Mormon Kabbalah offers a unique and deeply personal approach to understanding the divine, drawing from ancient traditions and modern revelation. Rooted in the mystical traditions of Kabbalah and the prophetic teachings of Joseph Smith, Mormon Kabbalah emphasizes the importance of personal spiritual experiences, direct communion with God, and the path of teshuvah—returning to our Creator. In this lesson, we will explore the foundations of Mormon Kabbalah, its relationship to other forms of Kabbalah, and how it helps us grow in grace. As we study, we will consider what it means to follow a path of deep faith, love, and connection, while learning to see the world and ourselves in the light of God’s wisdom.

Key Concepts

1. Mormon Kabbalah as a Path to Personal Revelation: Unlike traditional religious instruction, which often focuses on structured doctrine, Mormon Kabbalah encourages each individual to seek personal revelation. It teaches that scripture and teachings serve as a guide, but true understanding comes through direct communion with God.
2. The Role of Teshuvah (Returning) in Spiritual Growth: Repentance in Mormon Kabbalah is more than merely seeking forgiveness—it is a journey of returning to God, aligning with divine will, and shedding the ego. This process of teshuvah helps us transform into beings of greater love, wisdom, and spiritual power.
3. The Interconnectedness of Mysticism, Theology, and Action: Mormon Kabbalah unites mysticism (seeking direct experience with God), theology (understanding divine truths), and thaumaturgy (miracle working or spiritual gifts). These three elements work together to help individuals deepen their faith, cultivate spiritual gifts, and enact real change in their lives.

Latter Day Saint Kabbalah

Did I not tell thee: Unite my people in Kabbalah? And thou didst seek to know the meaning of this. And at the first thou thought Kabbalah meant the power of God, then thou thought Kabbalah was a way to help mankind understand my Word, and then understood Kabbalah to be the holy traditions given to mankind of me through my servant Moses, and still thou thought Kabbalah to be something more. And I say unto thee: it is all these and more: Yea, Kabbalah is a mysticism, a theology, and a thaumaturgy; Kabbalah is the tradition of Israel, it is my doctrine, and thus it is a mysterious art, for my doctrine is too simple for mankind to comprehend.” —Doctrines of the Saints 125:4-8

Mormon Kabbalah isn’t really new. Joseph Smith’s magical world views were based on folk magic, Hermetics, and Kabbalah. As the religion progressed, forked, and grew, the new denominations that were birthed from the death of the original church forged new paths with new teachings and understandings.

“Mormonism” is defined as nearly any church tied to the movement founded by Joseph Smith Jr. Yet the term “Mormon” is a nickname that some offshoots reject for a variety of reasons. The Latter Day Saint movement has over 200 denominations. There are about 70 or more denominations within it that identify as “Mormon.” The largest and best-known Mormon denomination is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organized by Brigham Young idenatifed as Mormons for generations. Under their current administration they reject this term, though many of its branches still embrace it. Community of Christ, among others, are also a part of the Latter Day Saint movement, but reject the title or nickname of “Mormon” mostly due to they term’s ties to Young’s churches. The oldest branch of the faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints started by James Strang also still embraces this term.

The term “Mormon Kabbalah” is used for a few reasons. For one, it’s easier to say than “Latter Day Saint” Kabbalah,” even though that would be more accurate. Also, Joseph Smith Jr. identified himself as a Mormon, thus it only makes sense to honor him by using the name of the holy book he brought into the world, through the power of God. And, the majority of Latter Day Saint denominations do still accept the term an identifier of their faith. Lastly, the Book of Mormon is a key scripture we use to teach Mormon Kabbalah, so again it makes sense to use this term.

Knowing what “Mormon” is and why we use it, let’s turn our attention to the second term: “Kabbalah.” Kabbalah is traditionally viewed or defined as a Jewish mysticism that teaches the hidden secrets of the Torah. However, it’s more than a “magical world view,” and more than a way of life, yet still a little of both, intertwined. The word itself is from the Rabbinical Hebrew “qabbālāh,” meaning “tradition,” and from “qibbēl” which is to “receive” or “accept” (Google dictionary).

Some say Kabbalah is a religion, some say it’s magic, others still say it’s a science. Regardless of each of these views, Kabbalah is a way of life. One way to look at Kabbalah is to say that churches teach one the religion of others’ spiritual experiences, while Mormon Kabbalah teaches one the religion of finding our own spiritual experiences.

It is important to note that Kabbalistic practices are deeply rooted in Jewish mysticism and should be approached with respect and understanding. (Mysticism is the belief that becoming one with God may be attained through subjective experience.) There are key differences between the Kabbalah of Judaism, the Kabbalah of Christianity, and Mormon Kabbalah. These differences will be reviewed and explained over time as we delve into Mormon Kabbalah. For now, the most important differences to point out are as follows: 

• The focus on Jesus Christ as the Father of our Salvation and our emissary.
• The focus on the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and other works to understand the Torah.
• Focus on personal growth in Christ’s Grace to separate us from Ego, enabling our true altruistic nature.

Beyond this, all other differences only become relevant as we dig deeper into our studies. For now, the most important thing to know about Kabbalah is its fundamental doctrine: Love God and Love your neighbor as yourself. This is the key that binds Mormonism and Kabbalah.

And behold it is written also, that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; but behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you that ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good. Therefore those things which were of old time, which were under the law, in me are all fulfilled. Old things are done away, and all things have become new. Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.” —3 Nephi 5:89-92 RAV, 12:43-48 OPV

Discussion Questions (1)

1. In your view, how is Jesus Christ as the Father of our Salvation (Mosiah 8:91 [16:15]; Alma 8:93-94 [11:38-39a])?
2. How is Jesus our emissary (John 12: 44-50; Moroni 10:4 [10:4])? 
3. What are your thoughts on Jesus Christ, on deepening your faith in and your relationship with Jesus Christ? 

Types of Kabbalah

There are two main misunderstandings I encounter over and over when talking about Mormon Kabbalah. The first is that Kabbalah is a book. The second is that there is only one type of Kabbalah. We will not be an exhausting look at Kabbalah here by any means. However, it is the hope of the author to help readers and students better understand Mormon Kabbalah in light of other types of Kabbalah.

In Judaism

As stated above, Kabbalah, Hebrew קַבָּלָה, comes from the root קבָּל meaning “reception.” While there are many meanings to the term Kabbalah, including “reception,” “tradition,” or “correspondence,” the idea of receiving is one common understanding between all the various schools. Historically speaking, Jewish Kabbalists developed their own sacred texts and use classical Jewish scriptures to explain and use mystical teachings. Though there are many schools, in modern Judaism Lurianic Kabbalah is most widely taught and practiced.

Jewish Kabbalah came out of what is known as Merkabah mysticism and Hekhalot literature. These were focused in part with the idea of descending to the throne of God. With ideas of using signs, words, and keys to get past angels to get into heaven and gain access to the throne of God, ideas found in Merkabah mysticism and Hekhalot literature might have been very at home to the early Brighamites, and to many fundamentalists in that branch of our movement today. Though practitioners generally believe that Kabbalah is from an oral Torah given by Moses or even from Adam, coming out of the garden of Eden itself, Jewish Kabbalah actually came to be around the 12th century.

However, this doesn’t mean that Jewish Kabbalah isn’t as old as it claims to be. The main text of Lurianic Kabbalah is the Zohar, a collection of writings that include a commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah, more especially Genesis. The Zohar focuses on mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. It is attributed to Shimon bar Yochai, also known as the Rashbi. However, it is more likely written by Moses de León in Spain. But, like the Book of Mormon, that doesn’t mean that Moses de León wrote it. It may have been given by God to the Jews as a form of restoration of their religion. One of the main points of the Zohar is strict observance to the Torah and it is written as a type of Midrash, making the style more familiar to the Jewish people.

Kabbalah in Judaism has gone in and out of style. It is currently seeing a resurgence.

Christian Cabala & Hermetic Qabalah

During the Renaissance, Christian scholars became very interested in Jewish mysticism, especially Kabbalah. These scholars saw the Jewish people as having secrets that they believed they, the Jews couldn’t understand because of their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. They then took Jewish ideas and reinterpreted them to fit with Christian theology. For example, the upper three Sephirot on the tree of life became the Trinity, with the other seven the earthly world. And this does fit, as the lower seven are the days of Creation. One of the beautiful things about the Sefirot is that they can be interpreted in so many ways.

During this same time period, Hermetic Qabalah arose alongside Christian Cabala, creating what we see today, a variety of Esoteric Christian, non-Christian, or even anti-Christian schools. Hermetic Qabalah draws on not only Kabbalah, but astrology, Alchemy, Pagan religions, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, hermeticism, and more. Hermetic Qabalah differs from the Jewish form in being a more admittedly syncretic system, however it shares many concepts with Jewish Kabbalah. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for a number of magical societies, like the Golden Dawn, and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross. It would be impossible to go into detail on Hermetic Qabalah without getting into a number of esoteric and occult ideas, practices, and philosophies. And remembering that occult means secret, the task is even more difficult.

Mormon Kabbalah

Mormon Kabbalah is a new concept that arose in March of 2018 when the Lord told me to unite God’s people in Kabbalah. This may seem a contradiction to God’s command to Latter Day Saints to “preach unto the world, saying: You must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (DoS 12a:59; DaC 16:6c2-d1 RLDS/CoC, 18:41 CJCLdS). But with the understanding of repentance as “teshuvah,” returning to God, and the Kabalistic understanding that Israel means “Yashar-El, the path Straight to God,” then the idea that we would be united in receiving makes perfect sense (DoS 2g:20-26).

What is teshuvah? It is a Hebrew word, normally translated as “repentance,” but in reality it means “returning.” One of the Hebrew words for sin is chet (see Chapter 5, What is Sin?), meaning “to go astray.” Rather than seeing repentance as the fear of God, in Kabbalah teshuvah is the return to the path of righteousness. Mormon Kabbalah is about building a personal relationship with God, the very nature of true repentance.

We have been told that Kabbalah is a mysticism. Mysticism is the understanding that union with God may be attained through contemplation and surrendering ourselves to God. Or as Jesus put it, “not my will, but thine, be done” (John 22:42). Kabbalah and mysticism, according to the same revelation, is a theology, and a thaumaturgy. Theology is the study of who God is, the nature of God, and religious beliefs in general. We are to build our own theologies, our own personal understanding of God. Thaumaturgy is miracle working, the gifts of the Spirit.

Discussion Questions (2)

1. In a few sentences, what is mysticism to you?
2. What is theology to you, and how do you see it working with mysticism? 
3. What is thaumaturgy, and how does it help us bring mysticism and theology to life?
4. How does this idea of the Gospel in action help us grow or deepen our faith in and our relationship with Jesus Christ? 

Suggestions for Action

1. Reflect on the role of love in your life: How can you better love God and your neighbors in a more altruistic way this week?
2. Engage in a prayer or meditation practice that invites spiritual growth and connection with God, drawing from the principles of Kabbalah.
3. Study a portion of the Book of Mormon alongside a passage from the Torah to see how Kabbalistic teachings might be integrated into both texts.
4. Try a personal experiment: In a difficult relationship, actively practice loving your “enemy” as outlined in the teachings of Christ and Mormon Kabbalah.
5. Begin a journal where you reflect on your spiritual experiences and growth, paying particular attention to moments where you feel God’s love or guidance.

Final Thought & Meditation

As we explore Mormon Kabbalah, let us pause to consider the profound truth found at its core: the invitation to love. The mysteries of the universe, the teachings of Christ, and the wisdom of Kabbalah all call us to transcend our ego and embrace the divine within and around us.

Reflecting on the doctrine of love—love for God and for others—reminds us that our journey towards spiritual enlightenment is not solely about seeking personal knowledge, but about cultivating compassion, humility, and understanding. May we allow this powerful commandment to guide our path and illuminate our relationships, as we strive to become more like the Savior and live in harmony with all of God’s creations.