The Oracle of Kabbalah: Mystical Teachings of the Hebrew Letters

Divination--telling the future by magical means--is a dodgy business. Deuteronomy deemed it "repulsive to God." And yet Jews have always attempted to discern the future in various ways, including the casting of lots and meditation upon the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the Aleph Beit. Richard Seidman presents a primer for the latter form of divination in The Oracle of Kabbalah. A brief historical overview of Jewish divination--beginning with the fact that the Hebrew word for letter, ot, also means "sign, symbol, or miracle"--leads to direct instruction on using Hebrew letters as a means of divination.(The letters printed on a deck of cards are included with this book.) The basic technique is as follows: "Take three slow, deep breaths from the belly. Formulate a question ... pray for inspiration and receptivity," pick a card, look up the description of the letter you've drawn, meditate on that letter's meaning, and "be receptive to any glimmers of intuition that arise." --Michael Joseph Gross