ISBN: 9781557001849
What are the essential teachings of Qabbalah, the Jewish esoteric wisdom passed on for millennia from teacher to pupil? This clear presentation concentrates on principal themes: the emanation of the universe, the Sefirothal Tree of Life and its cosmic and human symbology, the Four Worlds of creation, the Four Adams or Heavenly Archetypes, and the composite structure of our being and its bearing on sleep, death, and initiation. To elucidate their meaning, the author compares Qabbalistic concepts and symbols with equivalents in modern theosophy, particularly in the works of H. P. Blavatsky and G. de Purucker, revealing Qabbalah as one stream of the universal wisdom tradition of mankind.
Grace F. Knoche was born in 1909 at the theosophical headquarters, then at Point Loma, California, and attended the Raja-Yoga School and Academy founded by Katherine Tingley. She joined the TS in 1929 shortly before Mrs. Tingley left on her last tour to Europe. Under G. de Purucker as Leader, she worked at the headquarters as a compositor in the Press, in the Secretary General's office, and on the Leader's secretarial staff. She assisted Dr. de Purucker in revising the Encyclopedic Theosophical Glossary, and was on the committees responsible for reorganizing his Esoteric School materials, later published as The Dialogues of G. de Purucker (1948) and Fountain-Source of Occultism (1974). She continued her studies at Theosophical University, receiving a Ph.D. in 1944. At various times from 1933 to 1946 she taught violin, Greek, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Bible translation, and Qabbālāh at Theosophical University, and painting and sculpture at the Lomaland school.
During the Cabinet administration after Purucker's death in 1942, Grace served as private secretary to the Chairman of the Cabinet, continuing as private secretary to the next two Leaders, Colonel Arthur Conger and James A. Long. She worked closely with James A. Long on his new magazine, Sunrise, begun in 1951.
On Mr. Long's death in 1971, Grace assumed leadership of the TS and became editor of Sunrise. For almost 35 years she encouraged the membership to assume responsibility for directing the course of their lives along universal principles, stressing that the same compassionate life currents that build and shape the evolution of the cosmos also inform the patterns of everyday experience. Always a collaborator at heart, Grace worked to establish a spirit of cooperation among the various theosophical organizations. She died in Altadena, California, on February 18, 2006, at the age of 97.