 168-169).
124 GIULIO BUSI
thrones and whose the crowns—until the Beloved descends in the form in
which you will see him descend. The Lord will indeed descend into the world
in the last days, (he) who is to be called Christ after he has descended and
become like you in form, and they will think that he is flesh and a man.”115
The opposition to the ascent of Isaiah, who is still tied to the
body, is attributed to the angel in charge of praise in the sixth
heaven. This aversion to the entry of a mortal into divine domin-
ion, closely recalls the hostility that the mystics of the palaces
must suffer from the heavenly archons. In a similar way to what
happens in the Hekhalot literature, the prophet is defended and le-
gitimized by the supreme authority, which here is Christ. The
whole of the following part is marked by a Christological approach.
In this way we witness the descent of Christ, according to the will
of the Father, and accomplished in disguise, so that the angels are
not aware of his identity:
And I heard the voice of the Most High, the Father of my Lord, as he said to
my Load Christ, who will be called Jesus: “Go out and descend through all
the heavens. You shall descend through the firmament and through that
world as far as the angel who (is) in Sheol, but you shall not go as far as Per-
dition. And you shall make your likeness like that of all who (are) in the five
heavens, and you shall take care to make your form like that of the angels of
the firmament and also (like that) of the angels who (are) in Sheol. And none
of the angels of that world shall know that you (are) Lord with me of the
seven heavens and of their angels. And they shall not know that you (are)
with me when with the voice of the heavens I summon you, and their angels
and their lights, and when I lift up (my voice) to the sixth heaven, that you
may judge and destroy the princes and the angels and the gods of that world,
and the world which is ruled by them, for they have denied me and said: ‘We
alone are, and there is no one besides us.’ And afterwards you shall ascend
from the gods of death to your place, and you shall not be transformed in

made himself like the angels of the air, that he was like one of them. And
115
Ibidem, 9:1-13 (ibidem, pp. 169-170).



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 125
each of the heavens, but in glory you shall ascend and sit at my right
hand, and then the princes and the powers of that world will worship
you.” This command I heard the Great Glory giving to my Lord. And thus
I saw when my Lord went out from the seventh heaven into the sixth
heaven. And the angel who had led me from this world was with me, and
he said to me: “Understand, Isaiah, and look, that you may see the
transformation and descent of the Lord.” And I looked, and when the
angels who (were) in the sixth heaven saw him, they praised him and
glorified him, for he had not been transformed into the form of the
angels there; and they praised him, and I also sang praises with them.
And I saw when he descended into the fifth heaven, that in the fifth
heaven he made his form like that of the angels there, and they did not
praise him, for his form was like theirs. And then he descended into the
fourth heaven and made his form like that of the angels there, and when
they saw him, they did not praise him or glorify him, for his form (was)
like their form. And again, I saw when he descended into the third
heaven, that he made his form like that of the angels who (were) in the
third heaven. And those who kept the gate of the (third) heaven
demanded the password, and the Lord gave (it) to them in order that he
should not be recognized; and when they saw him, they did not praise
him or glorify him, for his form (was) like their form. And again I saw
when he descended into the second heaven, that there again he gave the
password, for those who kept the gates demanded (it), and the Lord gave
(it). And I saw when he made his form like that of the angels who (were)
in the second heaven, that they saw him, but did not praise him, for his
form (was) like their form. And again, I saw when he descended into the
first heaven, that there he gave the password to those who kept the
gates. And he made his form like that of the angels who (were) on the left
of that throne, and they did not praise him or glorify him, for his form
(was) like their form. And as for me, no one questioned me because of the
angel who led me. And again he descended into the firmament where the
prince of this world dwells, and he gave the password to those who
(were) on the left, and his form (was) like theirs, and they did not praise
him there; but in envy they were fighting one another, for there is a
power of evil and envy over trifles. And I saw when he descended and
126 GIULIO BUSI
he did not give the password, for they were plundering and doing
violence to one another.116
Of great interest is the mention of the words of recognition,
which Christ uses to overcome the custody of the guardians of the
successive domains. The series of dislocations described in the As-
cension of Isaiah continues with a new ascension of Christ into
heaven, after the crucifixion:
In Jerusalem, indeed, I saw how they crucified him on a tree, and likewise
(how) after the third day he was resurrected and stayed. And the angel who
led me said to me: “Understand, Isaiah.” And I saw when he sent out the
twelve disciples and ascended. And I saw him, and he was in the firmament,
but was not transformed into their form. And all the angels of the firma-
ment, and Satan, saw him and worshiped him. And there was much sorrow
there as they said: “How did our Lord descend upon us, and we did not notice
the glory which was upon him, which we (now) see was upon him from the
sixth heaven?” And he ascended into the second heaven, and he was not
transformed, but all the angels who (were) on the right and on the left, and
the throne in the middle, worshiped him, and praised him, and said: “How
did our Lord, remain hidden from us as he descended, and we did not no-
tice?” And in the same way he ascended into the third (heaven) , and in the
same way they praised him and spoke. And in the fourth heaven and also in
the fifth they spoke in exactly the same way. But there was one glory, and
from it he was not transformed. And I saw when he ascended into the sixth
heaven, that they worshiped him and praised him; but in all the heavens the
praise grew louder. And I saw how he ascended into the seventh heaven, and
all the righteous and all the angels praised him. And then I saw that he sat
down at the right hand of that Great Glory, whose glory I told you I could not
behold. And also I saw that the angel of the Holy Spirit sat on the left. This
angel said to me: “Isaiah, son of Amos, [it is enough for you], for these (are)
great things, for you have observed what no one born of flesh has observed.
And you shall return into your robe until your days are complete; then you

117
116
Ibidem, 10:7-31 (ibidem, pp. 173-174).



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 127
shall come here.” These things I saw. And Isaiah told (them) to all those who
were standing before him, and they sang praises. And he spoke to Hezekiah
the king and said: “These things I have spoken. And the end of this world and
all this vision will be brought about in the last generation.”117
Isaiah, who witnessed the final settlement of Christ on the ce-
lestial throne, can end his story, and offer testimony to bystanders,
who watched in amazement at his trance. Enrico Norelli, who ded-
icated important studies to the Ascension of Isaiah, considers it “a
unitary Christian writing, produced by groups of prophets who de-
scribe Isaiah’s trance in the sixth chapter, using motifs and models
taken from the biblical stories of prophets, but also projecting [...]
ecstatic practices that find correspondence in texts relating to
Jewish environments in which techniques of ecstasy were actually
implemented.”118 In fact, even scrolling through the excerpts I
have just reported, the similarities seem evident, and concern the
scanning in the seven heavens, the problems in the relationship of
visionaries with the angels, the use of laissez-passer suitable for
the different doors. In short, the resemblances are many, even if,
once again, I have not been able to find mention of the seven
palaces, which seems so important to me.
Finally, patristic literature also speaks of seven skies. It will suf-
fice here to quote what Irenaeus writes on this subject, in a passage
that lends itself well to comparison with the Jewish tradition:
Now this world is encompassed by seven heavens, in which dwell powers
and angels and archangels, doing service to God, the Almighty and Maker of
all things: not as though He was in need, but that they may not be idle and
unprofitable and ineffectual. Wherefore also the Spirit of God is manifold in


Ibidem, 9: 20-38 (ibidem, pp. 175-176).
118
Norelli, “Ancora sulla genesi dell’Ascensione di Isaia,” p. 550.
128 GIULIO BUSI
(His) dwelling, and in seven forms of service is He reckoned by the prophet
Isaiah, as resting on the Son of God, that is the Word, in His coming as man.
The Spirit of God, he says, shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and of under-
standing, the Spirit of counsel and of might, (the Spirit of knowledge) and of godli-
ness; the Spirit of the fear of God shall fill him (Ex. 25:40).119
“Not as though He was in need, but that they may not be idle
and unprofitable and ineffectual.” The liturgical function of the ce-
lestial hosts is described as an accessory occupation, more to re-
move angels from apathy than for a true theological necessity. It
is almost ironic, this feared laziness of beings who, in other areas,
are indispensable to the system of heaven. But it is also a clear sign
of the will to incorporate the old into the new, and to transform
the physical heavens into levels of the divine Logos. Let it be said,
incidentally, that the seven gradations of the invisible world, of
which Irenaeus mentions the names in descending order—wis-
dom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, godliness, fear—
closely resemble the sefirotic order, which we know from the me-
dieval kabbalah. It is true that here there are seven entities and
not, as is customary in sefirot, ten, but the conceptual correspond-
ence, which I believe no one has yet dealt with, remains surprising.
Souls, planets, fate
In all these examples, the seven heavens, or firmaments, are
never linked to the planets. Inhabited by angels, glowing in light,
enriched with deposits of atmospheric phenomena, the heavens
serve as a backdrop for divine punishment or heavenly rewards,
and are intentionally shielded from the force of the stars. There

au Moyen-Âge, Paris 1984; Idem, Psychanodia, Leiden 1983.
119
Irenaeus, Demonstratio 9 (St. Irenaeus, The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, edited
by J. A. Robinson, London 1920, pp. 78-79).



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 129
are seven of them, of course, and yet their hebdomad is carefully
distinguished from the planetary one. A historiographical hypoth-
esis has been made about this separation. There would be a funda-
mental difference between the series of the seven non-planetary
skies, derived from magic and the Mesopotamian world and those
in which the planets have a central function, as influenced by
Greek astrological thought.120 In fact, if we want to find a seven-
fold series of heavens, under the banner of planetary influence, we
must move towards the hermetic sphere, Gnosticism or the cult of
Mithras. In the Platonic tradition, the first textual basis of this cor-
respondence is found in the dialogue of the Timaeus, where Plato
describes the stars as vehicles of the souls:
And when he had compounded it all, he divided the mixture into a number
of souls equal to the number of the stars and assigned each soul to a star. He
mounted each soul in a carriage (ochema), as it were, and showed it the na-
ture of the universe.121
An early application of the principle of a sevenfold planetary
government to the respective circles, or orbits, can be found in
Poimandres, a hermetic work of the 2nd century:
The mind who is god, being androgyne and existing as life and light, by
speaking gave birth to a second mind, a craftsman, who, as god of fire and
spirit, crafted seven governors; they encompass the sensible world in circles,
and their government is called fate.122
At the moment of dissolution of the body, the soul ascends by


120
See I. P. Culianu, Expériences de l’extase: Extase, ascension et récit visionnaire, de l’Hellénisme
121
Plato, Timaeus 41 D-E (in Plato, Complete Works, p. 1245).
122
Poimandres 9 (Hermetica, p. 2).
130 GIULIO BUSI
the degrees of the planetary bands:
First, in releasing the material body you give the body itself over to altera-
tion, and the form that you used to have vanishes. To the demon you give
over your temperament, now inactive. The body’s senses rise up and flow
back to their particular sources, becoming separate parts and mingling again
with the energies. And feeling and longing go on toward irrational nature.
Thence the human being rushes up through the cosmic framework, at the
first zone surrendering the energy of increase and decrease; at the second
evil machination, a device now inactive; at the third the illusion of longing,
now inactive; at the fourth the ruler’s arrogance, now freed of excess; at the
fifth unholy presumption and daring recklessness; at the sixth the evil im-
pulses that come from wealth, now inactive; and at the seventh zone the
deceit that lies in ambush. And then, stripped of the effects of the cosmic
framework, the human enters the region of the Ogdoad; he has his own
proper power, and along with the blessed he hymns the father. Those pre-
sent there rejoice together in his presence.123
In their abstract and philosophical intonation, similar passages
seem far from the vividness of the Hekhalot texts. We are inter-
ested, however, in the setting of these celestial series, dotted with
planets. Perhaps, at a certain point we can spot, hidden among as-
tral vehicles and heavenly governors, the palaces we are looking
for. Let us try to continue, one sphere after another.
The defense of Origen against Celsus has preserved large frag-
ments, marked by a similar principle of ascent through the grid of
the seven planetary skies, and is remarkable for the archons who
populate them and for the intricate ceremonies that those who
want to cross them must undergo. The repositories of such teach-
ings were, according to Origen, the followers of the sect of the
Ophites:

124
123
Ibidem, 24-26 (ibidem, pp. 5-6).



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 131
If anyone wishes to learn even the inventions of those sorcerers, which they
use with the aim of leading men astray by their teaching, pretending to the
possession of certain secret truths, though they have met with little success,
let him hear what they are taught to say at the eternally chained gates of the
Archons after passing through what they call the “Barrier of Evil.” Solitary
King, bond of blindness, unconscious oblivion, I hail thee, the supreme
Power, preserved by the spirit of providence and wisdom; from thee I am
sent in purity, being already part of the light of Son and Father. May grace
be with me; yea, father, let it be with me. And they say that the Powers of
the Ogdoad come from him. Then as they pass through the one they call
Ialdabaoth they are taught to say next: “And thou, Ialdabaoth, first and sev-
enth, born to have power with boldness, being ruling Word of a pyre mind,
a perfect work for Son and Father, I bear a symbol marked with a picture of
life, and, having opened to the world the gate which thou didst close for
thine eternity, I pass by thy power free again. May grace be with me, father
let it be with me.” And they say that the star Saturn is in sympathy with the
lion-like Archon. Then they think that the person who has passed through
Ialdabaoth and reached Iao must say: “And thou, Archon of the hidden mys-
teries of Son and Father, who shines by night, thou Iao, second and first, lord
of death, portion of the guiltless, I bear already thine own [.]124 as a symbol,
and am ready to pass by thy power; for by a living word I have prevailed over
him that was born of thee. May grace be with me, father, let it be with me.”
Then next comes Sabaoth, to whom they think one should say: “Archon of
fifth authority, mighty Sabaoth, defender of the law of thy creation which
grace is destroying, by a more potent pentad, look upon a blameless symbol
of thine art, and let me pass by, preserved by the image of a picture, a body
set free by the pentad. May grace be with me, father, let it be with me.”125
Only after having overcome the dominions of the seven ar-
chons, does the soul reach the eighth sphere, the Ogdoad, ruled by
the first and supreme power. Symbols, doors, passwords: we are
close to the world of the Hekhalot. However, at the same time, we


One or more words are missing in the manuscripts.
125
Origen, Contra Celsum 6:3:1 (Origen, Contra Celsum, transl. Chadwick, pp. 346-347).
132 GIULIO BUSI
are very far from it, if only because of the privileges that the ar-
chons claim for themselves, unlike their Jewish counterparts, who
are always submissive to the God of Israel. The mythical structure
is different here, significantly characterized by Gnosticism. But in
some way, it expresses the idea that from heaven to heaven you
have to overcome the difficulties yourself, thanks to the
knowledge of the appropriate procedures.126
The seven palaces of the Sabians
By now, we can be certain that there is no trace of seven palaces
in the two Talmudim in the Midrashic works of late antiquity. Alt-
hough seven buildings appear in a poetic composition dating back

who will have nothing to fear in the final judgment: “The [Muslim]
126
It is not surprising if, in the face of such a luxuriant, astral symbolism, Origen wants
to make it clear that the Christian faith is of a different kind, and is not based on the
assumption of a soul’s path determined by the stars. On closer inspection, however, his
polemics against Celsus, at this point, leave a door open to the exegesis of some biblical
passages in reference to the planets: “The scriptures accepted in the churches of God do
not declare that there are seven heavens, or indeed any definite number of them at all,
though the Bible does seem to teach that there are heavens, perhaps meaning the
spheres of the planets of which the Greeks speak or perhaps something else more
mysterious. Celsus also follows Plato in saying that the way for the souls to and from the
earth passes through the planets. But Moses, our most ancient prophet, says that in a
divine dream our forefather Jacob had a vision in which he saw a ladder reaching to
heaven and angels of God ascending and descending upon it, and the Lord standing still
at its top; perhaps in this story of the ladder Moses was hinting at these truths or at yet
more profound doctrines. Philo also composed a book about this ladder, which is worthy
of intelligent and wise study by those who wish to find the truth.” (Origen, Contra Celsum
6: 21 (ibidem, pp. 333-334). See also Idem, Principia 2:3: 6: “For which reason he wished the
globe of the sun or moon, and of the other bodies called planets, to be each termed
worlds. Nay, even that pre-eminent globe itself which they call the non-wandering
(aplane), they nevertheless desire to have properly called world. Finally, they summon
the book of Baruch the prophet to bear witness to this assertion, because in it the seven
worlds or heavens are more clearly pointed out.” (Origen, On the Principles, Translated by
F. Crombie, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4, p. 274).



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 133
to the 3rd-4th centuries, their mention suggests that the author of
the piyyuṭ had knowledge of the mysticism of the Hekhalot.127
Not even Gnostic literature, magical and theurgical texts and
what we know of ancient hermeticism in the Mediterranean and
the Near and Middle East, has ever shown us seven heavenly pal-
aces. In our brief review, we have found seven heavens, seven
worlds, seven arches, seven planets that govern fate, seven vehi-
cles of the soul, but never the clear mention of as many buildings.
In some cases, a series of doors is paraded before us, but we find no
description of seven structures capable of including halls, atria,
stairs. We must then move to the East, and visit people of an an-
cient and mysterious faith.
The Qur’an speaks of the Sabians and places them among those
believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabians – all those who
believe in God and the Last Day and do good – will have their re-
wards with their Lord. No fear for them, nor will they grieve.”128
And precisely because of this Quranic legitimation, many followers
of the old pagan cults, more or less suffused with magic and astrol-
ogy, claimed to be Sabians, even outside Arabia, enabling them to
be tolerated in the society that had become Muslim. In short,
“Sabians” is a generic name, which has been referred to different
beliefs, depending on the places and times. The great center of the


127
M. Rand, “More on the Seder Beriyot,” The Jewish Quarterly Review 16 (2009), pp. 183-
209: 198:“You have joyfully created
seven palaces for yourself
and of each palace

the content is known:” see Swartz, The Mechanics, p. 264.
128
Sura 2:62 (The Qur’an, A new translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, Oxford 2004, p. 9) cf.
ibidem, 5: 69 and 22:17. For a general introduction to the complex theme of the Sabians
see G. Monnot in Shaharastani, Livre des religions et des sectes, traduction avec introduction
et notes par D. Gimaret - G. Monnot - J. Jolivet, 2 vols, Leuven 1986-1993, vol. 2, pp. 3-13.
134 GIULIO BUSI
Sabians during the first centuries of Islam was Harran, whose ar-
chaeological remains are now in Turkish territory. The Bible tells
us how Abraham stopped here, along the road that took him from
Ur to the Promised Land (Gen. 11:31, and 12:4). Named Charrae by
the Romans, who suffered humiliating and repeated defeats there
by the Persians, the city had a millenary and uninterrupted his-
tory, until it was finally destroyed by the Mongols after a revolt in
1271. It is perhaps no coincidence that, in these very places of an-
cient tradition and intense intercultural exchange, we find a rare
and so far neglected mention of seven heavenly palaces.
The image of seven inner palaces, set in the heart of man, and
to which he must turn to reach the divine, appears in Islamic liter-
ature of mystical intonation already in the 9th century. We find it
in the Kitāb ġawr al-umur (The Book of Depth of Things) of al-Hakim
al-Tirmidi and in the Maqāmāt al-qulub (The Dwellings of the Heart)
of Abu ’1-Hasan al-Nuri of Baghdad. These are spiritual dwellings,
spaces of the soul, that the adept must protect against the attack
of negative forces:
Know that God―be He exalted―has created seven castles in the heart of the
believer, surrounded by fences and walls. He ordered the believer to remain
in these castles, while He allowed Satan to stay outside to call him, barking
like a dog. The first fortified castle is made of corundum, and it is the mysti-
cal knowledge of God―let Him be exalted. Around it there is a golden castle,
which is faith in God―exalted be He. Around it there is a silver castle, which
is the purity of intention in word and deed. Around it there is an iron castle,
which is conformity with the divine favor. Around it there is a bronze castle,
which is the execution of the prescriptions of God―let Him be exalted.
Around it there is a castle of alum, which is the fulfillment of God’s com-
mandments, both positive and negative; and around it there is a castle of



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 135
baked clay, which is the education of the sensitive soul (nafs) in every ac-
tion.129
Different, and for us more pertinent, since projected into the
celestial space, is the symbolic patrimony attributed to the
Sabians. It is worth mentioning and discussing it, not because these
palaces in Harran have, as far as I know, historically proven rela-
tionships with the mystical tradition of Judaism. Their existence,
however, attests to us that the link between the seven palaces and
the angelic and astral beliefs, which seemed intuitive to us, has left
detectable traces in history. The passage we are interested in ap-
pears in Kitāb al-milal wa-’l-niḥal (The Book of Sects and Religions)
by Muhammad al-Shahrastani (1086-1153), who lived in Khorasan,
in the area that today belongs to Turkmenistan. Shahrastani, who
dedicates an important part of his work to the Sabians, summa-
rizes their beliefs:
Their doctrine is that the world has a creative, wise and sanctified demiurge,
far from the attributes of temporality. We must acknowledge our inability


129
Abu-1-Hasan al-Nuri de Bagdad, Moradas de los corazones, Traducción del árabe,
introducción y notas de L. López-Baralt, Madrid 1999, pp. 90-91; cfr. Al-Hakim al-
Tirmidhi, Le livre de la profondeur des choses: Étude historique et thématique suivie de la
traduction par G. Gobillot, Lille 2015, pp. 197-98 (1st ed. 1996). In ways that remain obscure
to us, this Sufi symbolism seems to be at the basis of the seven dwellings of which Teresa
of Ávila speaks in her Las moradas del castillo interior, written in 1577. Cf. L. López-Baralt,
Teresa of Jesus and Islam: The Simile of the Seven Concentric Castles of the Soul, in A New
Companion to Hispanic Mysticism, edited by H. Kallendorf, Leiden 2010, pp. 1 75-99; A. Antón
Pacheco, “El símbolo del castillo interior en Sohravardi y en Santa Teresa,” Isidorianum 9
(2ooo), pp. 149-66. In his Kitāb hayākil al-nūr (The Book of the Palaces of Light),
Suhrawardi (1155-1191) defines these interior dwellings as “palaces”). For other aspects
of Teresa’s work, in which the influence of Jewish mysticism has been hypothesized, see
G. Necker, “’Como león bramando:’ Jewish Motifs in Teresa of Ávila’s Poetry,” Santa
Teresa: Critical Insights, Filiations, Responses, edited by M. Bengert - I. Roebling-Grau,
Tübingen 2019, pp. 37-52.
136 GIULIO BUSI
to reach his supernal majesty. We approach him only through the interme-
diaries who are close to him, that is, spiritual beings, purified and sanctified
in substance, action and state.130
According to Shahrastani, after purifying themselves “from the
filth of natural appetites,” the Sabians turn to spiritual beings,
whom they also call angels, to intercede with the Creator:
The request for help, addressed to them, consists of pleas and invocations,
ritual prayers, alms, fasting without drinking or eating, offerings, sacrifices,
fumigation of incense and recitation of magic formulas.131
Of particular importance is the seat of spiritual beings, specifi-
cally, those who preside over the seven planets:
To them belong the governors of the seven planets in their spheres, which
are their palaces; and every spiritual being has a palace, and every palace
has a sphere. And the relationship of every spiritual being with that palace
which is proper to him is the relationship of the soul with the body; so that
it is his lord, his governor, and his steward. And they call these palaces lords;
they often call them fathers, and the elements, mothers. Thus, the action of
spiritual beings is to make them move, with a unique power, so that from
their movements, entities emerge whose natural properties and elements,
give rise to compounds, and mixtures in compounds, and from these follow
bodily forces, to which spiritual souls, such as the species of plants and the
species of animals, are added.132
To indicate the dwellings of the spiritual beings, the planet’s
rulers, Shahrastani uses the Arabic haykal (pl. hayākil), which is the


130
Muhammad al-Shahrastani, Book of religious and philosophical Sects, edited by W.
Cureton, London 1846, p. 203.
131
Ibidem, p. 204.
132
Ibidem.



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 137
exact equivalent of the Hebrew hekhal. As in Hebrew, haykal also
means “temple,” and we know that a famous haykal or Sabian sanc-
tuary was in use in Harran until its destruction in 1081.
The doctrine of the palaces, or temples, is very carefully studied
in the continuation of the Book of Sects and Religions, and placed at
the center of the liturgy of the Sabians. Their vision has strong as-
tral features, which Shahrastani defines as polytheistic:
Know that the followers of spiritual beings, after having established that
men need an intermediary and that it must be visible, in order to turn and
approach it and ask for its help, resorted to the palaces, that is to say, the
seven planets. They first studied their dispositions and locations, then their
rise and fall, and then their links with favorable and unfavorable positions,
in accordance with their natural qualities. As a fourth point, they examined
the division of days, nights and hours and, as a fifth, the order of figures and
personalities, climates and boundaries. They made magic rings, studied
magic formulas and invocations, and established a day of Saturn, that is, the
day of Saturday, on which they honored it from the first hour, wearing a
magic ring, made in its image and manner. They also put on its robes [i.e. of
that palace or planet], they fumigated it with the perfumes that are proper
to it, they invoked it with the formulas unique to it, and they addressed it
with requests for the things and influences that can be obtained from it, so
that it satisfied their needs and fulfilled their wish most of the time.133
After mentioning the days dedicated to Jupiter, and the remain-
ing planets, the description continues with a summary of the litur-
gical function of the palaces, or temples:
They called them “lords” and “gods,” as if they were spiritual beings, while
they addressed the spiritual beings as if it were the Creator, blessed be He.
For they believed that the palaces were the bodies of spiritual beings, and
their relationship with them was similar to that of our bodies with the spirit.


133
Ibidem, p. 244.
138 GIULIO BUSI
Palaces are rational living beings who live through spiritual beings, who gov-
ern them and give them impulse and movement, just as we do with the body.
There is no doubt that those who approach someone’s physical form also
approach their spirit. They have devised marvelous artifices, which are de-
rived from the action of the stars and which inspire great admiration. The
famous talismans mentioned in books, omens, astrology, the use of magic
formulas, rings, images, all belong to their sciences.134
It is not easy to understand how much historical reality is at the
basis of the complex description of Shahrastani. It must be said,
however, that the remnants of Sabian liturgies that have reached
us confirm some relevant details of the account contained in the
Book of Sects and Religions. As an example, I have transcribed the
ritual for the day dedicated to Saturn that appears in the extensive
magical-philosophical anthology known in the Latin Middle Ages
as Picatrix, and originally composed in Arabic, around 1055, with
the title Ġāyat al-ḥakīm (The Aim of the Sage):
It pertains to the Sabians as to what the astrologer al-Tabari said about the
attraction of the forces of the planets: “What I know about the attraction of
the planets and their veneration, as I learned it from the leaders of the
Sabians and the officiants of their temple, is as follows. They say: ‘When you
want to pray to a planet or ask it for something, first obtain divine favor,
cleanse your heart of bad thoughts and your clothes of dirt, cleanse your
soul. Then you must consider to which of the seven planets you want to ask
the thing you desire, and to which of the seven planets it belongs. Direct
your soul to the planet to which it belongs. Put on its robe, use its essence
for fumigation and invoke it with its invocation, as soon as the planet in
question has reached the point of its orbit that I will have indicated to you.
If you do so, your request will be granted, and you will obtain what you
aimed for with your invocation [...] There is then a second invocation [...]: In
the name of God, in the name of the angel Išbīl, who supervises Saturn for

138
134
Ibidem, p. 245.



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 139
every cold and every ice, [in the name] of the lord of the seventh sphere, I
call you by your name. In Arabic, O Zoḥal; in Persian, O Kēšan; in Latin, O
Cronos; in Greek, O Cronos135 in Indian [language], O Šanašara. Please sup-
port my request to the Lord of the Supreme palace (binya136). Please grant,
hear and obey my invocation, in obedience to God and his kingdom and to
me, and do so.”137
This extract is useful to better evaluate similarities and obvious
differences compared to our Hekhalot texts. We note first of all that
the instructions on the liturgy, evidently to be performed in an or-
atory or in a private context, come “from the leaders of the
Sabians, and the officiants of their temple [of Harran].” The advice
to dress in Jewish garments on the occasion of the ceremonies ad-
dressed to Saturn is also remarkable, since this planet I considered
to be “familiar with their [i.e. the Jews’] rotations.”
In the Sabian ritual, the planets play a fundamental role. It is
around them, and their astrological attributes, that the symbolism
of colors, robes, magic rings, and orientation of prayer revolves.
According to other authors in Arabic, the Sabians had special tem-
ples for each planet, which conformed, even geometrically, to the
corresponding attributes of each celestial body.138 In the Hekhalot
literature, instead, astral references are very few, and any direct


135
The Arabic text does not differentiate between Latin and Greek, and it contains the
same formula twice.
136
Cf. “Picatrix:” Das Ziel des Weisen von Pseudo-Mağrīṭī, Translated into German from the
Arabic by H. Ritter - M. Plessner, London 1962, p. 215: “This expression [i.e. binya] occurs
on almost all planets, often followed by attributes indicating that God is meant by it; its
religious-historical origin remains to be examined.”
137
Pseudo-Mağrīṭī: Das Ziel des Weisen, herausgegeben von H. Ritter, Leipzig-Berlin 1933, pp.
195, 204; cf. D. Pingree, “Al-Ṭabarīon on the Prayers to the Planets,” Bulletin d'études
orientales 44 (1992), pp. 105-117.
Cf. D. Pingree, “The Ṣābians of Ḥarrān and the Classical Tradition,” International Journal
of the Classical Tradition 9 (2002), pp. 8-35: 26.
140 GIULIO BUSI
cult for stars and planets is banned. Thus, in the Third Book of Enoch,
the magical operations aimed at “bringing down” the stars are im-
puted to the sin of the biblical generation of Enosh, and firmly re-
jected:
Until the generation of Enosh came into the world, who was at the head of
all the idolaters on earth? What did those of his generation do? They went
from one end of the world to the other, carrying silver, gold, precious stones
and pearls, from one mountain to another and from one hill to another. They
set them up as idols in the four corners of the earth, and elevated them to
idols in every direction for the span of a thousand and a thousand parasangs.
And they brought down the sun, the moon, the stars, and the planets, and
put them in front, left and right, to worship them, as they worshipped the
Holy One, blessed be he. And how did they have the strength to bring them
down? Rather, ‘Uzza, ‘Azza and ‘Azza’el taught them magic, with which to
bring them down. Without their instructions, they wouldn’t have been able
to bring them down (§ 8).
‘Uzza, ‘Azza and ‘Azza’el are demonic and corrupting figures,
and the spells to worship and “bring them down” are part of an
esoteric armamentarium well known to the authors of the passage
and are considered foreign and to be avoided. On several occa-
sions, the traditional Jewish principle of the Lord’s supremacy over
the different parts of creation is sanctioned:
Who is like our King, who is like the One Who formed us, who is like the Lord,
our God? He guides the sun and the moon and leads the crown of His Own
head. The Pleiades, Orion, Venus, constellations, stars and planets continu-
ally spring from His mantle. He is crowned and sits on the throne of His Own
glory, while a dazzling light shines between His eyes. He is the King of mira-
cles, of portents, terrible King, [King] of distinction, of wonders, as it is said:
Holy, holy, holy! The Lord of Hosts! (Is. 6:3) (§ 105).



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 141
On the other hand, besides these haggadic positions against as-
trolatry, the Hekhalot literature gives some prominence to the an-
gels in charge of atmospheric phenomena and planets, who repre-
sent a sizable constituent of divine forces. In the Third Book of
Enoch, Metatron is proud of the fear that he has instilled in the var-
ious angelic guardians, starting with the great Accuser, the great-
est of all:
Even Samael, the Prince of the Accusers, greater than all the angels of the
kingdoms who are in high places, was fearful and terrified before me. Even
the angel of fire, the angel of hail, the angel of wind, the angel of lightning,
the angel of wrath, the angel of storm, the angel of thunder, the angel of
snow, the angel of rain, the angel of day, the angel of the night, the angel of
the sun, the angel of the moon, the angel of the stars, the angel of the plan-
ets, who guide the world with their hands, trembled, shook and were star-
tled when they saw me [...] Lyly’l, who oversees the night. Glgly’l, who over-
sees the wheel of the sun. ’Wpny, who watches over the wheel of the moon.
Kwkby’l, who oversees the stars. Rhṭy’l, who oversees the planets. All pros-
trate themselves on the ground when they see me and cannot contemplate
me, because of the pomp, honor, beauty, attraction, splendor, light, crown,
glory that are on my head (§§ 17-18).
Of similar tone is the passage that binds the angel who “makes
the planets glide in their wheels” (or orbits) and divine provi-
dence:
Why is it called Rhṭy’l? Because it glides (rhṭ) the planets in their wheels and
paths three hundred and thirty-nine thousand parasangs from night to
night, from west to east. The Holy One, blessed be He, has made a pavilion
for the sun, the moon, the stars and the planets, in which they proceed dur-
ing the night, from west to east (§ 22).
142 GIULIO BUSI
This dossier of the celestial powers does not include only nar-
rative digressions or stereotype lists. More meaningful for our in-
vestigation are the instructions about aversions and invocations:
The angel Ywm’l praises him in the seventh firmament. Perfume yourself and
your clothes with myrrh, incense and white flowers. And wherever you so
do, pray and be heard, day or night, on the sea or on land, at any time when
you invoke [the Name] in purity. Beware of all evil, that it may harm you, for
it is the Ineffable Name (§ 670).
Ywm’l “praises” in the seventh heavenly sphere. The Hebrew
word raqia‘, “firmament,” and not hekhal, “palace,” is used here,
but the link between angel and a precise location is unquestiona-
ble, as are some indications about the color―“white flow-
ers”―and the use of incense and myrrh. The Jewish adjurationhas
here some remarkable points of contact with the Sabian one, and
in fact, should be included, at least informally, among the astral
rites. This is especially so in the Sword of Moses, which is more
openly operative, where the adoption of incense, white flowers
and the practice of making and erasing magical artifacts is also re-
current, as in these cases:
Fast for three days, burn incense and a white flower, and recite the sword,
morning and evening. Immediately they will come to speak with you and do
your will [...] If you want to ruin your enemy, write the sword on clay that
has not yet been cooked. Plaster the clay and throw it into his house [...]
Whatever you want to do, take absinthe on your right hand and recite the
sword in front of the sun: everything will be done [as you wish]. Wash
yourself for seven days and you will succeed in everything. Absolve the
precepts about your friends, protect yourself from perjury and be austere.
In this way you will succeed in everything you do [...] Write on the palm of
your left hand and take a new lamp. Cover it and put some olive oil and
naphtha in it. Wear clean clothes and sleep in a clean house. Immediately,



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 143
an angel will come and put you in front and reveal everything you ask for
(§§ 612-622).
All these passages show us how the boundary between angelic
devotions, rites of adjurations aimed at bringing down heavenly
powers and magical practices in the broadest sense are often am-
biguous, and how an area is easily confused with that which is next
to it. Since I want to stay within the comparative limits that I set
for myself, namely the seven palaces, I will examine the interac-
tion between adept and heavenly dwellings in different contexts.
In this area, we have an additional and very important testimony
that appears in the Small Book of the Palaces. After the list of the
seven guardians, which we discussed above, the text continues
with the instructions about the seal rings that must be shown to
each of the guardians. Palace after palace, the mystic makes use of
the rings to cross the threshold, and obtain the support of the
guardians, until he reaches the seventh and highest dwelling:
Šhry’l, the Lord, the prince, the exalted leader, who is dignified as the King
of the World oversees the seventh palace. He is appointed at the entrance to
the seventh palace, palace of majesty, palace of exaltation, palace of princi-
pality, palace of wonders, and is sealed. Show him the ring with the seal on
which is engraved Štqyyr the Lord, God of Israel, our Father who is in heaven,
whose name is ’H Štqyyr, the Lord, God of Israel, our Father who is in heaven.
Immediately the first one takes him into his hand and introduces him to the
second, the second to the third, the third to the fourth, the fourth to the
fifth, the fifth to the sixth, the sixth to the seventh. The seventh raises you
and makes you sit in the bosom of Bth, the Lord, God of Israel.


Although in the Hekhalot literature we often read of seals, I
chose this passage for the specific reference to the rings with a
seal, which is closer to the liturgical prescriptions of the Sabians:
144 GIULIO BUSI
“they also made rings [...] they wore the ring of Saturn, made with
its image and in its manner.”139 The ring is a personal ornament,
which is well suited to the preparation of the individual, in the per-
spective of the encounter with the celestial being. The Small Book
of the Palaces instructs the adept to give the ring to the guardian, in
order to acquire his favor. In this way, the procedure is linked to a
sphere of subjectivity and physicality close to the liturgical action.
At the same time, the Sabian ritual rings were decorated with the
corresponding stones for each of the planets, and not with holy
names, as is the case in the Hekhalot texts.140 From this point of
view, the closest parallel is that between Jewish palaces and Gnos-
tic ascensions, in which the seals inscribed with names play a con-
spicuous role: I will discuss this later.
The Sabian beliefs, as we can deduct from the account of Shah-
rastani and from the ritual preserved in the Picatrix, present affin-
ities never observed before, but also differences from the litera-
ture of the Hekhalot. Henry Corbin, a great historian of Persian
culture and Ismailism, has left a memorable summary of the
Sabian beliefs:

head between the knees and in the orientation of contemplation
139
al-Shahrastani, Book of religious and philosophical Sects, p. 244.
140
Cf. G. Bohak, “The Use of engraved Gems and Rings in Ancient Jewish Magic,” Magical
Gems in their Contexts, edited by K. Endreffy - Á. M. Nagy - J. Spier, Budapest 2019, pp. 37-
45: “I would argue that the producers of the vast majority of ancient magical gems had
no knowledge of, and no interest in, Aramaic and Hebrew, and that the Jewish magicians,
whose inscribed clay bowls (in Babylonia) and metal-plate amulets (in many parts of the
Roman and Sasanian empires) survive in great abundance, had little interest in engraved
magical gems.” See also ibidem, p. 45: “We may note that the Jewish disinterest in
engraved magical gems may be seen not only from the paucity of demonstrably Jewish
ancient magical gems, but also from the paucity of references to such gems in ancient
Jewish magical texts. If anything, ancient Jewish magicians seem to have had a
preference for engraved metal rings, but even in the few places where ancient Jewish
magical texts enjoin the production of such objects, the iconographic instructions are
extremely terse and much less specific than those of the Greek magical papyri.”



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 145
the Sabian ideology of the Temple […] is the means whereby meditation can
pass from the representation of the Temples or stars (hayakil) inscribed in
the astronomical Heavens, and reproduced symbolically in the architecture
of the earthly Temples, to the representation of a spiritual Temple, consti-
tuted by the coalescence of souls that take the place of the stars as recepta-
cles and icons of the pure substances of the Light. The Sabians pictured the
celestial Temples as governed by the angels to whom their cult was ad-
dressed. In order for this transmutation to take place without degrading
these beings of Light, but rather by raising the being of man to their level,
the anthropomorphosis of the Temple is accompanied by a simultaneous an-
gelomorphosis of man.141
This passage reflects Corbin’s typical approach, prone to syn-
thesis and the construction of an organic theory, perhaps all too
consistent and based on rather fragmentary evidence. However,
the concept of “an anthropomorphism of the Temple […] accom-
panied by a simultaneous angelomorphism of man” might offer a
useful cue for our analysis of the Hekhalot. I refer to the difficulty
of interpreting the descent upwards, to which the mystics appeal.
As has already been pointed out, the secret of the paradoxical de-
scent to the chariot is probably to be found in the posturing of the
towards the interiority. Can such an attitude be defined as “ange-
lomorphism,” similar to what Corbin theorized for the Sabian doc-
trine of temples, or palaces? It is undeniable that we lack definitive
evidence for such a hypothesis. The literature of the Hekhalot never
speaks, as far as I can find, of a specific internalization of the celes-
tial palaces. Was this a secret stage left for oral instruction? Some
allusion to a refinement of perception and of the very being of the
mystic, during the process of descent to the chariot, might perhaps


141
H. Corbin, Temple and Contemplation, London 1986, p. 135. The original article was first
published, with the title Temple Sabeen et Ismaelisme, in “Eranos-Jahbuch,”19 (1950).
146 GIULIO BUSI
suggest it: “The world changed on me in purity, and it seemed to
my heart that I had entered a new world. From day to day, my soul
felt she was before the throne of glory” (§ 680142). Such a state of
purity, which emulates the angelic condition, allows the adept an
encompassing vision. The whole celestial structure opens and re-
veals itself to him, from one end to the other of its immense exten-
sion:
Rabbi Ishmael said: “I asked of rabbi Akiva: ‘How is possible to contemplate
[what is] above the seraphim, which are above the head of Rwzy, the Lord,
God of Israel?’” He answered me: “When I went up to the first palace, I re-
cited a prayer and saw from the palace of the first firmament to the seventh
palace. And when I went up to the seventh palace, I invoked two angels and
contemplated [what is] above the seraphim” (§ 595).
This last passage seems particularly significant to me. The abil-
ity to see across the heavens, “from the palace of the first firma-
ment to the seventh palace,” and that of glimpsing “[what is]
above the seraphim,” are given by prayer and the invocation of the
Holy Names. That is to say, they are external supports, and do not
imply a complete isomorphism between supernal palaces and hu-
man interiority. It is possible that the mystic of the Hekhalot can
imagine exploring the palaces within his own body, in a form of
mimicry between human and divine. But, as far as our documen-
tation is concerned, it cannot be assessed with certainty. However,
it is true that in the Jewish tradition of late antiquity and early me-
dieval times, there is evidence of a parallel between human dimen-
sion, cosmic structure and conception of the Temple, or of the tab-
ernacle which, according to the Bible, was built by divine order.
There are many examples where this concept is alluded to or

144
142
On this passage see Schäfer, The hidden, p. 114.



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 147
expressed.143 In the very influential Sefer yeṣirah the Temple is
placed at the center of the symbolic series of the seven entities
that permeate the celestial dimension, the physical dimension of
the world and the constitution of the human body:
Seven doubles: b, g, d, k, p, r, t: seven and not six, seven and not eight. Six parts
for six orders, and the Sanctuary in the center, “Blessed is the glory144 of the
Lord, in His place” (Ez. 3:12). He is the Place of his world but the world is not
His place, He holds everything. Seven doubles: b, g, d, k, p, r, t: he sculpted
them, forged them, combined them, weighed them, inverted them; with
them he formed the stars in the world, the days in the year, the apertures in
mankind, by sevens.145
There is no consensus among scholars on the dating of the Sefer
yeṣirah, and the hypotheses range from the 3rd to the 8th century.
For linguistic reasons, I am inclined to an early dating, i.e. to the
3rd-4th centuries, in the area of Tiberias. Opinions are also discord-
ant regarding the relationship between Sefer yeṣirah and Hekhalot
literature, at least in the most ancient phase of the respective tex-
tual traditions. Yet, the parallels, both lexical and conceptual, are
more than one, and I do not think it is out of place to assume that
the symmetries between Sanctuary, physiology and interiority,
which circulated in the Judaism of late antiquity, may have also
influenced the modes of meditation and visualization of the mys-
tics of the Hekhalot. A reworking of the parallelism proposed by
Sefer yeṣirah can be found, for example, in the commentary on the
work composed in Judeo-Arabic by Sa‘adyah Ga’on, which can be
dated to the end of the 9th century. Here the focus is on the biblical


143
Cf. A. Altmann, “The Delphic Maxim in Medieval Islam and Judaism,” Biblical and other
Studies, edited by Idem, Cambridge Mass. 1963, pp. 196-232:213.
“Glory:” the NJPS has “Presence.”
145
Sefer yeṣirah 38-39.
148 GIULIO BUSI
tabernacle:
The roof of the tabernacle is similar to the sky, because in the fabric there is
the color of the dark sky, which is blue. In the center are the clasps, similar
to gold buckles, which resemble the stars in the sky, as it is said: “The clasps
appeared in the fabric as the stars in the firmament.”146 The bases of the tab-
ernacle, called adanim, resemble the foundations of the earth, that is, the
hills and mountains, as it is said: Onto what were its bases sunk? (Job 38:6). The
air circulated there and the light of the “residence” was diffused. As we be-
lieve that He―be He blessed and exalted―is in all things, in the same way
it is as if He dwelt everywhere. There are points of similarity that allow one
to compare the microcosm, that is, the universe, the middle world, which is
the tabernacle, and the microcosm, which is man. For example, let us say
that in the world there are the two luminaries, in man there are the two eyes
and that there is the candelabrum in the tabernacle. Let us also say that the
firmament separates the [supernal] water from the water [on the surface] of
the earth, that the curtain separates the sacred and the profane and that the
veil which is called “diaphragm” separates, in man, the organ of nutrition
and that of breathing. The rest of the eighteen aspects according to which
the three worlds can be compared can be found in the commentary on the
construction of the tabernacle. That is why it is said:147 “On these three He
founded His residence.”148
The disquisition of Sa‘adyah Ga’on is of exegetical character,
and amplifies and changes, in a considerable way, the Sefer yeṣirah.

very wide spaces, and of taking root where it would not have been
146
bŠabbat 99a.
147
Sefer yeṣirah 14:“Four. Fire from the water. He engraved, carved in it the throne of
glory, the ofannim, the seraphim and the holy ḥayyot and the officiating angels. On these
three He founded His residence, he made the winds His messengers, fiery flames His servants
(Ps 104:4).”
148
Commentaire sur le Séfer Yesira ou Livre de la Création par le Gaon Saadya de Fayyoum, publié
et traduit de l’arabe par M. Lambert, Paris 1891, pp. 67-68, 89. Cf. M. Mottolese, Analogy in
Midrash and Kabbalah: Interpretive Projections of the Sanctuary and Ritual, Los Angeles 2007,
p. 160.



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 149
The idea of a cosmic proportion that unites man and tabernacle
reflects the exegetical skills of Sa‘adyah, who is one of the
protagonists of the Judeo-Arabic culture of his time. Such an
interpretative model will continue to pervade the mystical and
philosophical works of the early Middle Ages and the Early Modern
Age.
Seven palaces in Malaysia and in the heaven of China
If we look further away, and move to the Far East from Near and
Middle Eastern cultures, we encounter other possible comparative
elements, which are still waiting for proper attention. For ex-
ample, no one seems to have noticed, so far, that the series of seven
heavenly palaces, mysterious and full of creative energies as they
are, emerge in a completely unexpected context, that is, in a mag-
ical ceremonial, documented at the end of the 19th century, in Ma-
laysia. Are we too far off course and out of context, compared to
our Hebrew texts, composed between the Land of Israel and
Mesopotamia? From a geographical, linguistic and cultural point
of view, there is no doubt about the exoticism of the source. But
from the point of view of symbolic comparison, distances have
different values. There is a diaspora of symbols, capable of crossing
expected. By sea, or by caravans, the seven heavenly palaces have
come a long way. From the skies of the astrologers, they have
managed to reach the minds of our Jewish mystics. Why then be
surprised, if with such a spirit of adaptation, they landed in the
baggage of a company of wandering actors, and were transported
to a new location? The adjuration serves to reactivate the actors’
dormant energies, to repel adversaries and dangers. Where can all
150 GIULIO BUSI
the material necessary for such an undertaking be found? In the
seven palaces, which have existed since the beginning of time, and
even before―where else?
And now I will arouse all the actors and actresses from within the seven
Chambers of the seven Palaces, the seven Pavilions―the Palaces which are
on high, the Palaces which were from the beginning, which in the beginning
came into being in their entirety. I am about to open the portals of the seven
Chambers of the seven Palaces; I am about to open the closed doors from the
exterior even unto the inner portals of the seven chambers of the seven Pal-
aces. Let them be opened together with the Gates of Lusts and Passion, to-
gether with the Gate of Desire and Faith, together with the Gates of Longing
and Supreme Desire. The Longing which lasts from Dawn unto Dawn, which
causes food to cease to satisfy, and renders sleep uneasy, which remember-
ing causes to remember unceasingly, hearing to hear, seeing to see! I will
awake all from the exterior even unto the inner Chambers of the seven
Apartments of the seven Palaces! remain not plunged in slumber, but awake!
One and all awake and hear my tidings and my words! Awake and hearken
unto my words, for they vanish not, neither are my senses slumbering, nor
is my memory a blank! Awake, O actors and actresses, and await one upon
another! Awake, O buffoons, together awake! Awake, ye drummers, together
awake! Awake, ye gong-smiters, together awake! Awake, ye bridegrooms, to-
gether awake! Be not removed far from your means of livelihood, nor de-
stroyed or injured! Oh, suffer them not to be hurt or damaged―all this com-
pany of actors and actresses, all this company of players who sit within this
shed.149
The magical world is pervaded in its entirety by such
consonances. They are rites and invocations, pronounced in
distant, foreign, remote languages. The mystics of the Hekhalot and
Malay actors presumably have very little in common. And yet, for

Magdalena, NM 2008; I. Robinet, “Shangqing,” The Encyclopedia of Taoism, edited by F.
149
W. W. Skeat, Malay Magic, being an Introduction to the Folklore and Popular Religion of the
Malay Peninsula, London 1900, pp. 508-509. For a recent investigation into Malaysian
magic see F. Yahya, Magic and Divination in Malay illustrated Manuscripts, Leiden 2016.



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 151
both the former and the latter, new worlds open beyond the
heavenly gates, from which to draw courage, wisdom, vitality. Of
course, comparisons are never complete or conclusive. History is
woven from differences and subtle distinctions. Men are made of
similarities.
Why don’t we try to go further, further east? Why not go all the
way to China? In the annals of Daoist tradition there are tales of
other journeys, and of shining heavenly palaces.150 I wonder why
scholars of Judaism have yet to notice this? It seems to me that not
even sinologists have ever travelled to the West in search of travel
mates in heavenly domains. In Daoist texts, there is a great choice
of remote dwellings, which can be reached by chariots of fire, or
simply through the paths of the mind. Those who wish to find
them can immerse themselves in the texts of the Great Clarity, and
in those of the Supreme Clarity. Both collections take their name
from the celestial domain from which they would be revealed and
to which they promise to lead the follower. These are traditions
that arose between the beginning of the 3rd and the end of the 4th
century, respectively. The first is mainly alchemical in character,


150
For an introduction to the rich heritage of heavenly journeys in the Daoist tradition
see I. Robinet, “Randonnées extatiques des taoïstes dans les astres,” Monumenta Serica 33
(1977), pp. 159–273; Eadem, La révélation du Shangqing dans l’histoire du taoïsme, 2 vols, Paris
1984; A. Cadonna, “‘Astronauti’ taoisti da Chang’an alla luna (Note sul manoscritto di
Dunhuang S6836 alla luce di alcuni lavori di Edward H. Schafer), Orientalia Venetiana, vol.
1, a cura di M. Sabattini, Firenze 1984, pp. 69-132; I. Robinet, “Visualization and Ecstatic
Flight in Shangqing Taoism,” Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques, edited by L. Kohn,
Ann Arbor 1989, pp. 157-190; The Taoist Experience: An Anthology, edited by L. Kohn, Albany
1993; F. Pregadio, Great Clarity. Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China, Stanford 2005;
J. Miller, The Way of Highest Clarity: Nature, Vision and Revelation in Medieval China,
Pregadio, London 2008, vol. 2, pp. 858-66. The heavenly journeys experienced by women
are discussed by J. Jia, Gender, Power, and Talent: The Journey of Daoist Priestesses in Tang
China, New York 2018.
152 GIULIO BUSI
and more extensively dedicated to the ascension of the adept to
heaven, while the second is through meditative and visionary
practices. The purpose of both schools, then partly mixed, is to
transform the body of the adept, so as to make it suitable for a
divine life. Moreover, the alchemical elixirs are meant to achieve
the noble goal of activating the beneficial demons and expelling
the evil ones.
Cosmological knowledge, alchemical practice, narrative elabo-
ration, and the art of meditation are intertwined in this luxuriant,
expressive, profound heritage. Not infrequently, the hierarchy of
the heavens is articulated in dwellings with evocative names. In
Wushang biyao (Supreme Secret Essentials), a Daoist summa com-
piled by imperial order in the second half of the 6th century, great
clarity is presented as one of the seven palaces (gong). It is sur-
mounted by even higher palaces―that of the Highest Clarity and
that of the Great Ultimate, while on the lower level are the resi-
dences of those who oversee heaven, earth, caves, and waters. In
turn, the palace of Great Clarity is divided into the Palace of Great
Purity (taisu gong), home of the Lord of Great Purity (taisu jun), the
Palace of Great Harmony (taihe gong), where the Lord of the same
name resides (taihe jun), and a Tower of the Golden Flower (jinhua
lou), where the Jade Registers of the Immortals and the Perfected
(xianzhen yulu) are kept.151 One can already grasp from this list, the
very formalized character of the structure, in which the ranks and
prerogatives of the celestial administration are reminiscent of the
Chinese imperial structure. There is no lack of a section on elixirs
and drugs, including cannabis, which ensure ever higher degrees of


151
Pregadio, Great Clarity, p. 48; Wu-Shang Pi-Yao: Somme taoïste du VIe siècle, par J.
Lagerwey, Paris 1981, pp. 98-102 (“Maisons et palais des métropoles des immortels” and
“Palais et résidences des trois mondes”).



HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 153
transformation.
Other works provide guidance for specific visualization
practices. Thus in The Yellow Venerable Lord of the Center’s Stanzas of
the eight secret Sayings of the Dao, detailed instructions for ascending
to heaven are found:
On the day Spring Begins [...] in the early morning look to the north. There
will be purple, green and white clouds, which are the Three Pure Feathered
Clouds of the Supreme Three Pure Ladies. At this time the Three Primes take
the eight-bearer chariot, ascending to visit the Supreme Emperor of Heaven.
Following them you will see the three-colored clouds. At this time, you must
visualize in your mind knocking your head to the floor and striking yourself.
Visualize in your mind making four double bows, [then] present yourself and
beg as follows [...] If you see the carriages of the Prime Lords three times,
then you will ascend to immortality in broad daylight and will have no fur-
ther need of visual meditation. Whatever [you desire] will be granted.152
Behind the complex symbology of the passage, there is the sys-
tem of correspondences of Daoism, between cosmos, body and in-
teriority. The first three, or three pure ones, for example, are not
only the three supernal deities, which enclose the primordial en-
ergy, but also the forces at the level of the human organism, each
with its own seat, or palace:
The body of a person contains the spirits of the Palaces of the Three Primes
[...] The Palace of the Upper Prime is in the brain. Its spirit is the Ruddy In-
fant, with the byname “Primal Priority” and the alternate name “Thearch’s
Chamberlain.” The Palace of the Central Prime resides in the Scarlet Cham-
ber, that is, the heart. Its spirit is “Perfected One,” with the byname “Thane
Cinnabar” and the alternate name “Shining Durability.” The Lower Prime is


152
Miller, The Ways of Highest Clarity, pp. 201-202 (Chinese text and English translation).
154 GIULIO BUSI

the Palace of the Cinnabar Field, three inches below the navel.”153 
 

While such a physiology of the heavenly palaces is unparalleled  

in the Hebrew texts that have come down to us, the similarities
between the Daoist and Hekhalot literature with regard to the elab-
orate protocol of the supernal court are very interesting. The
adept of the Dao who wants to ascend to heaven must present for-
mal pleas to the gods, as he would do with the emperor. He must Water
address the gods with titles and attributes, as is customary with
court officials. The supernal notables are equipped with splendid There is water in the heavens. A huge expanse of water, difficult
clothes, luxurious dwellings, and even a household of servants. In to cross, and frightening. Doesn’t the biblical book of Genesis say
a similar way, the lucky ones who reach immortality will be this already?
included in the aristocracy of the supernal world, and receive their
God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, that it may separate
much-coveted licenses of nobility.154
water from water.” God made the firmament, and it separated the water which was
We shall later return to the ceremonies of the heavenly court below the firmament from the water which was above the firmament.155 And it was
according to the Hekhalot texts. For now, it is better to leave the so. God called the expanse Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, a sec-
mystical Daoists to their visions, harbingers of immortality. ond day (Gen. 1:6-8).

Waters below, and waters above the firmament, which one

must overcome, cross, subdue. Or maybe the opposite is true,
there’s not a drop of water up there. Woe betide you to speak of it,
for you risk being annihilated. Supernal waters are an obstacle, the
first and most difficult barrier that the mystic has to overcome. An
invitation to secrecy is added to the cosmological challenge, a se-
crecy that is very difficult to respect, and even more difficult to
understand:

Though the guardians at the entrance to the sixth palace throw a thousand
153
S. R. Bokenkamp, Early Daoist Scriptures, Berkeley 1997, pp. 326-327; cf. Idem, “What and one thousand waves of water on him, there is not a drop―why? If he
Daoist Body?,” Purposes, Means and Convictions in Daoism: A Berlin Symposium, Wiesbaden
2007, pp. 131-150:134.

154 155
Miller, The Way, p. 45. “Firmament:” the NJPS consistently translates raqia‘ with “expanse.”

 

Index of Literature

Apocalypse of Abraham, 118 32 15-16, 198

Apocalypse of Zephaniah, 41 33 15, 98
Ascension of Isaiah, 41; 118; 119; 34 5, 192
120; 122; 126; 127 Leviticus
Ascension of Moses, 45 1 9, 33
Ascension of Moses (Life of Adam Numbers
and Eve), 41; 118 14 14, 81
Bible Deuteronomy
Genesis 4 11, 192
1 6-8, 19; 155 35-36, 196
17, 116 10 14, 116
3 24, 161 17, 158
5 24, 99 28 12, 171
11 31, 134 1 Samuel
12 4, 134 1 9, 111
Exodus 3 3, 111
3 4, 93 2Samuel
15 18, 157 22 1, 20
19 9, 192 7, 111
16, 192 7-11, 21
20 21, 192 12, 193
23 21, 98 1 Kings
24 1, 98 6 5, 111
9-11, 28 8 13, 117
25, 192 18 41-46, 63
25 40, 128 19 11-12, 181

202 GIULIO BUSI HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 203

2 Kings 27; 28, 167 106 2, 94 Book of Depth of Things (al-Hakim

2 8, 64 3 12, 31; 61; 108; 147 148 7-9, 67 al-Tirmidi), 134
11, 90 24-27, 14 14, 67 Book of Sects and Religions
24 13, 111 4 12, 14 Job (Muhammad al-Shahrastani),
Isaiah 4-7, 14 25 2, 157 43; 135; 137; 138
6 1, 39; 186; 187 5 1-4, 14 26 1-13, 192 Book of the Palaces of Light
1-7, 31 8 2, 167 37 18, 18 (Suhrawardi), 135
3, 32; 60; 76; 79; 12 3-5, 14 38 6, 148 Chaldean Oracles, 69
104; 108; 109; 110; 24 15-27, 14 Proverbs Chapter of Rabbi Nehunya ben ha-
140; 167; 175; 182 25-27, 14 8 33-34,
163 Kanah, 94
13 22, 111 33 22, 14 20 5,


6 Contra Celsum (Origen)
26. 4, 158 40 1-4, 29 25 2,


72 6 3, 131
30 7, 58 41, 111 16,


156 27, 78
33 17, 40 43 3, 25 30 28,


111 Dwellings of the Heart (Abu
40 12, 186 Hosea 31 23,

166 ’1-Hasan al-Nuri), 134
22, 116 8 14, 111 Song of Songs Enoch, Second Book of, 41; 53;
51 13, 110 Joel 1 4,

36 119
63 9, 105 4 5, 111 5 9,

36 Enoch, Third Book of, 40; 43; 47;
15, 117 Nahum Ecclesiastes 85; 90; 91; 99; 114; 140; 141;
64 19, 21 2 5, 103 8 4-5, 199 157; 159; 160; 161; 162; 164;
Jeremiah Abacuc Esther 167; 168; 169; 171; 188; 189;
1 15, 165 3 3, 100 1 1-3,

37 194; 196; 198. See also Synopse
10 13, 171 Psalms 13-14, 37 zur Hekhalot-Literatur
Ezekiel 18 12, 193 5 1, 39 Genesis Rabbah, 6; 7
1 1, 72 29 9, 111 1a-f, 39 Great Book of the Chariot
1-3, 15 33 3, 188 2a.b, 39 (Merkavah Rabbah), 47; 92;
3, 23 42 9, 117 Daniel 170; 186. See also Synopse zur
2 1, 28 45 9, 111 7 7-11, 34 Hekhalot-Literatur
4, 89; 167 78 23-24, 117 9-10, 34 Great Book of the Palaces
4-12, 24 89 6, 190 10 1-3, 35 (Hekhalot rabbati), 31; 32; 36;
15-21, 25 91 1, 81 4-6, 34 39; 40; 47; 56; 59; 73; 74; 77;
22-24, 26 99 5, 32 1 Chronicles 86; 94; 100; 101; 104; 105; 109;
25-28, 27 104 24, 199 28 18, 25 110; 157; 163; 168; 173; 175;

204 GIULIO BUSI HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 205

181; 187; 193. See also Synopse 167; 170; 172; 187; 191. See 64, 195 181, 107
zur Hekhalot-Literatur also Synopse zur Hekhalot- 65, 199 183, 182
Great Clarity, 151 Literatur 67, 160 189, 104
Jubilees, Book of, 196; 197 Stromata (Clemens of 72, 172 190, 107
Kitāb al-milal wa-’l-niḥal. See Alexandria), 41 77, 172 198, 95
Book of Sects and Religions Supreme Clarity, 151 79, 106 199, 68
(Muhammad al-Shahrastani) Sword of Moses, 47; 79; 142; 158; 81, 59 201, 66
Kitāb ġawr al-umur. See Book of 161. See also Synopse zur 94, 60; 182 202-203, 66
Depth of Things (al-Hakim al- Hekhalot-Literatur 97, 174 204, 102
Tirmidi) Synopse zur Hekhalot-Literatur 98, 55 206, 112; 168
Kitāb hayākil al-nūr. See Book of 1, 168 99, 182 213, 114
the Palaces of Light 2, 40; 91; 162 100, 105 214, 114
(Suhrawardi) 4, 99 104, 109 216, 88
Maqāmāt al-qulub. See Dwellings 5-6, 106 105, 140 219, 78; 102
of the Heart (Abu ’1-Hasan al- 6, 55; 85 106, 93 225, 70
Nuri) 7, 162 111, 65 227, 71
Megillat Aḥima‘az, 44 8, 140; 169 124, 172 230, 181
Massekhet Hekhalot. See Treaty of 9, 85 138, 56 231, 89
the Palaces 11, 165 146, 158 232, 90
Merkavah rabbah. See Great Book 13, 164; 165; 171; 194 153, 39 236, 106
of the Chariot 17-18, 141 156, 110 237, 69
New Testament 19, 99 157, 175 238, 77
Gospels 20, 65; 166 159, 108; 187 241, 100
Mark, 5 21, 37 160, 182 244, 100
Revelation 22, 141 161, 168 244-245, 164
21 12-14, 159 35, 171 163, 33 245, 39
Phaedrus (Plato), 5; 50; 51 39, 85 164, 32 246-247, 103
Poimandres, 129 45, 170; 181 165, 76 248, 40; 113
Small Book of the Palaces 51, 160 167, 36 259, 156
(Hekhalot zuṭarti), 47; 55; 58; 55, 114 170, 105 278, 73
63; 65; 72; 76; 79; 81; 84; 87; 56, 167; 169 173, 103 286, 173
88; 92; 94; 95; 101; 107; 110; 59, 189 174, 175 289, 173
112; 143; 144; 156; 160; 163; 60, 157 179, 32 292, 173

206 GIULIO BUSI HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 207

293, 173 395, 158 637, 80 15a, 194

300, 103 404, 94 645, 80 15b, 36
306, 193 408-410, 157 653, 175 Sanhedrin
307, 94 413-414, 112 656-657, 82 38b, 98
307-314, 94 418, 188 670, 142 88b, 169
309, 74; 94; 170 420, 167 676, 82; 163 Testament of Levi, 117
313, 92; 102 421, 92; 101 680, 146 Testaments of the Twelve
314, 56 489, 84; 107 683-684, 55 Patriarchs, 117
320, 57; 175 496, 90; 161 686, 183 Timaeus (Plato), 129
321, 57 505, 64 688, 186 Treaty of the Palaces, 47
330, 75 546, 171 703, 187 Work of the Chariot (Ma‘aśeh
332, 57 550-551, 58 705-706, 74 merkavah), 47; 67; 68; 80; 92;
335, 55; 72 551, 110 707, 170 93; 116
336, 93 554, 113; 169 Talmud Wushang biyao (Supreme Secret
337, 80; 93 555, 109 Bavli Essentials), 152
341, 93 556, 169 ‘Avodah zarah Yellow Venerable Lord of the
345, 36; 65; 156; 194 561, 170 17a, 62 Center’s Stanzas of the eight
346, 194 562, 79 Berakhot secret Sayings of the Dao, 153
349, 96 563, 75 34b, 62

350ff., 85 566-569, 79 Ḥagigah, 28; 116
353, 104 569, 163; 173 12b, 117
360, 76 574, 101
361, 96 579, 95
364, 110 585, 76
366, 90 588, 81
367, 87 593, 158
371, 190 595, 146
372, 191 609, 158
378, 76 612-622, 143
384, 167; 171 623, 55
385, 160 625, 80
388, 172 629, 80
390, 177 636, 161

 HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 209

Index of Authors and Subjects Baghdad, 134 67; 68; 69; 70; 71; 72; 75; 81;


Balm, 71 82; 83; 85; 86; 87; 88; 89; 90;
Basileomorphism, 183; 184 93; 95; 99; 101; 103; 106; 109;


Beliar, 118 110; 122; 145; 153; 168; 169;
Aaron, 27 Amittai ben Shefatiah, 45 Ben Azzai, 156 170; 173; 176; 181; 182; 183;
Abdel Haleem, M. A. S., 133 Amulet, 144 Benet, S., 61 188
Abel, 123 Anafi’el, 40; 85; 100; 101; 103; Bengert, M., 135 Charis, 180
Abihu, 27 163 Benjamin, W., 86; 87 Charlesworth, J. H., 53
Ablutions, 56; 58; 101 Angel, 4; 5; 12; 39; 40; 41; 63; Bennett, C., 61 Charrae, 134
Abraham, 67; 107; 134 64; 67; 82; 86; 87; 89; 97; 98; Betz, H. D.,62; 179 Chebar, 15; 16; 24; 25; 27; 34; 72
Abu ’1-Hasan al-Nuri, 134 99; 101; 105; 114; 120; 121; Bible Cherubim, 23; 25; 40; 81; 91;
Achelous, 50 122; 123; 124; 125; 126; 138; Binah, 163 105; 119; 161
Acker, L. van, 185 141; 142; 160; 161; 165; 167; Boaz, 166 Chora, 50
Adam, 123; 161; 162 175; 197 Bock, D. L., 41 Clement of Alexandria, 41; 198
Adjuration, 43; 79; 142; 143; of service, 32; 39; 60; 92; 93; Bohak, G., 43; 45; 46; 144 Cohen, M. S., 47
149; 161; 174 94; 106; 107; 108; 167; 171; Bokenkamp, S. R., 154 Collins, A. Y., 118
Admatha, 37 173; 174; 188; 193 Borghesi, F. , 97 Comitas, L., 61
Æon, 180 Angelomorphism, 145 Bottini, G. C., 63 Cooper, M., 51
‘Agala min nura, 90 Antiochus Epiphanes, 33 Boustan, R., 18 Copenhaver, B. P., 96
Agobard, 185 Antón Pacheco, A., 135 Broome, E. C., 14 Crombie, F., 132
Ahasuerus, 37 Apulia, 44 Busi, G., 7; 45; 83; 97; 198 Cross (Jr.), F. M., 21
Ahimaaz ben Paltiel, 44 Arabia, 133 Bustan, R.; 48 Crown, 57; 74; 75; 96; 100; 101;
Akiva, rabbi, 35; 36; 42; 58; 62; ‘Aravot, 116; 167 Bythus, 180 106; 121; 140; 141; 173; 188
65; 66; 70; 72; 80; 90; 92; 93; Ascent, 45; 66; 68; 85; 86; 98; Cadonna, A., 151 frightful, 57; 74
99; 110; 112; 113; 114; 146; 117; 119; 124; 130 Campanini, S., 183 Culianu, I. P., 129
156; 157; 160; 169; 183; 193 Asclepius, 96 Candle, 45 Cureton, W., 136
Aletheia, 180 Augustine, 6 Cannabis, 61; 152 Cyrus, 35
Alexander, L., 175 Aujac, G., 51 Carmel, 63; 64 Daniel, 33; 34; 35
Alexander, P. S., 175; 183 Auwers, J.-M., 97 Carshena, 37 Daoism, 83; 151; 152; 154
Alföldi, A., 175 ‘Azzah, 106 Celsus, 78; 130; 132 Daur, K. D., 6
Alphabet, 189; 190 ‘Azza’el, 106; 140 Chadwick, H.; 78; 131 David, 20; 198
Altmann, A., 147 Baal, 20; 184 Chariot; 12; 17; 23; 25; 28; 30; 32; Davila, J., 48
‘Amidah, 31 Babylon, 14; 35 36; 42; 44; 59; 60; 63; 65; 66; Demoulin, J.-B., 97

210 GIULIO BUSI HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 211

Descent, 5; 6; 11; 48; 66; 68; 73; 89; 90; 103; 167 Haman, 37; 166 Horowitz, W., 190
75; 82; 83; 85; 86; 87; 93; 101; Fasting, 35; 56; 57; 58; 62; 64; Hananiah, 28 Ḥotam. See Seal
124; 125; 145; 184 103; 136 Hananiah ben Hizqiyah, 28 Houtman, C., 16; 171; 192
Desocialization, 49; 50; 52; 53 Feliu, L., 9 Haninah ben Hakinai, 66 Huss, B., 4
Dieterich, A., 177; 179 Firmament (raqia‘), 4; 8; 17; 18; Harma, 25 Hutchinson, D. S., 51
Dillard, R. B., 13 19; 22; 26; 32; 59; 100; 104; Harold Ellens, J., 61 Hymns, 45; 59; 60; 86; 93; 130
Dinur, 33; 177 105; 107; 116; 120; 121; 124; Harran, 134; 135; 137; 139 Ialdabaoth, 131
Divination, 9; 150; 190 126; 142; 146; 148; 155; 156; Ḥaside Aškenaz, 44; 46 Idit, rabbi, 98
Dumi’el, 89; 90; 106; 181 158; 167; 168; 169; 172; 188; Ḥašmal, 27; 28; 89; 167 Impurity, 71; 106; 107
Ebgi, R., 97 190 Ḥaverim, 69 Irenaeus of Lyons, 180
Ecstasis, 9 Foa, A., 45 Ḥavurah, 65 ‘Irim, 177
Egypt, 22; 93 Ford, J. N., 43 Ḥayyot, 17; 23; 24; 25; 26; 103; Isaac, 28
Eleazar ben Arak, 67 Frassinetti, P., 33 104; 105; 148; 160; 176; 177; Isaiah, 21; 30; 31; 32; 33; 120;
Elektron, 167 Freedman, D. N., 21 188; 190 121; 122; 123; 124; 125; 126;
Eliezer ben Dama, 66 Gaidad, 54 Heaven 127; 128
Eliezer ben Shammua, 66 Garden of Eden, 161; 162 second, 126 Ishmael, rabbi, 40; 42; 55; 56;
Eliezer the Great, 66 Gate, 2; 29; 37; 125; 131; 163; third, 126 59; 60; 64; 65; 66; 68; 70; 71;
Elijah, 62; 63; 64; 90; 180 164; 166 fourth, 126 72; 73; 74; 75; 77; 78; 79; 82;
Endreffy, K., 144 Gavri’el, 97 fifth, 125; 126 85; 90; 91; 92; 93; 94; 95; 98;
Engraving, 63; 82; 85; 143; 188; Gedullah-Hyms, 60 sixth, 122; 123; 124 99; 102; 110; 112; 113; 114;
189; 191; 194; 195; 196; 197; Gell, A., 9 seventh, 117; 119; 120; 121; 116; 146; 157; 158; 160; 162;
199 Gimaret, D., 133 122; 123; 125; 126; 194 165; 167; 168; 169; 170; 186;
Ennoia, 179 ‘Gmty’, 101 Heidegger, M., 9; 10 188; 194; 195; 196; 197
Enoch, 43; 52; 53; 54; 85; 90; 99; Gnosticism, 78; 129; 132; 133; Hera, 50 Jacob, 31; 60; 105; 107; 132; 197
118; 119; 123; 140; 141; 157; 144; 179; 185 Herrera, R. A., 83 Jalla, D., 45
160; 161; 162; 164; 166; 167; Gobillot, G., 135 Herrmann, K., 47 Jasper, 190
168; 171; 194; 196; 198 Goldberg, A., 184 Hezekiah, 120; 127 Jealousy, 105; 107
Epiphanius of Salamis, 180 Golitzin, A., 62 Himmelfarb, M., 18; 119 Jerome, 18; 33
Esther, 36; 37; 39; 40 Gruenwald, I., 20 Hodges, M., 9 Jerusalem, 14; 16; 17; 27; 29; 47;
Eusterschulte, A., 184 Haggadah, 93 Hofius, O., 193 104; 111; 117; 126; 159; 165;
Ezekiel, 4; 8; 10; 13; 14; 15; 17; al-Hakim al-Tirmidi, 134 Hofstadter, A., 10 197
19; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; Hall, R., 119 Ḥokhmah (wisdom), 163 Jesus, 5; 123; 124
29; 30; 33; 34; 47; 72; 84; 88; Halperin, D. J., 13; 65; 83; 104 Horeb, 93 Jia, J., 151

212 GIULIO BUSI HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 213

Jolivet, J., 133 Magic, 7; 43; 54; 57; 64; 65; 74; Mordecai, 37 Otanim, 119
Jonathan ben Uzziel, 66; 77 84; 129; 133; 136; 137; 138; Mortley, R., 176 Palace, 2; 20; 37; 39; 40; 59; 69;
Jordan, 5; 64 139; 140; 150; 158; 187 Moses, 27; 35; 45; 46; 79; 81; 92; 75; 77; 78; 83; 100; 102; 108;
Joshua, 81 Maimonides, Moses, 35 93; 98; 132; 142; 172; 192; 197 111; 112; 113; 133; 136; 137;
Judah, 7; 28; 165 Makhon, 116; 167; 169 al-Muġīra ibn Sa‘īd, 186 139; 142; 143; 146; 152; 153;
Judah ben Baba, 66 Malaysia, 149 Müller-Kessler, C., 43 155; 156; 157; 158; 164; 166;
Jung. C., 9 Malina, B., 52 Munn, N., 9 169; 171; 174; 175; 184; 185
Katabasis, 82 Manna, 116; 117 Mutius, G. von, 41 first, 90; 108; 113
Kerchove, A. van den, 70 Marduk, 190 Myrtle, 71 second, 90; 108; 113
Klee, P., 86; 87 Marks, J. H., 63 Na‘ar (boy), 99; 160; 177 third, 90; 108; 113
Knowledge, 2; 3; 4; 8; 17; 21; 22; Marsena, 37 Nadab, 27 fourth, 90; 108; 113
30; 51; 52; 57; 72; 93; 104; 128; Matt, D. C., 61 Nafs, 135 fifth, 90; 108; 113
132; 133; 134; 144; 152; 186; Media, 37 Nagy, Á. M., 144 sixth, 70; 89; 90; 108; 113
188; 195 Memucan, 37 Nahman, rabbi, 98 seventh, 73; 77; 90; 100; 103;
Koch, U. S., 9 Meres, 37 Name (of God), 75; 76; 79; 80; 106; 109; 113; 114; 115; 146;
Kohn, L., 151 Merkavah, 25; 88; 89; 90 98; 99; 102; 142; 165; 167; 181 158; 162; 163; 164; 165; 166;
Kraus Reggiani, C., 38 Messiah, 30; 198 Nard, 71 174; 180; 199
Kritzeck, J., 63 Metator, 97; 98; 99; 197 Necker, G., 135 of silence, 174
Kuyt, A., 83 Metatron, 4; 36; 37; 40; 41; 43; Nehunya ben ha-Kanah, rabbi, Papio, M., 97
Lacerenza, G., 45 85; 93; 97; 98; 99; 101; 105; 42; 65; 66; 68; 69; 70; 71; 73; Pardes, 65; 92; 156; 162
Ladder, 68; 86; 132 106; 114; 141; 157; 160; 164; 90; 91; 94; 95; 110; 112; 113; Pargod, 191; 193
Lagerwey, J., 152 165; 166; 167; 171; 172; 177; 163; 169; 170 Parwanka, 98
Landauer, M. H., 183 188; 194; 195; 196; 197 Nineveh, 190 Pauli, W., 9
Lapis lazuli, 27 Methusalam, 54 Norelli, E., 119; 127 Paz, Y., 85; 97
Leicht, R., 18 Mettinger, T. N. D., 184 Nous, 180 Peek, P. M., 9
Llop, J., 9 Mika’el, 117 Nyberg, H. S., 191 Perfume, 142
Logos, 128; 180 Miller, J., 151; 153; 154 Nymphs, 50 Perišut, 54; 55
Longman III, T., 13 Millet Alba, A., 9 Oath, 107 Persia, 35; 37
López-Baralt, L., 135 Mishnah, 42; 57; 74; 93 Ofannim, 17; 25; 40; 91; 105; 148 Persians, 134
Luckenbill, D. D., 190 Mithras, 62; 129; 177 Ogdoad, 130; 131; 180 Peter Chrysologus, 97
Ma‘on, 116; 167; 169 Mohr, R. D., 52 Ophites, 130 Phaedrus, 51
Mach, R., 63 Mongols, 134 Origen, 78; 130; 131; 132 Philo of Alexandria, 132
Madagascar, 9 Monnot, G., 133 Orlov, A., 62; 177 Phylacteries, 58

214 GIULIO BUSI HEAVENLY PALACES IN JUDAISM 215

Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni, Regim, 54 170; 173 Swartz, M. D., 64; 65; 83; 107;
97 Reichelt, H., 19 Sed, N., 47 133
Pilch, J. J., 52 Reichmann, R., 83 Seganzi’el, 172 Synchrony, 8; 191; 195
Pingree, D., 139 Resh Laqish, rabbi, 116; 117 Šeḥaqim, 116; 117 Ṭ’ṣš, 59
Planets, 128; 130; 132; 133; 136; Ring, 57; 77; 100; 137; 143; 144 Seng, H., 70 Ṭabba’at. See Seal
137; 138; 139; 140; 141; 144; Ritter, H., 139 Sennacherib, 190 Tardieu, M., 70
188 Riva, M., 97 Septuagint, 18; 25; 38; 167 Taršiš; 25, 37
Plato, 50; 51; 52; 129; 132 Robinet, I., 151 Shabbat, 45 Tavoni, M., 4
Plessner, M., 139 Rochberg, F., 190 al-Shahrastani, Muhammad, Teresa of Ávila, 135
Poe, E. A., 10 Roebling-Grau, I., 135 43; 135; 136; 137; 138; 144 Theurgy, 64
Pomerance, A., 41 Rubin, V. D., 61 Shaked, S., 43; 191 Throne, 11; 17; 26; 27; 30; 31;
Porphyry, 33 Ruth, 166 Shekhinah, 55; 67; 84; 85; 99; 32; 33; 34; 38; 39; 40; 58; 59;
Prayer, 32; 38; 56; 57; 58; 74; Rwzyy, 82 108; 109; 110; 114; 160; 161; 60; 64; 66; 71; 73; 74; 75; 76;
103; 104; 110; 139; 146; 162; Sabians, 43; 132; 133; 135; 136; 162; 163; 165; 169 82; 85; 91; 93; 99; 100; 103;
163; 175 137; 138; 139; 143; 145 Sheol, 124; 192 104; 105; 110; 119; 120; 121;
of the great seal, 57, 175 Sacrifice, 117 Shethar, 37 122; 125; 126; 127; 140; 146;
Pregadio, F., 83; 151; 152 Sandalfon, 100; 101 Shimon ben Gamliel, 66; 77 148; 156; 158; 159; 160; 164;
Prince of the Face, 4; 40; 55; 77; Sanhedrin, 66; 169 Šhry’l, 112; 143 165; 166; 167; 168; 169; 174;
99; 101; 102; 105; 114; 160; Sanmartin, J., 9 Sige, 176; 179; 180 175; 177; 181; 182; 183; 184;
165; 166; 167; 177; 196; 197 Sapphire, 27; 28; 190 Simon-Shoshan, M., 18 186; 187; 188; 189; 190; 191;
Propator, 180 Sappir, 27 Sinai, 172; 192 192; 193; 195; 198; 199
Qaddišim, 177 Satan, 120; 126; 134 Šiṭir šamê (šiṭirti šamaāmī), 190 Tigris, 34
Qaron šel nogah, 88; 89; 90 Saturn, 131; 137; 138; 139; 144 Smith, M. S., 20 Torah, 18; 28; 57; 61; 69; 70; 73;
Qaṣpi’el, 89 Schäfer, P., 18; 33; 41; 47; 55; Socrates; 50; 51 74; 75; 81; 91; 93; 102; 163;
Qedušah, 31 60; 67; 71; 83; 84; 88; 92; 101; Spatialization (of time), 8; 10; 165; 169; 170; 172; 174; 175;
Qur’an, 133 104; 109; 119; 146; 169; 184 174 186; 194; 195; 196
Rajaonarimanana, N., 9 Scheindlin, R., 45 Spier, J., 144 Tucker, W. F., 185
Rand, M., 133 Schlüter, M., 41 Stock, W.-M., 184 Ṭwṭrwsy’y, 77; 101; 102; 112;
Raqia‘. See Firmament (raqia‘) Schmuttermayr, G., 21 Stone, 38; 39; 140; 144; 156; 113; 168
Reale, G., 52 Scholem, G., 42; 62; 83; 88; 90; 157; 160; 169; 170; 190 ‘Uzzah, 106
Reed Blank, A. Y., 45 183 Štqyyr, 143 Valentinus, 179
Reed, A. Y., 48 Seal, 57; 76; 77; 78; 79; 80; 87; Stuckenbruck, L. T., 41 Vérin, P., 9
Regensburg, 44 100; 102; 103; 106; 112; 143; Suriya, 77; 100; 101; 102 Voice, 5; 17; 20; 26; 27; 58; 103;

216 GIULIO BUSI

109; 120; 121; 122; 123; 124; Wolfson. E.; 83


 
156; 173; 175; 177; 189; 193; Wolski, N., 61
195 Yešivah, 65
Wall, 18; 23; 158; 159; 160; 161 Yhw, 92; 101
Wasserstrom, S., 185 Yofi’el, 100; 102
This volume gathers and reorganizes what I wrote in the
Water, 5; 6; 7; 19; 22; 50; 55; Yohanan ben Dahavai, 66
introduction to my Città di luce: La mistica ebraica dei palazzi celesti,
109; 148; 155; 156; 157; 158; Yohanan ben Zakkai, 28; 67
160; 190; 192 Yorde ba-merkavah, 82 published in Italian in 2019 by Einaudi of Turin, to whom I would
Weiser, A., 192 Zevul, 116; 117 like to thank for the friendly support.
Wertheimer, A., 47 Zimmerli, W., 13 My gratitude also goes to Irene Groffsky Wernik, who has added
Williams, F., 180 Zion, 197 an extra shine to my English with wonderful generosity and
Wilon, 116 Zohar, 61 competence. Simonetta Della Seta, a dear friend, has offered, as
Wine, 35; 55; 101; 158 Zohn, H., 87 always, her prodigious advice.

The stories of mystics travelling between here and the Absolute
are dedicated to Silvana, my wife and inseparable companion of
adventures.