87 cards · one living archive

The MysticalTree

A timeline of mystical literature—tracing the transmission of cosmological models, contact records, and visionary disciplines from biblical antiquity through the classical Kabbalah.

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Filter by tradition, or follow a single figure—from Enoch and Abraham to Akiva and Metatron—as their teachings echo across the centuries.

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Showing 87 cards across the complete tree.

Fourteen traditions · 87 cards

The textual line

Some texts emerged in a single lifetime; others accumulated layers across centuries. Follow the chronological progression of the manuscripts below.

First millennium BCE

Scripture and ancient context

The biblical visions, creation accounts, names, wisdom, and throne imagery from which later Jewish mystical writing draws its language.

  1. TanakhScriptural foundation

    Tanakh

    Torah, Prophets, and Writings

    תנ״ך

    Figures

    The Hebrew Bible supplies creation by speech, the divine names, Jacob’s ladder, Sinai, prophetic encounter, Ezekiel’s chariot, Daniel’s visions, and the psalms later mystics repeatedly reopen.

    literary formation across the corpus01
  2. Wisdom & contextAncient Near Eastern wisdom

    The Story of Ahiqar

    The tale and sayings of the sage Ahiqar

    סיפור אחיקר

    Figures

    A court tale and wisdom collection about a royal counselor betrayed by his adopted son; its early Aramaic form provides a neighboring world for later Jewish wisdom literature.

    story formation · earliest Aramaic witness02

Third–first centuries BCE

Second Temple library

Wisdom, rewritten scripture, heavenly tablets, Watchers, sectarian covenant, martyrdom, and the first surviving maps of the unseen world.

  1. ApocryphaWisdom & contextJewish wisdom

    Ben Sira · Sirach

    The Wisdom of Jesus son of Sira

    חכמת בן סירא

    Figures

    A Hebrew teacher joins practical wisdom to creation, Torah, worship, mortality, and a long praise of Israel’s ancestors.

    Hebrew composition02
  2. ApocryphaAngel and demon narrative

    Tobit

    The Book of Tobit

    ספר טוביה

    Figures

    Raphael travels in human disguise, guides a family through exile and healing, and teaches Tobias how to drive away the demon Asmodeus.

    probable composition range02
  3. PseudepigraphaDead Sea textsEnochic apocalypse

    1 Enoch

    The First Book of Enoch

    ספר חנוך א׳

    Figures

    A composite revelation of the Watchers, Enoch’s journeys, heavenly tablets, cosmic order, judgment, and the history of the world seen from above.

    composition of the collected books0305
  4. PseudepigraphaDead Sea textsRewritten scripture

    Jubilees

    The Book of the Divisions of Times

    ספר היובלים

    Figures

    Genesis and early Exodus are retold through angelic revelation, heavenly tablets, a solar calendar, Watcher traditions, covenant, and measured periods of forty-nine years.

    probable Hebrew composition0405
  5. PseudepigraphaDead Sea textsEnochic giant cycle

    Book of Giants

    The Book of the Watchers’ Giant Children

    ספר הענקים

    Figures

    Dreams warn the giant offspring of the Watchers that judgment is coming; only fragments survive, so its narrative must be reconstructed cautiously.

    Aramaic composition · fragmentary witnesses0305
  6. Dead Sea textsSectarian covenant

    Damascus Document

    The Rule of the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus

    ברית דמשק

    Figures

    Admonition and law recount a community’s hidden history, covenant, calendar, Teacher of Righteousness, angelic camps, and disciplined life in expectation of judgment.

    composition and early transmission05
  7. PseudepigraphaWisdom & contextScripture in translation

    Letter of Aristeas

    Aristeas’ account of the Greek Torah

    איגרת אריסטיאס

    Figures

    A courtly narrative tells how seventy-two Jewish elders translated the Torah for Alexandria and surrounds that story with Temple description and royal wisdom questions.

    probable composition02
  8. ApocryphaMartyrdom and resurrection

    2 Maccabees

    The Second Book of Maccabees

    מקבים ב׳

    Figures

    A history of persecution and revolt centers the Temple, angelic intervention, bodily resurrection, creation from what is not, and the deaths of faithful witnesses.

    Greek epitome and composition02

First century BCE–third century CE

Apocalypse after the Temple

Pseudonymous seers and patriarchs cross heavens, question destruction, watch souls judged, and recast biblical lives as records of revelation.

  1. PseudepigraphaSolomonicaPrayer and messianic hope

    Psalms of Solomon

    Eighteen psalms attributed to Solomon

    מזמורי שלמה

    Figures

    Eighteen Greek-transmitted Jewish psalms answer invasion and corrupt rule with confession, judgment, resurrection hope, and an ideal Davidic king.

    historical setting of the collection02
  2. ApocryphaWisdom & contextSolomonicaCosmic wisdom

    Wisdom of Solomon

    The Wisdom attributed to Solomon

    חכמת שלמה

    Figures

    Wisdom stands beside creation and enters holy souls; the book explores immortality, judgment, idolatry, exodus, and the ordered intelligibility of the cosmos.

    probable Greek composition02
  3. PseudepigraphaAdamic afterlife

    Life of Adam and Eve

    The life of the first parents after Eden

    חיי אדם וחוה

    Figures

    Adam and Eve recount expulsion, penitence, illness, the failed search for Tree-of-Life oil, Satan’s refusal, Adam’s death, and angelic burial.

    tradition and recension range06
  4. PseudepigraphaMosaic apocalypse

    Testament · Assumption of Moses

    Moses’ final revelation and departure

    צוואת משה · עליית משה

    Figures

    Moses privately gives Joshua a history of Israel’s corruption, persecution, heavenly judgment, and restoration; the surviving Latin breaks off before the promised departure.

    probable Jewish composition · incomplete survival02
  5. PseudepigraphaConversion and transformation

    Joseph and Aseneth

    The story of Joseph’s marriage to Aseneth

    יוסף ואסנת

    Figures

    An Egyptian priest’s daughter rejects idols, receives a luminous angelic visitor and a living honeycomb, and enters a transformed identity before marrying Joseph.

    contested composition range02
  6. ApocryphaWisdom & contextReason and martyrdom

    4 Maccabees

    The Fourth Book of Maccabees

    מקבים ד׳

    Figures

    A philosophical sermon retells the Maccabean martyrs to argue that devout reason can govern passion even under torture and death.

    probable Greek composition02
  7. PseudepigraphaHeavenly journey and judgment

    Testament of Abraham

    Abraham’s final journey

    צוואת אברהם

    Figures

    Abraham resists death, tours the inhabited world with Michael, sees souls judged at heavenly gates, and finally meets Death in a changing form.

    probable Jewish composition08
  8. PseudepigraphaTemple-loss apocalypse

    2 Baruch

    The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

    ברוך ב׳

    Figures

    Baruch mourns Jerusalem, questions justice, receives visions of history and the end, and hears of heavenly records, resurrection, transformation, and a restored creation.

    post-70 Jewish composition07
  9. PseudepigraphaDialogue and restored scripture

    4 Ezra

    The Fourth Book of Ezra

    עזרא ד׳

    Figures

    Ezra disputes suffering with the angel Uriel, sees the mourning woman become Zion, receives symbolic visions, and restores lost scripture through inspired dictation.

    Jewish apocalypse in chapters 3–1407
  10. PseudepigraphaThrone ascent

    Apocalypse of Abraham

    The Revelation to Abraham

    חזון אברהם

    Figures

    After rejecting his father’s idols, Abraham ascends with Yahoel through fire and song to the divine throne and a panoramic vision of creation, history, and judgment.

    Jewish core · Slavonic transmission02
  11. PseudepigraphaReceptionTour of the heavens

    3 Baruch

    The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

    ברוך ג׳

    Figures

    An angel leads Baruch through multiple heavens where he sees cosmic gates, strange beings, the sun’s chariot, angelic administration, and the fate of human deeds.

    Jewish substrate and Christian transmission02
  12. PseudepigraphaEnochic ascent

    2 Enoch

    The Slavonic Book of Enoch · The Book of Secrets

    ספר חנוך ב׳

    Figures

    Enoch passes through layered heavens, sees their inhabitants and storehouses, receives a creation account, is transformed before the divine face, and returns to teach his household.

    ancient materials · medieval Slavonic witnesses0203
  13. PseudepigraphaReceptionPatriarchal testaments

    Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

    Final teachings of Jacob’s twelve sons

    צוואות שנים עשר השבטים

    Figures

    Each patriarch reviews his life and warns his descendants; Levi’s visions of layered heavens and priestly investiture make the collection especially important here.

    Jewish sources and Christian redaction02
  14. PseudepigraphaReceptionOracular world history

    Sibylline Oracles

    Oracles spoken in the voice of the Sibyl

    חזיונות הסיבילות

    Figures

    A Greek collection uses a pagan prophetic voice to recast empires, creation, catastrophe, judgment, and restoration from changing Jewish and Christian vantage points.

    Jewish and Christian books composed in layers02
  15. PseudepigraphaReceptionProphetic ascent

    Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah

    Isaiah’s death and journey through seven heavens

    מות ישעיהו ועלייתו

    Figures

    A martyrdom tradition and a Christian ascent vision join as Isaiah rises through seven heavens, changes form, hears praise, and sees the descending Beloved.

    composite Jewish-Christian formation02
  16. PseudepigraphaSolomonicaReceptionDemonological testament

    Testament of Solomon

    Solomon’s account of the ring and the spirits

    צוואת שלמה

    Figures

    Solomon receives a seal-ring, summons named spirits, questions their powers and thwarting angels, and compels them to labor on the Temple.

    living Jewish-Christian textual formation34

Second–eleventh centuries

Rabbinic teaching and Jewish magic

Ethical instruction, angelic books, adjurations, and the Talmudic Solomon cycle develop beside the visionary literature.

  1. RabbinicWisdom & contextEthical transmission

    Pirkei Avot

    Chapters of the Fathers

    פרקי אבות

    Figures

    A chain of teachers passes concise teachings on judgment, discipline, study, speech, work, freedom, and the inner posture required to receive Torah.

    Mishnaic core with later additions09
  2. Jewish magicSeven-firmament manual

    Sefer ha-Razim

    The Book of Mysteries

    ספר הרזים

    Figures

    Seven firmaments are populated by named angelic companies and linked to timed rites for knowledge, protection, healing, coercion, and celestial address.

    probable core composition11
  3. RabbinicSolomonicaSolomon and the demon king

    Ashmedai Cycle · Gittin 68a–b

    The Talmudic tale of Solomon and Ashmedai

    אשמדאי · גיטין סח

    Figures

    Solomon seeks the shamir for the Temple, captures Ashmedai, questions him, loses his throne, and returns after learning how unstable commanded power can be.

    Babylonian Talmud redaction10
  4. Jewish magicNames and adjuration

    Ḥarba de-Moshe

    The Sword of Moses

    חרבא דמשה

    Figures

    Moses receives a long chain of names from angelic princes; the text then applies that ‘sword’ through tightly specified adjurations and operations.

    late antique materials · medieval form1211

Fourth–tenth centuries

Merkabah · The throne and palaces

The complete Merkabah branch: vision, divine measure, ascent, seals, guardians, hymns, cosmology, and the ordered service around the Throne of Glory.

  1. MerkabahThrone vision

    Re’uyot Yeḥezqel

    The Visions of Ezekiel

    ראויות יחזקאל

    Figures

    Ezekiel’s chariot becomes a guided disclosure of seven heavens, four living creatures, the throne, and the celestial order surrounding divine glory.

    composition or early redaction13
  2. MerkabahDivine measure

    Shiur Qomah

    The Measure of the Stature

    שיעור קומה

    Figures

    Secret names and impossible measurements map the enthroned divine form from feet to crown, turning bodily scale into a language of transcendence.

    layered recensions13
  3. MerkabahPseudepigraphaEnoch and Metatron

    3 Enoch · Sefer Hekhalot

    Third Enoch · The Book of Palaces

    ספר היכלות

    Figures

    Rabbi Ishmael ascends through the palaces, meets Metatron, and hears how Enoch became the celestial prince who serves beside the throne.

    core and later redaction1413
  4. MerkabahPalace descent

    Hekhalot Rabbati

    The Greater Palaces

    היכלות רבתי

    Figures

    A manual and hymn-cycle of descent to the chariot: palace gates, guardian angels, seals, purification, ordeal, and praise before the throne.

    formation and redaction13
  5. MerkabahPalace ascent

    Hekhalot Zutarti

    The Lesser Palaces

    היכלות זוטרתי

    Figures

    Compact ascent traditions center on Rabbi Akiva, divine names, seals, and the dangerous passage through the heavenly palaces.

    formation and redaction13
  6. MerkabahThrone liturgy

    Ma’aseh Merkavah

    The Work of the Chariot

    מעשה מרכבה

    Figures

    A collection of throne hymns and ritual instructions for the practitioner who seeks entrance to the chariot liturgy.

    formation and redaction13
  7. MerkabahCelestial cosmology

    Seder Rabbah di-Bereshit

    The Greater Order of Creation

    סדר רבה דבראשית

    Figures

    A distinct cosmological treatise orders heavens and earth, their chambers, prayers, angels, punishments, and mirrored structures.

    post-Talmudic composition15
  8. MerkabahNames and seals

    Merkavah Rabbah

    The Great Chariot

    מרכבה רבה

    Figures

    Teachings on the Prince of the Presence, the celestial Youth, divine names, seals, and mysteries surrounding Solomon’s throne.

    formation and redaction13
  9. MerkabahThrone architecture

    Halakhot ha-Kisse

    The Laws of the Throne

    הלכות הכסא

    Figures

    A map of the Throne of Glory: its creation, dimensions, rivers, curtains, attendants, voices, and relation to earthly prayer.

    date unresolved13
  10. MerkabahCompanion commentary

    Anonymous Throne Commentary

    An untitled commentary on the Chariot

    פירוש אנונימי על כיסא הכבוד

    Figures

    An independent text preserved beneath Halakhot ha-Kisse explains Metatron, the throne’s supports, angelic names, and the architecture of the chariot.

    date and received title unresolved13
  11. MerkabahPalace cosmology

    Massekhet Hekhalot

    The Tractate of the Palaces

    מסכת היכלות

    Figures

    Twelve sections unfold throne cosmology, palace teaching, angelic princes, hymns, and an exchange between Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Akiva.

    formation and redaction13

Eighth–thirteenth centuries

Letters, creation, and Ashkenaz

Alphabet midrash, creation cosmology, and the German Pietists connect sacred letters, angelic names, prayer, ethics, and the hidden order of the world.

  1. Mystical midrashAlphabet revelation

    Otiyot de-Rabbi Akiva

    The Letters of Rabbi Akiva

    אותיות דרבי עקיבא

    Figures

    The Hebrew letters appear as speaking powers before creation, each revealing its shape, name, number, scriptural force, and claim to begin the world.

    probable early form24
  2. Mystical midrashCreation cosmology

    Midrash Konen

    The Midrash of Establishing

    מדרש כונן

    Figures

    A compact cosmology describes creation, heavenly storehouses, Eden and Gehenna, primordial materials, angelic orders, and the world’s hidden measurements.

    layered creation midrash24
  3. Mystical midrashCreation cosmology

    Baraita de-Ma’aseh Bereshit

    The External Teaching on the Work of Creation

    ברייתא דמעשה בראשית

    Figures

    A distinct teaching arranges the acts and hidden structures of creation through scriptural exposition, measures, heavens, and named powers.

    layered creation teaching24
  4. Mystical midrashCreation cosmology

    Zeh Ma’aseh Bereshit

    This Is the Work of Creation

    זה מעשה בראשית

    Figures

    A third independent work in the creation cluster follows the architecture of the cosmos, its inhabitants, and the acts by which it was established.

    layered creation teaching24
  5. Ashkenazic pietismJewish magicAshkenazic esotericism

    Sodei Razayya

    Secrets of Secrets

    סודי רזיא

    Figures

    A vast esoteric compilation binds divine and angelic names, creation, cosmology, prayer, ritual, repentance, and inherited secret traditions.

    Eleazar of Worms’ compilation1123
  6. Ashkenazic pietismWisdom & contextPietist life and wonder

    Sefer Ḥasidim

    The Book of the Pietists

    ספר חסידים

    Figures

    Hundreds of cases turn fear, repentance, prayer, dreams, spirits, household conduct, suffering, and unusual events into a demanding discipline of daily holiness.

    German Pietist compilation23

Third–twelfth centuries

Kabbalah · The two foundations

The Book of Creation establishes letters and sefirot; centuries later the Book of Illumination opens the symbolic world of the Tree and divine emanation.

  1. KabbalahLetters and formation

    First Kabbalistic foundation

    Sefer Yetzirah

    The Book of Creation

    ספר יצירה

    Figures

    Creation unfolds through thirty-two paths: ten sefirot and twenty-two letters arranged across number, sound, direction, time, and the human body.

    language and composition range16
  2. KabbalahTheosophical Kabbalah

    Second Kabbalistic foundation

    Sefer ha-Bahir

    The Book of Illumination

    ספר הבהיר

    Figures

    Two hundred compact teachings use parable and scriptural wordplay to explore divine light, the sefirot, the Tree, letters, souls, and channels of blessing.

    final form and circulation17

c. 1200–1260

Kabbalah · Provence and Gerona

The first named Kabbalists and the anonymous Iyyun circle form distinct accounts of emanation, contemplation, and divine unity.

  1. KabbalahEarly Provence

    Isaac the Blind · Perush Sefer Yetzirah

    Commentary on the Book of Creation

    פירוש ספר יצירה

    Figures

    A fragmentary commentary turns Yetzirah’s sefirot and letters into a language of emanation, contemplation, and return to the hidden source.

    authorial lifetime18
  2. KabbalahGerona

    Azriel of Gerona · Bi’ur Eser Sefirot

    Explanation of the Ten Sefirot

    ביאור עשר ספירות

    Figures

    A concise dialogue explains the Infinite, the ten sefirot, emanation, unity, and how the finite proceeds from the boundless.

    authorial lifetime1823
  3. KabbalahContemplative Kabbalah

    Sefer ha-Iyyun

    The Book of Contemplation

    ספר העיון

    Figures

    An anonymous meditation on hidden unity, primordial powers, colors, light, and the ordered unfolding of the divine world.

    Iyyun circle18
  4. KabbalahLanguage and emanation

    Ma’ayan ha-Hokhmah

    The Fountain of Wisdom

    מעין החכמה

    Figures

    A linguistic-theological treatise follows wisdom from its concealed source through letters, speech, circles, and the powers of emanation.

    Iyyun circle18
  5. KabbalahEmanation

    Massekhet Atzilut

    The Tractate of Emanation

    מסכת אצילות

    Figures

    A compact account of ten powers, angelic ranks, and the passage from divine unity into the created worlds.

    Iyyun circle18

c. 1260–early fourteenth century

Kabbalah · Castile and the Zoharic turn

Sefirotic symbolism, ecstatic letter practice, the Other Side, cosmic cycles, and the Zoharic imagination develop beside one another.

  1. KabbalahKabbalistic exegesis

    Ramban · Al Derekh ha-Emet

    By Way of Truth

    על דרך האמת

    Figures

    Passages marked ‘by way of truth’ weave creation, divine names, sefirot, commandments, and scripture’s hidden sense into a public Torah commentary.

    final commentary period19
  2. KabbalahThe Other Side

    Treatise on the Left Emanation

    The Treatise on Left-Side Emanation

    מאמר על האצילות השמאלית

    Figures

    Isaac ha-Kohen maps Samael, Lilith, and the ordered powers of the left as a structured demonic counterpart to holy emanation.

    probable composition20
  3. KabbalahThe Other Side

    Seven Palaces of Impurity

    The Seven Palaces of Impurity

    שבעה היכלות הטומאה

    Figures

    A companion map of seven impure palaces, their rulers, names, and descending hierarchy.

    companion treatise20
  4. KabbalahLetters and cosmic cycles

    Sefer ha-Temunah

    The Book of the Image

    ספר התמונה

    Figures

    The shapes of Hebrew letters open onto cosmic sabbatical cycles, the divine name, and successive orders of creation.

    probable composition2423
  5. KabbalahLetters, numbers, names

    Ginat Egoz

    The Garden of the Nut

    גנת אגוז

    Figures

    Joseph Gikatilla links letters, vowels, numbers, and divine names into a single account of creation and revelation.

    composition23
  6. KabbalahProphetic Kabbalah

    Ḥayyei ha-Olam ha-Ba

    Life of the World to Come

    חיי העולם הבא

    Figures

    Abraham Abulafia gives a practical discipline of letter permutation, breath, vocalization, and head movement aimed at prophetic consciousness.

    authorial work21
  7. KabbalahProphetic Kabbalah

    Or ha-Sekhel

    The Light of the Intellect

    אור השכל

    Figures

    Abulafia teaches prophetic Kabbalah through letter combinations, divine names, disciplined imagination, and the union of intellect with its source.

    authorial work2123
  8. KabbalahZoharic Kabbalah

    Sefer ha-Zohar

    The Book of Splendor

    ספר הזוהר

    Figures

    An Aramaic library of journeys, homilies, and symbolic readings in which the sefirot, Shekhinah, souls, exile, and union form a living divine drama.

    composition and circulation22
  9. KabbalahNames and sefirot

    Sha’arei Orah

    The Gates of Light

    שערי אורה

    Figures

    Ten gates lead through divine names and their sefirot, showing how prayer and scripture move blessing through the whole system.

    probable composition1823
  10. KabbalahProphetic Kabbalah

    Imrei Shefer

    Words of Beauty

    אמרי שפר

    Figures

    Abulafia’s final known work gives a dense theoretical account of prophecy, intellect, language, and the divine names.

    authorial work21
  11. KabbalahSystematic Kabbalah

    Ma’arekhet ha-Elohut

    The Order of Divinity

    מערכת האלהות

    Figures

    An anonymous handbook organizes divine unity, the sefirot, emanation, commandments, prayer, and the relation between upper and lower worlds.

    probable composition1823
  12. KabbalahJewish magicNames and celestial arts

    Sefer Raziel ha-Malakh

    The Book of Raziel the Angel

    ספר רזיאל המלאך

    Figures

    A layered anthology joins creation lore, celestial divisions, divine and angelic names, seals, astrology, sacred alphabets, and ritual timing.

    layered anthology · print 17012811
  13. KabbalahZoharic Kabbalah

    Tikkunei ha-Zohar

    The Rectifications of the Zohar

    תיקוני הזוהר

    Figures

    Seventy interwoven readings of בראשית unfold letters, sefirot, Shekhinah, exile, prayer, and repair from a single opening word.

    later Zoharic stratum2223

Late fourteenth–early sixteenth centuries

Kabbalah · Byzantine and Italian passage

Large pseudonymous works recast commandments and Genesis, while an exiled Spanish commentator carries the medieval system into print culture.

  1. KabbalahByzantine Kabbalah

    Sefer ha-Qanah

    The Book of the Reed

    ספר הקנה

    Figures

    A pseudonymous dialogue reads commandments through divine names, sefirot, cosmic structure, and sharp criticism of ordinary religious life.

    composition and manuscript circulation2423
  2. KabbalahByzantine Kabbalah

    Sefer ha-Peliah

    The Book of Wonder

    ספר הפליאה

    Figures

    A vast commentary on Genesis joins creation, letters, commandments, cosmology, and Kabbalistic polemic in the voice of the Qanah–Peliah circle.

    composition and manuscript circulation24
  3. KabbalahExilic synthesis

    Minḥat Yehudah

    The Offering of Judah

    מנחת יהודה

    Figures

    Judah Hayyat’s commentary expands Ma’arekhet into an independent synthesis of Zoharic Kabbalah, written amid the upheaval of the Spanish expulsion.

    manuscript composition25

1548–1603

Kabbalah · Safed and the great systems

Cordovero orders the inherited literature; Luria and Vital reorganize creation, rupture, repair, and reincarnation; dispersed Zoharic texts enter a new collection.

  1. KabbalahCordoverian Kabbalah

    Pardes Rimmonim

    The Orchard of Pomegranates

    פרדס רמונים

    Figures

    Moses Cordovero compares earlier schools and organizes sefirot, names, colors, channels, souls, angels, and emanation into one comprehensive system.

    composition completed2623
  2. KabbalahCordoverian ethics

    Tomer Devorah

    The Palm Tree of Deborah

    תומר דבורה

    Figures

    The ten sefirot and thirteen attributes become an ethics of conduct: the reader is asked to embody mercy in ordinary life.

    authorial work2623
  3. KabbalahAngelic cosmology

    Derishot be-Inyanei ha-Mal’akhim

    Inquiries Concerning Angels

    דרישות בענייני המלאכים

    Figures

    Forty-nine inquiries classify angels by rank, substance, task, movement, speech, and relation to human beings.

    authorial work27
  4. KabbalahLurianic Kabbalah

    Etz Chaim

    The Tree of Life

    עץ חיים

    Figures

    Hayyim Vital’s foundational presentation of Lurianic cosmology: contraction, primordial humanity, vessels, shattering, configurations, worlds, and repair.

    Lurianic teaching and Vitalian redaction29
  5. KabbalahLurianic souls

    Sha’ar ha-Gilgulim

    The Gate of Reincarnations

    שער הגלגולים

    Figures

    A sustained map of soul-roots, reincarnation, impregnation, repair, inherited tasks, and the paths by which souls return.

    Lurianic teaching and Vitalian redaction29
  6. KabbalahZoharic recovery

    Zohar Ḥadash

    The New Zohar · The New Splendor

    זוהר חדש

    Figures

    A separately assembled collection preserves Zoharic material on Genesis, Exodus, Ruth, Song of Songs, and Lamentations absent from the first printed body.

    medieval material · collection print30

1730s–1796

Kabbalah · Later receivers

Later authors recast inherited systems as ordered propositions, defended tradition, and a daily discipline of consciousness and conduct.

  1. KabbalahLurianic system

    Klaḥ Pitḥei Ḥokhmah

    The 138 Openings of Wisdom

    קל״ח פתחי חכמה

    Figures

    Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto states 138 propositions that recast Lurianic Kabbalah as a precise account of divine governance, rupture, repair, and final purpose.

    authorial work3123
  2. KabbalahKabbalistic defense

    Shomer Emunim

    The Guardian of the Faith

    שומר אמונים

    Figures

    A dialogue between skeptic and Kabbalist explains the tradition and argues that divine contraction must not be read as a literal withdrawal.

    first edition3223
  3. KabbalahHasidic Kabbalah

    Tanya · Likkutei Amarim

    It Was Taught · Collected Sayings

    תניא · ליקוטי אמרים

    Figures

    Five connected parts turn Lurianic metaphysics into a practical psychology of two souls, thought, feeling, action, return, and the discipline of the beinoni.

    first edition33

Late antiquity–thirteenth century

Adamic Christian reception

Three later Christian works preserve major afterlives of Adam, Seth, Noah, relics, angels, and sacred history. Their relation to Jewish traditions is visible without changing their identity.

  1. ReceptionSyriac sacred history

    Cave of Treasures

    The Syriac Cave of Treasures

    מערת האוצרות

    Figures

    A continuous history from creation onward follows Adamic relics, Seth’s line, Noah, the patriarchs, kings, and the transmission of sacred objects toward Christian fulfillment.

    probable Syriac formation0602
  2. ReceptionAdamic conflict cycle

    Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan

    The First and Second Books of Adam and Eve

    מאבק אדם וחוה בשטן

    Figures

    Adam and Eve repeatedly confront Satan outside Eden through grief, temptation, rescue, repentance, and visions of a future salvation history.

    Christian cycle in Arabic and Ethiopic transmission0602
  3. ReceptionWisdom & contextSyriac sacred history

    Book of the Bee

    The Syriac Book of Collected Knowledge

    ספר הדבורה

    Figures

    A compact encyclopedia gathers creation, angels, patriarchs, kings, prophets, Christian history, death, resurrection, and the end of the world.

    Solomon of Basra’s compilation02

Thirteenth–eighteenth centuries

Solomonica · The later magical books

The medieval and early modern works transmitted under Solomon’s name form several related—but distinct—ritual and manuscript traditions.

  1. SolomonicaReceptionPrayer, figures, knowledge

    Ars Notoria · Flores Aurei

    The Notory Art · Golden Flowers

    ארס נוטוריה · פרחים זהובים

    Figures

    Latin prayers and complex figures promise divinely assisted memory, eloquence, and knowledge; the work existed independently before later copies placed it inside the Lemegeton.

    medieval work · Yale witness c. 122537
  2. SolomonicaReceptionGreek ritual handbook

    Hygromanteia

    The Magical Treatise of Solomon

    היגרומנטיה

    Figures

    A Greek Solomonic tradition arranges planetary timing, prayers, implements, circles, spirits, and operations; its manuscript family helped shape later Key traditions.

    Greek source complex · manuscripts from 14th c.39
  3. SolomonicaJewish magicHebrew Solomonic grimoire

    Mafteaḥ Shelomo

    The Key of Solomon

    מפתח שלמה

    Figures

    A Hebrew manuscript handbook gathers seals, angelic and spirit names, planetary hours, ritual preparations, prayers, and an Almadel section.

    Hebrew manuscript tradition · facsimile 19141136
  4. SolomonicaReceptionFive-part grimoire

    Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis

    The Little or Lesser Key of Solomon

    למגטון · מפתח שלמה

    Figures

    A composite ritual book joins the Goetia, Theurgia-Goetia, Ars Paulina, Almadel, and a late Ars Notoria reception into one Lesser Key tradition.

    composite English manuscript tradition38
  5. SolomonicaReceptionKey tradition

    Clavicula Salomonis

    The Key or Greater Key of Solomon

    מפתח שלמה

    Figures

    A distinct ritual handbook organizes prayers, purity, timing, tools, circles, pentacles, and operations; it is the Greater Key, not the Lemegeton.

    work formation · held Latin witness 1750–179935

The line of transmission

Built from the best evidence

The dates follow the strongest ranges current scholarship can support. A card may date a work's composition, the formation of a layered collection, its earliest surviving manuscript, or a decisive print edition. The qualifier beneath each date tells you which.

Research behind the tree

Sources & further reading

The numbered markers on every card lead here. Together these studies and institutional catalogues establish the dates, textual families, manuscript witnesses, and corpus boundaries.

  1. 01Cambridge · The Hebrew Bible and the early history of Israel
  2. 02Cambridge · The apocryphal Old Testament and its textual families
  3. 03Cambridge · Jewish and Christian apocrypha and the formation of 1 Enoch
  4. 04Cambridge · The Book of Jubilees
  5. 05Cambridge · The Qumran sectarian writings and the Dead Sea Scrolls
  6. 06Cambridge · The Greek Life of Adam and Eve and its Jewish-Christian transmission
  7. 07Harvard Theological Review · 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra after the destruction of 70 CE
  8. 08Cambridge · The Testament of Abraham
  9. 09Sefaria · Pirkei Avot
  10. 10Sefaria · Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 68a
  11. 11Cambridge · Jewish magic from late antique Palestine to the Cairo Genizah
  12. 12Royal Asiatic Society · The Sword of Moses manuscript edition
  13. 13Cambridge Handbook · Early Jewish mysticism and the Hekhalot corpus
  14. 14Harvard Theological Review · The Enoch–Metatron narrative in 3 Enoch
  15. 15Cambridge · The cosmology of Seder Rabbah di-Bereshit
  16. 16Sefaria · About Sefer Yetzirah
  17. 17Brill · Investigating God in Sefer ha-Bahir
  18. 18Harvard Theological Review · Spherical sefirot in early Kabbalah
  19. 19AJS Review · ‘By Way of Truth’ in Nahmanides’ Kabbalistic hermeneutic
  20. 20AJS Review · Samael, Lilith, and evil in early Kabbalah
  21. 21Jewish Encyclopedia · Abraham Abulafia, works and method
  22. 22Oxford Bibliographies · Zoharic literature and its textual strata
  23. 23Sefaria · Catalogue and descriptions of Kabbalistic works
  24. 24National Library of Israel · Catalogue of Hebrew manuscripts in the Vatican
  25. 25Posen Library · Minḥat Yehudah and Ma’arekhet ha-Elohut
  26. 26Harvard Theological Review · Cordovero’s Pardes, completed in 1548
  27. 27YIVO Encyclopedia · Cordovero and Derishot be-Inyanei ha-Mal’akhim
  28. 28De Gruyter · The textual layers of Sefer Raziel ha-Malakh
  29. 29Sefaria · The writings of Isaac Luria and Hayyim Vital
  30. 30Cambridge · Zoharic literature and the 1603 Zohar Ḥadash collection
  31. 31Jewish Encyclopedia · Moses Hayyim Luzzatto and his Kabbalistic works
  32. 32YIVO · Shomer Emunim, Amsterdam 1736
  33. 33Chabad.org · The Tanya and its first printing
  34. 34Brill · The Testament of Solomon and its Jewish-Christian textual history
  35. 35University of Pennsylvania · Clavicula Salomonis, Ms. Codex 1673
  36. 36Wellcome Collection · Mafteaḥ Shelomo, Gollancz facsimile (1914)
  37. 37Yale Beinecke · Ars Notoria, Mellon MS 1
  38. 38British Library · Sloane MS 3825 catalogue record
  39. 39University of Liège · Hygromanteia and Byzantine Solomonic magic