Merkabah (redirected from Heikhalot Literature and "Four Entered Pardes")

Merkabah

 or Merkava

Throne or chariot of God, as described by Ezekiel. It became an object of visionary contemplation for Jewish mystics in Palestine in the 1st century AD; in the 7th–11th century, Merkabah mysticism was centered in Babylonia. Merkabah mystics courted ecstatic visions that involved a dangerous ascent through celestial hierarchies to the throne of God. Hostile angels guarded the gates to the seven “heavenly dwellings,” and a successful journey required magical formulas. The Talmud warns that of four men who engaged in Merkabah, only one had a true vision; of the others, one died, one went mad, and one became an apostate.