"These objects are the product of a syncretic mix of animist, pre-colonial beliefs, popular Catholicism and
cabbalistic and masonic traditions.
The number twenty-two must have suggested itself to Borges because of his interest in the
Cabbalistic treatment of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
For example, Abeth, the Magician who is the conduit for knowledge about civilization and whose name suggests the Hebrew "aleph-beth," is tutored by magicians named for the Sephirots of the
cabbalistic tree of life.
This tragedy was the outcome of palace politics and
cabbalistic intrigues involving those who had sworn to assist the Emperor and were his functionaries on whom the security of the Empire rested.
Edna Aizenberg argues that Borges made the Aleph the center of the story to emphasize the importance of the
cabbalistic symbol in the shaping of his world and she highlights that Borges has "given the name El Aleph--not Labyrinths--to the entire volume" (89).
In the novel, an important aspect of the
cabbalistic and hermetic doctrines consists in the conclusion that the signified must never be revealed, so as not to rob it of the fascination of the secret: the 'drift'--la differance as defined by Derrida (2013)--has to be an infinite one.
Smend's claims of discovering a wealth of esoteric metaphors interlaced through his scores, based on significant numbers in the Christian and
cabbalistic traditions (3, 7, 12, and multiples thereof), spawned enthusiastic number counting enterprises in the ensuing years, intent upon discovering the hermetic numerologic codes laced through Bach's scores.
(2) expounding on the mystical,
cabbalistic, astrological, and Egyptian significance of the fifteenth century Italian tarot (Dummett 1980).
Hamann gives his chapter "Aesthetica in Nuce" the subtitle "A Rhapsody in
Cabbalistic Prose" (189) and regrets what he sees as the main characteristic of Christian philosophy and metaphysics: "Christianity therefore does not believe in the doctrine of philosophy, which is nothing but an alphabetical script of human speculation (...).
of
cabbalistic metaphors, capped with audaciously auspicious
Alex's escape from
Cabbalistic experience, which symbolizes his Jewish identity, is the main theme of Book One, where some crucial points about Kabbalah are similarly introduced.