Tau Malachi

My actual rating is 3.5. I found this book intriguing and inspirational, but it was definitely an "outer court" book: referring to secret teachings and spiritual practices which are never described. I'm not sure if Tau Malachi covers them in some of his other books, or if you have to join his organization to receive them directly. I'm not sure if his material here is all that different than what one could find in many of the original gnostic texts, but the packaging and framing is very appealing.

One of the things I like most is that Tau Malachi doesn't claim to be presenting an unbroken, unchanged tradition. He acknowledges the fluid nature of oral tradition and personal revelation. There's an honesty and humility to that which is often lacking in books like this one.

I'm intrigued enough to want to read some of the author's other books.… (más)

Malachi here provides a primer in Christian Neognosticism generally, and for his own "Sophian" tradition in particular. With respect to the generalities, he emphasizes the variety of Gnostic teachings, the ineffability of genuine gnosis, and the notion of personal experience as spiritual currency. "Sophianism" disclaims reconstructionist motives, professing instead to represent a continuity with the ancient Gnosis via the Rosicrucians and other esoteric traditions. As the founder of the Sophian Fellowship, Malachi traces his initiatory pedigree through the Ordo Sanctus Gnosis (evidently a sect not keen on the genitive case). The "Tau" title implies a connection with the French Gnostic Church of Jules Doinel, but Malachi makes no claims there.

To no surprise on my part, the Sophian tradition as presented by Malachi shows strong influences from Theosophy and Martinism, and evidence of having been steeped in late twentieth-century newage, with a commensurate eclecticism. It presents the "Master Yeshua" and Mary Magdalene as a Shiva-Shakti transcendent erotic dyad, and stresses the use of a Christian Kabbalah. With all that, it will not be entirely alien to Thelemites, and Malachi even once uses the phrase "true will" (169).

His "selected bibliography" contained no volumes unfamiliar to me, and I was mostly curious about the techniques offered in the last few chapters of his text, since it is styled as a "practical guide." As I read them, I was surprised and puzzled at the coherence of what I found there: a religious form that I don't ordinarily associate with "gnosticism." By the time I got to page 184, Malachi had made it abundantly clear: his Gnosticism "is more akin to a science of mind and the knowledge of how to experience prosperity, success, health, happiness, and a Spirit-connection in our lives." For crying out loud, it's New Thought!

Now I only wonder if Malachi knows that's what it is, or if he really thinks it is an an ancient heritage transmitted to him by his mentor Elijah ben Miriam. Still, it's sexier than Christian Science.… (más)

Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ – A Gnostic Christian Kabbalah by Tau Malachi

Published by Llewellyn Worldwide

This lengthy work is well researched and written by someone who has been an initiate and a devotee and has been a practicing Gnostic Christian and Kabbalist for well over 30 years, and that alone should tell you that this is a work for someone who is searching on a much deeper level than someone else just interested in a quick overview of the subject.

What sets this book ahead of other works of similar nature is that the work is presented in the light of intense study of the Old Testament and the source works of the Jewish Kabbalah. There has always been the attempt to connect the two – Christian Mysticism and the Kabbalah, but they have always fallen more than a bit short of achieving that goal. However, Malachi eben Ha-Elijah has done a tremendously commendable job of not just connecting, but building a solid structure that is bound to exist for some years to come.

However, due to the depth of research, this is not a book that can be read just once, and the meaning understood, or the finer points discerned. This is a book that will have to be read, noted, contemplated and read again at a later date. I myself have gone through it at least three times and I am continually amazed that I find yet another aspect if this subject brought to light, I tend to like such books, as they seem timeless…what was meant to be discerned at one point of my life is now something else down the road, and another reading brings out yet another point. A very useful tool for the true seeker.

One other way that I determine the usefulness and authenticity of a work, newly published, is to peruse the bibliography and see if the author has indeed ‘done their homework’ insofar as the number of works and the depth of the titles utilized, and one could spend a lifetime of reading just the bibliography. That alone tells me that this is a work that will be referred to for decades to come by those wishing to delve deep into the study of the Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ.… (más)