Editing Kabbalah (section)

=== Claims for authority ===
Historians have noted that most claims for the authority of kabbalah involve an argument of the antiquity of authority.<ref>See, e.g., Joseph Dan's discussion in {{harvp|Dan|1999}}.</ref> As a result, virtually all early foundational works [[pseudepigraph]]ically claim, or are ascribed, ancient authorship. For example, ''[[Sefer Raziel HaMalach]]'', an astro-magical text partly based on a magical manual of late antiquity, ''[[Sefer ha-Razim]]'', was, according to the kabbalists, transmitted by the angel [[Raziel]] to Adam after he was evicted from Eden. Another famous work, the early ''[[Sefer Yetzirah]]'', is dated back to the patriarch [[Abraham]].{{sfnp|Ginsburgh|2006|p=17}} This tendency toward pseudepigraphy has its roots in apocalyptic literature, which claims that esoteric knowledge such as magic, divination and astrology was transmitted to humans in the mythic past by the two angels, Aza and [[Azazel|Azaz'el]] (in other places, Azaz'el and Uzaz'el) who fell from heaven (see Genesis 6:4).

As well as ascribing ancient origins to texts, and reception of [[Oral Torah]] transmission, the greatest and most innovative Kabbalists claimed mystical reception of direct personal divine revelations, by heavenly mentors such as [[Elijah the Prophet]], the souls of [[Tannaim|Talmudic sages]], [[Holy Spirit in Judaism|prophetic revelation]], soul ascents on high, etc. On this basis [[Arthur Green]] speculates, that while the ''[[Zohar]]'' was written by a circle of Kabbalists in medieval Spain, they may have believed they were channeling the souls and direct revelations from the earlier mystic circle of [[Shimon bar Yochai]] in 2nd century Galilee depicted in the Zohar's narrative.{{sfnp|Green|2004|loc=Chapter 17 The Question of Authorship}} Academics have compared the Zohar mystic circle of Spain with the romanticised wandering mystic circle of Galilee described in the text. Similarly, [[Isaac Luria]] gathered his disciples at the traditional [[Idra]] assembly location, placing each in the seat of their former reincarnations as students of Shimon bar Yochai.