Sefer Yetzirah, Book of Formation, or Book of Creation is the title of the earliest extant book on Jewish esotericism, although some early commentators treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory as opposed to Kabbalah. Yetzirah is more literally translated as "Formation"; the word Briah is used for "Creation". The book is traditionally ascribed to the patriarch Abraham, although others attribute its writing to Rabbi Akiva. Modern scholars have not reached consensus on the question of its origins. According to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, the objective of the book's author was to convey in writing from a Jewish perspective how the things of our universe came into existence. Translated from the Hebrew, with annotations by Knut Stenring. Includes the 32 paths of wisdom, their correspondence with the Hebrew alphabet and the Tarot symbols and with an introduction by Arthur Edward Waite., Book of Formation, or Book of Creation is the title of the earliest extant book on Jewish esotericism, although some early commentators treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory as opposed to Kabbalah. Yetzirah is more literally translated as "Formation"; the word Briah is used for "Creation". The book is traditionally ascribed to the patriarch Abraham, although others attribute its writing to Rabbi Akiva. Modern scholars have not reached consensus on the question of its origins. According to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, the objective of the book's author was to convey in writing from a Jewish perspective how the things of our universe came into existence. Translated from the Hebrew, with annotations by Knut Stenring. Includes the 32 paths of wisdom, their correspondence with the Hebrew alphabet and the Tarot symbols and with an introduction by Arthur Edward Waite.

Excerpt from Sepher Yetzirah: The Book of Formation and the Thirty Two Paths of Wisdom The Book of Formation, is not in any sense a narra tive of Creation, or a substitute Genesis, but it is a very ancient and instructive philosophical treatise upon one aspect of the origin of the universe and mankind; an aspect at once archaic and essentially Hebrew. The grouping of the processes of origin into an arrangement, at once alphabetic and numeral, is one only to be found in Semitic authors. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1922 Edition.

The Sepher Yetzirah is a Hebrew mystical and metaphysical text of unknown authorship. Often ascribed to the patriarch Abraham or Rabbi Akiva, it is the foundational text in the canon of the Kabbalah. This edition was translated from Hebrew sources by the English coroner, ceremonial magician, theosophist and Freemason William Wynn Westcott, and published in 1893.The Sepher Yetzirah or "Book of Formation", is the oldest Rabbinical treatise of kabbalistic philosophy and metaphysics known to be extant, which Westcott sought to translate after a new interest in the subject in the West during the late-Victorian period. During the same period he sought to write an introduction work to the kabbalh in order to help students. During the translation Westcott sought to consult as many extant Hebrew editions as possible, along with mediaeval latin authorities on the kabbalah (Postellus, Pistorius, & Rittangelius). Furthermore he attached the additional texts "The Thirty-Two Paths" and "The Fifty Gates of Intelligence" to the work.