Kabbalistic Diagrams, Volvelles, and Visions of Other Beings

The study addresses a series of enigmatic diagrams and volvelles in a commentary on Sefer Yeẓirah, the magnum opus of thirteenth-century wandering kabbalist R. Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. How these complex graphic apparatuses were perceived by copyists and kabbalists, and their role in enhancing the esoteric nature of this work and the visions articulated, are focused upon. The volvelles and diagrams were pioneering practical tools, assisting kabbalists to attain prophetic visions. Supplementing scholarship on kabbalistic visions centered around an anthropomorphic Godhead, or anthropocentric attempts to cleave to the Godhead, this study demonstrates that a neglected kabbalistic trend envisioned all beings as an entangled scala naturae of this world as well as previous and future worlds.